You are spoilt for choice, as far as choosing text to speech software programs is concerned. Text to speech applications are available for just about every kind of device — desktop, laptop and mobile devices. Most of the text to speech software programs are efficient and easy-to-use. Some of them are for free (especially the ones which come installed with your laptop or PC) while some are not. Many reputed brands (for example, Sony and Apple) have jumped into the fray to make text to speech software programs and will bring their much-esteemed expertise into these applications.

However, a common grouse against these applications has been their inability to deliver fully accurate text transcripts under all conditions. Here is a list of a few reputed text to speech software programs.

Text-to-Speech Applications and Programs for PC

Sony ICD-SX57 Digital Voice Recorder

The Sony ICD-SX57 digital voice recorder is the new kid on the block and the performance so far has been decent. It has received a five-star rating from its users, as reported in PC World. Transcripts were nearly perfect when tested under totally conducive conditions such as a quiet room.

Price - $149.98 on Amazon.

Xtranormal

Xtranormal is actually a text to movie website which makes a movie out of your text and all this for free. You can customize the movie with lots of professional templates which makes it a differently interesting online application. Visit Xtranormal here.

vozMe Online Text to Speech Application

IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) allows you to download your email from Gmail to your computer using an email client like Microsoft Outlook or Apple Mail. Gmail supports IMAP, it syncs your mailbox so that changes made in your email client is reflected in the online mailbox. For example: You read an email downloading it to your email client; that email will reflect as read in your Gmail page too.

This feature is useful for those who do not have all time access to Internet but can connect to an Internet connection from time to time. You can draft a mail and save it offline so that you send it when the connection is available. You can also make use of advanced and robust features like folder management and favorites that are available when you use an email client like Microsoft Outlook.

Enable IMAP on Gmail

First of all you will need to enable your Gmail account to provide IMAP access. To do this please follow the following steps:

• Go to Settings > Mail Settings
• Select the Forwarding and POP/IMAP tab
• There you will find the options to enable both POP and IMAP access on your account. Please select on Enable IMAP.

Now your Gmail account will give access to outside IMAP requests and now you can go ahead with configuring your email client.

In order to enable your email on an email client and sync it with your email account, you will have to manually enter settings in your client or provide your authentication details. Follow these step by step instructions to configure your email client:

Microsoft Outlook Express

1. Open Outlook Express
2. Select the Radio Button Yes
3. Click Next
4. Check Manually Configure Server Settings
5. Select Internet E-mail. Provide the following settings:
6. Incoming Mail Server: imap.gmail.com
7. Outgoing Mail Server: smtp.gmail.com (use authentication)
8. User Name: Your user name
9. Password: Your Gmail password

Mozilla Thunderbird

1. Click Tools
2. Click Account Settings
3. Select Add Mail Account
4. Enter your Gmail user name and password in the Automatic Configuration dialog box

You have successfully configured your email account to send and receive email using your Gmail account.

Note: If your email client is other than Outlook Express and Thunderbird. You can use the following generic settings to set up Gmail:

Incoming Mail Server: imap.gmail.com, Use SSL: Yes Port: 993

Outgoing Mail Server: smtp.gmail.com (use authentication), Use Authentication: Yes Use STARTTLS: Yes (some clients call this SSL) Port: 465 or 587.

Anchor Free, which is known to bring both free and reliable online security solutions to millions of users across the globe, has introduced Hotspot Shield — an online security solution which protects your confidential data at public hotspots. Hotspot Shield is available in two versions — free and elite. While free version can be downloaded for free, the Elite version needs to be purchased.

How does Hotspot Shield work? 

As stated earlier, Hotspot Shield protects your confidential online data at such public hotspots as airports and shopping malls. As you work online and traffic (both secure and unsecured) is diverted to your computer, Hotspot encrypts the traffic and directs it to a secure HTTPS connection. It provides your computer with a new IP address which effectively hides your identity online. You are therefore, protected from unauthorized attempts on your data at public places having Wi-Fi facilities.

Download Hotspot Shield free

There are a lot of sites which enable you to download Hotspot Shield. For example, you can download it from the following links:

• http://anchorfree.com/downloads/hotspot-shield/
• http://download.cnet.com/hotspot-shield/

Hotspot Shield is a browser-free solution. Just click the download link and you are good to go. After you have downloaded it, you must activate it first before using it. Hotspot Shield appears as a red system tray icon after it is downloaded and turns green after it is activated. Click the Properties link from the tray icon to get information on the connection duration, VPN and the amount of data transaction.

Essential Download Information

• Operating systems: Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 2000, Windows 7
• File Size: 265.82K
• File name: DM-244.exe

Important Note

If you already have other anti-virus solutions installed on your computer, then you need to make sure that the firewall does not block Hotspot Shield. If it does, then you may write to the customer care of your anti-virus company to address the problem.

Apple continues to restrict users from transferring files from your iPod to your computer. There are several workarounds that allow you to transfer files to your computer. In this article, we provide one method to copy music.

Apple implemented restrictions to prevent users from copying Digital Rights Management (DRM) protected content. iPod syncs with iTunes but you does not have a native feature to copy content from your iPod to your computer. This makes it difficult for people who use multiple computers to store and copy music to and from the iPod. Enabling storage on your iPod allows you to make use of a section of your iPod capacity and the rest is used for storing your music and other iPod content. You cannot access the section where your music and content are stored.

How to Copy Songs from my iPod to my Computer?

1. You can copy music from your iPod by following these step by step instructions:
2. Download YamiPod from the following link:http://www.yamipod.com/main/modules/downloads/
3. Click on the downloads link
4. Scroll down and select the version of YamiPod you want to download
5. Select the Bit torrent file or the Binary file depending on your internet bandwidth
6. Download YamiPod and install it on your computer
7. Open YamiPod
8. Select the songs that you want to copy from the song list box
9. Choose the destination path, you can choose
10. DirectCopy will copy all the songs to the destination folder you select.
11. Album option will create a new subfolder for every album in your list under the destination you select. Music will be sorted according to the album names.
12. Artist/Album option will create two subfolders in the destination location and copy music there

You have successfully copied music to your computer from your iPod.

Note: You can use YamiPod to copy music into the iPod from your computer.

There are other software application that has the same functionality as YamiPod. The advantage of using YamiPod is that it is a cross-platform and lightweight application.

Hotfile Corp. founded a one-click file hosting website in 2006, which is most commonly known as Hotfile. Using Hotfile, internet users can upload as well as download files using any browser. Non-registered users can download a maximum of 400mb in a single shot and their waiting time in the download queue can vary from 15-30 seconds. As for upload, once you upload a file, the URL of the file can be shared with multiple users for direct download.

Hotfile Premium Downloader

There are two options available for download with Hotfile – one is the 400MB limited download and the other is the premium download. In order to use the hotfile premium downloader option, you can choose from three different subscriptions, which are:

• Hotfile 100GB for $9 – unlimited downloading for 1 month
• Hotfile 600GB for $35 – unlimited downloading for 6 months
• Hotfile 1200GB for $55 – unlimited downloading for 1 year

The advantages of hotfile premium downloader vis-à-vis the normal downloader include:

1. High speed downloads – unlimited
2. Parallel downloads – unlimited
3. Support for download accelerators
4. Hot or direct linking for files
5. Zero waiting time for downloads
6. Up to 1200GB of direct link traffic
7. Files stored without any time limit

Hotfile Download Manager

There are several download managers that you can use but the ones recommended by Hotfile website include:

Speedget

The currently available version is Speedget 1.0 and it is a easy to use and simple file hosting client program that will allow you to upload and download files from the Hotfile server. Download Speedget here.

Download Accelerator Plus (DAP)

The currently available version is DAP 9.7 and it ensures 400% faster downloads. It comes with several useful download management features and is available in 42 languages. You can download it for free or buy the premium version for $24.95. Download DAP from here.

GetRight

The currently available version is GetRight 6.5 and you can opt between a trial pack or buy it for $19.95. It supports all prominent browsers and can be used in Windows as well as Mac. Download GetRight 6.5 here.

FlashGet

The currrently available version is FlashGet 3.7 and it supports FTP, BT, and others. It uses Multi-server Hyper-threading Transportation technique and can speed up 6-10 times. Download FlashGet 3.7 here.

Go!Zilla

The currrently available version is Go!Zilla 5 and you can download for free or buy the premium version for $9.98. It acts as a download manager as well as a download accelerator. Download Go!Zilla 5 here.

Most Hotfile download managers are available for free download but if you are looking for faster and unlimited downloads then try the premium option. Some of the other Hotfile download managers that you can also try include Google file download manager, FlashGot, and HotFile AutoDownloader 1.0 amongst others.

The word about Google Chrome has been over the browser market for quite some time now. Another one of the Google popular internet releases are housed inside the Chrome explorer itself. The Chrome Web Store is one such place where one can find a lot of useful tools which makes going online a pleasure.

One such popular item from the catalogue is the Adblock and adblock plus extensions. The two are designed extensions with the aim of making the online space much more clean in terms of lesser ads and to make the content shine out instead of being masked by advertisements.

Adblock vs Adblock Plus

• Basic User Interface: Both the chrome extensions having over 1,000,000+ users on the web today. Both being out on the chrome web store have an identical work and design interface. The two are seen to have most of the similar functions and are found to be utilizing the same ground rules.

• Background: The Adblock Plus was in fact an extension released for Firefox. But later on was included in Chrome Web Store after looking at the kind of traffic and popularity it was gaining. Adblock was an independent release by another developer on the same grounds as the Adblock Plus to the Chrome Web Store.

• Installation Process: The Adblock Plus installation is quite easy and hassle free; so is the case with Adblock, but just one shortcoming on the professional side is that a window pops up while installation prompting to donate to developer

• Speed: Adblock does seem to slow down the browser while handling multiple tabs. Where as in case of Adblock Plus, the beta testing facility is fixing most of the problems real time and the problem of speed hasn’t yet been a major shortcoming.

• Banned Ad Block: Talking business, both the extensions are seen to perform in the same level following similar architecture to block out unwanted and advertising content online.

According to the study done by FreewareGenuis, here are the demographics for Adblock vs Adblock Plus -

So to draw out the final version of the article, the idea is clear that both the extensions work with sole aim of filtering content. And with Adblock being the first up on Web store, the users are satisfied with its performance. Adblock plus being in beta release has scope of changes and improvements and in some ways like the installation and speed is superior to the other. Thus  choosing the right extension would be a close call as both work similar and have little differences, yet Adblock Plus is considered superior.

Install Adblock Plus on your Google Chrome.

Alternatively Adblock is also available here.

One of the most popular communities on the web, Facebook, is imprinted in the dictionary of people’s digital life. With an ever increasing online traffic, crisis situations online are also gaining pace. The same is also true for the phenomenon called ‘Facebook’. People tend to confuse or worse get stuck with the application’s interface that make social networking quite a pain for the user. The basic need for help is addressed by the help center under the drop-down menu adjacent to home button.

Contact Facebook

One may not be much appreciative of the idea about Facebook opening up numerous custom forms to address users queries; but the best option is to send a mail to the following email address -

• warning@facebook.com
• info@facebook.com
• disabled@facebook.com

The wide array of divisions and categorization of Facebook support requests no doubt make the task at hand easier and less cumbersome, but being held under a common portal may lead to a long wait before one’s query is addressed.

Although the social platform addresses most of the doubts faced by users, but at times you need to get directly in contact with Facebook behind the scenes, for privacy, Facebook login problems and other related issues. The first step is to sort out the subject of the problem faced by the user. Once this is done, the next step is to get into the corresponding subject under the help center topics.

Facebook Support Custom Forms

Once we are clear with our subject of concern, the next obvious step is to let Facebook know of the same. The easiest way to do this is to follow the custom forms that are inbuilt in help center page - 

http://www.facebook.com/help/

Let Facebook know about your issues. The main aim of following the custom forms rather than trying to contact by email or leaving a message for Facebook administrators is that being categorized under a certain topic makes it more visible and thereby helps in getting a quicker reply from the Facebook support team.

Facebook Developer Support

Other than directly contacting the developer, another popular practice is to join the developer’s forum to discuss with the users as well as the guys behind the scenes -

http://forum.developers.facebook.net/

Leaving feedbacks also helps address one’s queries by comparing with what other people had to say.

Facebook Offices

All in all Facebook has come a long way since it went online for the first time, with offices set-up in all the continents

Facebook India Office

Facebook India Pvt. Ltd. Hyderabad, Building no. 14, Raheja Mindspace, Hi-tech City Main Rd, Vittal Rao Nagar, Hitech City, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India.

Facebook Head Office

Facebook Inc, 1601 S California Ave, Palo Alto, California.

Socialize on Facebook

Another easier way to contact Facebook is through online socializing. Most of the activities online have the option of reporting to Facebook. This not only helps to get to the root of the problem but also helps deal with privacy concerns with ease vis-a-vis other options.

There are a lot of queries that the company needs to address to every single day. The interface and the customer support of the organization has changed over a period of time and the new outlook tends to make the users feel safe about displaying their information online.

Ubuntu , a popular operating system, based on the Debian Linux distribution  is spreaded as free and open source software worldwide. It was primarily designed for the personal computer but the server edition are also available now. Since its launch in October 2004, Ubuntu has become one of the most highly-regarded Linux distributions. Now it’s being used at homes, schools, businesses and governments around the world growing in popularity on both the server and the desktop edition.

Canonical, the sponsor of the Ubuntu released the tenth edition on 23 April 2009 and it is called as Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty Jackalope).

Why Download Ubuntu

Ubuntu 9.04 includes the latest 2.6.28.8 kernel, and a host of features like:

• Open Office 3.0
• Faster boot times (reportedly as low as 25 seconds)
• Includes the latest GNOME 2.26 desktop environment Brasero 2.26 (all-in-one CD burning application)
• More uniform notifications and system messages
• It has new splash screen and new logic screen
• Latest Skype
• Latest Adobe Flash
• Better (more intuitive) multi-monitor support
• X.Org server 1.6, which supports ATI-specific improvements as well
• Support Ext4 file system
• Brasero is now the default disc burning utility in Nautilus
• It has Jaunty as a  simple menu for setting preferences for notification icons.

Ubuntu Netbook Remix version

• Even faster boot speeds
• More intuitive icons and other design changes
• Enhanced power management

For its Server Edition, it includes the followings features:

• Web, print, file, database and mail servers are more efficient. Ubuntu 9.04 Server Edition integrates the latest, stable Open Source applications from across the community, packaged and ready for users to deploy.
• In addition, Ubuntu 9.04 Server Edition will preview Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud (UEC). Ubuntu is the first commercially-supported distribution to enable businesses to build cloud environments inside their firewalls.

The usable qualities of Ubuntu can easily challenge anything seen in latest windows operating system but the only limitation is that most applications that are developed for windows environment, are not supported by the Ubuntu or more generally Linux. However, there are almost always alternative by which people can enjoy the similar functionality of their favorite applications.

Ubuntu on VMWare

VMware has created a server version of their software which can be downloaded for free. It creates a virtual machine which runs inside of Ubuntu and any Windows operating system can be installed and made to run full-screen, in a window or alongside multiple versions of Windows (and even other versions of Linux) at the same time.

Download Ubuntu Image for VMWare.

System requirements for Ubuntu

The desktop version of Ubuntu currently supports the following system configuration -

• x86 32 bit and 64 bit architectures
• minimum memory requirement for Ubuntu 9.04 is 256 MB of memory.

Some of the system’s memory may be unavailable as it is occupied by the graphic card which causes delay in installation but once it gets installed, system will perform adequately.

Free Download Ubuntu Linux 9.04

With the values of Open Source software at its core, Ubuntu costs nothing to download or update. It is better to to download Ubuntu, burn the ISO to CD, and then at least boot into Ubuntu and take the test drive. If you have a permanent Internet connection, you can surf the web with the built-in Firefox browser.

Free Ubuntu 9.04 version download Links

http://www.ubuntu.com/download/ubuntu/download.

This should help to know all about Ubuntu Linux 9.04 and site from where you can download the same. So enjoy working in Ubuntu platform and don’t forget to put your valuable comments and suggestions.

XBMC is one of the famous media center available on the Internet as of today. The best part with XBMC is that one can play almost any media format in it and from almost any location. It supports all the available media set-up today and whether its live streaming from Internet or from remote location in your home network, it never says no! It has all the features and functionality you need to convert your PC to a mini Home theater. 

What are plugins

Although its open source and is developed by the effort of individual contributing developers, its widely supported and is available for any platform be it Windows, Mac or Linux for that matter. The good part with it is that its basic functionality and feature set can be really enhanced, depending upon the mood and choice of the user by adding plugins. Plugins are basically add-ons that can be installed on top of XBMC to provide rich and additional functionality, which is not otherwise present in basic version.

Availability and usage

Plugins are widely available, developed by core team as well as third party developers’ plugins. Ranging upon your choice and interests you can use wide variety of plugins. The plugins are basically managed and installed by Add-on manager provided in XBMC interface. Add on manager also notifies the user to updated the existing add-on if there is one available or add new ones. Please note that Add on manager is available from XBMC release 10.0 (named Dharma). The procedure to add plugins is as detailed below.

Procedure to access XBMC Plugins

• Scroll to settings and click

• Scroll Add-on and select

• Select the option as desired

As you can see there is 3 options listed i.e. Enabled add-on, Get add-on or install from Zip file. Enabled add-ons stands for add-ons that are currently enabled in the system. To get new add-ons, use Get add-on and again to install an add-on repository from zip file use the last option.

Procedure to install XMBC add-ons (from repository)

• Browse to Get add-ons (as explained above)

• Select the repository (generic or third party as available)

• Browse to add-on category you wish to install (skin in this example)

• Select the skin you wish to install from the available options

Once the add-on has been downloaded and installed, XBMC shall enable it so that you can start using it. Although you have the choice to disable or uninstall it any time you require.

Procedure to install an add-on from zip

As stated you can either install an add-on from repository or from zip file. For that first you need to download the repository zip file on the PC.

• Select install from zip file option

• Browse to zip file (location of download)

• Look at the bottom. XBMC displays the add-on from zip file

• Select the add-on to install it

Download XBMC Plugins

Please click here to go to official repository or click here to access un-official repository.

Add-ons are constantly in update mode and new add-on is added on regular basis. There are numerous add-ons available as of now from official as well as un-official repository. So go ahead, choose your add-on and enjoy the media as never before!

Windows Vista has a much better looking user interface than Windows XP. There are ways to make your Windows XP look like Windows Vista. One of the easiest ways is to download and install a customization pack that changes everything from icons to fonts to the wallpaper but there is also one more method to change each component separately. You can change what part of the user interface you want to change and leave the rest as it is. Let us look at how you can change some very often used components to make your Windows XP look like a Windows Vista machine.

Windows Theme

Download the theme that contains the font, wallpaper, icons etc from the following link: Windows Vista Theme Link

Your folder will now contain four folders with four different components, namely:

• Bottom Common Tasks
• Fonts
• Styler Toolbar
• Theme

1. Use WinRAR to UnRAR the folder
2. Copy all the contents of this folder to “Your_Windows_Directory\Resources\Themes\”
3. Apply the theme using Desktop properties. Note: Your_Windows_Directory is the directory in which your Windows XP is installed.

Icon Pack

Download the Icon pack and install it to change the look of your icons from the following link: Windows Vista Icon Pack

1. Extract the folder to your desktop
2. Double click on the VistaVG.iconpackage file. Note: You need an icon package manager to install this

Boot Screen

You can install the Windows Vista boot screen from the following link: Download VistaVG Boot Screen

1. Double click on the download file and install it
2. Restart your computer

Apart from the above mentioned changes you can also download custom fonts and Vista fonts, install them and use it as your default font. You have to remember that customizing your Windows XP user interface might take up more resources than the default user interface; you might also have to upgrade your hardware in some cases to be able to work on your computer smoothly.