TechWhiz

Display latest tweets on your website

saurabh — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 02:48:32 +0000

Latest tweets can be displayed on websites by using JavaScript libraries and JSON. However, same can be done without JavaScript or JSON by using php based feed framework to fetch the latest tweet data from your public twitter stream.

Download the zipped file.
Open twitter.php in a text editor and change the twitter username.

// twitter username
$twitter_user="techwhiz09";

Change the setting for the number of latest tweets to be fetched. It can fetch maximum 4 latest tweets from your public stream.

// number of latest tweets to be fetched (1 to 4)
$tweets_num=4;

Upload the files on the server and point your browser to ‘twitter.php’

Resize Partition in Windows 7

saurabh — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 03:04:40 +0000

Windows 7 operating system is an upgrade to Windows Vista, hence most of the features of Windows 7 are similar to Windows Vista. Resizing partition in Windows 7 is as simple as it was in Windows Vista. There is no need to install any third party applications to resize the partition. The required tool is an inbuilt application in Windows Vista and Windows 7.

Preparatory Steps

Goto ‘Control Panel’ from the ‘Start’ menu.
Enter ‘Partition’ in the search bar and press enter.
Click on ‘Create and format hard disk partitions’ under ‘Administrative Tools’. It will pop up ‘Disk Management’ window on the screen

Shrink Volume

Right click on the desired drive and select ‘Shrink Volume’. It will inform you about the maximum size of the hard disk that can be shrunk. If you have been using the computer for long time, defragmenting the hard disk is recommended prior to the resizing operation.
Enter the amount of space to be shrunk.
Once it is done, you can find some unallocated space.

Create New Volume from Unallocated Space

Right click on ‘Unallocated’ and select ‘New Simple Volume’.
You will be taken to ‘New Simple Volume Wizard’ window.
Enter volume size and click next to continue.
Select file system type as ‘NTFS’ and follow the onscreen guidelines to create and format a new partition

Click here to read my post “Partition Hard Disk in Windows Vista”.

Pencil Printer

saurabh — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 11:29:12 +0000

When was the last time you used a pencil to write something? Ever thought of erasing text from a printout? Pencil Printer prints using pencil and can erase the text also. It is a concept product designed by Yanko Design. Pencil Printer is an awesome showcase of brain’s creativity. The concept of printing using pencil instead of ink is in itself amazing.

Image source: http://www.yankodesign.com/2010/02/23/pencil-printer-part-two/

Share files with your friends

saurabh — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 10:48:21 +0000

File sharing was never as easy for me as it is with dropbox.com. Previously I uploaded the files on my ftp server and send the links to my friends by email. Sometimes I uploaded the file on public sharing websites like rapidshare.com. However, the privacy of such files were questionable as most of the servers were in public domain and there was nothing I could do to limit access to my files. Sometimes I had to break the files into pieces and send them as email attachments to ensure privacy is protected. I also used box.net and file sharing services of Microsoft, but there was nothing much for a free user. However dropbox.com provides free file sharing services upto 2 GB. Once you have installed the software from dropbox.com and you can drag and drop your files to the dropbox just as you would do with your files on local system. And you can access the files from anywhere and can control which files or folders to share. Sync services are also provided and is very useful when accessing files from different computers. One of the best features is the recent events tab which shows you and your friends latest activities on your dropbox and the list can be subscribed via RSS feed. This feature is especially important when your team is working on some project and there is a need to share files amongst the team.

Highlights

Free 2GB space
Managed file/folder sharing
Sync possible with multiple computers
Drag and drop file to your dropbox
Subscribe to RSS feed of recent activity on your dropbox

How to use?

Download software from https://www.dropbox.com/install and install on your computer
Run the software and create your login when prompted to do
To manage file/folder sharing visit www.dropbox.com

Airtel launches mobile app store

saurabh — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 01:26:59 +0000

Airtel launched a comprehensive store of mobile applications – Airtel App Central. App Central has more than 1250s mobile applications with around 20-25% catering to regional or local customers. The cost of the mobile application will be automatically added to the bill for postpaid customers and for prepaid customers it will be deducted from the available balance. Visit Airtel Live from your mobile phone or SMS app to 54321(toll free) to access App Central.

For more info visit http://www.airtel.in/apps/