Cluzee does not have a clue!

No! I am not willing to give any Android App a chance! If you want to be better than iOS, you better be better than iOS. You can not claim to do a task like one of those iOS applications and suck big time in it. Free or not, I do not want to waste data downloading something that sucks.

Ya. People are searching for applications in the Android Market that works like Siri. People are searching big time on Google too. Even my blog, which is not popular at all in the tech world by any standard, gets most hits on write ups about applications that work like applications on Apple Devices. Just because of that you cannot create a crap app and push it down our throat.

Let me tell you, cluzee sucks big time. Do not download it. It claims to be a personal assistant like Siri. Fact is it is worse than even the worse voice assistant applications on the Android Market. It does not have a clue as to what exactly a personal voice assistant is. Applications like Iris, which I hate to the core because of its proficiency in cracking dumb jokes than actually doing the job for you, are better than Cluzee.

Cluzee is as good as a crap application can get. It has a list of things it can do the moment you open the application. The sad thing is, it cannot do even those basic stuff it claims it can do. I tired five times to make Cluzee tell me weather. I tried five times to make it open an applications for me. All failed.
I do not understand why popular Android Blogs are giving it a chance. They are writing as though Cluzee will improve overtime. I do not think they will. Iris is a perfect example to show you why Cluzee will not improve overtime. Because the only vision behind these sort of applications is to ride on the glory of some iOS application. Net Leeches, I would call them. I wrote about Net Leeches and their phenomenon dependence  long ago, when developers tried to ride on the glory of twitter. Now, it is Android Developers trying to ride on the glory of iPhone. The problem is, they are not trying to do it better than iPhone. In fact, like Cluzee, they are trying to make it worse than iPhone.

Surprisingly, both Iris and Cluzee pull the data they need from the same website to answer your GK questions. I do not know when these developers will understand that people try and use a personal.assistant for more than just getting general knowledge questions answered.

One of the things that developers need to understand is that we spend data to download applications. Each bite downloaded leaves those many carbon footprints. I request them not to develop applications for the sake of developing it. I request them, even if they develop crap applications, not to waste PR time like Cluzee did to try and make people download their application.

Bottom line: if you want an application like Siri, do not download Cluzee. It is a waste if your data.

Convert your laptop into a WiFi access point

I can turn Samsung Galaxy Tab into a WiFi access point. If you have a Gingerbread or above, wireless tethering is like a breeze on your Galaxy Tab. That made me wonder, why can't the same thing be done on a personal computer?

Can I turn my personal computer into a WiFi access point?  Yes, I can. If a WiFi enabled Tablet can be converted into a WiFi hot spot, you can convert a laptop the same way too. But the problem is it's a little complicated when you do that on a laptop compared to a Tablet. You need to really figure out how to configure your computer to create ad hock networks.

Is there an easy way to create a WiFi hot spot on your computer? Connectify is the answer. Connectify is a software that helps you simplify the process of creating an ad hock network on your computer. Using the software you can enable your computer to connect at least five other devices to the Internet. It is as simple as going here and downloading the Connectify Me pro version or lite version, installing it on your computer and setting up a name and password for your WiFi Access Point. Once you have done that you can use your landline connection that connects your computer to connect your other devices wireless.

Another great keyboard for Android!

What makes a keyboard on Android worth the time you spend to download it?

I've been playing with keyboards on Android for a while now. I love it when a keyboard is accurate and easy to use. Most keyboards that I downloaded are good the first time I use them. After a while tend to hang on me with a difficult to access server for auto correct!

Another thing! I used to always think that to swipe is such a bad idea for Android! How on earth can someone swipe and still write well enough to make it readable? The original Swype application for Android typing is such a difficult thing to learn. You need to be pretty careful when you are typing with a Swype so that you will not forget what you want to type.

I was always looking for a keyboard on Android that is accurate and at the same time fun to use. Keyboards that focus a lot on accuracy are not that fun use. They give you a hard time getting you into auto correct traps that you will never notice until its too late. And then keyboards that let you swipe to type are too hard to use that you will never finish what you intended to type in peace. And when you swipe to type you always end up findings yourself pecking your keyboard to correct your mistakes.

What if we have a keyboard in which you can both type and swipe ? What if we have a keyboard that will do auto correct  fast enough to help you understand the wrong keys you poked? Well I'm typing this blog now using such a keyboard.

TouchPal! It's a great keyboard. I can say it's auto correct and Swype mixed at its best. If you are using TouchPal you doing have to worry swiping the wrong way. On TouchPal even if you are swiping the wrong way, it corrects you predicting what you intended to type. It has a great auto correct suggestion list for every word and pops them open in case you types anything wrong. Three suggestion feature and colour combination of TouchPal its so great that you will never miss a wrong word.

TouchPal world just the way as the makers of the app announces. You can swipe or type based on your preferences. You can enable animation on the TouchPal that it makes it feel like some magic is happening as you type. If you want to see the magic of TouchPal, you can download it from here.

What to do when Facebook Account is hacked?

Facebook is too popular. And popularity makes websites vulnerable to attacks from scamsters. As I am writing, a large scale pishing scam is happening on Facebook. Ruthless scammers are posting graphic porn content using Facebook accounts. What can you do when your Facebook is attacked and compromised? Here are a few things you can do in case you find your Facebook Account is hacked and your news feed is hijacked by scamsters who post unwanted content:

1. Change your password right away. And when you are changing your password, make sure that you don't use a simple, everyday word as your password. Make sure that you don't use obvious number and word combination like 123-your-son's-name. Use a mix of alphabets and numbers.
2. Use Facebook encryption. Facebook allows you to use encryption so that the information you send online is not visible to third parties. I am sure Facebook has already prompted you to do this. If you cannot see https on your address bar, go to your settings and enable https instead of using http. If you use http, smart hackers can intercept your communication midway and get your details. Https encrypts your page so that none can read it.
3. Delete unwanted applications. I am sure you get tons of invites prompting you to add applications to your account. While some of them are useful, some of them are useless after to first time you use it. Go to your settings and remove all the applications you do not trust or do not use.
4. Run a virus scan on your computer. Sometimes, the scammers will install software on your computer to control your account. Scan your computer so that you can trace unwanted spyware on your computer and delete them.
5. Use a modern browser. Internet Explorer is not a good idea. It makes you vulnerable to attacks. Use a browser like Chrome or Firefox.
6. Uninstall all browser plug-ins right away. If you are using add-ons or plug-ins or search bars on your browser, remove them. You do not need any plug-in other than your video or voice player plug-ins to use a browser effectively. I suggest you get the help of new expert to do this.
7. To prevent people from tagging you on photos and videos you may not like to be tagged on, please go to Privacy Settings and Edit how tagging works on you. Keep tag review on and people will need your permission to tag you. 

These are a few things you can do after your Facebook account is attacked. Prevention is better than cure. What are the few things you you can do to prevent such attacks?

• Use a strong password, as I referred to in the first part.
• Do not give permissions to all applications. Let that red bulb pop up in your head the moment you see that page asking your permission. If you have an applications that asks for your email and friends list details, do not give a permission.
• Make sure that you do not click on links just because of see them on your news feed. Make sure that you trust the website before you click on a link. Enable your anti-virus software to analyze to links in your browser
• Do not disable htpps under any circumstance.
• Do not copy paste java script into your URL, even if promises magic.

Easily access your Apps on Android

Irrespective of which smartphone you use, it is a pain in the neck to find an app from your app drawer when you need it the most. Especially if you have too many applications on your phone. Apple has this problem. So does Android.

If you are using an Android phone, you have more options than an iPhone user in times like these. If you are using an iPhone, you need to satisfy yourself categorising applications into different folders. Android on the other hand has different ways to help you find an installed application when you need it as quickly as possible.

Android differentiates between a homescreen and an app drawer, unlike an iPhone. iPhone does not even have the concept of an app drawer. All it has is a screen. The ability of Android phones to create as many as seven homescreens become handy when you want to keep your favourite applications where you see them. What I usually do is to have applications for similar uses all in one place on one home screen. For example, all my social networking applications are on one screen. All my video streaming applications are on another screen. I just have to swipe across screens to find which application is where.

Now, that is not enough for some of us. We still want more. I am a very organisedly disorganized person. I can keep all apps in one place once and completely forget that they are there when I need them the most. If you are like me, download Go Launcher. It gives you the ability to categorize your applications into folders. So now you can access your apps like a true Android user frm your home screen or go to your app drawer and like an Apple user access your Apps from the folders.

Having a smartphone is like getting married. After the novelty wears off, you want things to happen quickly than when you first got your phone. So having seven home screens to look at and having to go to the app drawer folders make it seem like life is too damn slow. You would love it if you just flicked open your phone and the app that you wanted right now is right there on that screen. This is where CircleLauncher comes to your rescue. CircleLauncher is a homescreen widget that will help you categorize your apps in circles on the homescreen. You can have as many circles as you want and name those circles too. What I did was to categorize my applications into Utilities, News, Mail, Social, Media etc and place them on different CircleLauncher Circles. And then you have many options to tweak the way the circles look. My favourites are the ability to remove the app name and the ability to reduce the size of the app icons.

You can download CircleLauncher from here. Let me know if CircleLauncher made your life any easier. Let me know how.

How does Twitter kill thinking?

Yes. Twitter is bad for some of us. Specially for those of us who are Blogging.
I used to be an addicted twitter user for some time. I mean, I never used it to tell the world what I am doing or anything. I find it a little dumb to do that. I used twitter to share what I think about various issues.Let us say, I read interesting write ups online and have an opinion about it. I use twitter to air that opinion.

Or let us say, someone on twitter says something about something and I want to say something about it or against it. I used twitter as a platform to engage with people and discuss issues with them. Now, this led to too many twitter wars. As usual, conflicts make life interesting and it made life on twitter interesting too. And these twitter wars made sure that I spent more time on twitter than any where else.

I like to blog. I realized that Blogging improves my ability to write and articulate my thoughts clearly. And the day I bought a laptop and got an internet connection for my personal use, I started blogging. Initially I blogged about random topics, anonymously as I didn't want anyone to find out that I am blogging the stupid thoughts I am blogging. Eventually, I shed my inhibition and started Blogging using my real name. It was not bad. And after sometime I realized that I like writing about technology and started writing on techedin about things I learn about information technology.

Yes. It was not bad at all. But it was less than 50 hits a day back then and absolutely no comments from people who read what I wrote. And then twitter came along. And the fact that people responded to tweets made me hop into the twitter bandwagon. Initially, I used to blog along with twittering away to glory. But then things started to change. As I got into tweeting more and more, the number of my posts on my blog decreased. And blogging completely came to a stand still as twitter wars brewed. I passed a comment on almost anything I could. I became too lazy to write long posts. My blog died.

Then something strange happened three months ago. I realized that I was using twitlonger and deckly more than the twitter platform itself when I was engaged in a heated debate with someone or anyone. These 140 characters never seemed to be enough. I was thinking, what the hell? Why shouldn't I write these things on my blog so that I can at least refer back to them when I want to? Why should I write my thoughts on a platform that gives me no option to sort it, categorize it and store it for later use. On twitter, once tweeted is as good as gone for ever, true to its name. You need to spend a lot of time and kilobytes to locate something that you once said. So there I was, wondering, why I should waste my time there!

However, that didn't make me start writing my blog right away. The fact was, I was not feeling that urge to write long posts. If there was a half formed thought in my head, a catchy sentence, I tweeted it out. That made me lazy to go back and write long posts on my blog. Worse still, I needed to be in the middle of a frustrating debate to write a long post.

And then something strange happened again. I don't know if it was because of the thoughts that were going on in my head, I started losing my interest in twitter. I mean I stopped tweeting, except for some occasional link sharing. And two months passed by.

After two months of no tweeting at all, I got this sudden urge to write. I figured out a way to read certain Indian languages on my Android Tabet. Twitter was not enough to share that with people. So I chose to write it on my blog. After a day, I realized that my post was getting a good number of hits. From a blog that got less than 50 hits a day, my blog went upto 800 hits a day. Now, that was very encouraging. And I brought my blog back into life again.

Now, I blog almost on a daily basis. I have come to a point where I have learned not to bother if any one will read what I write. I know, if someone finds it useful they will. Otherwise, I don't care much. I can use what I write as reference at a later point in time if I need to.

What I realized from this whole issue is the fact that microblogging kills real blogging. It almost killed the blogger in me. Had I been using twitter as faithfully as I used to, all that I would have done now instead of writing this post, would have been to tweet a single line: "twitter killed the blogger in me" or something to that effect. Then I will forget it. That tweet is gone. Someone may retweet it and make it stay for sometime. And then it will be gone again. Sometimes in seconds. Sometimes in minutes. Twitter does not have a platform that is capable of helping you form your thoughts. It in fact kills your thought processes. It kills our ability to think.

We go with the misconception that twitter and its 140 character limit allows us to cut away the clutter and say things succinctly. Actually, clutter is what allows you to solve complicated issues. Twitter is actually killing your ability to create clutter. Nothing great in the world was ever written in 140 characters. Twitter is just a hyped up "quotable quote" platform. But those of you who know what thinking is all about know that context is much more important than a quotable quote itself.

Is there another game better than Angry Birds?

I am sure every one who owns an Android phone would have downloaded and played Angry Birds. It is an awesome game. The very idea of pelting angry birds across the screen to destroy the pigs and the monkeys and to sometimes save the caged birds is very alluring. Take an aim and shoot. Angry Birds become a very addictive game over a period of time. It is addictive for the reason that it is simple and challenging at the same time.

Angry Birds is a good game to get people used to the idea of touchscreen. If you play that game you are sure to get comfortable about how to touch and feel a touchscreen. Some of my friends who found it difficult to use a touchscreen when they used it for the first time, found it easy to use touch commands after they played Angry Birds.

That is as good as it gets. Once you are used to the idea of a touchscreen, you begin to realize the fact that it can do more. This is when you start looking for a new game that allows you to do more than just swipe the screen and sit there waiting for a funny looking bird to decide what it is going to hit.

Just kidding! I know that the angry birds I shoot just don't go and hit anything they like. You need to be very careful about the angles you choose to shoot the birds. But then that's where fun ends and search begins. You want to do a little more than shooting those birds. You ask, is there a game that allows you to do more than just sit there and flng birds at pigs? Is there a game that is better than or as good as Angry Birds?

Well, Angry Birds is a cultural phenomenon. You cannot get better than that very easily. If you want to topple a cultural phenomenon, you may have to subvert it. That is exactly what the makers of Pigs in Trees did. They took the two familiar characters from Angry Birds - the brids and the pigs. And then they reversed the roles. In Angry Birds' story line the birds are the good guys and the pigs are the bad guys. The makers of Pigs in Trees turned that around and made the pigs into good guys and the birds into bad guys. When Angry Birds are trying to save other birds and eggs, Pigs in Trees are trying to protect trees from bad birds. I know, that is some noble cause!

Pigs in Trees involves a lot of action and need a lot more focus than Angry Birds does. If Angry Birds is about shooting yourself into the mouth of destruction, Pigs in Trees is about shooting the enemy down without harming yourself. Angry Birds has elements of suicidal tendencies in it. Pigs in Trees has elements of survival in it. Pigs in Trees is about an expert pilot who is out there to save the trees from the bad guys.

Angry Birds is of course a great game. Pigs in Trees in comparison, specially because it is a subversion of Angry Birds, is a greater game. Some people say that Pigs in Trees takes time to load and crashes or freezes on some devices. Well, that is something we can forgive for now as it is a recent application. May be it will take a few more updates for it to be stable on certain devices. I am using the first version of Samsung Galaxy Tab and I have not yet encountered any issue with Pigs in Trees. Now, you can download Pigs in Trees from here. Once you play it, let me know how you liked it.