by Fadia, Ankit
< 180 Seconds
Does your battery run out quickly and not even last you a full workday? Do you want to increase the battery life of your mobile phone, so that you can get more done each day? It is highly recommended that you implement these popular battery-saving strategies on your mobile device to increase its battery life:
1. Disable notifications that you don’t need
2. Disable location services
3. Reduce the brightness of your screen
4. Reduce the auto-lock time to the minimum possible value
5. Turn off Wi-Fi
6. Turn off Bluetooth
7. Turn off push email/Internet access on your phone
8. Close applications that may be running in the background and eating up your battery charge.
On iOS devices, double-press the home screen button and hold your finger down on any icon on the screen until all of them start wriggling and then you can press the minimize button to close the apps running in the background. On Android devices, go to Settings > Applications > manually select and shut down all the apps that you are not using.
However, the problem with these battery-saving strategies is that most of them require you to manually change settings on your mobile phone and tend to interfere with your regular phone usage. Instead, there are numerous battery-management apps available that can help improve the battery life of your mobile phone by automatically implementing battery-saving strategies whenever you are not using your mobile phone.
2x Battery Saver and the 2x Battery Saver logo are registered trademarks of A0 Soft Inc., used with permission.
If you want to increase the battery life of your Android phone, you can download the 2X Battery Saver app to your phone for free from the Google Play App Store. First of all, 2X Battery Saver always displays the battery level, usage and estimated battery life remaining in the status bar on your mobile screen, so that you can constantly keep track of it.
More importantly, 2X Battery Saver helps increase the battery life of your phone by automatically switching off the Internet feature (3G, 4G and Wi-Fi) whenever your screen is locked. The constant use of Internet access by your phone—even when you are not using it—can drain your battery quite quickly. If you have your phone in your pocket and are not working on it, 2X Battery Saver will kick in, switch off the Internet and conserve your battery charge.
The best part about this app is that it only shuts off the Internet access on your phone and does not affect your phone calls and text messages. To ensure that you do not lose out on any of your important work (emails, news updates, instant messages etc.), this app will keep enabling the Internet access on your phone at predefined periodic intervals of your choice. Moreover, it is designed in such a way that it will not switch off the Internet on your phone if any active downloads are detected.
2x Battery Saver and the 2x Battery Saver logo are registered trademarks of A0 Soft Inc., used with permission.
It is possible for you to configure 2X Battery Saver to be automatically enabled only when your battery charge becomes lower than a particular level. Until that threshold is reached, your phone will work normally. Why worry about saving your battery when you don’t need to? Moreover, the battery-saving feature is automatically disabled whenever your phone is being charged at a power source.
Another fantastic app that increases the battery life of your Android phone by intelligently managing the features that eat your battery charge is JuiceDefender. You can download it for free from the Google Play App Store.
2x Battery Saver and the 2x Battery Saver logo are registered trademarks of A0 Soft Inc., used with permission.
For iOS users, one of the best battery-management apps is the Battery Doctor Pro, which is available for only 99 cents in the App Store. Once installed on your iOS device, Battery Doctor shows you the status of your battery charge and estimates how long your battery charge will last under different usage conditions like talk time, Internet access, YouTube playback, audio playback and others.
Battery Doctor and the Battery Doctor Logo are registered trademarks of Game Lingo LLC, used with permission.
When you press the Inspection button, Battery Doctor inspects your iOS device and figures out ways to increase your battery life by changing certain settings on your phone. It also displays the estimated battery charge increase if the recommended changes are implemented. The only limitation is that you will need to manually change the recommended settings, since iOS does not allow apps to make these changes.
The best feature of Battery Doctor is that it allows you to perform a full-cycle charge of your battery so that your iOS device can get a more accurate reading and your battery charge can be increased. It is recommended that you perform a full-cycle charge on your iOS device at least once a month.
31. How to schedule stuff with your friends and colleagues easily
< 270 Seconds
Finding a mutually convenient date and time to schedule meetings with colleagues and clients can sometimes be more challenging than it needs to be. Even scheduling a fun night out with your friends can involve conference calls and many confusing emails, with everyone having different time commitments and preferences. Start using Doodle and put your time and energy to better use than spending it all on simply trying to schedule stuff in your life.
Think of Doodle as your very own virtual personal secretary, who makes scheduling things in both your personal and professional lives easy and quick. To begin with, start your browser and connect to the Doodle app at http://www.doodle.com and click on the Schedule an event button to start the process of scheduling a meeting.
Enter general information related to the scheduled event (title, location, description and your contact information). Click on the Next button to continue.
Doodle and the Doodle logo are registered trademarks of Doodle AG, used with permission.
Enter the proposed dates when you are available to meet the attendees, so that they can choose any date out of the ones you have listed that are convenient for them as well. Click on the Next button to continue.
Doodle and the Doodle logo are registered trademarks of Doodle AG, used with permission.
Enter the time slots on the selected dates when you are available, so that the other attendees can choose the slots that are convenient for them as well. This makes the process of choosing a mutually convenient date and time slot extremely easy and hassle-free. Click on the Next button to continue.
Doodle and the Doodle logo are registered trademarks of Doodle AG, used with permission.
Now, you can choose to add some optional settings to your Doodle meeting scheduler if you want. Click on the Next button to continue.
Doodle and the Doodle logo are registered trademarks of Doodle AG, used with permission.
Doodle will create an email link for you, which you can share with your colleagues, clients or friends, so that the most mutually convenient date and time can be selected for your meeting. If you create a free account on Doodle, you can also link your Google Calendar and contacts to your Doodle account, which will make your scheduling even simpler.
Doodle and the Doodle logo are registered trademarks of Doodle AG, used with permission.
32. How to Google like a pro
< 180 Seconds
If you want to use Google faster, better and more precisely than ever before, you can use some simple search tricks, tips and tweaks that only the expert searchers on Google know. Most people use Google by simply typing in the keywords they want to search for, and then clicking on the search results that are displayed. But there is a lot more to Google than just the popularly used keywords-based search function. Depending on what you want to do, it is possible to use Google Search shortcuts to quickly access the information that you want.
1. Unit conversion
If you are measuring your room in preparation for a renovation or want to figure out how cold it really is when your cousin in the US tells you the temperature in Fahrenheit, let Goo
gle convert various measurement units from one type to another. Unit conversion allows users to convert temperature, length, mass, speed, time, area, volume and others. (Type: 100 inches into cm)
Google and the Google logo are registered trademarks of Google Inc., used with permission.
2. Currency conversion
If you are travelling abroad and want to quickly figure out how much money you need to carry, or if you are paying a vendor abroad and want to figure out how much to send via wire transfer. (Type: 1000 Japanese Yen into INR)
Google and the Google logo are registered trademarks of Google Inc., used with permission.
3. Flight status
If you are on a business trip and want to find out the gate information for your flight and whether it is on time. (Type: jetblue 1)
Google and the Google logo are registered trademarks of Google Inc., used with permission.
4. Weather
If you are planning a road trip and want to check the weather forecast for the next few days so that you know what kind of clothes to pack. (Type: weather shimla)
Google and the Google logo are registered trademarks of Google Inc., used with permission.
5. Global time
If you need to a call a relative who lives abroad, or a client in a different time zone. (Type: time los angeles)
Google and the Google logo are registered trademarks of Google Inc., used with permission.
6. Definitions
If you are writing an email to a client or reading an article online and want to find out the exact definition of a particular word. (Type: define:acerbic)
Google and the Google logo are registered trademarks of Google Inc., used with permission.
7. Movies
If you want to make weekend plans with your family and want to check which movies are playing in your city and maybe even see their trailers online, Google will automatically detect your current location and will look up movies playing in your city. (Type: movie)
Google and the Google logo are registered trademarks of Google Inc., used with permission.
8. Recipes
If you want to find a particular recipe, simply go to http://www.google.com/landing/recipes/ and type out of the name of your favourite dish. (Type: Chicken tikka masala)
Google and the Google logo are registered trademarks of Google Inc., used with permission.
9. Specific file types
If you are doing research for a school project or a company presentation and want to find specific file types (for example, PDF or PowerPoint files). (Type: filetype:pdf newton)
Google and the Google logo are registered trademarks of Google Inc., used with permission.
With the help of these simple Google search operators, you will be able to enhance your search experience making it faster and easier.
33. How to manage all the tabs in your browser
< 60 Seconds
Do you keep multiple tabs open in your browser at the same time and wished there was a better way to manage all of them? TooManyTabs is a browser extension that works on both Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox browsers and allows you to manage all your open tabs efficiently.
Once installed, TooManyTabs will add a new button to the URL address bar of your browser. You can click on it any time to view and navigate to any of the open tabs in your browser. You can even search for a specific tab using the Find option in the TooManyTabs browser app.
Not only that, you can also use TooManyTabs to view all the recently closed tabs, to reopen any of the tabs that you may have accidentally closed or that may have closed down due to a software error. Even if the history of your browser is deleted, you can still restore any closed tab using TooManyTabs.
Although TooManyTabs is available for both Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox, for Firefox users, I will also recommend the FoxTab browser app (http://www.foxtab.com) that practically does the same thing, but looks a lot nicer.
34. How to recover form data if your computer crashes
< 120 Seconds
Have you ever spent a long time filling out an online form on some website, and suddenly your computer crashed or froze; and when you went back to that web page, you found that you have lost all the data that you had spent so much time typing? Have you ever been in a situation where, after you submitted an online form, you were shown an error message and when you hit the back button, all your form data was lost? Such situations can not only leave you frustrated, they will also waste your time, since you will have to fill out the entire form again.
For exactly such situations (network errors, crashes, frozen browsers and others), there is a very useful browser extension called Lazarus (http://www.getlazarus.com), available for both Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox browsers. This browser app will automatically save all the data that you type into any online form in your browser and will allow you to recover this saved data in case it is required.
Once you have installed Lazarus on your computer, the next time you are filling out any field in a form on a website, you will notice a small icon on the extreme right end of the input field. This signifies that Lazarus is running in the background and automatically saving everything that you are typing into the form.
Let us assume that, while filling out this online form, suddenly your computer crashes or there is a network error and you lose your form. In such a scenario, you can reopen your browser to the same form and click on the Lazarus icon in the input fields to recover the form data that was automatically saved by Lazarus.
If you are worried that somebody else using your computer will be able to misuse your private data saved in Lazarus, it is possible to enable security in such a way that you will be asked to enter a password to recover the saved form data from Lazarus. You can also disable Lazarus on certain websites from which you don’t want it to record any form data. All these options can be accessed by clicking on the Lazarus icon on the input field of a form, and then clicking Lazarus Options.
With Lazarus in your browser, you will never need to worry about losing any form data due to a network error or computer crash.
35. How to increase your computer’s speed
< 300 Seconds
All of us are constantly striving for increased personal productivity. It is obvious that the faster the processer and greater the RAM, the faster your computer will run. Here are some simple tips that can be implemented on your computer to increase its speed.
1. Disk Cleanup
All Windows systems come with the Disk Cleanup tool preinstalled. It can be accessed via the quick search option in the Start menu. Disk Cleanup will search your entire hard drive and tell you which files can be safely deleted to free up some space on your hard drive. The more space you free up, the faster your computer will run. It is recommended that you run Disk Cleanup every fifteen days or so, in order to keep your computer running at optimum speed.
Disk Cleanup and the Disk Cleanup logo are registered trademarks of the Microsoft Corporation, used with permission.
2. Disk Defragmenter Another tool that comes preinstalled with Windows is Disk Defragmenter. Over a period of time, data on your hard drive gets fragmented, which makes your hard drive do extra work that slows down your computer. The Disk Defragmenter tool will defragment data on your hard drive, making your computer run faster. The Disk Defragmenter tool can be accessed through the Start menu. Microsoft recommends it is a good idea to run the tool whenever your hard drive is fragmented by more than 10 per cent.
Disk Cleanup and the Disk Cleanup logo are registered trademarks of the Microsoft Corporation, used with permission.
Disk Cleanup and the Disk Cleanup logo are registered trademarks of the Microsoft Corporation, used with permission.
3. ReadyBoost
Readyboost is an option in Windows that allows you to use the memory of a USB flash drive, SD card or any portable flash memory card as cache memory to boost your system performance. As soon as you plug in a pen drive or SD card to your computer, the
AutoPlay options should show up on the screen in which there will be an option to Speed up my System Using Windows ReadyBoost. Select this option and follow the instructions on the screen to enable ReadyBoost. Now your computer will start using the extra memory from your external drive to boost its speed and performance.
4. MSCONFIG
Whenever you start Windows, there are numerous apps that automatically get loaded into the memory, occupying valuable system resources. It is important to run the MSCONFIG tool (accessible from the Start menu) periodically to check which apps are automatically starting with Windows. It is advisable to disable all non-crucial apps that you don’t actually require or use, in order to free up some memory on your computer. This will significantly improve not only the general speed of your computer but also the amount of time it takes for your computer to start.
Disk Cleanup and the Disk Cleanup logo are registered trademarks of the Microsoft Corporation, used with permission.
5. Disable Search Indexing
The latest versions of Windows use something known as Search Indexing to index your entire hard drive and help you search better and faster. However, Search Indexing has a slowing-down effect on your computer. If you wish to disable Search Indexing on your computer, simply go to My Computer > Right-click on C: and select Properties. Under the General tab there will be an option to disable Search Indexing.
Disk Cleanup and the Disk Cleanup logo are registered trademarks of the Microsoft Corporation, used with permission.