[How to] Block Facebook Game Requests

Not everyone likes getting constant game requests from friends. This is a simple most effective way to completely block Facebook game requests.

This tutorial is to be followed using and android or iPhone.

1. Open the Facebook app and tap on More on the bottom right, then scroll down and tap on Account Settings.

2. Scroll down and tap on Apps.

3. Now tap on Platform.

4. Finally under “Game invites and App Notifications” select NO or OFF. From now on you will never get any game invites.

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Create an Apple ID without using a Credit Card

Some apps, Google Earth for example, are available as free downloads in the iTunes Apps store but you need a UK or US based Apple ID to install them on to your iPad or Phone. Similarly, some iBooks and podcasts have geo restrictions and may only be available to iTunes users who are logged in with an Apple ID for one of the available countries.

The workaround is simple. You can create multiple Apple IDs – like one for UK and another one for US Apps Store – and easily switch between them inside iTunes. So if you are signed-in from India, you can switch to the US store, login with your US based Apple ID and download the app that is otherwise not available in the Indian Apps Store.

There’s however a problem. When you create a new Apple ID, iTunes will require you to enter your credit card and the billing address of your card should be in that country. In other words, you need a US based credit card or PayPal account to create a Apple ID for the US iTunes Store. Apple will not let you create an Apple ID without entering valid payment information (see screenshot above).

That said, you can take an alternate not-so-obvious route in iTunes to create an Apple ID for any country without requiring a credit card. Here’s how:

Create Apple ID in iTunes without your Credit Card

1. Launch the iTunes software on your computer and sign-out of your existing Apple ID. Choose Store in the menu and select Sign-out.
2. Next scroll to the bottom of the iTunes page, click Change Country and select one from the list for which you need an Apple ID. Alternatively, you may click the country’s flag to switch to the iTunes store of another region.
3. Now open the Apps Store inside iTunes, select any app that is free and click the Getbutton to download that App.
4. iTunes will now prompt you to enter your Apple ID and password. Do not enter your existing Apple ID. Instead, click the Create Apple ID button, agree to the terms & conditions, enter your email address &amp password and minimum age.
5. Proceed to the Payments screen and here you’ll see a new option that says NONE (see screenshot below). Select the None option, enter a dummy postal address and submit to create your new Apple ID that will be valid in the iTunes store of that country.

If you have kids at home, you can use this trick to create a separate Apple ID for the iPads, one that is not associated with your credit card and so they’ll never be able to make any accidental purchases.

An Easier Way to Create a New Apple ID

If you need another Apple ID but do not intend to use it with the iTunes store for download apps, there’s an easier way. Go to icloud.com, click the Create Apple IDlink and choose a different country from the dropdown. Your Apple ID will be created instantly but if you decide to use it for downloading iTunes content later, you’d still need to supply the credit card.

You Cannot Create An Apple ID Because You Do Not Meet The Minimum Age Requirement

You need to be at least 13+ years old to create an Apple ID inside iTunes. However, if you enter an incorrect date, iTunes will refuse to create your Apple ID and no matter how many times you try the process, you will keep getting an error saying “you cannot create an Apple ID because you do not meet the minimum age requirements.”

This is most like a caching related bug in the iTune software but can be easily. Open Preferences inside iTunes, switch to the Advanced tab and choose Reset Cache. Quit iTunes and launch the Safari browser. Go to Preferences and under Privacy, choose the option “Remove all Website date” to clear the cache.

Open iTunes again, try downloading an app and it should not allow you to create an Apple ID without issues. Thanks Mahendra for the tip.

(source)

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Teach yourself Touch Typing with Free Tools

Touch typing, or the art of typing with your 10 fingers, can do wonders to your productivity. Most technologically literate people know a bit of typing but if you can type without looking at the computer keyboard, you can get work done faster and gain an edge. Touch typing is also a useful skill to have for mobile and tablet users because when you perfectly know where the keys are, you can “Swype” faster.

Master the Art of Touch Typing

I learned the basics of typing on an old typewriter. Two decades later, I am busy hunting a good typing software for my kid and the number of choices that are available on the web now is mind-boggling. I’ve shared my research here and, whether you are a beginner looking to learn typing or typing to improve your typing speed, this list should help you.

If you are just getting started, the BBC’s Dance Mat Typing should be your go-to resource. It is a browser-based game for kids where each lesson touches a different set of keys and there’s a game at the end of each level to test what you have learned. The lessons would require the Adobe Flash player enabled in your browser.

The next recommended resource is Typing.com, a free website where you’ll find interactive tutorials and drills to help you learn typing step-by-step. Typing Study is a similar resource but unlike other typing lesson that focus on the English keyboard, Typing Study has lessons for keyboards of most popular languages including Hindi and it requires no Flash Player either.

Tipp10 (Mac, Windows) and Typist (Mac only) are desktop software that teach typing offline and you also have the option to upload your own text – like pages of your favorite novel – for practice.

Practice Typing with Online Games

The best way to learn typing is through practice and there are a plethora of online typing games that will help.

The very-addictive Z-type and QWERTY Warriors are shooter games where the ships are assigned a word and you’ve to type as fast as you can to shoot these advancing ships. Type Racer and TyprX let you test your typing speed while playing a basic game of car racing with other users. 10fastfingers lets you practice typing the most common English words while Typing Club allow you to practice individual keys that you you need think need more trainging. Advanced users can try theTyping Karaoke to test their typing skills.

Also see: Typing Shortcuts for iOS

Touch-typing is not difficult and you can become a pro if you set aside 30 minutes everyday for a week or two. Also, it is OK to make mistakes during training but always avoid looking down at the keyboard while typing.

Finally, invest in a good comfortable keyboard – I use Microsoft’s Sculpt keyboardand recommend it highly for ergonomics.

SOURCE:-

Home — How-to Guides — learn

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[How To] See If Your Emails Are Being Tracked

You might not realize it, but there are now email-tracking tools that make it easy for people to see when you open an email, what you click, and where you're located.

"Emails appear no different to your contacts, but you get data when, where, and how a contact interacts with your message," says a cheery video advertising Bananatag, an email-tracking service for Gmail designed for job seekers, advertisers, and those working in public relations. 

In response, a handy new tool called Ugly Email shows you when your emails in Gmail are being tracked, and it starts working before you click anything. 


When Ugly Email is installed, a tiny little eye symbol appears next to any email in an inbox that is being tracked by tools like Bananatag, Streak, or Yesware. 

Installing Ugly Email is easy. First, you'll need to make sure you're using Google Chrome as your web browser. 

Next, click this link to take you to Ugly Email on the Chrome Web Store, click the "Add to Chrome" button, and you're all set. 

Any email arriving in your Gmail inbox will then be vetted for tracking tools, and the Ugly Email team promises that it is "actively working on adding more" email-tracking services to its list. 

Ugly Email just showed up on Product Hunt, so if you're looking for a similar email-alert service that has been around for a while longer, you can always try out PixelBlock, which does the same thing.

Source: TOI

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[How To] Download Files To Dropbox, Google Drive, Box or Microsoft OneDrive Directly

Cloud storage is becoming increasingly popular nowadays and as most of you might have already known, Google drive is now offering 15GB of free cloud storage space to everyone. Apart from the ones who are aware of these, most other users never make any use of this free storage. So lets know more about an interesting way to make the best use of this free cloud storage.

You can make very efficient use of this free storage by uploading all your important files from your PC to any of the cloud storage listed above, Or you can even use these free storages to download and save files directly from the Internet. This method can be very useful when you are browsing the internet from a device which has very limited storage space.

So by downloading files directly from the internet to your Cloud storage, you would be transferring files within the cloud, which will help you save the bandwidth that would otherwise be wasted by downloading it.

Developed by well-known Indian Blogger Amit Agarwal (that's not me BTW :p), Save Web Files is a very useful web tool that can help you with downloading files directly to Google drive or other services like dropbox, Skydrive or Box. Using the service is very simple, simply head over to the site and enter the download link of any file in the input box provided.Next you need to click on any of the web services to which which you need to download the file and follow the instructions.


This web app works flawlessly on both PC’s, smartphones and other hand held devices as well. So, just head over to Save Web Files and enjoy! ;)

                                                                                                                    -Ammy Agarwal

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