How to Tweak and customise your Windows 7 layout

Hello
Today we shall talk about customising Windows 7 and making it look more visually appealing.
We are going to do so using few tweaking tools and a Theme, all from the wonderful site DeviantArt.

So let's get started shall we ?

1. First step is to patch your system, so you will be able to tweak it. this step can be done using a small software called Universal theme patcher, which can be found here.
One thing you need to remember - before installing the patcher, the UAC must be turned off. you can shut it down by writing UAC in Start -> search program and files.
After that, run the patcher in admin mode (right click on the file) and install it.

2. Now you need to choose your favourite theme. in this demonstration we will use Blend 2.0 theme (which is my favourite) which can be downloaded from here.
Now select the theme according to you where you place your superbar (right, left, down or up).

3. Extract contents (Win7-Blend 2.0.theme & Win7-Blend 2.0 folder) into C:\Windows\Resources\Themes and double-click on Win7-Blend 2.0.theme.
 Then, restart to make sure everything works properly.

4. Next step is changing the explorerframe.dll in System32 folder in order to complete the layout changing 

  In order to do so, you will need to change the original explorerframe.dll name to explorerframe.dll.old, and then to copy the file (see screenshot). 
If the system won't let you to change name, just use the Take ownership tweak which can be found here. 

6. The next step is to change the start menu Icon. in order to do so, you will need to download Windows 7 start orb changer. 
Now, you will need to choose a new Orb for your new layout, and you can search here for new Orbs. 
Just download your favourite skin, run Start orb as administrator (very important !) and change it. 

7. Almost done. now we are going to change the start screen, from old and boring to something much more elegant. here is a link to the software, which will make your welcome screen much more colourful

8. The last part is the explanation on how to change your mouse cursor. 
First step is to download change cursor 2 from here. 
Second thing you need to do is to download you favourite cursor set from here, and install it using the  Change cursor software.

9.Optional : you can use the awesome desktop tool Rainmeter to give your desktop a more professional/tech style. it is also very useful for people who needs to be connected to a stream of information. If you wish, you can read all about it in here. 

If you are interested in how it should look like at the end of the process, you can take a look at this screenshot of my desktop.

That all for today. If you have any question, difficulties or another great theme you would like to share, post it in the comments section.  

5 great Google Chrome extensions you didn't know about

Hi
I have been using Chrome for a few month now, and I don't miss ol' Firefox for one bit. 
Putting aside the fact that Chrome is faster and more user friendly (Don't need to restart after install, YEY !) it also has many useful extensions (and now also web extensions). 
Now, what I am NOT planning to do is to write a post about the most-useful-top-10-extensions (the internet has enough).
What I am planning to do is to present before you a short list of 5 very useful, yet unknown extensions for Chrome


So let's get started shall we ?


Ok, the first extension is Appjunp, which is a launcher and organizer for Web Apps and Extensions. you can put Apps and Extensions into Groups to allow easy management. You can also display specific groups of Apps in the launcher and start them right on your browser toolbar. I use it alot to manage my extensions.

Next one is Session buddy, which is a flexible session management extension for Google Chrome, that allows you to quickly save and restore session tabs. This extensions is very useful if you have many tabs open and you wish to keep them for later use.

The third recommended extension is Tabjump, and this great utility allows easy access to most used tabs, associated tabs, and closed tabs, and it also allows tab locking.
Add to the great features a great interface and you've got a winner !

3 down, 2 to go, and this right here is one of my favourites. it's called Download helper and it's actually a Google product. This extension  allows you to download links on a web page with your favorite downloader.
If you select one of these downloaders as your downloader instead of Chrome's built-in one, your preferred downloader will start automatically and download the link for you when clicking on any downloadable links. You can also right-click on such links and choose which downloader you want to use in the popup menu.
Now, I have been looking for a Firefox like download helper for chrome but I couldn't find any, so this as close as it gets. I am using Free download manager for my downloads and with this extension it works perfect.

At number 5 we have an awesome extension called Facebook photo zoom and like the creator say, it's the best way to view photos on Facebook.
This great little utility allows you to zoom on a picture without even clicking on it. you can turn it off or on using a little icon next to your chat windows. Imo, this is one of the most useful FB extensions around, especially for heavy FB users.

That's all folks !
If you have more cool yet hidden extensions that you wish to share with the world, use the comments section 

Creating the next Facebook (It's all about the networks baby)

How many times have you heard the phrase "The era of Facebook"?
Probably a lot lately and with a good reason. Facebook has almost 600 million registered users and it's becoming an internet Godzilla with every new user.
It also managed to embed it's "Like" button on nearly every major site (even on this humble blog) in a very short time, but what's really important is that no one dares to challenge it (and no, GoogleMe is not even close).

So it seems like Facebook is unstoppable right ? Wrong

Have you ask yourself why are we are still using Twitter ? Linkdin ? Gmail ?
Why aren't they crumbling under Facebook's boot ?
Because of the Networks.
You see, Facebook's agenda is to help you socialize with as many people as you can, and it doesn't care if  you have strong ties or weak ties with them, everyone is a friend to you !
But that's just wrong..I can't share with my colleague what I share with my family or what I share with my friends from home.

So what people do ? they use different tools for different networks, they open several facebook accounts or they just stay out of it.
But it doesn't have to be this way !
How about a social media site that has different faces or modes ?
Picture a home page, very similar to what Facebook present, but with different tabs: a tab for work, a tab for friends, a tab for family and so on.
These tabs are not connected, they are totally separated, but if you wish, you can add a friend from work to your friends from home tab and vice versa.
It' s pretty simple, it's very obvious and it's very needed...

That is why I am really hoping that the ambitious guys from Diaspora will manage to build a worthy alternative, because they really understand the need for privacy, and the alpha product looks very promising.
What they offer is actually what I'v been dying to see in Facebook, and it's a separation between networks, so simple yet so needed !
The only problem is that you can't have a social network without people, but when the project will be ready for public, I am planing to drag everyone I know to this site.
And you know what ? maybe, just maybe, something will change in Facebook, and they will offer more privacy options for their users.

If what I wrote interest you and wish to know more, I suggest that you take a look at this powerful presentation :

The Real Life Social Network v2

View more documents from Paul Adams.

Useful links & Top applications for your Nokia (Symbian S60)

Hello 

It's been a while since I have posted something, mainly due to the fact that I just finished my BA degree and I was busy with writing exams and seminars. 

But enough with that, you are here for the useful stuff and not for my lame excuses, right ?
So let's get down to business  

I have always been fascinated with Smartphones, but just recently I upgraded myself and bought a new Smartphone, Nokia E72. This small but great mobile that also serves me as a PDA - I can read\send E mails, have accesses to the internet from anywhere and I have accesses to a wide variety of applications that fits my needs. 

And so, because my motto is  sharing is caring I wish to share with you some of what I think, are the best applications for Symbian S60 based mobiles.

The first application, which I personally think is one of the best out there, called Seven.

What is Seven ? it's a Personal and Work Email with Desktop-like Interaction on Your Favorite Mobile Device, and it lets you enjoy push email directly to your mobile device, but what I really like about this application is it's sync with Google calender. 

After installing the app (at first you will need to register at the site) it will automatically sync your mail, your contact lists and your calendar, and every update that you make will also update your mobile calendar.

So how to get Seven ? just go to this link, register and then download the up to your mobile. 

Next on my list, is my favorite IM application, Nimbuzz.

What is Nimbuzz ?

Nimbuzz is a multi community mobile social messenging and VoIP provider, combining VoIP, instant messaging, and (geo) presence. The free application lets users connect and interact with their buddies across popular communities, including Skype, Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, ICQ, Google Talk (Orkut), AIM, and social networks including Facebook and MySpace.

I have checked many free IM applications for Symbian, but only Nimbuzz had Facebook chat, and that is a must for me.

If you wish to give it a go, just head on to this link.

What else on the list? well, I like to serf the web, and I do it alot. 

problem is, the native browser is not that great - it's a bit slow, and some sites just doesn't work well with it. 

What's the solution ? Opera mini.

By compressing data by up to 90% before you download it, Opera Mini speeds up page loads and saves you money on data costs. Content is optimized to make it easy to use on your device, allowing you to view entire webpages on small screens. You get tabs, a download manager and the ability to synchronize bookmarks with your computer.

  It's also free, so you should try it - download it here and here

Another great application, which happens to be one of my favorite (also because it was made by an Israeli company) is an application called Snaptu.

What is Snaptu ? It's a sweet little application that turns your favorite websites into ultra fast mobile apps that work on your phone. 

So Instead of cramming your phone with lots of individual apps that eat battery, waste space and slow things down, guess what? You can have Snaptu -- a single efficient and incredibly powerful app that keeps your phone running full speed ahead.

So don't hesitate and get snaptu for your phone, This one is highly recommended.

Another top application for those who are addicted to social media is Socially, which is :

A mobile phone application that lets you keep track of all the friends you are connected to on multiple social networks. You can use Socially to track recent activity of friends on different social networks. Socially also shows you up-to-date social information about the callers during an incoming call and as alerts on the phone desktop (home) screen, enabling you to have better conversations.

And if that isn't enough, let me tell you that you can also sync your Facebook events with your mobile calender, so now you won't forget grandma's birthday.
So don't hesitate and grab you copy from here .

 








The last application for today is something that you know very well from the PC, and it's called Google Apps.
Apparently there are Google apps for the mobile, and they are pretty useful, especially the search by voice.
Now you can Speak your queries instead of typing them. and I gotta tell you, it's terribly cool. You also have Google maps and other useful stuff. 
A must have for Power users 

Ok, enough with the Apps for now. I  promised you links, and I am not going to disappoint you.
The first site, Mobi11, is a large data base filled with applications, organized by topic, from mobile anti virus to browsers.
All you have to do is to download the Application and then send it to your mobile, fast and easy.

The second site is called mobile9 (not too original, i know) and it has plenty of themes, games, ring tunes and more.

The last one for today is a site dedicated to themes, and you can find a wide variety of them in here

That's it for today

Feel free to share more useful sites & applications !

How to : add the new "Twitter button" to your Blog

Hello
I love Twitter, it's a great tool for receiving and sharing information with the rest of the world, in an elegant and easy way.
Now, around this great web service a new micro-cosmos has developed, a world full of APIs, applications and other useful services, one of them is Tweetmeme, which allows you to share a link on Twitter without leaving the site or the post that you are reading.
This cute little button became very popular throughout the web, and most sites embedded it.

That went on for a while, but now the guys at Twitter decided that they want a piece of the pie ,and as a part of their ongoing war with Facebook (they want to challenge Facebook's Like button domination) they created their own Tweet button :

 








Ok, so now you know the Why, and you know how it looks likes, but the real question is, how to add it to your blog/site ?

Well, it's a good thing you've asked because I have the answer right here !
(This guide written for Blogger users, but it should work on any site)

Step 1. Login to Blogger if not already logged in


Step 2. From the Dashboard navigate to Layout > Design > Edit HTML

Step 3. Check the Expand Widget Templates button

Step 4. Back up your Blogger template by clicking on Download Full Template as a precaution 

Step 5. Using CTRL + F find the following code:

  <div class='post-header-line-1'/>

Step 6. Directly after the above line paste the following code :

<div style="float:right;padding:4px;">
<a href='http://twitter.com/share' rel='nofollow' class='twitter-share-button' expr:data-url='data:post.url' expr:data-text='data:post.title' data-related='Computer Talks' data-count='vertical' data-via='theworldwinner'  data-lang='en'>Tweeta>
<b:if cond='data:post.isFirstPost'>
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js">

b:if> 

div> 

That's it !

Now, if you wish to change the style of the button, you can go here, change, and add the new code.
Or, if you wish to change the location of the button, all you need to do is to replace Right with Left or Center
For example, to change the location from right to left : 

"float:right;padding:4px;" -> "float:left;padding:4px;"

And that should do it !


If you have more question or you are feeling lost with the code, don't hesitate to ask !