Akshay Gandhi's Blog

Play Mafia Wars on Blackberry

Akshay Gandhi — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 11:46:00 +0000

For people who are addicted to Mafia Wars and want to play it on their Blackberrys, here is an easy way:

You will need to download Bolt browser and you can start using mafia wars on your blackberry.
Website

I am using it on Blackberry 8900.

Though the display is little messed up and slow, you can still do some jobs and fighting though it is not recommended for hitlists.

For Vodafone users in Mumbai who do not have GPRS package, use the Bolt browser using wifi.

Connect to PC internet through wifi using N82

Akshay Gandhi — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 04:34:00 +0000

Here is a simple procedure for connecting your Nokia N82 (or other nokia handset with wifi) to internet using PC wifi.

I shared Tata Indicom Broadband Connection (through cable) on my PC to my Nokia N82 handset using wifi.

The procedure is simple and will just take a few minutes.

The procedure is for Vista and with appropriate modifications, it can be used with Windows XP as well.

Procedure:

1. Right click your Network icon in the system tray – Network and Sharing Center;

2. Go to your internet connection icon (in this case Tata) – View status - Properties - Sharing - select Allow other network users to connect through this computer’s Internet connection and clear the Allow other users to control…. option;

3. Now go to Network and Sharing Center - Setup a connection or network - Setup a wireless adhoc (computer to computer) network ;

4. You can give your adhoc network a suitable name and select the appropriate security settings in the next steps (for trial purpose I would suggest to do without the WEP / WPA security);

5. Just turn on the wifi on your Nokia N82 handset, connect to the adhoc network and start browsing from your handset…

[Info] Organ timings

Akshay Gandhi — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:47:00 +0000

Some useful information relating to organ timings – click here

Evaluation copy watermark on Vista SP2

Akshay Gandhi — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 17:57:00 +0000

Have you updated to Vista SP2 and are getting a “Windows Vista (TM) Evaluation Copy. Build 6002″ watermark on your desktop? Well that’s how it is meant to be… Careful reading during installation of the SP2 will reflect:

Service Pack Information
SP2 Beta is pre-release code which will change before the final release of SP2

Windows Server 2008 SP2/Windows Vista SP2 Beta is time-limited software that will operate until May 1^st, 2010 – Un-install Windows Server 2008 SP2/Windows Vista SP2 Beta before May 1^st, 2010

After SP2 installation your desktop may display the text “Evaluation Copy”. This does not mean that your system is no longer “Genuine”, only that you have installed a test version of software which is time-limited

After installing the service pack, the “Evaluation Copy” text may show up on the 2^nd boot

After un-installing the services pack, the “Evaluation Copy” text may remain during the first boot, but will disappear after the next reboot

Starting any Windows Server 2008 SP2 or Windows Vista SP2 installations will result in Microsoft collecting information about the installation process

To remove the watermark – read here.

However, I haven’t still figured out a way to make the updates work… My updates have somehow got disabled and my system crashes on trying to update.. Even the defender updates don’t work.. Plus there is no uninstall option in add / remove programs..

Waiting for a solution… Will update this post once I find a solution.

[Freeware] Pazera Video Converters Suite 1.2

Akshay Gandhi — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 06:30:00 +0000

Pazera Video Converters Suite 1.2

Pazera Video Converters Suite is a collection of portable video converters which helps you to convert between almost all video formats like AVI, MPEG, MP4, MOV, WMV, FLV, M4V, 3GP. The package also includes specialized converters to convert audio and video files for Zune, iPod and PSP players. In addition, the collection contains audio extractor & converter, which allows you to extract audio tracks from video files and convert audio files between the most important audio formats (MP3, WMA, OGG, WAV, AAC, AC3, FLAC).

All converters have a very similar interface and they are simple to use, even for novice users.

To install, just extract archive Pazera_Video_Converters_Suite.zip to any folder on a hard disk or USB drive, then run StartPVCS.exe file.

Download here
SIZE: 29.74MB

Remove Personal Information from Office Documents

Akshay Gandhi — Sun, 17 May 2009 11:20:00 +0000

Source – TweakVista (Steve Sinchak)

Microsoft Office and other Windows Applications store all sorts of personal information when you save a file. Your name, computer name, company, date and time last edited are all examples of data included in a simple Word document file.

If you are concerned about your privacy there is an easy way to strip this information from a file.

Right click on the file and select Properties
Click on the Details Tab
Click Remove Properties and Personal Information on the bottom of the window
Select Remove the following properties from this file option and check all the items you want to remove. I suggest using the Select All button.
Hit OK and you are finished. All personal information is now removed.

Microsoft Fixit Solutions

Akshay Gandhi — Tue, 12 May 2009 18:00:00 +0000

Microsoft Fixit Solutions

If you have issues with or want to:

Reset security settings back to the defaults
Uninstall Internet Explorer 8;
Show Internet Explorer desktop icon;
Delete Media Center database;
Disable Internet Explorer script debugging;
Reset Internet Explorer Settings;
Disable feature restrict about protocol wizard;
Fix Windows Update error 0×8000FFFF;
Enable WinHlp32 Macros;
Unblock HLP Files on intranet site;
Restore Recycle Bin;
FixIt_DisableAddon_AskToolbar;
FixIt_DisableProcessStartup_GoogleDesktop;or
Enable Hibernate and Hybrid Sleep Feature,

Visit here.
For sidebar gadget download here

Review: Tata Indicom Broadband

Akshay Gandhi — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 08:02:00 +0000

After lots of research (airtel, mtnl, tata, photon, etc.), I finally selected Tata Indicom Broadband service in Mumbai (no specific reason for selection although Tata has lots of negative reviews).

Its just been a few hours that I am using it and here is the review (which will be updated from time to time).

After I send an inquiry to Tata Indicom for a broadband connection and after fixing up an appointment with their representative, this is how the process was:

Day1:

I filled up the requisite forms for the new connection and the representative was quite helpful. I chose the Power On and On 6-384 i.e. I will get speed of 384kbps with unlimited downloads for six months.

Cost: Rs.8340 all inclusive (no installation charges, etc.)

With the Fair Usage Policy (FUP) doing rounds of every forum and being a major cause of concern for the heavy downloaders, to be on safer side, I added to the application form and the terms and conditions form that I have selected the plan only on the representation that FUP does not apply to this plan and that there will be no restrictions / limit on the downloads.

Day 2:

I get a call from Tata for fixing a time for the cabling work (no modem or router required). The installation time is fixed for the next day at 10.30 a.m.

Day 3:

The representative arrives on time, finishes off his work in 30 minutes and my connection is already working!.

After installation, I checked the speed at speedtest.net and got result of 0.43 mbps for downloads and 0.38 mbps for uploads. Downloading from torrents was also speedy.

Day 5:

The connection goes kaput. I cant login to broadband dialer, ping the gateway, nothing can be done though the LAN cable is showing some activity.

Reaching the customer care was easy – 020- 60607070. Complaint was lodged, complaint no. was given and solution within 24 hours was assured.

Day 6:

No call from customer care or engineers of tata. I again call up customer care and they assure solution asap and that engineers are looking into the complaint.

No solution – broadband still not working.

The representative and the engineer who came for installation have suddenly disappeared from the face of the earth. Their mobiles are “switched off“

Day 7:

Finally the engineer gets the problem solved and net is working again. Seems to have been some problem at Tata’s end.

The connection is at its best again and no issues since Day 7…..

Somehow broadbandforum.in is inaccessible with my connection.. Negative reviews of Tata may be the cause….

Its been a month now that I have been using Tata Indicom Broadband. I have downloaded over 75GB and am satisfied with the service and speed.

The only grievance that remains is the disconnection. The service gets disconnected at any point of time and you have to login again to resume. This is painful considering that you queue things for download before leaving for office and after coming back you realize that your connection dropped soon after you left.

Rating: 8.5/10