For example, if you are in the US and want to view Google search results in the UK, you could go to Google.co.uk and do a search from there.

This doesn’t quite work for people outside of the US, who go to Google.com, because the results will be clearly different then the results from going through a US based proxy. You can definitely use proxies, but they are not really quick (or secure).

What other ways to override Google’s behavior based on geolocation?

One way is to add a string to the end of the query. This string is &gl=US. If you want to view results for UK, you add the string &gl=UK. This works using the specific country code for the country you wish to view. Only add this string after you do a search using Google from your country. If you want to view results from Google India for “blue widgets” and you are in the US, do a search for “blue widgets” and then add &gl=IN to the end of the URL in your browser. Note this only works for certain countries (English speaking majority countries).

But there is another way to view Google search results for different countries if you are using Chrome or Firefox. There is this plugin called Google Global which can enable you to view the search results for another country.

You can customize this plugin to display results from any country, IP of your choice, or even local search. Simply fill in the required blanks in the Options field and you’re set. Here, in the example, I’ve set it to display results from Google Brazil.

Although it was a bit difficult in earlier versions of Word – where you might have had to add these bookmarks by using WordArt or found yourself fiddling with images to display them as a watermark in the background – the task is a lot simpler in Word 2007.

Here’s how to add watermarks to your Word 2007 documents.

• Start by opening your Word document and then access the “Page Layout” tab.

• In the “Page Background” section on the Ribbon, click the “Watermark” button to display its menu.

• A list of different types of watermarks will be displayed. Select the watermark you want to use and you are done.

These were the steps to insert the predefined watermarks in your document. But the problem according to some, is they are too light and faint to see clearly. So, custom watermarks are better. Word 2007 also enables you to insert custom watermarks. Here’s a quick preview of how to do it.

• To add a custom text or image, you need to select the “Custom Watermark” command that is displayed at the bottom of the Watermark menu.

• You can do various tasks related to watermark from the Printed Watermark dialog box that is displayed:

• If there is no watermark inserted in your document, the “No watermark” option will be selected by default. You can also use it to remove existing watermark from your document.

• You may add picture watermarks by selecting the “Picture watermark” option. Click the “Select Picture” button, browse to and select the image that you would like to add to your document.

You can choose the size of the image you want to add. You can also select the Washout checkbox, if you want to make your watermark lighter and more subtle. Click “OK” and then “Apply” to add the image watermark to your document.

This is a very good way to add your logo or picture as watermark in your documents.

• You may select the “Text watermark” option to add a custom text watermark. You can specify your language, custom text, font, size, color and layout for your text watermark from here.

Basically, that’s all to it. You now have a custom image or text watermark added to your document.

The underlying principle in recommending these tools is to protect and solve common problems for a typical PC/Internet user. Below are 3 main issues most normal users have:

• Prevention is ALWAYS better than cure. Most PCs nowadays are constantly connected to the Internet and therefore require round the clock protection in order to fend off various threats.
• Installing and uninstalling programs causes the gradual slowdown in PC performance (especially Microsoft Windows based systems). This do not necessary mean your hardware is wearing out or a lack of memory, it might be caused by ‘leftovers’ from all the old programs that you have installed and was not removed completely, causing unnecessary delays and checking in the system.
• Running out of disk space. Yes, disk drives are cheap but why not optimize your current storage capacity before forking out money to get new ones? There are some tools that could help you search for unused files to delete.

Fending off Virus and Spyware

I’ve used Norton, Panda, McAfee and AVG Free before, but now I use Avast! and it works great. I mention Avira because I’ve got friends who are happy with Avira, and they always download all kinds of stuff, really.

• Avira Antivirus

• avast! Home Edition

Most of you might have AVG Free installed, but I’ve seen a number of PCs getting infected even with AVG on. If you’re using AVG alone, I suggest including a strong firewall like ZoneAlarm in tandem.

Installing and having them running constantly is one thing, it’s another to make sure it is updated constantly with the latest new virus threat list. Here are some guidelines to really protect your PC against malware.

• Schedule your Antivirus program to update everyday, at least. New threats are discovered on a daily basis and increasing on an hourly basis, you need to have the very latest threat list in order to detect them.
• Schedule to run a full scan at least on a weekly basis. From experience, I find that even if you have an antivirus program on, sometimes some virus (especially the dormant type) might seep through undetected into your system, especially if you like surfing high-risk sites, therefore a weekly (preferably once every 3 days or so) is required for total protection.
• Use a backup spyware tool like Spybot, running this at least once a month (if possible once a week). Be sure to keep it updated.

Why is my PC getting slower and slower?

You can’t get better than using these two:

• CCleaner (formerly Crap Cleaner)
• AML Free Registry Cleaner

Many people wonder why their PCs are running slower than when they were new. From experience, the main cause of this problem is not due to hardware wearing out or lack of memory. The main cause is due to ‘wear and tear’ in installing/uninstalling various programs. Many programs do not uninstall cleanly. In the long run, all these ‘crap’ accumulates in the registry, creating unnecessary delays, therefore degrading your PC performance.

Here’s where CCleaner proves handy. I recommend running this once a month or whenever you feel that the system is ‘bloated’ and performance has degraded. There are two parts to the cleaning process,

• ‘Cleaner’. This feature identifies all the temporary files and log files that gets generated during the usage of the system. These files gradually accumulate and might even take up substantial disk space if left uncheck.
• ‘Registry’. This feature is a registry cleaner. It will remove all orphaned and unnecessary records in the registry due to ‘leftovers’ from removed programs. It will also backup the current registry just in case you need to restore it back.

Why am I constantly running out of space?

Windows Directory Statistics is good:

• WinDirStat

As we surf, we tend to accumulate unnecessary files that you might not want anymore. One solution, before going out and getting more storage, is to identify what files are taking up storage space and delete unused files. However, with big storage comes the potential to accumulate many files till the point it becomes difficult to track. And especially if you are not exactly the highly organized type (like yours truly), you might lose track of where you store it, so you can forget about identifying what files to delete.

WinDirStat is a disk usage stats viewer and cleanup tool for Windows based systems. It scans disk drives and sorts all your folders and files from the largest files to the smallest. You’ll know which files are taking up space and then you can decide to either delete it, back it up elsewhere. A word of warning though, if you decide to remove some of the files, do not delete Windows related files that you are unsure of. It is best to copy the file names and do an online search to see what it does, and whether it’s safe to delete or not.

As you can see, it doesn’t take much effort to optimize your computer usage experience. I always believe in the 80/20 rule. Most problems can be solved and prevented by following only a few simple guidelines. I hope this posting would prove useful to at least some of you; please feel free to comment about your experiences.

.pdf is a Portable Document Format which is used by Adobe and Acrobat readers and is a worldwide standard for transfering documents both with images and texts, being extremely popular as we all know. PDF files are slightly more secure as they are non-editable, but still very accessible at the same time. So here are some ways to convert a PDF file to some of the more common file formats.

Convert PDF to a .doc (MS Word) format:

Hellopdf is a free desktop based software which provides you the method to convert your PDF file into a Microsoft Word (.doc) format file. You can easily download the software at http://www.hellopdf.com/download.php and install it in your computer. This software converts your PDF file into word format whilst retaining the original layout of the document. The software is also able to distinctly extract images and texts from the PDF files, maintaining the quality.

Convert PDF to .doc, .xls (MS Excel), .rtf, .jpg, .png formats:

PdfConverter is a free web service which converts your PDF files into MS word, Excel, Rich Text Format (.rtf), jpg and png formats. But their excel converter is the best and has good conversion quality. You can use this service at http://www.freepdfconvert.com/convert_pdf_to_source.asp to convert your pdf files into other formats too.

Convert PDF to a .html (hyper text mark-up language) format:

PDF2HTMLgui is a free open source PDf to HTML converter. You can download the software at http://www.divshare.com/download/4115853-20e and get started converting your PDF files into html web-pages.

Convert your PDF file via e-mail:

KoolWire is an amazing web service which provides you a really cool process to convert your PDF files. Whenever you are working, you don’t need to visit their website or to open any application. You can simply mail them at doc[at]koolwire.com and they will reply you back by converting your file into a Rich Text Format (.rtf). You can visit them at http://www.koolwire.com/Default.aspx. Alternatively, you can use Gmail to perform this task.

Universal File Converter:

You may also need to convert other file formats to a variety of other formats. For this requirement, Zamzar brings you a totally free web service through which you can convert 55 file formats. You can visit them at http://www.zamzar.com. It’s a really handy web service to remember.

How do we fix this? I’ve been searching for a way to add a few extra seconds of silent time to some of the mp3 songs, I have because I find their abrupt ending a little too jarring. A few extra seconds of silent time added to the mp3 right after the anding should make it sound better, and more natural.

Rather surprisingly, searching and asking this question in forums did not turn up a suitable answer. But enter Audacity. This is a free and open source digital audio editor software program that helped to do just what I wanted.

So if you’re in a similar situation and wish to add more silent time to an mp3, here’s a quick guide to do that:

1) Download and install Audacity.

2) Download the LAME mp3 encoder file, called lame_enc.dll from a trusted dll file site.

3) Open up the mp3 file in Audacity.

4) Point the cursor really carefully at the point you want to add extra silent time to the song. As far as possible, this should be right at the point of the stated end time of the song, which will be displayed in Audacity.

5) In Audacity, click on Generate Silence.

6) Add in the few seconds. If the song already has a couple seconds of fade out, then you’d probably just want to add a couple of seconds of extra silence.

7) Export the modified song (currently an Audacity file) as an mp3 song, and you’re done.

DLL stands for Dynamic Link Libraries, and it’s a major component in running application programs. Many applications use these DLL files, and in fact Windows needs DLL files to run many functions. DLL files are meant to provide a series of dynamically loaded libraries to enable a multitude of runtime processes to run smoothly.

When some of these DLL files get corrupted or deleted accidentally, then you get problems occurring in your system. Windows will only tell you that you’re missing a DLL file, when it looks for the particular file and cannot find it. Usually this happens when you’re in the midst of installing your favorite game Some causes of DLL file errors include incorrect deleting of software, corruption of registry files, or even viruses/spyware.

Here are some tips to solve common DLL file errors.

1. Use your Windows System Restore. Set up System Restore to an earlier Restore Point, and try to reboot your system. If the Restoration point has been made prior to this fault, than the system will automatically recover from this problem as soon as you reboot after a successful restore.

2. Sometimes, this error occurs when you try to install a new software or application, and during their installation they try to install new DLL files or update the present files; these updated or new DLL files may interfere with the normal workings of your system. The safest thing to do is to simply uninstall the program or software, and run a good registry repair program. Some badly programmed software programs do this, and it’s best not to try to contend with a messed up registry.

3. A fairly common cause of DLL error is spyware or malware which either changes your DLL files or makes them corrupt. Try to scan your system in Safe Mode with an updated antivirus. This does not guarantee the affected DLL files can be recovered intact.

4. If all else fails, try to download a copy of the DLL file from a reputable source online – if you can’t salvage the DLL file. An easy way to search for the particular file is to type in the name of the file in Google, and you’ll probably get a list of download sites. One of those which I have used in the past includes Dll-files.com. They have a database of DLL files, just in case you find you have any missing.

5. Finally, a potential cause of DLL file errors is hardware problems. If your computer is freezing or crashing as a result of hardware related problems, it can lead to corruption of many DLL files. Of course, the best thing to do is to tackle the hardware problem as soon as possible.

A note:

Although rare, occasionally, the DLL file you have downloaded from a download site may not be the exact replica of the original file. So, despite having the same name, it may still not work. I’ve experienced this before, and it’s a pain in the butt. Therefore, always ensure you don’t lose your original DLL files without a good reason, or else it will be a headache trying to find that one tiny file to make the entire program work!