Three Sites For The Google+ Addict

 

 

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If you're a big fan of Google+, take a look at these sites that'll help you discover new users and create a short profile URL for your Google+ profile.

See Top 100 Google+ Users

Google+ Statistics is a neat site that lists the top 100 people on Google+ with their follower count. You can use it to find profiles of the most interesting people on Google+. In addition, you can sign in with using your Google ID or type in your unique profile ID to have yourself included in the tracking. Visit Google+ Statistics

Get a short URL for your Google+ Profile

Google+ profile URLs are pretty long and it's hard to remember them. On Plus.ly/GPlus.to, you can key in your profile ID and create a short URL of the form plus.ly/username or gplus.to/username that redirects to your Google Plus Profile page. Visit Plus.ly or GPlus.to

Find new, relevant people to add to your circles

Think of RecommendedUsers.com like the WeFollow directory, but for Google+ instead of Twitter. You go to recommendedusers.com and click on one of your interests. The site will show you a list of Google+ users that you can add to your circle. You can also narrow down the list of users by using the left panel. It's an easy way to find interesting and popular people to follow on Google+. Visit RecommededUsers.com

Post from: Killer Tech Tips

Three Sites For The Google+ Addict

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Review: Windows 8 Transformation Pack

 

 

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There's a lot of buzz around Windows 8 right now and there's a lot of talk around new Windows 8 features like the Metro UI, for example. Here's your chance to get a peek at how it will be using Windows 7. Check out the Windows 8 transformation pack.

Thanks to Windows X Live, this application is available as a free download here.

Installation of Windows 8 Transformation Pack:

I was very much surprised to see that the size of the Windows 8 Transformation Pack was 53 megabytes. And in addition, it is recommended that you also download .NET Framework 4.0 whose file size is another 48 Mb. 100 megabytes just for a transformation pack and my expectations were high.

The best part of the transformation pack is its easy and safe installation. You get a single EXE file which when run gives you the following dialogue.

In order to get an experience of more of the Windows 8 UI, I suggest that you check the Metro UI checkbox. You might want to, however, remove the tick mark from the "Set Window X's Live as default homepage" option.

Click on the 'Install' button once you are done and the installation of the Windows 8 Transformation Pack will begin. Your screen will eventually turn black and white and the Windows 8-like theme will be applied. Restart your system for the rest of the modules to finish their installation.

Note: If Explorer crashes and your system becomes super slow, don't get scared. Simply click on the Cancel buttons repeatedly and things will be back to normal.

First Impressions:

Upon restarting Windows 7, the first thing you will notice is the startup screen which is still black, but has some added design that makes it look better. We are not exactly sure it this will look the same in the final release of Windows 8.

What comes next is the new login screen, with the Windows 8 Ultimate logo. A similar design is applied here and it looks quite great. The power options are available at the bottom right of the screen with the big button, which cannot go unseen. I also noticed that the blue is mild when compared to the default login screens in previous versions of Windows and it looks soothing.

Once you've logged in, the first things that you'll notice are the new wallpaper and widgets. There is also a sidebar which provides you options like Search, Share and Settings.

The Windows 8-like Metro UI (which is called Zetro) is not enabled by default and you need to go to Personalize > Installed Themes and pick Zetro UI to activate it. Once done, you get to see an interface that looks much cleaner than the normal UI. You also get functionalities like Aero auto-colorization, user tiles in the taskbar, etc. The Metro UI looks more similar to Windows Phone 7 Mango.

The guys at Windows X have even managed to change the About window in Windows 7 to resemble as if it's from Windows 8.

Please note that you must have .NET Framework 4.0 installed to make these things work.

Other Changes:

The start menu icon is one of the major changes made by the Windows 8 transformation pack. The circular windows icon is replaced by a cool Windows logo.

Another change is a picture tile at the right corner of the taskbar which gives you access to the Control Panel, User Account Control, etc.

The close, maximize and minimize buttons at the top of windows have also been changed.

'My Computer' also gets some new styling, thanks to the Windows 8 transformation pack. Memory bar looks more stylish and scrollbars too are prominent in black colour.

Perhaps the coolest thing about the theme is the way things are transparent. You get to see through window title bars, the start menu etc.

Conclusion – Should you install the Windows 8 Transformation Pack in Windows 7?

The Windows 8 transformation pack is the most comprehensive styling option for Windows users. It not just provides support for all versions of Windows – including XP, Vista and 7 but also goes a long way in bringing the Windows 8 experience to users. Although it is not exactly sure whether all these components will remain the same when Windows 8 is launched, it's a nice way to start. Like promised, Windows X guys have made installation and uninstallation simple enough. Great effort overall!

Download Windows 8 Transformation Pack

Download .NET Framework 4

Post from: Killer Tech Tips

Review: Windows 8 Transformation Pack

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Make Windows 7 Look Like Windows 8

 

 

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If you're using Windows 7 and if you'd like to get a taste of Windows 8′s interface and features, some third party programs can let you make Windows 7 look like Windows 8. These enhancements are definitely not top-notch, but they can still prove to be nifty nonetheless.

Let's take a look at some free software that help you make Windows 7 look like Windows 8.

Get Windows 8-like Taskbar User Tile in Windows 7

Windows 8 comes with an enhanced taskbar that shows the current user's picture near the notification area of the taskbar. Clicking on it, one can quickly access options to modify user account settings.

Taskbar User Tile is a neat little program that puts your user picture in the Windows 7 taskbar, just like it appears in Windows 8. The tile is displayed between the date/time area and the show desktop icon in the taskbar's bottom right. In case you find the display of the user tile buggy or just want to turn it off, just right click on the picture and choose 'Close' to make the tile disappear.

Add Windows 8 like Metro UI startscreen in Windows 7

Windows 8's Metro UI is getting a lot of buzz and if you're a fan, you can get the same in Windows 7 using Omnimo. It's a Rainmeter skin that brings the Metro style widgets to Windows 7.

Download Rainmeter from here and then unpack the Omnimo skin. There are a couple of free Metro UI enhancements for Windows 7 but none of them match the level of professionalism and customization offered by Omnimo.

Get Windows 8 Aero Features in Windows 7 With Aura

Windows 8's Aero glass color scheme changes based on your desktop background or active window icon. Aura does the same thing for Windows 7, and in addition, it lets you set the Aero color based on the icon of the currently active tab in Internet Explorer 9.

The changes will be noticeable only if you increase the color intensity from 'Appearance and Personalization' settings, as the Aura program advises.

Download the Windows 8 Transformation Pack for Windows 7

Previously reviewed Windows 8 transformation pack for Windows 7 makes a ton of changes to make Windows 7 resemble Windows 8's interface. Besides just changing the start menu and window close buttons, the transformation pack also adds a slew of other features, including Metro UI and user tiles to the taskbar.

Read our review to know more.

In the next few months running up to Windows 8′s release, there are going to be a ton of free programs coming out that help you emulate Windows 8′s best features in other Windows editions, Windows 7 and may be even Vista and XP. Bookmark this post as we keep updating it with more interface enhancement apps.

Post from: Killer Tech Tips

Make Windows 7 Look Like Windows 8

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Five Useful Google Search Tips You May Not Know About

 

 

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We've previously written about a couple Google tricks that are unpopular but highly useful. You can do a bunch of things with Google, including checking websites for malware, reading articles without having to pay, searching photos based on region and locking safe search to prevent kids from viewing explicit content.

Here's how you can do them all. These tips may come in handy some day, so don't forget to bookmark this article. Do share the information by tweeting the post or sharing it on Facebook.

1. Manually check for malware using Google

Google's search results warn you about suspicious websites that host malware so that you can avoid visiting them. What if you want to check a site manually for malware content? It's pretty easy. Just append the site's address to this URL and a Safe Browsing diagnostics page will pop-up like the one above detailing malware infections, if any.

2. Search pictures by region

If you want to search for photos of actors from India or a specific region, there's a way to do it in Google Image Search. Just go to the advanced search page and choose a region from the drop down list on the page. You can also search for movie posters from a particular region, as Amit points out. This feature can serve many more use-cases.

3. Search for people's profiles

Everyone's on Google+ these days and if you want to search for people's profiles, it's not necessary that you have to go to Google Plus every time. Just launch Google.com in a new tab, do a name search and append &tbs=prfl:e to the search URL. This restricts search results to only people's profiles.

4. Read articles behind a paywall

Business Insider mentions that you can use Google to read articles from sites like the New York Times where information is behind a pay wall. Just search for the article using its exact title on Google and it'd pop up in search results. You can read up to five articles every day on sites like the NY Times using this work-around.

5. Lock Google's Safe Search

You might have enabled the Safe Search option from Google's search settings to prevent explicit content from showing up in results. If you share your computer with your friends or kids, you can manually 'lock safe search' from the settings page to prevent others from changing it in your computer. Once Safe Search is locked, coloured balls appear in the search results page indicating that results don't include explicit content.

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Do check out our previous list of less obvious Google search features if you haven't done it already. If you've got an interesting tip to share, do tell us in the comments.

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Five Useful Google Search Tips You May Not Know About

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