Basic Requirements

1.) Window Media Encoder 9 – Get it from here.

2.) Music Source – You can use your CD player output or simply few audio files stored on your computer. Music source can be generated by many other means as well like MP3 player or other similar audio devices.

3.) Selected Port Forwarding by Router – This is most important. Not many of us know how to configure Router to forward the selected port. But don’t worry, I’ll provide you the detailed guide to this problem. First, you should know about your Router manufacturer name. After that, visit this page for step-by-step guides on how to setup port forwarding. (Scroll down to that page and you will see list of all possible routers. Select the name of your router and it will take you to the next page. Find the “Default Guide” link on that new page and click on it to get the detailed information.)

Initially, even I was not aware of how to forward ports but thanks to Madhur who helped me in doing this. Later on, I found the above mentioned site for learning to forward ports on all types of Routers.

Now when you are done with all basic requirements, let’s move to actually configuring our system so that we can able to successfully set up our own radio station.

Configurations

1.) Choose any Port number of your choice and program your router to forward your selected port to your main computer. I chose 2300 at my port number.

2.) Open Windows Media Encoder

3.) Select “Broadcast a live event“.

4.) Uncheck the “Video” checkbox and enable “Audio” checkbox. Now from the drop down list choose your Sound Card and click on “Next“.

5.) Select “Pull from the encoder“.

6.) Enter the Port Number you selected before. In my case its 2300 and I have programmed my router to forward the same port number. (Don’t forget this. It’s very important)

7.) Now comes another important part- “How you want to encode your audio?”

Let’s understand first what does it actually mean. The higher the bit rate, the better will be the quality of the streaming audio. But there is always a certain limit. Suppose you have a Broadband connection of 256 Kbps and you choose 135 Kbps as your desired Bit Rate. If you get 2 listeners who connect at the same time, they will occupy 270kb and your bandwidth maximum limit gets exceeded. You certainly don’t want to do that. Right?

So, its better you choose “Multiple bit rates audio (CBR)” that gives you option at the time of streaming, to select from multiple bit rates (9, 11, 13, 15 and so on) depending upon the users connected or willing to connect to your radio station.

8.) DO NOT select “Archive”. Leave it as it is and click on “Next”.

9.) Enter a Title, Author and other information for your Radio Station.

10.) Finally, click “Finish“.

11.) Now if you are using a CD player as an audio source, plug the output of CD player to AUX input of the streaming server computer (the BLUE jack) and start playing your music in the player.

OR, if you want the audio files from your server computer to be streamed then carry on with the following steps:-

• In the Media Encoder select View -> Source Panel.
• A small window of “Sources” should appear inside it. Click the down arrow and select “Properties…”
• Under “Source from:” option select “File“, and then browse to the actual location of your audio file.
• Under “At end:” option select from the drop down list “Roll over to next source“.
• Add another source and do the same. You can add as many as you want. Just don’t forget to choose the correct “At end:” option.
• Finally, click on “Apply”

12.) Click the “Start Encoding” button.

Your computer will now be acting as a server of streaming Radio Station.

How to Listen to your Radio Station?

Go to http://www.whatismyip.com and you will get your External IP address from there.

Now, ask you friend who want to connect to your Radio station to do the following:-

• Open Windows Media Player.
• Press Ctrl+U or go to File -> Open URL…
• Enter the URL mms://<yourIP>:<port>/

Example: - Suppose your IP is 192.166.217.134 (this should be the same IP which you get from whatsmyip.com website) and the port number you selected earlier is 2300. So the complete URL should be mms://192.166.217.134:2300/

That’s it you are done. Hope you like the tutorial. If you encounter any problem during the whole process just share it with us through comments section and I’ll try to solve those as soon as possible.

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Have you even been in a situation when you have to block certain websites from your computer for any reason? Well, I am not sure about any body else but certainly I have been many times in such situation. Parents may also want to prevent access to certain websites on their computer so that children can’t get to them from internet.

So what’s the solution?

Aaaah… It’s very simple.

1.) Open “Run” from the start menu (or press WinKey + r). Just copy paste the following path and hit ENTER.

notepad %windir%\system32\drivers\etc\hosts

Alternately, go to C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\Etc and find the file “hosts”. Open that file in Notepad.

2.) When this hosts file is opened in Notepad, at the end of the file you will see something like “127.0.0.1 localhost”.

3.) Under “127.0.0.1 localhost” just add another website URL that you want to block.

For Example:-

127.0.0.1 localhost
127.0.0.2 www.rakshitk.com
127.0.0.3 www.whoismadhur.com

4.) Make sure every time you add another website, the last digit of the address 127.0.0.x should not be the same.

5.) Save the file and exit.

So, here you go. Restart your browser if it is opened and changes will take place immediately.

The good thing is that no message, no pop ups nothing will be displayed when someone tries to open a blocked website. Your browser will just fail to open those websites without any error messages.

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By default, whenever you type anything in address bar and hit enter or press the GO button, Firefox checks whether the entered string is valid address or not. If it’s a valid address Firefox tries to load corresponding site for you. Now, if the entered string is an invalid URL, it will be submitted to Google Search and search results are returned.

What if you want to change the Default search engine? Of course, Google is everybody’s first choice search but having said that it depends on person to person. Or, if you have Google Toolbar (that provides inbuilt google search box) installed then you may want to configure the address bar with some other Search Engine.

The following steps will guide you how to configure your Firefox address bar with Search Engines of your choice.

1- Open Mozilla Firefox and type in the address bar about:config.

2- Next type keyword.URL in the Filter box which is appeared after the first step is completed successfully. As you type the above text, the long list will be trimmed down to one line. (You will see only 1 entry (keyword.URL) under the Preference Name section)

3- Now right click that single entry and select modify. A box will appear. Refer the image given below.

4- Choose your Search Engine type and accordingly enter the string value of various Search Engines given below.

5- There is no 5^th step.

Enjoy!!!

List of Various Search Engines is as follows:-

(Copy any of the below strings and paste it into the box that appear in STEP 3 above)

Default Google Search

Google Search with I’m Feeling Lucky

Yahoo search

Microsoft’s Live Search

Wikipedia

Technorati

Hope, this may be helpful for many of you. I am sure this will not only make your work easier but also save precious time.

Please, do tell me your opinion about this technique. Have you tried any of these before?

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Few months back we have also learned the same thing through CrossLoop. This time I have come up with yet another free to use application that can totally change the way you browse the Internet.

Recently, I found a free application LogMeIn that is used to share your computer in the most secure way.

The fact that it’s free to use for multiple remote PCs makes this remote-access program instantly appealing. The program differs from its competitors in that the application runs in your Web browser. If you’re running Firefox, it asks to install a plug-in and then opens an emulator of the remote PC in a new window.

The control window gives you some standard options such as Ctrl-Alt-Del (which kills the connection) and changing the view settings, as well as tabbed access to adjust the connection setting. The 256-bit SSL encryption and dual passwords–one for the program and one for the remote PC’s log-in–are welcome protections.

How it works:-

LogMeIn takes just a minute to set up, and its automated setup wizard guides you through a few quick steps.

1.) Sign Up

Enter your email address and choose a password. The automated set up wizard guides you quickly through the process.

2.) Connect

Log into www.logmein.com, click the computer you want to access, and you’re in!

3.) Work

Control your PC as if you were sitting in front of it. Send email, run programs, open files.

Get LogMeIn Free

So have you ever tried this application before? What’s your take on this? Compare it with CrossLoop.

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These are some of sites to find Invisible Yahoo Users suggested by our dear readers.

1.) http://www.myspytool.com By Shashank

2.) http://invisible-scanner.com By Neo

3.) Yahoo invisible detector By Alireza

4.) 4 Invisible By Ayedin

5.) DetectInvisible.com By Guest

Thanks to all for adding more sites to this post.
—————————————————————————————

Few days back, one of my readers, Seeni while going through my article on How to check if someone has blocked you on Google Talk, asked me about the best possible way to find invisible yahoo users.

I have been using yahoo messenger for quite a while now. As a result of that I am aware of various techniques by which we can find invisible users on YM. Of course, many of us may be aware of those but it’s my duty to answer what my readers have asked me.

If any of you have a better idea than what I am going to discuss here, please feel free to share it with us. I will appreciate that whole heartedly.

So here goes the best possible ways I could figure out to find invisible yahoo users.

1) Buddy Spy- Buddy Spy is the premier program for Yahoo! Messenger status checking. With Buddy Spy you can now bypass Yahoo! Messenger’s Invisible Settings with ease. With its quick and intuitive interface Buddy Spy offers you the ability to see if your friend is truly online or if they are invisible. Not only does Buddy Spy offer you online checking, but it will also tell you whether your friend is in a Chat Room or even if their Web Cam is online!

2) Buddy Check- Are your Yahoo! Messenger friends hiding from you? Not any more! With BuddyCheck you can see if they are online even if they set their status to invisible. Just add your friends to the contact list and their online status will be regularly checked. You will be notified when one of them really signs on of off.

Download the 10 day trial version or purchase BuddyCheck now for only $19.95.

3) Xeeber.com- Xeeber is a professional online service which can help u to recognize the status of all Yahoo users, to see who is online, offline or invisible mode easily.

4) Invisible.ir- Another new web service that works really well. You can also do some other things like check multiple Yahoo users at once and detect a users main Yahoo ID.

What’s your take on these above mentioned techniques? Did you try any of these before? As I said earlier, if you are aware of any other method to detect invisible yahoo users, please do share that with us in comments section.

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Most network administrators at work, university or school deny access to certain websites, instant messaging or social networks such as facebook, myspace or orkut with a firewall or proxy server. If you are constantly getting a message saying “Can’t connect” or something similar, the service you are trying to connect to have probably been blocked by your network administrator.

The same is the case with my college LAN where most of the things are blocked and even many institutional sites are not accessible. Damn it! But as soon as the system is made, next day it’s broken. That’s the way we suppose to live.

So, it’s time to focus on our main topic- how to bypass firewalls, proxy servers and hide IP address.

Software Requirements

1- JAP -> Download and Install.

Alternate link (working 100%)

2- Java Runtime Enviroment(JRE) -> Download and Install.

There is an open source utility called JAP that protects our privacy on the Internet. In process to this it also helps to bypass firewalls and proxy servers.

Instead of connecting directly to a webserver, users take a detour, connecting with encryption through several intermediaries, so-called Mixes. JAP uses a predetermined sequence for the mixes. Such a sequence of linked mixes is called a Mix Cascade. Users can choose between different mix cascades.

Since many users use these intermediaries at the same time, the internet connection of any one single user is hidden among the connections of all the other users. No one, not anyone from outside, not any of the other users, not even the provider of the intermediary service can determine which connection belongs to which user.

Let’s learn how to configure it. Just follow the steps:-

1- After installation, open JAP and click on “Config” button.

A “Settings” window will get opened.

2- Click on “Network” and if you are using any proxy to connect to the Internet then enter your proxy details under “Proxy/Firewall” section. Don’t forget to choose type of the proxy you are having.

3- Next, choose “Services” under “Anonymity” option.

4- Click on the “Reload” button and after few minutes you’ll get a list of services called “Mix Cascades and single Mixes”

It is through these services we will get connected to the Internet, bypass the firewall and surf anonymously. It’s important to first understand these different types of services before start using it. There are basically 3 types of services that may be available to you at a given time. First one is the paid one, second is free services and third is the test service.

We will be focusing on Free Services here. Now how to recognize which service is of what type?

5- From the dropdown list above select “Mix cascades without costs“.

6- Now the RED stop mark before a service name shows it is “excluded by filter” which means it’s a paid service. But a BLUE ball mark before a service name shows it’s free to use.

7- Choose any one of the available free services and click on the “Select” button to activate it.

Free Services that I prefer are “Dresden-Dresden” or “SpeedParter-ULD”

8- Click “OK”.

That’s it. You are all set to connect to the Internet now.

9- Set Anonymity to “On“.

Soon JAP will get connected. Now, let’s learn how to use it.

To make web applications ( like Internet Explorer, YM, GTalk etc) work with JAP, use “IP address” 127.0.0.1 and “port number” 4001 under connection settings of your applications.

(If this particular part is not clear, please ask your doubts in comments section of this post)

ALL DONE!!!

No more blocked web sites, no more blocked IMs. Everything is unblocked now that too with certain level of anonymity. Isn’t great?

Do share your thoughts on this. It’s your comments and feedbacks that matters a lot. They are priceless.

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If you think an Antivirus alone can protect your system from all types of security threats, think again. Viruses, Spywares and even Hackers can harm your computer in a way, we can never dream of. Today, if our computer is connected to the internet, in no way we can relax and say that nothing can harm us. You got be careful and be extra active about your online safety.

In this article, I will deal with the THREE must have security applications on every computer that is used to access internet. Moreover, if I say these applications are totally free, it adds value to it.

So here goes the review of my own personal TOP 3 free security applications which I recommend to each and every person reading this article:-

1- Comodo Firewall Pro- Secure your system against internal attacks such as Trojan viruses / malicious software and external attacks by hackers. Safeguard your personal data through a simple user friendly single click interface offering full immunity to attack. Comodo Firewall Pro helps you connect in a secure way to the internet and global networks.

2- Spyware Terminator- Spyware Terminator includes Real-Time Protection, HIPS, and antivirus. Effectively remove spyware, adware, trojans, keyloggers, home page hijackers, and malware threats even dangerous threats like Look2Me, BetterInternet, VX2, and CWS. Spyware Terminator is easy-to-use, requires minimal PC resources, and performs ultra fast scans. Protect your computer with powerful real-time protection shield, advanced system scanning and safe quarantine for found spyware. Scan your computer manually or schedule full system sweeps. Perform in-depth scans of your computer’s hard drives, memory, process, registry and cookies to seek out and remove all known spyware threats. Includes optional Web Security Guard which displays website reviews and threat level to help identify potentially dangerous Web sites.

3- Avira AntiVir PersonalEdition- Avira AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic is a comprehensive, easy to use antivirus program, designed to offer reliable free of charge virus protection to home-users only. Avira offers: 1.Extensive Malware Recognition of viruses, Trojans, backdoor programs, worms, etc. 2.Automatic incremental updates of antivirus signatures, engine and entire software. 3.Permanent virus protection, with Virus Guard real time monitoring. 4.Install and configuration in just a couple of steps, setup to protect your PC in minutes. 5.Virus protection against known and unknown threats, using an advanced heuristic system. 6.Scheduler where you can set the scanner to make automatic virus scans or updates on your system. 7.Forum and phone support, Knowledge Base with virus descriptions available on web site. 8.Vista Support. 9. Rootkit Detection and Removal.

I am sure these three security applications will surely help you to access internet more freely without any danger of getting trapped by unwanted programs. Having said that, in this modern world where technology is growing at a rapid pace, we can’t stay protected every time. But at least we can try best possible methods to maintain our privacy and kick those malicious programs out of our neighborhoods.

If you want more deep enhanced review on free Anti-viruses, I recommend reading this article on Technospot and this one on Nirmal’s blog.

What measures do you take to protect your system from possible security threats? Have you tried these 3 security applications? What was your experience?

Credit: CNET networks

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Ok, now when you are aware of how to configure Pidgin to work with Google Talk, I’ll guide how to make smart use of Pidgin to identify who has blocked you on Google Talk.

It’s very simple. Just follow the steps:-

1- Log in to your Gmail account on Pidgin.
2- Go to “Buddies” -> “Show Offline Buddies“. (A person who has blocked you must be showing offline to you. So you need to make all offline friends visible)

3- Now all your contacts are visible to you. Pick any one of those.
4- Right Click on your chosen contact name and select “Get Info“.

It will show you the brief information of your contact. Now, if any of your contact has blocked you on Google Talk, you will not be able to see his/her profile.

6- Select a contact who you think may have blocked you. Again, Right Click on his/her name and select “Get Info“. You will not see anything. Not even the contact’s name.

This goes to show that this particular contact has blocked you on Google Talk and don’t want to talk to you and so it appears to be offline always.

Hope, you like this article. This is the only way I could able to find out to determine who has blocked you on Google Talk. What’s your comment on this?

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I am sure we all are a big big fan of YouTube. I also know their are hell lots of utilities to download YouTube videos. Moreover, when it comes to convert the YouTube videos’ FLV files for later viewing on a cell phone, iPhone, or any other type of mobile device, their are again tons of tools out there. But, I argue why to use two different applications when their are already 2 in 1 apps available to DOWNLOAD FREE. I am going to review my personal 3 most favs applications that I use to download YouTube videos and at the same time convert them to desired formats.

1- CinemaForge

CinemaForge is a video player, video converter, and download/upload utility. The player supports (FLV) and (H264) video formats like (MP4). The converter supports Ipod (MP4), Flash (SWF), Flash (FLV), Motion Pictures Group (MPEG), Audio Video Interleaved (AVI), Window Media Video (WMV), Real Video (RM), QuickTime (MOV), Advanced Streaming Format (ASF), and JPEG (thumbnails). Easy to use Video downloading from popular video sites.
You also can choose to accompany any video with audio files of your choice rather than the original sound. When you click the digital-camera icon next to the File Input box, you’ll be able to browse your computer for still images to compile a video file. If you choose to perform this action, you can apply a few transition effects, determine the image interval, and add your own music files.

We should note the program can’t be uninstalled by traditional means; instead, you have to click the question-mark icon on the main interface. In spite of the aforementioned quirks, CinemaForge is overall a solid piece of software.

2- YouTube Downloader

It’s software that allows you to download videos from YouTube and many others and convert them to other video formats. The program is easy to use, just specify the URL for the video you want to download and click the Ok! It also allows you to convert downloaded videos for iPod, iPhone, PSP, Cell Phone, Windows Media, XVid and MP3. Allows you to access YouTube videos for which you need to be 18+ years of age. Now, plays videos downloaded.

Version 2.1.5 allows you to download videos from YouTube entering the embed code; New download mode (download video file or show video file URL); Ability to disable the audio when converting video; and Download video clips from more than 50+ new Web sites.

3- Free FLV Converter

Search and download movies from YouTube, DailyMotion and Google for Free! This free software will let you search youTube, dailyMotion, Metacafe, Google videos, Stage6, Spyke without opening your browser and you can even watch the videos using the built-in video player. This software can convert the videos to Avi, Ipod, iphone, 3GP or Psp format (MPEG4 and H.264). This software can also convert all your videos (divx, xvid, mpeg, dvd, avi) to FLV video.

“So, if you are also a big fan of YouTube, just grab anyone of the above mentioned applications and use it to your advantage. I am sure, you will not repent. They are all must have utilities. At least, I agree with that. What you people have to say? Are their any other free utilities available that is similar to those mentioned here. Please share that with us. Or, if you have tried any of these before, what’s your take on it?”

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Then after an hour research, I gain knowledge of how to recognize and avoid Fraudulent Websites. I am going to summarize that right here right now.

1.) What is Fraudulent website?

Fake websites are an Internet problem that attempt to take advantage of unsuspecting users. They are websites that fraudulently impersonate or imitate the website of a legitimate company or financial institution. Whether you are searching for bank information or researching a paper, remember that the Internet is not regulated and that the website you are looking at may be fraudulent.
The most common type of fraudulent website is the ‘Spoof’ website. The spoof website is often designed to look the like a legitimate website of a real institution (such as a bank). It will use the same graphics, composition and layout, and sometimes even the same URL in the text.

Spoof websites are designed to fool the user into disclosing their personal information willingly. Before disclosing any personal information, you should attempt to verify that it is not a spoofed website.

2.) How to recognise fraudulent “spoof” websites?

When trying to spot a fraudulent website, look for the following:

• A real-world presence like an address, phone number and email contact.
• By right-clicking a hyperlink and selecting ‘properties’ you can verify the link’s true destination.
• Check for spelling and grammatical errors, and statements that are against common sense.
• Be wary of sites that ask for personal details in full where they usually request fewer details ought to be sufficient.

3.) To check the security certificate

Always verify the security certificate issued to a site before submitting any personal information. Before you submit any personal information, ensure that you are indeed on the website you intend to be on.

In Internet Explorer, you can do this by checking the yellow lock icon (PADLOCK) on the status bar.

In Firefox, you can do this by checking the yellow lock icon (PADLOCK) on the address bar.

(This PADLOCK icon signifies that the website uses encryption to help protect any sensitive personal information- credit card number, Social Security number, payment details, passwords- that you enter)

If the lock is closed, then the site uses encryption.

Also, make sure that the Address bar shows “https://” at the beginning of the address URL and includes the website “domain name” in the address.

• Double-click on the lock icon that should appear on the bottom right corner of your browser window.
• Check the certificate to see that the name after Issued to: matches the website you are visiting.
• If there is no lock icon, it means the webpage is not secure.
• If the name does not match the issued to on the security certificate, then you may be on a spoofed site. You should proceed with caution.

4.) Use an online link checker

You can check whether a website is fraudulent or not is by using an online URL checker. One checker is called LinkScanner.

• Go to LinkScanner Online
• Enter the suspicious URL in box
• Click the Scan button

LinkScanner will then report whether the site contains malware or not.

5.) Use a phishing filter

Another tool that can help with recognizing fraudulent websites is with a phishing filter, which is designed to warn or block you from potentially harmful websites.

It’s available in Windows Internet Explorer 7 for Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2), and Windows Vista.

Firefox 2 or later also contains a built-in Phishing Protection feature that warns you of suspected Web forgeries, and offers to take you directly to a search page so you can find the real Web site you were looking for.
You can test the Phishing Protection feature by browsing to this test site.

Hope, these informations are helpful enough to prevent any one from getting trapped by these Fraudulent Websites. Next time you enter any secured zone, make sure it protects your privacy by following the above mentioned methods and steps.
What security measures you take when you fall upon a suspicious webpage?

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