Everyday-ICT

24/11/2013

USB ON THE GO

24/11/2013

USB ON THE GO: HOW MUCH OF IT DO YOU KNOW OR USE?

You don’t need to imagine using your phone to access your flash drive and type an email faster with an external keyboard attached to your phone, you can actually do it and it’s not as if it just started today, it’s been around for years. Most people either don’t utilize it well or don’t even know about it.

This is a feature that has been around for a very long time and most people still don’t use it or know its full potentials. Even OEMs don’t talk much about it, but it’s a nice feature that if you explore very well could save you a lot of stress, time, energy and maybe money.

A lot of people are aware of this feature in their phones, but don’t fully understand it or perhaps don’t really see why they should use it. The USB On The Go (OTG) is simply a feature available on your phone and tablets that allows you to read and write file to and from your flash, external HD, mouse and external keyboard. Its available on most Smartphones today including (Nokia Symbian, almost all Androids ( from low end to high end, including Tecnos). I haven’t seen it on iPads and iPhones yet.

To get started you simply need a USB OTG cord, which cost around ₦200-₦300 or $1.20. That’s all. Check out the image to see what it looks like. If you need a complete suite then grab a USB keyboard for ₦700 or $4.7 and a USB mouse for ₦200 or $1.2 with a flash drive of your choice size. See attached image to give you an idea of what am talking about.

I still don’t get why OEMs won’t add the extra cord to their phones, making you pay extra for it.
Note: the phone in the pic is a Sony Xperia U ST25i ( a low end android phone with no support for external SD card like all nexus devices)

There are many scenario where this will be useful and I use it lot with an external keyboard when my laptop battery goes out and I need to quickly type a mail or post. Sometimes, I have very important files I don’t want to leave on my laptop or phone, I just want it on my external drive to access them on the go. Don’t forget My previous write up about redundancy backup…so don’t put all your files only in one place.
That means I can have all my movies in a 320gb external hd, connect it to my phone and watch till my battery runs down. This means unlimited storage for your limited phone.
With this you don’t have to contemplate on which files to delete to free up space, you just need to connect your flash drive and move the file on the go.

You can check out this website to learn more http://www.androidcentral.com/android-advanced-USB-otg-
nexus-4
In summary you can basically;

• Use a mouse with your phone (COULD BE HELPFUL TO PHABLETS OWNERS)

• USE A FULL SIZE KEYBOARD ( YOU CAN ACTUALLY CONNECT A FULL SIZE KEYBOARD TO YOUR PHONE AND TYPE WITH IT) check out this link for galaxy owners (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAVVmPc3QFo)

• READ A flash drive: you can improved the support by reading (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1209567)

• Use it as a external backup device

•Depending on the power of your device you can charge a lesser phone with a more powerful phone. For example Nokia N8 or galaxy Note II can charge your Smaller Nokia or other low end phone through the port.

• You can get wired or wireless gamepads for your device. The wired is always cheaper.

• Access and transfer data faster between two phones just like the third image.

• Record your video and take your pictures directly ( don’t worry about reducing the size of image quality because of limited space) transfer to your pc. Just set the path to reflect your external disk

• Attached a USB hub and connect more than one USB drives. That is you can use a mouse and a keyboard while transferring a large files to your flash. All these can be done with that your phone (interesting right? Try it).

Well, have said enough, you can Google for more. Mine is to bring you the info and make you aware of few cool things you can do to get more value for your money.
If your already know about it and have been using it, good, but if you didn’t know, well now you do.

Lastly, try to test this with an external dvd player or some certain USB Modem like the New hauwei E355. Just explore your imagination (the greatest asset God gave to Mankind). it wont hurt. Just see if your phone is powerful enough to play a movie directly from an external dvd.(You Might be surprise). Remember to download and install Bsplayer if you are on android( I use it to play .vob files: dvd format).

That’s all about it.

Share if you enjoy reading it and don’t forget to add your own tweaks and tricks to the list

You can never go wrong with the right information…..so keep learning.

Owners of previous Nexus devices have enjoyed the ability to directly connect to USB flash drives and other peripherals using USB OTG (On The Go). The online help manual for the Nexus 4 originally said it would also have this feature, until Google removed it, instead suggesting the use of Bluetooth…

01/10/2013

YOU TOO CAN HAVE A CUG LINE A.K.A “STAFF LINE”

Staff Line is just a professional name for CUG (closed user group) lines.

CUG lines are dedicated lines assigned to a group of people to enable them call and text for free for a certain discounted amount within an agreed period of time. They are also called contracts lines. Any group of individual whether family members, group of friends or small SMEs companies can have CUG LINES. Different networks have different requirement for issuing CUG lines.

HOW IT WORKS

Each line registered on the CUG network can call and text to the group members for free monthly as long as they keep to the terms and conditions. You can call other network when you load your airtime different from the ONE OFF subscription charge. It means for example if you have 10 friends within a study group as a student in the university, together you can potentially get a CUG line and do a conference call all day for a month when you are on holidays, so you never have to miss your study. The good part is; the month you don’t subscribed you are not charged.

The reason I see this important enough to post is because a lot of people think you must be working with a big organization or be a special person to get a CUG line; now you know that’s not the case, anyone can absolutely get it. It’s no big deal. To know how to get CUG line for various networks in your country, just dial their helpdesk or customer care extension. For those in Nigeria, MTN has a requirement of at least 10 USERS and its 1500 for unlimited calls and sms among the parties involved and 1000 for 500 minutes capped. Etisalat has a minimum user requirement of 3 for 1000.

They all have different packages, but the main thing to understand is that it’s a cheaper deal if you are a business person who is always on call with some certain business group of people.

The requirement is just basic things any average individual should probably have.

That’s it about CUG Lines.

If I have missed any vital details, do share with me.

Remember no knowledge is a waste….so keep learning.

28/09/2013

BROWSE PRIVATELY, WITH YOUR PHONE OR PC LEAVING NO TRACE

I don’t need to start stating reasons why you may want to browse privately as there are countless number of reasons. It’s easier for anybody to open your phone or pc browser and view your history tab to see what you’ve been up to. You may be doing your personal works online, like filling out forms or researching your personal interests and you don’t want anybody to know or see it even when you forget to clear the history before exiting the browser. Basically it makes sense to enable private browsing anytime you intend to keep your browsing history confidential. In private browsing, no browser history, search history, download history, web form history, password, cookies or temporary internet files will be kept. However anything you bookmarked or save while browsing will remain.

In actual fact, private browsing only prevents your browser from saving your browsing history. This means that anyone else who uses your computer or phone will not be able to see your online activity except the person is standing at your back while browsing.

It’s available for Internet explorer, Firefox (Phone and PC), Chrome (Phone and PC) and Safari (Mac Computers).

It’s simple; just follow the steps below;

Internet Explorer: click tool > Choose Inprivate browsing or use the keyboard shortcut (ctrl+shift+p)

Chrome PC: click menu button > choose new incognito window and start browsing privately. For phone chrome browser just click option > new incognito tab.

Firefox PC: click the Firefox button and select start Private browsing. For phone, just click options > New private tab.

Safari: click safari > select private browsing.

That’s just it for private browsing. Once you’re in that mode you are secure and free to do all secret things (you know what I mean, Don’t you?)

Leave your comment below…..

Remember no knowledge is a waste….so keep learning.

27/09/2013

NEVER AGAIN FORGET THE DETAILED STEPS YOU TOOK TO RESOLVE THAT PC PROBLEM.

I can never forget how to resolve any serious issue I had previously resolved with my pc. So many times we are face with tough pc issues and we seek for help either from our friends or IT colleagues. If you could record step by step how he resolved it, you don’t need to call him the next time you are face with same issue. If you already know what am talking about, then good, but for those who don’t know you can actually do a lots of things with this nice add-on feature present with windows OS.

The way it works is to create a screen shot of every click made by the mouse, that means at every click you make (I mean every click) a screen shot is taken silently behind the scene, even if you are just clicking on the desktop.

The screen shot are created in zip format, so you can export it, save it or send it by email to anyone.
This is basically one method used to create most screen shot tutorial you see online.

It’s a simple function built into windows and termed problem step recorder, but you can use it for as long as your imagination can reach.

To enable this feature just click the windows key on your keyboard (windows 7) or windows + C and click search (windows 8) and type “psr”, then click on step recorder. That’s it. You can start to record and pause when you like. You can add comment to each click so your friend or you can remember what happened at that instant.

You can always go to the settings menu and tweak it to either take screen shot or not. Taken screen shot takes more space, so sometimes you may not necessarily need to enable it.

These are some few scenarios where you may want to use it; for example

• You want to show a friend in another location how to solve a particular problem step by step
• You want to create a personal tutorial on anything PC related
• You want to take a snap shot of your desktop or screen without using any special software
• You want to know places an unauthorized user accessed in your pc while you are away. The trick is to Just hide it when you start it.

I leave you to imagine other possible ways of exploring it…..

Remember imagination is a powerful tool…..learn to use it.

25/09/2013

BACK UP YOURSELF TODAY

Many a time we lose our phones, tabs or pads or laptop and the first thing that comes to our mind is the files and important document we have saved and then we are like “Oh no! My whole life is gone”. I know for a fact that everybody knows that backup exist and understand how it works but many people still don’t use it because they see it as too much trouble. I will advise you to start cultivating the habit of backing up your important contacts, messages and documents, because there are some certain files you just can’t get back when you lose them.

You may not know the importance until you actually lose that precious computing device you store your files with. There are various ways by which you can backup your files. If you an Oracle Savvy or a database person, you will know about a process termed mirroring or redundancy….by that I mean backing the same file or set of files in different locations. With that you never have to worry about losing your files when you lose your device.

Below are some of the various ways you can explore to backup your files.
1.Dropbox: http://www.dropbox.com you can use the Android, Nokia Lumia and Iphone drop box app. Download it from GooglePlay, Windows App Store and iTunes respectively. Set it up to sync your contact and messages as you add and receive them. Once you set it up you don’t have to worry about anything. With this you can backup anything on your phone and laptop. You can set the frequency of the backup too. As a free user you have 2GB space. That’s more than enough to backup all your contacts and messages for a lifetime if you don’t want to go premium to use backup other heavy file type. At http://www.box.com you can also get the same service. Remember the mirroring I talked about.

2. For those with Nokia Lumia you can make do with Skydrive on your phone. If you have the Symbian device you can backup all your document including contact and messages by going to file and choosing backup and save it to an external drive like your memory card and restore it back any time. Always remember to save it onto an external drive.


3. The android fans have lots of ways to Backup, I will suggest Google drive in addition to dropbox.

4. Itunes is always a portable companion for the i-all guys, just sync your contact and messages with i-cloud and you are safe.


5. If you are in Nigeria you can make use of the following network provided backup service. On the MTN Network, you can the MTN Backup SIM directly from your non GPRS phone. It cost #100 for the first backup and #50 for subsequent sync. This charges applies when doing it directly from your handset as online backup is free. You can only backup 200 contacts using this method but if you want to backup up to more than 200 contacts to a maximum of 5000 then you can go to http://www.mtnonline.com/mtnbackup and signup for the service. For ETISALAT steps go to http://www.etisalat.com.ng/easybackup.php and download their app @ http://easybackup.etisalat.com.ng/m or send SUB to 48900. For AIRTEL go to http://mybackup.airtel.com/airtelafwap and type in type in your number, a link will be sent to you to download the backup app. For AIRTEL you can also send “MYBACKUP to 522” to get the link.

Then of course the old way; saving your files to various flash drives, external hard drives and disk

The point isn’t if one method is better than the other. Honestly whether you use the method suggested above or you have a better way of backing up….the point is learn to back up your important files so that when disaster strikes, or your computing device of choice experience sudden death or get stolen, you will be glad you did. By the way, this is actually the whole idea behind the growing cloud computing technology you see today.

start backing up now...

Your contributions, comment and feedbacks are highly welcome.

Remember the right information is key….so keep learning.

Dropbox is a free service that lets you bring your photos, docs, and videos anywhere and share them easily. Never email yourself a file again!

25/09/2013

LEARN STEP BY STEP HOW TO USE MICROSOFT APPLICATIONS (WORD, EXCEL, POWERPOINT, ACCESS, PUBLISHER, PAGEMAKER, CORELDRAW ETC WITH YOUR PHONE.

GCF Learning: are you tired of having to go for training on simple things you could have done yourself? Well, GCF Learning is actually a group of developers that design easy to understand tutorials on popular software and apps like MS Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Publisher, Access, CorelDraw etc…..you can got to google play and search for GCF and you will get all their apps. The good part is they come with step by step screen shoot and some short videos for quick understanding, so if you are the type tired of reading prose, you also get a hands on video to play with and the BEST part is its free to download…..so enjoy learning…

Remember knowledge is power…..so keep learning.

25/09/2013

BROWSE YOUR FAVOURITE SITES IN OFFLINE MODE WITH YOUR PHONE AND PC.

The application that allows you to do this is HTTRACK Website Copier: Well, this is one nifty app that lets you do an amazing stuff. It basically does what it says, copies a website. I have been using it for a long time now and I can say it can really save you a lot of headache if you get the gist.

So, what exactly does this do? Lets picture a scenario where you are browsing a site and wish to read an article or tutorial or read the whole story from a news website and you are charged based on the time you spent on the internet or maybe you are using your office WIFI Hotspot and you know when you leave the office you will have to rely on your own limited mobile connection to browse.

Well, this little app lets you actually copy the website content from the online server directly to your local memory card in your phone or hard disk in your PC and you can browse the site in “offline mode” through your browser as you would in an online environment. It saves time and allows you to read your favorite articles or tutorial at your own convenience in the same format you would if you were connected online. What this means is that if your visit tutorial sites like www.w3school.com you can actually download the whole content of the site to your hard disk. You are limited only by your hard disk space. The fact that you can potentially download the whole web on your pc or phone doesn’t mean you should.

Anyway, here is the good part; HTTrack also allows you to download the update part of your downloaded website and add it to your local file without having to download it all over again and the best part is that its freeeee… …..it’s cool right….there are lots of tweak and tricks you can do with it and I will leave you to dig it. Its available for all Platform; Android, iOS, PC and Mac. Get it from Google Play for android, iTunes for Mac and IPAD, and http://www.softpedia.com for PC.

Remember No Knowledge is a waste…..so keep learning

24/09/2013

THE IDEA BEHIND DATA SHARING

DATA SHARE: This is the era of data my friends and everyone wants cheap and efficient ways of maximizing their data usage. Every average individual wants more data to browse and the era of unlimited data plan is gradually slipping away if not already gone. The reason isn’t far fetch as new social networking app and sites get dish out every day; but i find the idea of data sharing a little bit interesting and cost effective.

For every app, product or services created by any individual or group of people, no matter how stupid always has an underlining assumption and believes. This is also true for data sharing. So, what exactly is data sharing? In a layman terms; Data sharing is simply sharing your data plan with two or more people irrespective of their location or type of device they use. This means I can have a central SIM residing in a NOKIA TOUCH LIGHT PHONE not capable of browsing, subscribe to a data plan and share the data with the SIM in my Modem, My IPAD, My Samsung Galaxy Phone as well MY Family and Friends SIMs. This is totally different from WIFI Hotspot and Data Gifting because unlike WIFI Hotspot which is phone dependent, Data sharing is network dependent and it’s not limited by the phone type. This means you can use a non GPRS enabled phone to share data to a GPRS enable phone. It also means that I can be in Lagos and share my data with someone in Abuja.

Here is a scenario to fully understand how it works; Let’s say I subscribe to a data plan of 250MB on MTN, ETISALAT or if you are in the USA AT&T with a validity of 1 month and I have 2 brothers and 2 sisters in school (you know student always don’t have money, even the rich ones, it’s a culture) and they want to be able to whatsapp, vibe, tweets their friends but have no money to subscribe and they want your help to pay their internet bills or perhaps you and your friend in different location wish to combine money to subscribe to one data plan, be it 10MB or 16GB.

Well, this is where data share comes into play. You can simply add their name to your data share list and wherever they are they can start browsing with your subscription….cool right….Well, the good part is you can always delete and add them back and its password so anyone can’t just add their number to your list. Ok, mine is just to let you know that this technology exist, yours is to find out from your ISP (Internet Service Provider) how to subscribe for the service.

For those on the MTN Network you can dial *131 # and follow the steps. It is actually available on all the major Networks world wide.

At least you know now that data share exist and this what I intend to achieve on everydayICT allowing you to fully understand and maximize the use of things you see everyday around you.

Don’t forget to subscribe to my blog @ http://everydayict.blogspot.com and BE-aware.

Leave your comments and I will respond as ASAP

Remember no knowledge is a waste….so keep learning.

24/09/2013

Take and Practice Your Professional Exams on the go.

VCE Mobile: Many people are aware of the Visual Exam Suite for PC and Mac that allows you to read and practice dumps for your professional exams, but only few know that you can actually have the same experience with your mobile devices. If I ever lose my phone, this is the second software I will get back (don’t ask me for the first). There are so many things you can do with the visual exam suite, you could for example as a teacher in a secondary school or lecturer at a university, create a computer base exam for your students. You can even create a personal exam for yourself for self practice. It’s available for PC, Mac, Android and iOS. For those of you in the habit of cramming and memorizing dumps answer to write professional exams this is for you.

You can practice and take any dump exam with it while on the go right on your mobile phone PMP, Oracle, MCSA, MCSE, CCNA, ITIL, ACCA, ICAN etc Well, this is the mobile version and it does quite a nice job. It lets you practice on the go so you never have any excuse to fail your exam. It has a free and premium version (premium recommended). You can get lots of exams dumps from http://www.examcollections.com. Just get the app from Google Play or Apple iTunes Store. It’s simple to use and its straight forward. Here is the good part; all those your pdf past questions and answers can be converted to VCE compatible format and you can start answering them as you would in a computer base test. You can time yourself and measure your speed. You can get the full link to download the premium app at @ everydayict.blogspot.com
Now that you know a few cool things you can do with it, you can be proactive and explore your imagination and you can also take your cheating to the next level and get a double portion of your scores. ………..Wait a minute! That’s a typo…..

Ask your questions using the comment box and I will respond ASAP.

Remember knowledge is power….so keep learning.

23/09/2013

Welcome to Everyday ICT page.

Here on everyday-ICT page we will together start using more than 50% of our device and gadget capabilities. This includes but not limited to our Laptops, Phones, gadget of all sort. For example your Bluetooth headset with a little tweak can do more than just listen to music. You will most likely be thrilled and fascinated by most of the well research insight on productive software’s and apps, latest technology, How TOs, reviews and unbelievable facts I will be writing on.

Most people purchase very expensive device ranging from $200 - $3000 and they don’t even use more than 5% of it in its entire life cycle. Hey Admin! it’s my device not yours; Well, yeah! but what if you could do a few cool things with your device that could save you extra stress and maybe even extra cash at your own convenience without spending a dime? Now, that wouldn’t hurt, would it?

We buy expensive devices or upgrade to the latest technology for a number of reasons which might be some cool features you heard on TV commercial or your local Radio or probably read online or maybe you got that device as a result of peer pressure, trying to impress, the class thing or maybe you are just fortunate unlike me to be related to Bill Gate or Dangote.

Honestly, am not bordered with your reasons; what I am more consign about is for you to actually explore the value of your money on that device you’ve got in your hands.

There are so many things you can do with a Smartphone, a tablet or a PC. For example you can’t have a Samsung S1, S2, S3, S4, Note 1, 2 or 3, Tecno Phatom A+ or N or Sony Xperia devices and maybe Iphone 5 and some certain symbian devices and still go to the café to scan a document you want to send to your mail or go to the photographer to take a quick 2*2 passport when all you need is a softcopy of the file or maybe you here a new song on Tv and you wish you could get the song details at that moment; Well, if you know the right software to use, you could save yourself the money to call your friend or googling your way. Well, many folks are cool with that, but if you keep following me on my page and blog you will soon stop wasting money, time and bandwidth doing the things you do daily a little faster at the your own convenience. You will be well informed.
Truthfully, with just one app or software that most people probably have on their phone or laptop they could do so much if they are aware of the scenario at which they can use it and that’s where Everyday ICT comes in.

I will try as much as possible to publish only productive, innovative and informative articles so you don’t have to waste your bandwidth reading senseless post.
Some of the stuff I will be talking about you may already be well familiar with it, don’t sweat; you will surely find something that will interest you as we go on, so stay tuned as I try in my own little way to help you understand the things you’ve being seeing around you Everyday in information and communication technology.

Like my page and visit my blog to get the post directly on your timeline and email and don’t forget to leave your contribution, comment, feedback and criticism below…. I will respond swiftly ASAP. Thank you.

Remember knowledge is power….so keep learning.