• Go to your favourite torrent site. Torrentz, The Pirate Bay, Torrent Hound etc.
• Search for the file you want to download.

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• A list of search result will appear. Select your preferred one. More Seeders means more speed.

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• Once you have selected the file, Right click on download link and copy the link address to your clipboard.

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• Now go to zbigz.com and paste the link the box at the top of the page and click on Go.

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• ZbigZ is a freemium service. Free service has limitations like: File Size only 1 GB, Speed upto 150 KBPS and file stored for only 7 days on their servers. If you want you can buy the premium subscription and enjoy premium features. For this tutorial, we’ll stick with Free.

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• Once you select free, ZbigZ will start caching your file. The caching speed depends on the number of Seeders.

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• Once the Caching process is completed then you will be able to Download your file. You can also stream video and audio files online.

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• Once you click on Download, it will again ask you to choose Free or Premium. Select Free again.

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• Your download will start automatically. If you have any download manager installed then select Download option to start downloading torrent. In case, you don’t have any download manager installed then your browser will start downloading the file.

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• The speed is limited to 150 KBPS for free users. You have to pay the price to get those premium features.

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• Make sure you download the file before 7 days. Because it will be removed from their servers after 7 days.

The post How to Download Torrents without a Torrent Client appeared first on Blogsolute.

Yes, it is true that everyone has shortage of time in their lives. Some people wants to go for a Table Tennis game after work, some wants their children to go for Guitar classes after school and some wants to stay away from sites like: Facebook, College Humor, BuzzFeed etc. If you are reading this then you are also one of them who wants to stay away from distractions and focus on work. After all, it’s your work that matters.

It’s important to have fun in life, Of course. But remember when you are having fun, someone is working their butt off, I suggest to check out itmagination.com
it outsourcing will provide you with great software options. .

Cold Turkey is a simple app which let you block distracting websites like: Facebook, BuzzFeed, College Humor, 9gag etc. Let’s see How you can increase productivity with Cold Turkey. You can download Cold Turkey from here.

Cold Turkey is a freemium app. If you want to buy the subscription, you can buy one. For this tutorial, we are going to use the free app.

Installation.

Installing Cold Turkey is not a complicated task. Download and install it like you install other software on your computer. Here is a screenshot walk around:

Cold Turkey will be automatically started, once you finish installing it. Cold Turkey has three sections. Group A, Group B and Group C. The developer has done a great task here because depending on your schedule, you might want to block different set of websites. Just fill in the website name in the box at top and click the group button and the website will get added to that specific group.

Once you add all the websites to be blocked, just switch over to Schedule tab. Here you can set time period to block a certain group or all groups. The free version only allows you to block websites for three days. After three days, you have to add the details and set the time again. If you don’t want to spend money on buying this app then you can make a file of the websites you want to block and just import it after three days. It will be much easier than adding websites after every three days.

Once you have scheduled timings for each group switch over to Start tab. You might want to un-tick the “Let my friends know I’m going Cold Turkey” box. Now click on “Go Cold Turkey” and restart your browser.

Congratulations! You have blocked those distracting websites. Now you can focus on your work.

You can’t edit the websites list and you can’t uninstall Cold Turkey during the block period. So make sure you enter the right details otherwise, you will be blocked from your added websites.

We tried opening the blocked websites but this thing showed up.

The good part is that if you try opening those websites, it will come up with motivational quotes about work and life which is a great thing.

The post Work Faster by Blocking Distracting Websites at Schedule Time appeared first on Blogsolute.

Apple is known for its world class products with great design and features. But all this comes at a price. Apple products are not cheap. If you are in the market and you want to buy a Mac Computer at budget of Rs. 100000 then this guide is for you. We are going to discuss about the best possible configurations you can have on your Mac under 1 Lakh.

Which Mac Computer you can buy under Rs. 100000?

• Macbook Air – both 11 inch and 13 inch.
• Macbook Pro – Non-Retina 13 inch.
• Macbook Pro – Retina Display 13 inch – 128 GB SSD.
• iMac – 21.5 inch – 1.4 and 2.7 GHz.
• Mac Mini.

Laptop Computers

Macbook Air

Macbook Air is the cheapest portable computer offered by Apple. Macbook Air is known for its light design, solid build and good performance. Our Chief Editor – Rohit Langde recently bought one. Macbook Air has a great battery life which I don’t think any other computer have. The 11 inch version gives you 9+ hours and the 13 inch version gives you 12+ hours of battery backup. It’s the coffee shop laptop. It’s the computer on which you can rely blindly when we talk about battery backup and portability. All Macbook Airs with standard configuration in India has a price of less than Rs. 100000.

Macbook Pro (Non Retina)

Macbook Pro (Non Retina) 13 inch version is still going strong not only in India but also in US. It’s the preferred choice of all those, who want a good Mac experience in this budget. It comes with a 3rd Gen Intel Core i5 Processor with 500 GB Hard Disk Drive and 4 GB of RAM. The good part about buying this Macbook is that you can upgrade it easily. You can install a SSD, use its internal Hard Disk as secondary drive with help of a Caddy and use its internal optical drive externally. You can upgrade it to 16 GB of RAM. Although, Apple officially says it can only be upgraded to 8 GB but it can be upgraded to 16 GB without any hassle. You can make this a beast machine which can handle tasks like Video Editing easily.

Macbook Pro (Retina Display)

If you love pixels then this laptop is for you. Macbook Pro – Retina Display 13 inch model with 128 GB of SSD is the only Mac you can buy under Rs. 100000 which has a retina display. It has a 4th Gen Intel Core i5 Processor clocked at 2.6 GHz, 8 GB RAM and 128 GB Solid State Drive. But the sad part is that it’s not user upgradable. You have to live with around 90 GB of space because the rest will be occupied by OS X and apps. Yes, you can always connect an external hard drive with it but carrying an external drive every-time is not a good idea.

Desktop Computers

iMac

Apple is offering two iMacs under Rs. 100000 and both of them are 21.5 inch. The 1.4 GHz dual core and 2.7 GHz quad core model. If you are looking for a computer which sits on your desk then iMac is the thing you should buy. It’s a gorgeous looking machine made out of aluminium. The 1.4 GHz model has a 500 GB HDD, 8 GB RAM and Intel HD Graphics 5000. The 2.7 GHz quad core model has a 1 TB HDD, 8 GB RAM and Intel Iris Pro Graphics. Unfortunately, both 21.5 inch iMacs are non-user upgradable. Both comes with in-box Apple Wireless Keyboard and Wireless Mouse.

Mac Mini

Mac Mini is the cheapest Mac you can buy. All three models, Apple is offering are under Rs. 100000. It’s just a small good looking mini desktop computer. You have to connect your own Monitor, Keyboard, Mouse, Speakers, Webcam and other accessories. It comes with Thunderbolt 2, 802.11 ac, Bluetooth 4.0 which makes it future proof. This is also not user upgradable. The RAMs are soldered to the logic board.

Price Comparison

Which Mac Computer you should buy?

Now comes the question Which is the Best Mac computer you can buy under Rs. 100000? Well, the answer totally depends on one’s requirements but I would like to break it down for you. The best mac under Rs. 100000 is definitely the Macbook Pro – Non Retina Version. And that’s because it’s user upgradable. You can install a Solid State Drive and 16 GB RAM in it. You can use Caddy and use its built-in Hard Disk as secondary drive. You can buy a cheap Optical Drive enclosure and use its built-in optical drive externally. After upgrading it, it will be a beast machine which can handle intensive tasks like Video Editing very easily. It’s portable and you can take it anywhere you want. After upgrading it to the maximum, it still gives a battery backup of 6-8 hours on casual tasks like: Watching movies, browsing the internet, word processing etc. But if you are using apps like Adobe Premiere Pro then the battery drains in less than 4 hours which is still impressive when compared to Windows Laptops. All in all, the Macbook Pro – Non Retina is the mac you want to buy. Even after upgrading it to the maximum configuration its still under Rs. 100000.

You might say that I want a Retina Display or I want great battery backup or I don’t have that much money to spend on just a laptop?

Users Switching from Windows or Ubuntu

If you are a first time user (switching from Windows or Ubuntu) then you should consider Mac Mini. Buy a Mac Mini and connect your Monitor, Keyboard and Mouse with it and you are good to go. Mac Mini is the cheapest Mac you can buy. It’s cheap in price but not in features. It has Thunderbolt 2, 802.11 ac and Bluetooth 4.0. However, if you are planning to do intensive tasks on Mac Mini then it’s not the machine. Previous generation Mac Mini was great on specs. It had a quad core processor. So, if you can get a previous generation Mac Mini then consider buying that over current generation Mac Mini.

For Pixel Lovers

For pixel lovers, Macbook Pro with Retina Display is the bet. Look no more around and buy one. It has a gorgeous display. It has Haswell Processor, 8 GB RAM and 128 GB SSD. You can buy a product like: Transcend Jet Drive to upgrade its SSD but they are not cheap and it will void your Macbook’s warranty. RAMs are soldered to the logic board and trust me you are not the only one who hates Apple for that.

For those who wants great Battery Backup

If you are travelling very often then you should consider buying Macbook Air. It’s a great portable machine with great battery backup. But its display is not that great. It’s a HD Display. Macbook Pro – Non Retina display is better than the Macbook Air’s. Macbook Air is not so good in performance. It’s great for casual things like: Browsing the Internet, Word Processing, Watching Videos, Playing games like Angry Bird etc. But if you try doing Video Editing or using Photoshop on it then it will get heated and you can make an omelette on it, which will not be a good idea. You can try making an omelette on Macbook Air, if you are super rich.

For Home Users

Now comes iMac. Both iMacs under Rs. 100000 are not that great. You cannot upgrade their RAMs, you cannot replace their HDDs with SSD. But if you want a computer that sits on your desk and your whole family can use it for their daily computing purposes then iMac is great. The quad core model is good on performance. You can do video and photo editing on it. Sad part is that both of them have 5400 RPM Hard Disk Drive which are very slow. Considering the fact that you are paying a premium price for it but you are not getting a SSD. You cannot upgrade anything on it. If you try so, Good Luck on that. You have to tear it down to access its logic board.

The Best Mac computer you can buy under Rs. 100000 is Macbook Pro – Non Retina version. But that totally depends on a person’s requirements. I hope that I have helped you in making the decision.

The post Which is Best Mac Computer at Budget under One Lakh appeared first on Blogsolute.

How to Sync all contacts to Gmail?

• Go to Settings > Accounts > Google > Make sure that sync is turned on for your Gmail Account.
• Once Sync is turned on. Google will try to sync your phone contacts to Gmail and Gmail contacts to phone. But it will only sync the Gmail contacts to phone. Now here is Why: You have saved all your contacts in the phone as ‘Phone Contacts’ not as ‘Gmail Contacts’ or Google Contacts.
• Now you want to sync all your phone contacts to Gmail. The procedure is damn easy for KitKat and Lollipop devices.

Devices running Android KitKat and Lollipop.

• Go to Contacts > Options > Export / Backup Contacts and select your Gmail account.
• It will sync all your contacts to Gmail.
• You can go and check whether the contacts has been synced or not. Here: www.google.com/contacts.

For Devices running Jellybean and earlier versions of Android

Now if your device don’t have an option to Export / Backup Contacts directly to Gmail then instead of adding Contacts one by one, you can do a simple workaround here.

• Export / Backup your contacts to Internal Storage / Memory Card.
• Make sure you have the .vcf file with you.
• Once you have the file with you on your Internal Storage or Memory Card. Delete all your contacts. Yes, you heard it right. Delete all of them.
• Now go to Contacts > Options > Import Contacts > Memory Card > Select your Google Account > Select the .vcf file > OK.
• It will import all your contacts to your Google Account and sync it with your phone.

Go to Google Contacts to check, whether your contacts has been synced or not. It will take sometime, if you have many contacts. I had 187, it took less than 10 seconds to sync. Speed of sync also depends on your Internet Connection speed.

Gmail contacts sync problem is solved now. From now on, save new contacts as Google Contacts to automatically sync them to your Gmail account. Also make sure that Auto sync is enabled for Google account (can be accessed – Settings >> Accounts).

The post Solve Contacts not Syncing to Gmail Problem in Android appeared first on Blogsolute.

Despite the increase in the capacity indicated by the manufacturers, Android devices still have a bad reputation when it comes to battery life.

This article is based on personal experiments and tests carried over several months on Android devices. Try to follow the tips given to increase Android battery life in this article.

Battery Life has Degraded after Few months of Purchase

Lithium Battery is composed of series of cells and each cell has its precise voltage. Sum of voltage of all cells forms the total battery voltage. It simply means if one of the cell gets charged or discharged before the other, the value of final voltage will be lower than the ideal value.

Since, mobile phones have a voltage range in which they can operate, phone will turn of regardless of the actual cell voltage.

This phenomenon is common to all devices that use lithium batteries, but more evident on the Android device.

Less Lasting Battery is Just an Illusion

When the battery is recharged repeatedly if they were just partially discharged, Battery seems to “remember” the smaller capacity than actual. This is called as Lazy Battery Effect.

There is a difference between the battery reaching minimum voltage and the one identified by device. And this difference tends to grow with the passage of time.

In this case, recalibration of battery becomes necessary. Android battery calibration will restore the correct values of charge stored in device, making them more accurate about the battery levels.

Calibration of Battery is highly recommended every 30-40 cycles of charge / discharge, approximately every month.

Should I use Battery Calibration Applications?

No, they are completely useless.

The so called programs for calibration simply delete (once they gain root permissions) batterystats.bin file (found in data/system/ ) which (according to them) is key to increasing the battery life.

Wrong! That file is limited to monitoring the operations that are performed by applications and by the system when the phone is not charging.

In a nutshell, it stores data which is shown if you open the Battery Use Menu.

How to Calibrate Battery of Android Phone?

1. Drain the Battery Completely – Let the battery charge fall down to 0% and wait for device to turn off automatically. Try turning it on once and still not signs of life, move on to next step.
2. Plug the charge in Turned off Mode – Let the device charge atleast more than 2 hours (longer than usual upto 4 hours) till it shows 100% charged.
3. Turn ON the phone with Charger connected and once at homescreen, wait for 2 minutes before removing charger.
4. Repeat the Process for 2 more times – Complete Discharge and subsequent long recharges for total 3 cycles.

At the end, we will have completely calibrated battery for Android Smartphone.

The calibration cycles are useful for aligning the voltages of individual battery cells, while the makeup of the outlet on startup will update the configuration files to adapt to the new charge level.

If we reach a full charge and once we detach the charger before turning on your smartphone, the update of configuration files may not occur and the device would use the old values of charge.

The update of files should be done when the battery is fully charged: this scenario is only achievable with the device still attached to the charging point.

Applications and Widgets for Battery Management on Android

The only real way to save battery life (without the backing of third party programs) is to switch off connections when not used at all (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, automatic synchronization, GPS, 3G). Use the 2G network instead of UMTS / HSDPA (especially if your area has fluctuating reception of 3G). And set a low timeout value of screen (under a minute).

To do so, we can use Power Control widget which comes integrated in latest Android versions.

With this application we can control any type of connection but also the brightness, self-synchronization and the ringer volume, with the ability to add new items according to our needs.

If you often forget to turn off then you can automate this thing by installing Juice Defender. It is a handy program that “turns off” connection automatically when screen is OFF and there is no Data Traffic.

The program will activate the automatic disconnection of mobile data connections (2G/3G) by setting a range of synchronization every 15 minutes (useful if you have applications with features like Facebook and Gmail notification), lowering the brightness and turning off the synchronization when the charge battery begins to run low (around 15%).

Lastly, Beware of Task Killers and Calibrators or “Save Battery” apps marketed on Play store. Majority of these apps are really not useful and often give opposite results. Though, you can use Android Assistant for 1 click Android system tweaking and improve overall Android performance.

The post Everything To Know About Increasing Android Battery Backup and Calibration appeared first on Blogsolute.

To save ink, you need not give up printing. There are several tricks and utilities that you can apply to dramatically reduce ink consumption and lengthen the time until the next refill or purchase of cartridges.

Optimize Printer Options

By default, Printing options are set to Normal after installing Printer but some ink saving tweaks can be applied.

Print can be taken out in 3 qualities so it has to be selected according to the use of that print – Normal, Fast Draft and Best.

Fast Draft / Low Quality

I would suggest “Fast Draft” mode if printing something just for yourself (like this Blog Post just for reference) or informal use which doesn’t involve any official document. In this mode, spreading of ink isn’t dense and quality is not so fine but completely readable. Also, prints come out faster so it adds to another advantage of saving time along with ink.

Resolution / Low DPI

DPI refers to Dots per inch and number of dots is directly proportional to ink spread. Keep the Resolution low whenever possible and only set it maximum when printing a photo and where high quality fine prints are desired.

Print in Black / Grayscale

Do you know you can force any color document to print in B/W (Black and White). Printer properties has option to print in Grayscale from where you can select “Black Ink only”. If not saving ink, you will probably save money as Black ink is cheaper than color cartridges.

The Features and Options mentioned above with official Drivers (in my case HP Inkjet Printer). Search for Updated Compatible Drivers and scan for outdated drivers which acts as mediator between Printer and your Computer.

Special Fonts and Apps to Save Ink

Configuring Printer to as above will result in significant savings of Ink but there are some more stuffs. Use of Printer Friendly Fonts and Programs to modify Print documents can result in more cost savings.

PrintWhatYouLike is a Web App which make webpage editable and ready for printing. You can remove unnecessary elements from pages like Advertisement Banners before printing.

Choose Font Wisely

Changing Font can save Ink so, here is a comparison chart given by Matt Robinson which will help you decide:

So, Recommended Font is Garamond. Again, It is a healthy habit to see Print Preview instead of printing job directly.

Use Digital Prints (PDF, EPUB, MOBI on Readers)

With the rise of high-resolution displays, tablet and books e-ink, printing has become increasingly unnecessary. Thanks to documents in digital format, you can view and distribute content without printing.

Use Print to PDF software like NovaPDF which acts like virtual printer to print any document as PDF. You can further use this PDF document on desired device.

Convert eBook to any Format for any Device and read it later on your iPad, Nuke, Kindle, Tablet or even on Mobile Phones.

Think Before Ink

Last but not the least, all optimization settings and tweaks will go in-vain if you print unnecessarily. So, just don’t hit CTRL+P but ask yourself a question next time before you print.

1. Do I really need a Print of This?
2. Is High Quality Print Necessary?
3. Why don’t I just print it digitally?

I shared what I have been implementing since I bought my first printer. Did you find these Tricks useful?

The post How To Print More Pages with Same Cartridge appeared first on Blogsolute.

This article is a list of some useful tricks which could be performed on VLC Media Player. Transform, convert, broadcast and capture are the new verbs apart from “play” with VLC Media Player.

Some of these are useful while there are some which are meant just for fun.

1. Jigsaw Puzzle Game on VLC Video

The playback of video could be broken down into number of parts / pieces similar to what we have in Puzzle Games.

Tools > Effects and Filters > Video Effects > Geometry > Enable Puzzle Game and select number of Columns and rows on screen.

2. Make Artistic Sketch

Gradient Effect on VLC Media player could show Video as if its a sketch drawn by an Artist on Canvas.

Tools > Effects and Filters > Video Effects > Image Modification > check on Gradient

3. Add Logo / Watermark on Video

Though we have already covered a article on how to add Image Logo / Watermark on Video but if you want to have a temporary logo on the video only during playback in presentation, then VLC can do that too.

Tools > Effects and Filters > Video Effects > Logo > Check on Logo and give the file location of Image File either PNG or JPG.

4. Inbuilt Video Converter

When I say it’s more than a payer then you can expect common Multimedia features in VLC. It can convert any video to most popular Video formats without need of any extra software.

Media > Convert/ Save >Add File > Convert > Select Output format and directory to start processing video

5. Inception / Desktop inside Desktop Effect

Not so useful, Meant just for fun to see your Desktop screen go upto infinity.

Media > Open Network Stream > Type screen:// and Hit play button

6. Video Streaming

Not just Local Files (Saved on Compute) but also online media could be played on VLC directly.

You just need to have Video URL which has to be put in Media > Open Network Stream >Enter URL and Play. This could be even Youtube URL to play Youtube Videos on VLC or even Dailymotion and other popular online Video libraries.

7. Play RAR files / Splitted video Parts

Movie when downloaded from internet comes in several parts with extension .001 .002 which are splitted using WinRAR. You no more need another software to join those files for playback. Just drag the .001 file into VLC Player and you are ready to watch the movie.

8. Record from WebCam

Media > Open Capture Device and Play after selecting the WebCam. In my case, it was integrated Webcam to my Laptop.

9. Download Online Media / Streaming Videos

While online media is playing then you can obtain a direct link to download it using VLC. Go to Tools > Codec Information and at the bottom, you will find address of file in Location box.

Alternatively, we can do it by just using Record Option to capture live streaming of video.

Enable Advanced Control from View menu and you will see RECORD button (Red circle)

10. Video Screenshots

You may want to capture some video still and export into JPG / PNG Image file then VLC has Snapshot feature. Right on Video Playback screen and click on Snapshot.

Image file will be saved to the directory you have mentioned in Preferences of VLC.

Were you aware that these all functions could be done using simple Media player? Imagine how many software could be trashed off from your computer which were meant to perform those small operations mentioned above.

The post 10 Little Known Tricks about VLC Media Player to Squeeze Most out of its Versatility appeared first on Blogsolute.