Pages

Wednesday, 30 May 2012

Create Two Docks for your iPhone, iPod






Sometimes, you need to put more than 4 icons on your iPhone or iPod Dock! But, you can not because the default supported is 4. There is a Cydia Tweak that lets you increase this to 5, but it is not possible to fit more than 5 on the iPhone or the iPod screen! Well, for this, there is a solution! There is a Cydia tweak that allows you to dock two layers of icons, each layer with 5 icons, thus allowing you to dock in total 10 icons!

DoubleDock Screenshot

This is the first time that we are trying to provide you with a Video Walk-through for this article along with the usual text and picture walk-through that we use! Earlier this week, we shared a few other Cydia Tweaks! Maybe you want to have a look at them as well.

Well, let's begin with the topic of this article. There is a Cydia Tweak called DoubleDock, which is provided by the BigBoss Repo for $0.99 and also provided by xSellize for free! It's up to you which one you want to use. They are more or less the same, but if you want to help the developer, consider purchasing it from the BigBoss Repo.Now, let's get started with the walk-through.

How to Double Dock iPhone or iPod:



  1. To begin with, you would need an iPod or an iPhone that you is already Jailbroken.

  2. Open up Cydia on your device.

  3. If you have the xSellize repo installed already, proceed to the next step. To install xSellize repo, go to Manage -> Sources and click edit. Click the add new button and enter the following URL and press Add Source.
    http://cydia.xsellize.com/


  4. Go to Search in Cydia and type DoubleDock.
    DoubleDock Cydia Search

  5. You will be shown with variety of results. The one is blue is the paid one but the one in black is the free one. Choose the one you want to install. I will be using the free one for this tutorial.

  6. Click on it and choose install from the top-right corner. It will install in a few minutes.
    Installing DoubleDock

  7. Now, just restart your SpringBoard and you will see two docked layers on your home screen!


DoubleDock Preview

As I have already told you about the Video Walk-Through for this article as well, you can watch it by playing the video below! Hope you like it! Do give your comments about the video as this is our first Video Upload!



YouTube Video Link : Click here

Well, this is all we have for this article here! Come back soon to find out more interesting Cydia Tweaks! We will be happy to share a lot of them with you in the near future! Keep subscribed to TechHive so that you never miss any update at TechHive. We have a lot more to come in the field of Android, Blogging, WordPress and even iPhone or iPod! See you around!

Tuesday, 29 May 2012

Convert E-Books for use on iPod or Smartphones






E-Books are getting really common these days! Every publisher provides you an option to buy an EBook of the actual book. This is in order to save a lot of paper and hence save trees. But, that is not the point here. You can read the E-Books on a variety of devices, which include the Apple iPod, iPhone or the iPad or any other Smartphone! Also, there are a various EBook readers available in the market these days. The leading ones are from Amazon(Kindle) and Barnes and Noble(Nook) which provide you with a really good reading experience! I myself prefer reading my E-Books on my Amazon Kindle that I purchased recently!

The E-Books you get on the internet are in various different formats, such as .mobi, .epub, .txt or even .pdf! But what if your EBook reader does not support that format! Well, there is nothing to worry about! It is really simple to convert them into a format usable by your EBook reader! All you need to know is the format that your EBook reader supports! Then, it's all just a simple task!

To perform this simple task, we are going to make use of an application called Calibre, which is an EBook management application. You can sort your E-Books in that app and then convert the ones you need for reading on your Handheld device! You can download the required application by simply clicking here! This is available for Windows, OSX, Linux and also a portable version, depending upon your need!

Calibre Logo

How to Convert Books for your Device:



  1. Download and Install Calibre. You can download it by clicking here.

  2. When you run the application for the first time, you will be shown with a Welcome Wizard, which you can use to configure your Calibre! Enter the library location on the first page and on the second page, choose the device that you own and want to convert books for! Just press Finish after that!
    Calibre Setup Wizard

  3. Click the button on the top left corner that says Add Books. Select the books you want to add and click Open.
    Calibre Add Books

  4. Next, select the books for Conversion and click Convert Books on the Top menu and then, choose the appropriate format from the Output Format Drop Down Menu on the top right.
    Calibre Convert Books

  5. Click "OK" on the Dialog that showed up!

  6. Then, it will start the conversion of the book. You can check the progress by clicking J0bs on the bottom right corner of the Calibre window.
    Pending Jobs in Calibre

  7. Now, in order to get your converted E-Book format, right-click on the book you converted. Then choose
    "Save to Disk" and then "Save single format to Disk" and then select the appropriate format from the list there!

  8. It will ask you for the location where you want to save it. Provide it and it will be done! Now you can copy that to your device! It is that easy!


Well, I hope this small article helped you convert books for your E-Book reading device. Happy Reading! Remember to share this post with your friends so that they can also gain from this! Keep subscribed to TechHive to get latest news in the field of Mobile Devices, Android, Tablets and much more! You can subscribe via RSS or via eMail! Find the registration boxes on the sidebar on the right-hand side!

Monday, 28 May 2012

Change Carrier Name on iPhone or iPod






Earlier, we discussed how to change the carrier logo on your iPhone or on your iPod. Well, that wasn't enough for a few people! I received about five emails asking how can we change the text similar to the Carrier Logo? And then, I just thought I would share it with everyone! Well, if that wasn't enough for you too, you can change the Carrier Name on your iPhone or change the default "iPod" to something like "Aneesh" or something that you might want to display there.

FakeCarrier


Well, this is also a simple Cydia Tweak that we are going to discuss. It is again really simple to install and use! Nothing new in that, but still I would like to guide you through the process! Follow the instructions below to learn how you can do that! The Final outcome is shown in the picture below!

 FakeCarrier Preview



How to Change Carrier Name on iPhone or iPod:



  1. Open Cydia on your Device.

  2. Make sure the default BigBoss Repo is already in your sources. If it is not, then add it manually. The URL for the same is :
    http://apt.thebiggboss.org/repofiles/cydia/


  3. Go to search within Cydia and search for FakeCarrier.

  4. You will get a few results. Choose the one that just says "FakeCarrier" and download it.
    FakeCarrier Cydia Download

  5. After it has been downloaded, you will find it on your SpringBoard. Just Open it.

  6. When you open it, you will be given various Options. Choose Fake Carrier.
    Setting up FakeCarrier

  7. Enter the carrier name on the text box there and then click Set. This will set your Carrier as the desired text.
    FakeCarrier Options

  8. That is all!


Now, if you ever want to reset it to the default one, just click Reset on the Fake Carrier Screen you opened in Step 6. It will be done easily!

Well, this is a fun trick to play with your friends. When you are using, say "ABC" company's cellular network, you can show that you are using "XYZ" company's to your friend! This will definitely trick them! Stay tuned for more Cydia Hacks and tweaks for your iPhone or iPod Touch. Keep subscribed to TechHive for more such interesting posts in the field of Blogging, WordPress, iPod, iPhone or Android Devices! You can subscribe via RSS or Email or like our Facebook Page!

Thursday, 24 May 2012

Should you Start a Blog?






The biggest question that strikes almost everybody when they plan on starting a blog is should you actually start a blog? Well, there is no specific answer to this question, but there are a few points that might help you get to a conclusion on this topic! A few friends of mine wanted to start a blog after seeing me blog. But, then I had to help them and figure out what are they going to blog about!

Earlier, I wrote a post about the things you should know before starting a blog. You might want to have a look at it!

Well, in this post, we are mainly going to discuss about the last point we discussed in the post linked above. Should you Blog? or Should you start a Blog? Well, in my opinion, these are two different questions.The question  Should you Blog is something like you can post on other blogs that accept guest posts and stay happy! The second question, Should you start a Blog is rather a bigger thing! It involves you in starting and maintaining a blog, which is a tedious job for some people.Thinking Man


Let's begin with discussing about the topic of this article!

Should you Blog?


Well, this is a really interesting question and I am going to go in favor of this question here. The answer to this question is described below in the following points.

  • If you something about a Topic, you should definitely share it with the public by posting it to a website as a guest author.

  • If you really like blogging but are short of time, you can just guest blog whenever you feel like it! No commitments of anything!

  • And a many more reasons!


Should you start a blog?


Well, this is rather a more difficult question! Because when you start a blog, there are various things you need to do in order to make your blogging journey successful! Whereas, when you guest post for another blog, you do not need to keep those things in mind that much! It will be done by that blog's editors or the owner himself in some cases! Well, before you start a blog, consider the following points :

  • Are you Fairly Regular? - Like, do you really get time daily to update your blog with a post or two? And then also keep up the work on SEO of the blog and Social Marketing?

  • Are you interested in a Topic? - Always your blog should belong to a Niche and if it does not belong to any specific niche, it is generally bound to go down in some time! Make sure you know well about the topic you wish to write!

  • Are you capable? - Blogging is not just about posting on your blog! You need to be capable of managing as blog, because if you blog gets that boost, it is eventually going to need a lot of management!


If you really think that the above mentioned qualities are within you, then it is good for you to start a blog! And go ahead with its expansion to the next phase whenever you are ready! Well, that is all we have for now in this post! Keep subscribed to TechHive for more such interesting posts in the field of Blogging, WordPress, SEO, Photoshop and a lot more!

Wednesday, 23 May 2012

Change Carrier Logo on iPhone or iPod






Well, if you own an iPhone or iPod, probably you would have it Jailbroken already. If you have not, I can just say that you are missing out on a lot of fun! It is time to Jailbreak your iPhone or your iPod touch. Though, keep in mind that if you jailbreak it, your warranty is voided and the company takes not responsibility what so ever about your device. But, it is always fun to break the rules. Isn't it?

Zeppelin Themes

Well, are you bored by the default Carrier name that appears on your iPhone or iPod? Well, now you can change it using a Cydia Tweak called Zeppelin. This has a lot of preset icons that you can use on your phone. Just follow the steps below and you will end up with something like this.

 Zeppelin Preview


There are a various logos/themes available for Zeppelin, the default ones include the Android Logo, the Batman logo, the Superman logo, the Windows Logo and many more exciting ones that you would definitely love!

How to Change Carrier Logo on iPhone or iPod:



  1. Open Cydia on your device.

  2. Make sure the ModMyi Repo is added to your Cydia Installation. If it is not, manually add it. The URL for the same is :
    http://apt.modmyi.com


  3. Go to Search within Cydia and search for Zeppelin.

  4. Choose the first search result that is just Zeppelin. Click install on the top right and start the download.
    Zeppelin Install

  5. After it has been downloaded and installed, go to Settings and scroll down.

  6. You will find a new option there, namely Zeppelin. Choose that.

  7. Click on enable to enable the Tweak and then choose the theme you want.

  8. There, it is done like cake! That's all!


Also, if you would like more themes for zeppelin, go back to Cydia and search for Zeppelin again. You will find a lot of themes specially for Zeppelin that you can apply! Keep subscribed to TechHive to stay updated with everything from the world of Jailbreaking or Apple or Android or Blogging or WordPress!

Tuesday, 22 May 2012

Tips that help you Blog Better






Starting a blog is not a big deal! Anyone can start a blog, but the main challenge is how do you maintain your blog. Everyday, there are various blogs being made on the internet and also, a lot of bloggers leaving the world of Blogging because they did not succeed. Let me tell you that whether you succeed or no is not in your hand, but if you keep in mind various things, success will eventually come to you! Success never comes overnight. You need to work hard to succeed and that is why it is said " Try and Try until you succeed".

Better Blogging

Well, there are various articles on the internet that tell you how to blog better or write better content! I would like to share the ways that helped me write better content and blog better!

Tips to Blog or Write better:



  1. Write when you are fresh: You should always try to write on your blog only when you are fresh at mind and not sleepy at all! If you are sleepy, better take a nap and write after it! It will really help you to think for the content for your next post! But while you are trying to sleep, do not think about your blog! Stay calm and relax! Your body needs proper sleep in order to function properly.

  2. Go for a Walk: When you are writing blog posts, take short breaks in between and walk around your room or your house just to feel fresh! And when you think you are fresh, get back to your blog. This will not help always, but sometimes it acts as a refreshing agent for you!

  3. Drink Water: Studies have shown that drinking adequate amount of water lets your mind be fresh and it also improves blood circulation, which in turn refreshes you! It is advised to drink as much water as you can or at least  8 glasses of water a day. If you do not like drinking simple water, you can add some flavors to it like mixing it with Tang or something!

  4. Maintain Proper Diet: A proper diet is again a requirement for your body. If your body does not get adequate amount of food required, it will not function to its best! Also, studies have shown that people working in front of the computer generally tend to eat a lot of junk food. But you should keep in mind that that's not all you need to eat! Eat healthy and stay fit!

  5. Listen to Music: Music has an unbelievable power. Music can always refresh your mind. Now that depends on you what type of music you listen to, but soft and soothing music can always refresh you even if you are a Rock/Hip-hop music fan! Listening to music is a good exercise! I myself always write blog posts while listening to music as it keeps my mind calm and fresh!

  6. Change your Spot: If you own a Desktop computer, well this might not be a good option for you! Sometimes, your mind gets bored of being in the same place, like your study room! Change places and write at different places, it actually helps. If you have a laptop, you can also try this. Go to a nearby park when there is not much heat for you to work. Sit in the park  and write your content there itself! It is a really good way to change your mind!


Well, these are all the tips I keep in mind when writing blog posts! Obviously there are going to be other tips over the internet, but those did not work for me, so I do not actually use them! I simply follow these tips. Keep subscribed to TechHive to know more about Blogging, WordPress, Photoshop and SEO!

Monday, 21 May 2012

Fix Wordpress HTTP Error during Media upload






I recently had problem with my blog. Whenever I tried to upload any media to the blog from a file on my computer, it would give me an error message saying "HTTP Error." which was not at all helpful to troubleshoot the problem. Then, I had to search ways to solve this issue. There were a lot of talks about that error on the internet but I found out few ways that proved helpful on my blog. I tried them on different WordPress installations on my blog. And two of them worked and solved the problem! The Cache problem was not for my blog, but might help you!



Then, I was eager to share how you could do the same on your blog in case you face any errors! And here I am sharing the solution to the "HTTP Error." on WordPress during media upload! Out of the two solutions that I am going to share with you, one of them would definitely work! But still if you face any problems, feel free to contact me or share your problem in the comments below!

Fix WordPress HTTP Error on your Blog:



  1. Clear your Cache: The first and the best option is to clear your browser cache. Sometimes due to presence of this cache, your blog is not able to function properly! First try this out and then proceed to the second or the third option.

  2. Re-install WordPress on your blog: The most common solution to the problem was to re-install WordPress on your blog. But, it requires taking backup of your blog completely and then restoring that backup! This is quite a tedious task and may require expert help. You can re-install WordPress by going to your WordPress Dashboard -> Updates and choosing Re-install now. This will re-install WordPress for you and in turn would replace the file that was causing the error. You can also manually re-install your WordPress Installation by going to your cPanel and deleting all the WordPress files on your server and then re-uploading them to the server by downloading the latest WordPress from its official website.

  3. Using .htaccess: A htaccess file is basically a configuration files that is used on Apache based servers, pretty much all the servers these days. You can simply assign configuration for a folder or website in the .htaccess file. Now, for this process you are going to need your cPanel access. Open up your cPanel(Tip: You  can browse http://your-website.com:2082 to open cPanel directly!) and then log in. Next, browse to the wp-admin folder in your WordPress installation and click new file from the menu. Name the file as ".htaccess", without the quotes, and then select the file and choose edit. Paste the following into the file and save it. Your problem would have been solved!
    <IfModule mod_security.c>
    SecFilterEngine Off
    SecFilterScanPOST Off
    </IfModule>



I hope that you were able to solve your problem with media upload. If you still have some problem, feel free to ask it out in the comments section below or using the contact me page! Keep subscribed to TechHive to know more about various technology tips and tricks!

RSSOwl : A Desktop RSS Reader






Keeping up to date in the world of technology is a very difficult task! Every second, there is an update to anything you can imagine. From android development to new gadgets to tech events! Everything happens so fast these days and staying updated is a challenge. There are various ways of being updated, which include RSS Feeds, Social Media or daily email alerts. But, if you want the news as soon as it is published, Social media or RSS is the best option. Also, it is not possible to keep logged in to your Social Media accounts every time and stay updated. Then, RSS comes to rescue and what better than a Desktop RSS Client which notifies you of the news as per your own settings.

There are various RSS Clients available on the internet, free or paid, and have different features. I have personally used FeedDemon and RSSOwl. I found RSSOwl better as compared to FeedDemon. I did not like the formatting of FeedDemon, maybe it is like that on Windows XP. Try it on Windows 7, maybe it will work. But I seriously can not say anything about that.

RSSOwl Logo


So, getting back to the topic, RSSOwl is a powerful Desktop reader that can handle RSS, RDF and Atom Newsfeeds.

Features of RSSOwl:



  • It is multi-platform application that can run on Windows, Linux, Mac OSX.

  • Syncs with Google Reader to allow you to access your feeds from different computers easily.

  • Available in many languages.

  • Organize Feeds in folders.

  • Multiple columns that make reading news in the app really easy. Also, support for installed browsers on the computer.

  • Export your RSS Feeds to a file to be imported into another reader that you decide to use after this! Also, you could use the Google Reader Sync if your new Reader supports that!

  • Control the news update frequency.

  • Control the notification frequency.

  • And many more..


Final Verdict: At last, I would just say that RSS Owl is a Desktop RSS reader that you always wanted. It has all the features that you would want in a RSS Reader on your desktop. Go grab it now!! Click here to download.

RSSOwl Screenshot


 

Well, that's all for now! Hope to see you around. Keep subscribed to TechHive to know about the latest technology stuff! You can subscribe using RSS or by Email. And now, you can even subscribe to TechHive on your RSSOwl Client! Stay tuned for more interesting articles!

Sunday, 20 May 2012

How to Make Troll Face Comics






Troll Face comics are something that the internet is flooded with these days. They are sometimes funny but sometimes they hurt the sentiments of a person. None the less, they are still being shared on the internet and everyone wants to make their own comics, depicting scenes from their own life or from a situation they ended up in with their friends! Well, the steps to do this are pretty easy and anyone can do that with these easy steps.

All you have to do is open up a website and put in your imagination there! When you look at them, had you ever thought it's gonna be so simple? Well, it actually is! There are various tools available online and I would like to share the ones I found useful!

Trolled Comic

Steps to Make the Troll Face Comics:



  1. Well, there are various sites available for the same as I have already told you. The ones I use sometimes are MemeBase RageBuilder, RageMaker and RageGenerator. I personally prefer the MemeBase RageBuilder or the RageMaker because they all the comic faces divided into categories which help make the comic really fast.

  2. Firstly, Open up any of the above website. And choose make new Comic.

  3. Then, on the screen, you will see four empty boxes like this.
    Troll Comic Canvas

  4. This will be your working canvas. Now, just import the comic face you want and click on add text to add the text to the comic strip. One thing I don't like about MemeBase RageBuilder is that it does not allow you to open your own image in the comic. This is overcome by using the RakeMaker.

  5. Now, when you are done with the comic, just click export and you will be provided with your comic that you can save and share with your friends over the internet.

  6. That is all you need to do to make a Troll Comic!


I hope this simple guide lets you make your own Comics in a really fast and organized way. Also, I suggest you to make an account with the website you are going to use to make the comics because it will be easy to manage all your Comics, in case you need them sometime in the future. It keeps it organized very well. Keep subscribed to TechHive to receive the new posts directly into your mailbox or into your RSS Reader.

Saturday, 19 May 2012

Instagram Alternatives for iOS






Instagram is a powerful photo editing and sharing application available for the iPhone and Android Devices. It enables you to take pictures, edit them with the inbuilt photo editor and share them to various social networks. Recently, it was purchased by Facebook Inc. Also,  I would say Instagram isn't the only worth having. You could keep other apps and use them when you like!

Instagram Alternatives

3 Instagram Alternative you would love:



  1. Photosynth - Photosynth is an app by Microsoft Inc. that has the capability to take various pictures and then stitch them together in a spherical panorama. It is a fully guided app, that helps you click stills for the panorama. The panorama's shot with this app can be shared on Facebook, Twitter and Photosynth.
    Photosynth for iPhone 

  2. Hipstamatic - This is an app that will give you the actual feel of using a camera. You can actually swap the lenses, films and the flash settings, giving you the actual feel of a camera! Using this app, you can share your pictures on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Flickr and Tumblr! This is something that no other app offers!!
    Hipstamatic

  3. TiltShift Generator - This is again an amazing app that lets you control the blur you want and at what point of your picture do you want that! Also, it lets you change the contrast, brightness and the saturation of your pictures! This also has built-in support for email, Twitter and Facebook!
    TiltShift Generator


These were the few Instagram alternatives I found useful! I have been using them on my iPod for quite some time and was fascinated by them! There are various other apps for the same thing, but I prefer these. Do you like any other apps for performing the same task? Share it with us in the comments section! Keep subscribed to TechHive to be updated about various topics! We will soon come out with some alternatives for the Android platform as well. Keep checking!

Friday, 18 May 2012

How to Check if a Website is Down






This happens with all of us one or the other time when we try to open up any website, we are unable to open the website and we think that the website may be down. But, a lot of times that might not be the case. Maybe your ISP is not able to reach that website and then, we start criticizing the website for down time. But, actually that is not the fault of the website, but it's a fault at your end or precisely your ISP's end. So, in such case, there is an online tool that could help you decide whose fault it is.



The tool I am going to share with you all is a website that tests the working of any other website that you wish to browse. The steps are pretty simple and anyone can perform them without any technical knowledge. It is a very simple procedure as described below.

How to Check if a Website is Down:



  1. Open up www.DownForEveryoneOrJustMe.com or you could even use their new short URL www.isup.me.

  2. When you open the website, you will see a text box on the screen.

  3. Enter the website you want to check. eg: www.techhive.in

  4. If the website is working fine at their end, it will give you a message saying " It's just you. [the website] is up." and will give you an option to check another website.

  5. If the website is not working at their end too, it will give you this message " It's not just you! [the website] looks down from here." and again it will give you an option to check another website.

  6. Well, this was simple as 1,2,3. Isn't it?


If you face downtime with your own website, sometimes it is your ISP not able to open that up. Check it up using this method before you blame your Hosting provider for downtime. Hope you liked this short post. And I hope this will enable you to check whenever a website is not working! Keep subscribed to TechHive for more such interesting posts. We have a lot more to share!

Thursday, 17 May 2012

Schemer Launches App for iPhone






The Google's Schemer service has launched its official app for iPhone and the iPod. The app is capable of doing almost everything that you could do from your computer on its website. For those of you who are unaware about Schemer, it is an online tool that lets you find things to do right now or maybe the things you would like to do in the future. Also, Schemer was launched as an invitation only service but now, anyone with a Google+ account can easily sign up for the service. If you are not using the service till now, I would recommend you to join as soon as possible. It is actually fun.

Schemer Logo


Schemer finds all those people who you are connected on Google+ and then finds interesting things for you to do with them. The things it searches for you are somethings that interest you and one or more of your Google+ friends are doing. Also, when you add a scheme to your account, it notifies your friends that also share the same interest! Isn't that cool?

Well, talking about the iPhone app, the app was released on 16th May,2012 on the Apple's app store. They sent out emails to every registered member notifying them about the same. Click here to download the application for your iPhone or iPod. The salient features of the app are listed below.

Salient Features:



  • You can make schemes daily and your friends will be notified about it.

  • Preset schemes and manual schemes also available.

  • Syncs with your Google+ account.

  • And many more...


Schemer iPhone Screenshots

I also use this app on my Android mobile phone. It was launched for Android before it was launched for the iPhone and the iPod. You can get the app from Google Play Store or by clicking here.

I really found this app useful when using on my iPod. It is actually a nice app to have and let people know what you are planning to do today!

 

Wednesday, 16 May 2012

3 Reasons to Buy a Smartphone






Smartphones are the gadget of the century. A person has to have a smart phone if he wants to survive successfully in this tech-crazy world! Well, there are various reasons a person may or may not buy a smart phone, and here I would like to discuss the reasons to buy them.

Smartphones of the Century



Reasons to buy a Smartphone:



  1. Entertainment and Games: Entertainment and games are something that no one would mind having in their phone. Though the phones that are not a Smartphone, also have games but the games you get on a Smartphone are simply the best! The developers these days are developing games for all the Smartphone OS so it doesn't matter which one you decide to go with.

  2. Productivity and Management: Definitely a smart phone will increase your productivity and help you manage your work better. A smart phone will have features like Push-Mail and other features that will definitely be a plus point to your work. Also, there are apps available to manage various things like your schedule, money, expenses and everything else.

  3. GPS Navigation: A smart phone is capable of acting as a GPS Navigation device. A GPS is a necessity in today's world with the development of the Road Network all over the world. Whenever you go to a new place, you will have directions and a map of the place, which is helpful at times.


Well, there are other reasons to buy a smart phone as well but these were the main reasons I would say I use my smart phone for. Also, if you are a blogger and stay outdoors a lot of time you might wanna consider buying a smart phone so that you can keep track of your blog easily on the go. Keep subscribed to TechHive for more informative post. You can also subscribe by email so that you never miss any update!

Tuesday, 15 May 2012

Tips to Maintain a Healthy Windows OS






Microsoft's Windows Operating System(OS) is a very common Operating system these days. But, for proper functioning of the OS, you need to perform various maintenance tasks on it that will help you run a Healthy OS. By Healthy OS, I simply mean that the OS is working fine without any errors or lags. To achieve this, there are various ways. We already discussed How to Maintain a Healthy Windows XP OS in our post here. In this post, I will discuss them for all versions of Microsoft Windows.


Tips for a Healthy OS:



  1. Disk Cleanup: Run the default Disk Cleaning Utility once every month. A detailed guide can be found on our previous post, which is linked in the text above.

  2. Disk Defragmentation: The data on the disk is stored in different fragments and you really need to do this on your computer at least once a month.

  3. Scan Disk: Sometimes the hard disk has some errors and that lead to read or write errors for the windows OS. You should scan your hard disk for any such errors and fix them. You can also schedule a boot time disk check for a better scanning of the hard disk.

  4. Cleaning: The above tasks can be accomplished by simply using the inbuilt System tools. This is a task that you can perform by installing an application on your computer. The application is called CCleaner by Piriform. This is a really useful application. You can clean up space on your hard disk and also, you can fix registry issues with this application.

  5. Fix Registries: Registries are a type of information that any application that you install saves on your computer. But, when you un-install the application, these registries are sometimes not removed. So, they leave broken registries in the computer. You can simply fix the registries by using the CCleaner application mentioned in the above point.

  6. Antivirus and Anti-malware: An antivirus and an anti-malware applications are a must on your computer to keep it free of viruses and malwares. There are various applications available that can do this task. There are many free as well as paid applications. I personally prefer using the Avast Antivirus's free edition. Also, you must keep them up to date so that they can "fight" any virus or malware attack on your computer.


Well, these are more or less all the points you need to keep in mind in order to have a healthy Windows OS. If you have any other suggestions for us, share it with everyone in the comments section and let us know of them. Keep subscribed to TechHive for more such interesting posts. There are various subscription options available for our Blog.

Monday, 14 May 2012

Browse Facebook in Style






Sometimes I feel that the simple Facebook design isn't that good and in turn I get bored with it. So, to make Facebook more fun and interesting, I use various themes on my Facebook account and I surf Facebook in style! I thought of sharing this with you all, so that you can also enjoy Facebook like I do. Well, to begin with, you will either need Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox. The process for both the browsers is more or less the same. We have listed down the procedure for Google Chrome, and have included a link for Mozilla Firefox. We hope you can easily figure that out. If you have any problems, you can always get back to us using the Contact Me Page or commenting below.


How to Browse Facebook in Style:



  1. If you are using Google chrome, Click here to download the extension required. If you are using Mozilla Firefox, Click here to download the extension required.

  2. After you install the extension, you will have to restart your Mozilla Firefox, but Google Chrome does not require a restart.

  3. After the above 2 steps, you would see a S sign on your browser. If it is chrome, it will be on the right of your Address bar and if it is Firefox, it will be on the status bar.

  4. Open up Facebook on your browser.

  5. Click on the "S" sign you located in step 3 and choose "Find more style for this site". You will be taken to a website where you can choose the theme that you like.

  6. When you find a suitable theme, just open it and click install.

  7. This will activate the theme. Now, when you wish to deactivate the theme, just click on the "S" sign again and choose "Disable" next to the theme. This way, you will also be able to get back to the original theme.

  8. Hope you have fun!



Well, this is all we have in for this article. Hope you find this interesting and share it with your friends as well. Happy surfing!

Sunday, 13 May 2012

Tips To Speed Up Your Blog Load Time






Web page loading time is one of the most important part of a website or blog and Search engines penalize the blog for having slow loading time. And thus, it comes out to be the most important thing that any blogger must take care of. This can be achieved by performing various operations on your blog or in other words, Tweaking your blog. There are many ways in which you can achieve this and I will like to discuss the main points here that will definitely help you!


Tips to Speed up your Blog:



  1. Compress your CSS- CSS is one of the most important part of any web page as it provides it with the look the page has and often we end up writing very long CSS codes. And thus, it takes more time for the web page to load. You can easily achieve this task by following our older post over here


  2. Use Caching Plugin- Caching is a technique in which you save a cache of all the web pages on your blog, which load faster as they are static pages and do not require much time to load. It is highly recommended to use a Caching Plugin like W3 Total Cache or the WP Super Cache. Both plugins work good but we prefer the former.

  3. Limit the number of Images- Images are something that take a long time to load as they are heavy sometimes. So make sure you use minimal images or use small sized images wherever required. While giving a tutorial, you would definitely need to give images as an image is worth a thousand words but you can avoid unnecessary images on your homepage or other pages.

  4. Use a fast theme- A fast theme is one which everyone likes. And a theme will be fast if it uses very less images and has a concise CSS file. You might consider using the famous Thesis Framework as it has proven to be one of the fastest theme frameworks for WordPress.

  5. Disable unwanted Plugins- Use only those plugins that you really need. There is no point in using a plugin because a top-blog uses it. You need to analyse the plugin and see if you use it, what are it's pros and cons and then finally decide whether to use it or not.

  6. Split long posts into pages- Whenever you write a very long post, you might want to consider this. Splitting your post into pages allows every page to be small in size, which is good loading time. Also, it make the post easily understandable for the reader. Read our post here to know how you can do that!



Well, I hope these ways help you speed up your Blog to some extent. You can use the following two websites to know how good your website loading is. One is the famous Pingdom Tools and the other is Google PageSpeed. See you around. Subscribe to TechHive updates via email or RSS or Facebook and stay in touch with us!

Friday, 11 May 2012

Rooted your Android Phone? What to do now?






Rooted your Android phone recently and do not know what to do with your phone now? Well, here is a quick guide on what all you can do with your phone! A lot of people just root their phones because their friends or colleagues tell them it's cool to root your phone. But, do you actually know what does Rooting your Android phone give you? It gives you immense powers to do various tricks with your phone. From changing the Processor's speed to controlling the temperature of the phone or from disabling default Android services that you actually never used to updating to a totally new firmware! This is kind of all the things you can do after rooting your Android based phone.



To begin with, let's discuss what is Rooting exactly!
Rooting is a process allowing users of smartphones, tablets, and other devices running the Android operating system to attain privileged control (known as "root access") within Android's subsystem. Rooting is often performed with the goal of overcoming limitations that carriers and hardware manufacturers put on some devices, resulting in the ability to alter or replace system applications and settings, run specialized apps that require administrator-level permissions, or perform other operations that are otherwise inaccessible to a normal Android user. Rooting is analogous to jailbreaking devices running the Apple iOS operating system or the Sony PlayStation 3. On Android, rooting can also facilitate the complete removal and replacement of the device's operating system.

Let me now tell you what all you can do after rooting your Android phone in brief and we also might come up with a detailed post on each of them!

  1. OverClocking- Over Clocking is defined as increasing the speed of your CPU in order to make things run better on your phone. This can be achieved by using a kernel for your phone that allows overclocking and then using an application to achieve the same.

  2. Custom Firmware- Custom Firmwares are firmwares that are developed by individuals or teams, which are not associated with the mobile phone manufacturer. These firmwares have something that one would want in the phone. Certain features are disabled, which are generally not used while some really demanding ones are provided. It also improves up your Battery life.

  3. Better Battery Backup- You can achieve a better battery backup by using temperature and CPU speed control apps on your phone. You can set up profiles that will assign a maximum CPU speed during different situations. Like when the phone screen is locked, you do not need higher speed. So, you can assign a lower sped during that, which will definitely save battery.

  4. Disable Unwanted Services- Android phones have a lot of unwanted services running in background. Like the email app that most people might not use or the apps that came in with your phone that you do not use. You can easily disable or the technical term is "freeze" them until you need them.

  5. Apply Themes- After rooting your phone, you get an option to apply themes to your Android phone. There are firmware specific themes available over the internet(free and paid) and let you even get ICS interface on Gingerbread!


There are various other things you can do with your phone after you root it. These were just a few of the most commonly done things. Want some more items to be included in this list? Post them in the comments below and share it with everyone! Also, Keep subscribed to TechHive to receive updates from us as and when they are posted!

Thursday, 10 May 2012

Stanza : An alternative to iBooks






Well, recently I got into a habit of reading a lot of books and that was indeed accompanied by finding apps to read them on my iPod while I am on my way to college or otherwise! I tried the Apple's E Book reading app, iBooks. The app worked fine till I had not jailbroken my iPod, but when I jailbroke it, iBooks stopped working. Then, I started finding alternatives to this app and found out about this amazing app called Stanza. This app is a free app that lets you download E books from the internet and even put them into the app's directory directly from iTunes on your computer.

Stanza LogoI found reading the books with this app much more comfortable than with the iBooks app and hence I decided to share it with everyone around here! The app comes with various themes to choose from. There is a light colored theme, a dark theme, and many others that you can choose according to your mood/lighting etc. Also, you can control the font size, the animation and all other settings as you like! It provides you with one eBook and a Guide pre-loaded in the app.

Go ahead download and install the app right now! Click here to download! After you download the app, follow these steps to transfer your eBooks.

How to transfer eBooks to the Stanza app using iTunes



  1. Connect your iPod or iPhone or iPad to your computer.

  2. Open up iTunes.

  3. Browse to your device from the list of devices on the left.

  4. Now, Browse to Apps tab from the various apps from the sub menu.

  5. Scroll Down till you see Stanza as one of the apps.

  6. Click on it and then click on Add on the right.

  7. Browse for the files and click Open.

  8. You have successfully added files to your Stanza app on your device.


Stanza Screenshots

Keep subscribed to know more alternative apps as and when we find them! Don't forget to subscribe via RSS Feeds and by email.

Tuesday, 1 May 2012

Cross fade Songs on iPod touch or iPhone






A feature that I can say that Apple forgot to add in its iOS for iPod or iPhone or iPad is the ability to cross fade songs. The Apple's iPod Nano is the only version of the iPod that is capable of cross fading two songs. Now, when you are hosting a party, you do not want to listen to all the songs for their full length! This application is also capable of playing all the songs you add to its library for a specified amount of time or play the full song. You can just set that in the settings and plug in your iPod and forget that there was something plugged into your music system! Just feel like you are enjoying a DJ Party with professional mixes.

My DJ Crossfade for iPhone

Application : My DJ - Crossfade for iPhone

About the App : This is an application that you will definitely want on your iPhone or your iPod! This is an application capable of doing a lot of powerful things that you wished your default music playing app on the iPhone or iPod could do. You can choose your playlist for the day by manually adding any song or existing playlist from your Music player on the iPod or the iPhone. Also, you can share what music you are listening to the popular Social Networking websites, Facebook and Twitter!My DJ - Crossfade for iPhone

How to use the application : The application in quite simple to use. All you have to do is download it and install on your device. Then, start the application, it will show you the home screen. Choose songs from the options displayed down there. Add the songs you want to listen and then just click play songs. Also, you might want to go to settings to set up a few options. The options available for you to set are :

  • Shake to change song

  • Song Play time

  • Shuffle Songs

  • Crossfade Length

  • And many more...


Download the application by clicking here.

TechHive Rating : 4.5/5

Keep subscribed to TechHive for more such amazing App reviews and information! See you around! If you are facing any problems with the app, get in touch using the comments below!