Author: Chaitanya

Use Google Chrome as Calculator,Metric Converter | Hidden Functions of Google Chrome Browser still widely unknown
I was just casually browsing on the Internet, then instead of typing ‘.’ in an IP address i accidentally tped ‘*’ and to my astonishment,i was much shocked on the Result, Google Chrome quickly generated the Product of the two numbers for me 🙂 . On further trial and error experiments i found out Google Chrome could be used as a really quick Calculator and Metric Converter . which can be used to save and simplify our work , Let’s check it out how –

Procedure to Use Google Chrome as a Calculator
- Its really quite simple, simply type in your desired expression using the normal ‘+’ , ‘*’ ,’-‘ etc operators in the address bar and it shall return you the results . I have tested the operators (+,-,/,*,%) you can try more of them and tell me the results.
- Here’s an example operation( “85*48/8+6-2”) and with the result(“514”) it returned in the below image –
Similarly Google Chrome Browser can also be used as a Metric Converter too as follows
- Simply type in your Unit in address bar as shown below – (I typed in “5 feet” in address bar and it showed me the equivalent metres in Output)
- Also it supports conversions from one Metric to other metric Systems too as shown in the figure I typed (“5 feet in inches”) in address bar and it rightly returned me the Corresponding inches
Thus , Google Chrome contains this awesome functionality of an inbuilt-calculator cum Metric converter which can be pretty much time saving,especially in cases such as analytics saving the time required to navigate from one window to other . Also this trick is also quite good to show-off or impress folks with your geeky knowledge 🙂 .

And before i conclude, here’s one more –

we have explored a widely unknown dimensioon of Google Chrome,if you know more of such dimensions, do let us know by the comments 🙂 . Thank you!
July 19, 2014
Opera Mini PC Handler | Opera Mini for PC without any Any Android Emulator with Downloading Support
Opera Mini is the most widely used browser for mobile devices ,and boasts of some unique features.Using Opera Mini on PC can be more than handy or useful for PC users too such as
- It uses Opera servers to cache and display the web pages, thus, the servers act as a proxy and helps to unblock sites such as facebook etc, if they are blocked on the Network.
- The server caching also enables Data Compression which uses Data usage by almost 80% thus reducing the Data Usage as well as increasing the browsing speed manifolds 🙂
- Handler menu can be used to change/modify various network headers and parameters.
- JavaScript,Ajax-script etc are run/executed on the server side and thus this helps in speedy browsing on lower configuration PCs without the fear of System hang.
Method to Run/Install Opera Mini Handler on PC

Method #1 . Using JRE + Opera Mini for PC by Alan Bazan

Requirements : Java Run-time Environment or JRE must be installed on your System, if not installed,you can download and Install the JRE which can be downloaded from this URL .

Procedure : After you have downloaded and installed the JRE , Download the Opera Mini for PC Setup from the download links, and install it . After installing just Double click the Opera Mini icon and enjoy your favorite browser on your PC. [ You may need to save the settings upon your first Run as shown in the figure below]

Now, here you can simply hit save and click continue or change the Pinger settings/Handler Settings and continue to using your Opera Mini :).

Note : Press “Ctrl+O” anytime while using to navigate to the Settings.The Same Settings are used to configure Proxy settings by using (Ctrl + O).

The JRE based Opera Mini PC Browser can be downloaded from here —

Click here to Download Opera Mini 8.1 Handler PC – TechApple.Net
Click here to Download Opera Mini 7 PC – TechApple.Net

Mirror Links :

Click here to Download Opera Mini 8.1 Handler PC – TechApple.Net
Click here to Download Opera Mini 7 PC – TechApple.Net

Method #2. Using Opera Mini directly in Google Chrome/Firefox/Web Browser

Yes, you can use Opera Mini in your browser too, that too without Installing , by following these Simple steps —

Requirements : Install JRE or Java Runtime Environment on your system . If JRE is already installed please Skip this.

Now Navigate to the URL : http://demo.opera-mini.net/public/ on your Browser and Opera Mini will start Loading right on your browser! No need of installing it 😛 . Sometimes, the JRE may show security error in such cases please Go to Configure Java in your System , and Reduce the Security to Medium as shown in the Figure below(You can also see the Opera Mini running in the Background 🙂 ) –

Thus, these are some of the Most easy methods to Run / Install Opera Mini on PC , if Any doubts/queries/suggestions feel free to comment 🙂
July 19, 2014
Best apps to Record Screen in Chrome OS | Easily Record Screen Videos/Screencasts in Google Chrome/Chromebooks
Recently,the number of Chrome OS users/ Chromebook users is on the upward trend, and there may be many scenarios where one needs to record screen or screencasts of Chrome OS . As Google Chrome OS is based on the Linux but it doesn’t readily support external apps installation other than those from its Appstore here we bring you the Best apps to Record Screen Chrome Browser/Chrome OS and works on Chromebooks too .

App # 1 . Screencastify (Screen Video Recorder)

Screencastify is a simple video recorder app for Chrome with minimum and easy to use User-Interface . All you need to do is install the App ,and rest can be easily be guessed from the User Interface itself .

Method to use Screencastify to record videos/Screencasts
- First of all install the Screencastify app by downloading it from the Google Chrome store from here .
- Now you will see a filmstrip icon on your browser bar, simply click on it and you will see a box as shown in the figure below –
- Here you can configure various options such as screensize to be recorded / source of Audio Output which is to be recorded ( You can either use your Microphone or the Speaker Output too! )
- After you are done after configuring these simple options, Simply hit the “Start Recording” button.
- When you are done with the recording press the “Stop Recording” button.
- Now, we can either save this Screencast / Video to Local Disk (Hard disk) for Later viewing or either we can Upload it to youtube/Google drive 🙂 as shown in the figure below. (We have selected “Save to Disk” support , the option on the right is for Uploading online .)
- That’s it . We have successfully recorded Screencast/Video on our Chrome OS/Browser.
App # 2 . TechSmith SnagIT

This is yet another , awesome app for recording Screencasts for Linux and it comes in with an in-built Media Library +Media Player too ! which can be used for playing or viewing the Screencasts!

Method to use SnagIt to record Screencasts/ Videos
- First of all download and install the SnagIt app from the Chrome store by clicking here .
- Now start the App from either the Apps tab or the App Launcher. A window similar to the below image appears on your screen –
- Select the “New Screen Recording” option, Now a window asking to select the Screen to record appears, you can either select the Desktop or select the tab which is to be recorded. as shown below .
- Now select the screen and click on share , The Screen will start getting recorded . You can Stop recording/sharing by clicking the Stop Sharing button.
- Once you , Click on Stop Sharing, your video will be synced, after sync you can either view it in the Media Library of the App or Upload it to Youtube! / Google Drive.
- Besides, Screencasting SnagIt also adds option for adding Notes,Markers to the Video thus reducing the need of a Video Editor , it also supports adding of Visuals.
- You can take Screenshots too with this app . proving it to be a Multi-tasker. The Appstore page mentions that it requires the SnagIt extension too to be installed, but it worked fine for me without the extension. If it gives you error while using the Extension can be downloaded from here.
- Edit : The Extension allows/adds additional facility to the App such as selecting a particular ScreenArea/portion to be recorded , as well as configuring Audio capture / output options . So it’s a plus situation if the extension is installed as shown below – (with an additional browser bar icon) 🙂
Thus, these are the awesome apps/extensions which help to record screen videos/screen casts in Google Chrome OS . If you encounter any problems/ or know of any other App do let us know by comments 🙂 Thank you!
July 15, 2014
Procedure to create Wifi Hotspot on Linux |Creating Wireless Access point on Linux [Ubuntu/LinuxMint/Fedora/OpenSUSE]
Many times, we need to share our Internet Connection to our mobile devices/other laptops or gadgets, but we do not have a wifi router or wireless access point at our disposal. In such cases we can use our PC/laptop itself as a wireless access point to share the internet connection to other devices, and its free and doesn’t require any extra hardware too. while Windows OS contains softwares such as connectify.me,virtual router which do the same, Linux on the other hand has fewer alternatives, one of those alternatives is : hotspotd by prahladyeri@github . Lets have a look on how to create wifi hotspot linux . I have personally tested this on Ubuntu and LinuxMint but it should work on most linux distros.

Hotspotd is a small daemon to create a wifi hotspot on linux, it works by creating a virtual NAT (Network address transation) table between your connected device and the internet using linux iptables.

Requirements/Pre-requisites for using hotspotd to create access point
- dnsmasq (typically pre-installed on most linux distributions).
- hostapd for AP provisioning.
hostapd must be installed for hotspotd to be installed, you can install hostapd by running these commands in the terminal —

For Ubuntu based terminal command is : sudo apt-get install hostapd

And for RHEL based distros

terminal command : yum install hostapd

hostapd install is quick in process and will get processed in 2 seconds maximum :)shown in the figure below – .

Now after you have installed hostapd , we need to install our hotspot app – hotspotd

Installation of hotspotd –

To install hotspotd, just follow these steps: , type them one by one in the terminal :

First of all we will download the hotspotd package from wget command –
```
wget https://github.com/prahladyeri/hotspotd/raw/master/dist/hotspotd-0.1.tar.gz
```
Now,we uncompress the tar file and navigate to the extract directory –
```
tar xvf hotspotd-0.1.tar.gz
cd hotspotd-0.1/
```
Here, in this installation directory we give the setup command from the terminal by —
```
sudo python setup.py install
```
If everything goes fine, hotspotd will be installed successfully 🙂

Using the Hotspot

To start hotspot:

sudo hotspotd start

To stop hotspot:

sudo hotspotd stop

The first time you run hotspotd, it will ask you for configuration values for SSID, password, etc. Thus enhancing the security of your hotspot and giving you more customizable options to play with 🙂

Alternatively, you may also run:

sudo hotspotd configure

Precutionary Measures / Troubleshooting
- Make sure all dependencies (hostapd, dnsmasq and python 2.7) are installed.
- hotspotd creates the NAT by manipulating iptables rules. So if you have any other firewall software that manipulates the iptables rules (such as the firewalld on fedora), make sure you disable that.
- To create a hotspot, your wifi must support AP mode. To find that out, use this process:
  - Find your kernel driver module in use by issuing the below command:lspci -k | grep -A 3 -i network(example module: ath9k)
  - Now, use the below command to find out your wifi capabilities (replace ath9k by your kernel driver):modinfo ath9k | grep depend
  - If the above output includes “mac80211” then it means your wifi card will support the AP mode.
Rejoice, Now you can use and share your Internet Connection on as many devices as you want 🙂 also, you can create a wifi hub for Gaming too 🙂 , If any doubts/queries/suggestions feel free to comment 🙂
July 13, 2014
Tutorial – Installing/Setup VirtualBox on Linux [Ubuntu/LinuxMint/Fedora/OpenSUSE/ArchLinux etc]
VirtualBox is the most widely used Virtual Machine emulator today, be it Windows or MAC OS or Linux . The Widespread availability of VirtualBox for all Platforms is its plus point , it allows to run and install multiple guest Operating on our base [host] OS without the need of formatting or dual-booting . VirtualBox is also required by loads of third-party tools such as Android Emulators,Machine renderers as the basic dependency layer . The installation process of VirtualBox on Linux can become tedious at times, we will try to simplify it as much as possible in this post.

Installing VirtualBox on Linux
- The easiest method to install virtualBox on linux is by downloading the .deb or .rpm packages available corresponding to your distro from the VirtualBox Downloads page from here –> [LinuxMint users should select Ubuntu based packages as LinuxMint packages are similar to Ubuntu]
- https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Linux_Downloads.
- If you are facing problems on which distro or build , you should download – Simply Navigate to – System Settings -> Details and you’ll see the OS type , as shown in the figure –
- Now, double click the .deb or .rpm package downloaded.
- Now depending upon your OS type, it will either open the default package manager of your system, “e.x Ubuntu App Center fot Ubuntu” where in you have to click install or it will directly start installling !
- If incase, the default packages provided by VirtualBox don’t work for you, you can even install VirtualBox through terminal by if yum is your default package manager, you can even use terminal to install by typing the command –
```
yum install VirtualBox-4.3
```
- Or if you are Ubuntu/LinuxMint/any other Ubuntu based distro user, you can use
  “sudo apt-get install virtualbox” to install VirtualBox.
- Thus, you have installed VirtualBox on your Machine, if the above discussed methods don’t work for you, please comment with the error code, we will be happy to help you out! 🙂 and get VirtualBox installed .
July 13, 2014
Tutorial – Install/Setup Genymotion Android Emulator on Linux [Ubuntu/LinuxMint/Fedora/ArchLinux]
In our previous post, we had discussed about the Best 5 Android emulators for Linux . Many asked us for installation instructions for installing Genymotion on Linux, so we have come up with this tutorial to install Genymotion – the present-best Android emulator for Linux. I have tried and tested this tuorial for Ubuntu and LinuxMint but it should work for all Linux distributions

Tutorial for Installation/Setup of Genymotion on Linux –
1. Now Genymotion pops up, there login with the Genymotion account we registered earlier,and click on Create New Virtual Device or the “Add” button.
2. You will see various Android Images listed as follows , select the one you want to emulateand click Next
3. The Android image , will now be downloaded to the machine and saved for future use, after its downloaded , Just select the Android image which is present on your system and click the “Play” button.
4. Your desired Android Image will be implemented , Now you can Play Games, Install Whatsapp etc and do anything with your Own Linux Device right on your PC :).
I hope , the tutorial was clean and clear, however if you face any issues/encounter any problems, Please do comment we would be glad to help :).
July 13, 2014
Flex for Windows- Lex and Yacc(Bison) Installer for Windows 7/8.1/10 32-bit & 64-bit
Hello friends, recently we were introduced to lex and yacc parsers in our syllabus, but the introduction to lex and yacc [flex and bison] was made in linux environment . Personally, I didn’t felt necessary to Install the Complete Linux OS on my Laptop just because to have gcc/lex/yacc libraries which are a mere 30 MB size , and to allocate 10GB Disk Space + RAM[in Virtual Machine] to Linux is something which i am not very Fond of 🙁 . After searching on Sourceforge, I came across the MinGW [ Win 32 Port of cc/gcc/g++] and the GNU-Win32 ports of flex[lex] and bison[yacc] respectively. So in order to make it easy to use and install i Packaged all of them into a single one click installer – Flex for Windows 7/8/10

Contents / Salient Features of Flex Windows
- In-built GCC/G++/cc Libraries of Linux : The Flex Windows Package contains inbuilt Gcc And g++ libraries [c and c++ compilers] which are ported to windows officially by MinGW and are actively developed by the Linux Open Source Community
- Lex and Yacc Package Binaries : The package contains the latest updated versions of Lex and yacc binaries [flex and bison] which are developed by their developers . The original binaries are included as-it-is in the package so as to ensure smooth and error free compilation and build of your Programs.
- Pre-Configured EditPlus IDE : The package also contains EditPlus IDE which contains pre-defined Blank templates for the Lex/Yacc/C/C++/Java Files, thus each time you want to type a program you can simply use the New Lex / New Yacc template, and the basic code will be inserted thus saving your time and efforts to type :P.
- The EditPlus IDE also contains user Commands for Lex Compile,Yacc Compile,Lex Build , Lex+Yacc Build, Band for Execute. thus, saving your time to type complete commands like “lex abc.l” or cc lex.yy.c y.tab.c -o <object file>” blah blah..” you can simply click the Buttons according to the function you wanna perform and the command will be executed, the command itself will insert the filename,parameters etc 🙂 Amazing! isn’t it ? And to top it off the IDE will capture the command output , errors if any will be shown in the IDE window itself ,thus you can easily change the code,save and compile in split seconds making it easy and pretty much like Geany/Eclipse/Netbeans 🙂
- If it still doesn’t impress you , you still can open CMD and compile and build the hard-old-fashioned way 🙂
- No need to Set PATH variables , the PATH variables , for the gcc/lex/yacc are added by the installer itself, thus saving the efforts required to set PATH 🙂
- Single installer , works on all version of Windows., here’s a Snapshot of the Flex for Windows in Action
Download : Click here to download Flex for Windows 7/8/8.1/10/XP 32-bit || 64-bit

Download Mirror #1 : Click here to download Flex for Windows 7/8/8.1/10/XP 32-bit || 64-bit from Mirror # 1

Update : For those who are facing errors with Bison/yacc Package in Flex for Windows can also install Lex/Yacc on Ubuntu/LinuxMint easily by referrig this article.

Cautions/Precautions to be taken :
- Make Sure you install the Package in any folder except “Program Files” / “Program Files (x86)” The Package won’t work if installed in Program Files.
- The Windows Lex Version requires “%option noyywrap” , Please make sure this option is present , before you compile Programs.
- The “-ll” and “-ly” arguments won’t work in Windows as they are not required in Windows Environments.
- If the IDE Lags/Code doesn’t respond on compile command , Please re-run the FlexIDE as “Run as Administrator” .
Method to Run Programs through IDE
- Some users have reported difficulty using the package for running the programs or giving the inputs, hence we are simplifying the instructions to run the programs below. In some cases you may find that the program terminates after executing after getting inouts from console if compiled and executed through IDE, In such cases the CMD way is recommended for executing .
Case 1 : Only lex Programs need to be run and built and executed
- Click the compile lex button in the IDE.
- Click the build lex button.
- Click on Execute .
Alternate way through CMD
- Click on Execute CMD directly button in the IDE.
- Compile the Lex File by typing the command lex <filename>.l
- Build the Lex File by gcc/cc command in the CMD e.g gcc lex.yy.c -o <executable name for program>
- Execute the program by typing <executable name for the program>.exe
- The -o <executable name for program> parameter is optional, you can skip the said parameter by directly building by gcc lex.yy.c
  and then directly execute your program by typing a.exe
Case 2 : Both Lex and Yacc Programs together have to be linked and Compiled – Executed
- Compile the yacc program by the compile yacc button from the IDE.
- Compile the Lex program by compile lex button.
- Build the program by clicking the “lex-yacc” build button.
- Click on Execute button.
Alternate way through CMD
- Click on the Execute CMD button in the IDE.
- Compile Yacc file by typing command yacc -dy <filename.y>
- Compile the Lex File by typing the command lex <filename>.l
- Build the Lex File by gcc/cc command in the CMD e.g gcc lex.yy.c y.tab.c -o <executable name for program>
- Execute the program by typing <executable name for the program>.exe
- The -o <executable name for program> parameter is optional, you can skip the said parameter by directly building by gcc lex.yy.c y.tab.c
  and then directly execute your program by typing a.exe
The binaries are provided as it is , so they cannot contain any errors, However if you face any errors/problems while installing or running, do comment 🙂 we will try to solve it . If you have any doubts/suggestions do leave them behind in comments 🙂

UPDATE : All yacc fixed in this new version — New Update to sequence for Activations by Maria —

“select the name.l -> click on Lex Compile -> click on Lex Build ->

-> select name.y -> click on Yacc Compile – click on Lex + Yacc Build ->

-> click Execute exe directly or Open CMD (typing the name)”
July 7, 2014
3 Best Apps to Record Screen in Linux|Capture Screen Videos / Screencast in Linux easily! Ubuntu,Fedora,LinuxMint,ArchLinux etc
Recently, i had to record some tutorials on my linux machine, but i found out that there are only a few rare options to record screencasts [screen videos ]in Linux / Ubuntu [LinuxMint is based on Ubuntu] , hence i came up with these three Best and Awesome apps to record screen linux . These apps are easy to use and easy to install as well plus they work on all major linux distros such as Ubuntu/LinuxMint/Fedora/ArchLinux etc. Let’s have a look on each one of them one by one.

App 1 . Kazam Screencaster

This app may be called as the best screencast recorder or Screen video Recorder for Linux ! I found out some really interesting features of the app such as
- Kazam is really very easy to install and setup .It is available on almost all linux repositories i tested it from Ubuntu 11.04 to Ubuntu 14.10 . Simply type the “sudo apt-get install kazam” if you are using Ubuntu based distro such as Ubuntu/LinuxMint/etc or “pacman kazam” or any package get command according to your distro , kazam will be surely there!
- It also enables to select the area to be recorded be it a particular window/particular screen area or complete screen! Kazam allows it all.
- Its really lightweight and works superbly on my Virtual Machine too.
- You can check out the Download Instructions[Steps]/Working Demo / Tutorial for Kazam here.
App 2. Simple Screen Recorder

SimpleScreen Recorder is yet another fantastic App for recording screencasts on Ubuntu , it allows easy recording and is based on qt , thus works very smoothly , some of its unique features include
- Record OpenGL apps directly, without any extra required codecs/filters.
- Automatically reduces frame rate on slow computers.
- Pause/Resume the Video recording anytime.
- Optional audio recording , if audio is not the Priority.
- Specify the Codecs / Encoding to be Used for Recording the video.
- Not only this, but the main app lets you keep an eye on the increasing file size, memory size,frame rate,time,thus enhancing the usability !
To install SimpleScreenRecorder on your Linux/Ubuntu enter the following commands in the Terminal
```
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:maarten-baert/simplescreenrecorder
```
```
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install simplescreenrecorder
```
If you are using Fedora or any other distros you can get the Pre-built builds from here .

App 3 . RecordMyDesktop

This app “RecordMyDesktop” is yet another Free Screen Recorder / Screencasting app for Linux , It also supports recording the Screen in various Video Formats and sizes as well as window recording . The App also supports pausing and resuming the recording of Screencast ., but the only drawback was its lag on the Virtual Machine, thus indicating its more hardware dependent , but overall its another small size tool which can be used for Recording Screen.

RecordMyDesktop can be downloaded from the Default app Directory / App Center of Ubuntu/Arch/Fedora. If not available,you can use the command
“sudo apt-get install recordmydesktop” from the terminal to download and install RecordMyDesktop

Besides these three you can also use tools such as “DemoRecorder – Linux”[Adware], “Xvidcap” [Works on 32bit Distros Only],”VLC”,”ffmpeg”[lag in UI] to capture the ScreenVideos or Screencasts but because of the Bracketed Cons i don’t recommend them,If you encounter any problem while downloading/installing/using any of the apps mentioned, feel free to comment 🙂 and also if you know of another screencaster app for Linux, Do let us know !
July 5, 2014
Prevent Google from tracking Search-Using non https Google Search [Non SSL Version]
Many sites today track users without their consent and store data, hence privacy of users is a major concern. Google too does the same way and tracks our previous search queries,visited links to track our usage and improve the search results . But many times it can happen that we may want to hide our search query from google or stop it from tracking our usage. Also sometimes we may want to use the old non-https or non SSL version of Google Search to search our query especially in case of slower network connections. This post covers the very same on How to prevent Google from tracking our search without having to log out or make changes to our Google profile/Account settings , And using non https Google SSL encryption.

The Method to use Google without https and without traceability is very easy , though there are many users using 3rd party services like ducduckgo or startpage.com but i won’t recommend them,as they themselves are slower and their server processing despite using google results make them even more slower..Let us now browse the methods to prevent google from recording the search results.

Method I —– Using Google Server IP

Yeps, this is the most simple Method to use Google and gain access to Google search results without letting google track and using SSL , you can get the Geo-Specific Google Server IP for your location too, The Process is very Simple as follows
- Open Command Prompt [For Windows users] or Terminal [For Linux and Mac users] and simply type the command “ping google.com” and hit enter, you will get a message as “pinging google.com (google server ip) with xx data” check the below screenshot for information.
- Here the IP contained in the brackets is the Google Server IP , now simply enter this IP in your browser and hit enter ! and voila !
- You are now able to access Google without https and without traceability , you can yourself check that even if you are logged on/signed in on “google.com” you are logged off/signed out on the Google Server IP Page :). Thus preventing the Google Server from tracking you and your search 🙂
- Also, you can check for previously searched queries, they always disappear 🙂 Check the below Screenshot for live demo of the same –>
- As you can see in the above Screenshot i have used the Google IP from the ping command and using it for searching , The Google Server IP which i used was 173.194.36.38 , you can obtain yourself IP or can use anyone from the range 173.194.36.1 to 173.194.116.255 , tested by me i.e total 80*255 IPS but may be the number is even more 🙂 You can try urself and get your own Google Server IP for personal use 😛
Method 2 – Appending ?nord=1 at end of Google Search
- This is yet another method for using non https version of Google Search but unlike the previous method it doesn’t completely prevent Google from tracking your results.
- But this method is quite useful especially in slower network connections or restricted networks where https doesn’t work properly . You can visit the non-https version of ?nord by Visiting here – http://www.google.com/?nord=1
So ,these are some tweaks of the World’s Number 1 Ranked site, which many and many of them might not know and which can be used to enjoy the Google Search experience 🙂 , If you have any doubts/queries/suggestions feel free to contact us or comment below 🙂
June 29, 2014