Technology Guides

One day I was sitting down at my desk and turned on my laptop. I was looking for a file when I realized I had lost it and could not recover it. It tought me a valuable lesson and that was to never delete a file because it might be important later on. That lesson got thrown out the window when I realized that I had too many files piling up and slowing down my computer. So I decided to install a program to help me recover deleted files if I ever needed them again. Microsoft Windows Vista creates shadow copies of every files you have and Ultimate utilizes it to recover them if you need it. Other version of Microsoft Windows Vista cannot recover it, unless you download another 3rd party program like ShadowExplorer or a file recovery utility such as Recuva.

ShadowExplorer

ShadowExplorer as I mentioned before allows you to browse the shadow copies created by the Windows Vista Volume Shadow Copy Service. It needs time to get going so don’t start deleting files as soon as you download it. What this program does is creates a copy of your hard drive for one day and you’ll have to access the deleted file from this day.

ShadowExplorer

This program is a great free alternative to the more expensive programs because it organizes your files at that specific day much better than most. Other programs tend to just show all the deleted files that can include internet cache stuff which is useless.

Recuva

Strangely enough, Recuva, is pronounced “recover” but who cares in my opinion because it is free. The problem I find with this type of recovery utility is the fact that it has to scan your whole hard drive, and not all of the files it finds can be recovered. It also names them different so you have to sift through the different files very carefully.

It is better than ShadowExplorer because it helps bring back files that were lost through a virus, bug or crash which ShadowExplorer doesn’t do as well at. It takes up a small area of your hard drive and you won’t lose much CPU when you run it but that comes with its drawbacks. It’s much slower at finding files because it has to scan whereas ShadowExplorer can almost instantly show you your hard drive at a certain date. The interface is slightly more refined but still equally usable.

Conclusion

Both of these programs will get the job done but offer two different ways to do it. Personally my bet is on ShadowExplorer but it’s better to be safe then sorry sometimes, so why not download both.

Popularity: 9% [?]

Recently the iPhone Dev Team has created yellowsn0w and this has allowed users to unlock their Apple iPhone very easily. Once your contract is done, you’ll be able to switch it to any carrier or you can do that right now. The process to unlock your 3G iPhone is very easy. First off, make sure you have the correct Modem Firmware which is 02.28.00. To find this, go to Settings–>About and scroll down to the bottom. If it isn’t at this Baseband then go into iTunes and restore it, and update it back to 2.2. Then you’ll use QuickPwn to get it to 02.28.00. Now we are ready to unlock your iPhone.

Steps

1. Click Cydia
2. Click Manage
3. Click Sources
4. Click Edit
5. Type in apt9.yellowsn0w.com
6. Go back to Home screen
7. Take your old SIM card and insert your new SIM card
8. Power off and wait 10 seconds
9. After waiting 10 seconds power it on
10. On the top left, it should have the bars and your carrier
11. If not, repeat steps 8 through 10

Now you should have any unlocked Apple iPhone ready to use with the carrier of your choice. Remember if you are using T-Mobile that you’ll need to turn off 3G.

Do you have an iPhone? If so, share your thoughts on which plan is best to couple with the iPhone as there are many different alternatives as I am totally confused on this issue.

Popularity: 5% [?]

Do you want to explore the possibility of running your own Facebook or LinkedIn because you are simply beyond the realms of everybody else? Well, there are options for you. The web has allowed you to be able to create your own free social network for anybody or a private network for you and your best friends. I personally set one up for a company I am part of, as I am the Vice-President of IT. We are a small company and just want something small, private, and most importantly, free, to conduct our daily business. With that being said, you can obviously guess my favourite pick of these sites to start your own social network just from the URL. It is a private network so you won’t be able to view everything but it’s located at http://jamarkham.ning.com.

Ning

This is my favourite of the 3 sites that I will describe to you. One of the reasons I love this site to build a social network is because of the drag-and-drop capabilities. Even once it is built, you are able to easily move different elements of your site to different parts of the page. Ning also has many different templates and styles to choose from, making personalization virtually endless.

Ning

The next step to me, is to open it to open-source programs like Wordpress and Blogger so other people can make their own templates and designs for others to easily download and upload to their own site. Elements you can include into your Ning social network are: chat, videos, photos, member view, forums, groups, and many more. Another plus of this program is you have control over your members if you are the creator of the social network. You can appoint group administrators and even ban members. Overall, this site will help you create a polished and professional site from scratch in less than 10 minutes as it did with me. 

KickApps

For people with a little dough to burn, this site will definitely be for you. One of the huge reasons many companies use this is because of the ability to fine tune a lot of the details. The Phoenix Suns use this service and they have a great website for their fans called Planet Orange. Because these organizations have money to spend, they can afford the developers to help build the website for them, but even the basic web developers can do it with some time with the help of the site’s advanced tool kit. The finished product is definitely worth it. 

Nexopia

Youth’s will love this version of a social network site builder because it is directed to youth. It provides users with the ability to create Facebook-like backgrounds, pages, and elements. The great thing about this program, is it’s easy to build the site. It is simple enough for somebody at any skill level. All you need to do is choose a bunch of different options like the design template, and then pick from your choice of two dozen modules that include feeds, photos, polls, and forums. 

Conclusion

I personally like Ning because it’s for someone who has some knowledge of websites but not enough to start from scratch and fork over money for a temporary social network. All three of these social network sites are great choices and you should be pleased with any one of them. KickApps does let you build one for free but there are limited options.

Popularity: 15% [?]

Everybody is worried about losing there cell phone especially if it is expensive like mine. I have therefore been searching for a cheap and possibly free piece of software that can help me locate my phone quickly. I foundsome  shareware called Guardian v2.1 but when I searched it on Google, I was skeptical on its reliability and whether or not a virus would ensue. You can view the video below on it which shows good things about it from.
Another alternative that is only available to Windows Mobile Users or Sony Ericsson phones is called mGuard which is free and installs on your phone at a size of only 100kb (.jar file and preferably on phone memory instead of memory stick). I myself have this on my phone but it can get costly as they charge you a SMS message per time you shut your phone off to check if it still has the same SIM. If there isn’t the same SIM, it will realize that your phone has been stolen and now you can be on your way to tracking your stolen phone.

I found a loop hole though. Don’t shut it down and always charge it whilst the phone is on. Not much of a loop hole. It still does its job as unsuspecting robbers will not know this and will then find out too late. Go to Dexmobile and click on mGuard. You will first download it and then after installing, run it, and click settings. They will ask you for an unlock code which you will get after you register (to the right of the download button) and they will send you the unlock code. They also you send the download url to your email. To notify you of a SIM change you will need to enter a friends phone number, where a pre-set or customized message will be sent to if, heaven forbid your cell phone gets stolen. Keep your IMEI number handy or enter *#06# on your phone to get it. I haven’t had the time to really put it in its paces but I guess thats a good thing. They have wide array of contact options including email and phone number if you do have a problem.
Another solution is called Lost Mobile Tracking Solution by Micro Technologies located in Mumbai. It is a cheap one time solution at a cost of $8 but it is not supported on many phones including mine. I was ready to fork over the money because I love my phone and a little money will keep it protected. There are about 40 phones supported at the most.

Now if your cell phone is ever stolen, you’ll be able to find it if you use either of these technologies with your cell phone.

Popularity: 21% [?]

Update: As of today or sometime slightly before, you can now be exclusive guests to Cairo’s alpha software. If you go to their homepage, you will see a sign up sheet for potential testers who preferably have previous testing experience.
Cairo is a new type of Windows Shell alternative that will be released as a free standing application. There is no word yet on when it will be released but we can all hope it will be sooner than later. Many, including me at first, don’t have a clue what a Windows Shell Alternative is; but let me dumb it down for you. When you install a WSA, it replaces explorer.exe. Explorer.exe displays the icons, folders, start menu, and taskbar but Windows has made it possible to change it in numerous ways only if you are good at computers or if you’ve downloaded something like Cairo.

I was told about this revolutionary piece of “software” by a friend and I decided to do some of my own research. So far though, Cairo’s official website is the only place with reliable information.
Even with an official website it isn’t sufficient enough to write a full article so this is just an article in development. There are 9 features on Cairo that are either new or improvements on Windows’ version. Some of them are:

• A start bar with easy access to all your files and applications.
• Slick and Stable, you never hear those words together
• Multi-Desktop lets you easily organize your workload by desktop
• Dynamic Desktop enables you to browse files and folders right there
• Make virtual file stacks to easily locate files with File & Application Grouping
• Launch applications that are more frequently used and hide the ones you don’t with LaunchCairo
• Preview files and folders such as documents, music, and images with File Explorer
• Configure Cairo just the way you like it by adding and removing features with Cairo’s unique plugin system

Popularity: 13% [?]