Drinking too much water 'can be bad for your health': Benefits

It is said to help us prevent kidney damage, lose weight and increase concentration levels.
But experts now warn that drinking eight glasses of water a day is not good for you after all – and could be harmful.

Drinking excessive amounts can also lead to loss of sleep as people have to get up in the night to go to the toilet, and other studies show it can even cause kidney damage, instead of preventing it.

Cool, Free Top 15 Android Apps

Cool, Free Top 15 Android Apps

Android is the world’s most popular mobile platform, which currently powers  millions of smart phones and tablet computers in the world. Google Play is the digital application distribution platform for Android, which is developed and maintained by Google.


There are more than 600,000 apps and games are available on Google Play. Google play was formerly knows as Android Market. In this post, I want to introduce to you some great, free Android Apps on Google Play, apart from Skype, Facebook, Angry Birds, Opera Mini web browser or Talking Tom which are already very popular and you might have used.

1. WhatsApp Messenger:

An alternative to SMS, WhatsApp Messenger is a smartphone messenger which uses your 3G or WiFi to send and receive messages, pictures, audio notes, and video messages. For the first year it is free, then it costs you $0.99 per year.

2. MX Player:

MX Player is a popular media player to watch movies on Android devices. If you want to play files of any kind on your smart phone, you will like this app. It is also very comfortable to use, provides volume control by swiping.

3. Fake Windows 8:

Using Fake Windows, you can convert your Android device into Windows 8!
Try it, if you want to experience a new way to use a smartphone with the Metro style.

4. Face Changer:

Face changer lets you easily change faces in photos. You can easily create funny pictures and caricatures, and also share them to internet/social media.
It has tools like smudge, draw, zoom, object.

5. Balloon, Bow & Arrow:

Recently this game has been on No. 1 in Top Free Games category on Google Play. You are given a bow and 25 arrows and have to shoot as many balloons as you can. This is a fun game having beautiful graphics, animation, realistic sound effects and physics effects.

 6. Viber – Free Calls and Text:

Similar to Skype, this app is becoming popular for making free calls and messaging. This app is simple to use, has good sound quality and it is ad free.

7. 200+ Photo Effects:

This app automatically identifies the face in the photo and lets you and create funny face photo montages and add different photo effects.

8. AVG Antivirus Free:

You must have an antivirus to protect your device from harmful viruses, malware, spyware and text messages and helps keep your personal data safe. This is my favorite one.

9. GO Launcher EX:

Extended version of GO Launcher, one of the most popular home application. GO Launcher EX is the most popular Android home launcher replacement app on Google Play. You can customize your homescreen using many features. It provides smooth, fast operation/animations, fancy and plentiful themes, various gadgets. It also has efficient app management function, including sorting, hide app, search, cleaning memory and refresh.

 10. Transparent Screen Launcher:

Transparent Screen Launcher allows you to make the screen transparent using camera. The publisher notes that, by using this app you can safely browse apps on mobile while walking on roads and avoid accident on roads.

What Is USB?

What Is USB?

Today just about every PC comes with Universal Serial Bus, or USB ports. In fact, many computers
 will even have additional USB ports located on the front of the tower, in additional to two standard USB ports at the back. In the late 1990s, a few computer manufacturers started including USB support in their new systems, but today USB has become a standard connection port for many devices such as keyboards, mice, joysticks and digital cameras to name but a few USB-enabled devices. USB is able to support and is supported by a large range of products.

Adding to the appeal of USB is that it is supported at the operating system level, and compared to alternative ports such as parallel or serial ports, USB is very user-friendly. When USB first started appearing in the marketplace, it was (and still is) referred to as a plug-and-play port because of its ease of use. Consumers without a lot of technical or hardware knowledge were able to easily connect USB devices to their computer. You no longer needed to turn the computer off to install the devices either. You simply plug them in and go. USB devices can also be used across multiple platforms. USB works on Windows and Mac, plus can be used with other operating systems, such as Linux, for example, with a reliable degree of success.

Samsung Galaxy S4 features

 

 

 

 Hits

S Translator

This was the feature that excited us the most during Samsung’s launch event, even though the really lame presenters tried their very best to pour water on the proceedings. Ever since the concept of the Babel Fish was introduced by Douglas Adams, we’ve been waiting for such a tool that can translate everything on the fly. With the S Translator, Samsung may have actually achieved that. The S Translator offers speech-to-text and text-to-speech translations in 10 languages including French, English and Chinese and Samsung hopes to increase that number soon.

 

Smart Pause

Smart Pause is one half of the Smart Pause/Smart Scroll duo and while the latter sounds like pure gimmick, Smart Pause sounds like a simple intuitive feature that does one thing well. For the uninitiated, Smart Pause tracks your eyes using the front camera on the Galaxy S4 and pauses a running video when you look away from the screen.

 

S Voice Drive

Samsung has extended the functionality of its S Voice tool on the Galaxy S4. With S Voice Drive, the icons and commands to be used within the GPS navigation app become simpler so that its safer to use while driving. Icons on the screen are larger and you can also use your voice to command the navigation app. We think it’s a good feature especially for people who rely a lot on GPS navigation in their vehicles.

S Health

Samsung has tried to make mobile fitness apps redundant by packing in a hell of a lot of functionality into the S Health suite. With S Health, you can track things like distance walked/run, calorie intake and even sleeping patterns. We have a feeling that even the laziest among us may be tempted to try out some of these features on the Galaxy S4, just to see how well they work.

Eraser (camera feature)

A very useful feature that Samsung has added to the Galaxy S4 camera’s repertoire is the Eraser feature. This feature lets you analyze a photo you’ve taken and cleanly remove objects that you don’t want in the image. This means that you can cleanly erase unwanted objects, photo-bombers from your photos without much effort.

Misses

Air Gesture

This is another feature that is getting a big marketing push from Samsung. We just don’t understand the use-case scenario for Air Gesture which lets you navigate the phone without touching the display (but still requires your fingers to hover inches above the display). The only time when the feature could be useful is if your fingers are dirty and you still want to use the phone. However, like Smart Scroll, the feature is quite buggy and has inconsistent performance.

Dual Shot

Dual Shot is one of the silliest features on offer from the Galaxy S4. It lets you take pictures with both the front and primary cameras on the phone at the same time. Samsung says this is good because it lets you add yourself to photos that you’re taking but the execution is awkward. First, you are added to the photo within a frame that makes it clear that you weren’t in the shot. Secondly, when was the last time you were conscious about what you looked like when you were taking a photo?

To Speed Up Windows 7

The Microsoft Windows 7 operating system has been designed for delivering better speeds than its predecessors. However, as time passes by, the laptop/PC might tend to get slower. This is not exactly the fault of the OS. As the matter of fact, it is a common problem faced by many operating systems.

The major reasons for this are accumulation of junk in the system or a highly stuffed hard drive or running of too many unnecessary services and programs. Here we shared a few essential tips that can help speed up Windows 7 performance on laptops or computers. Hope it helps!

Visual and Sound Related

1. Using minimal Visual Effects

Disabling certain (or all) visual effects can definitely enhance performance. To disable visual effects, do the following:

1. Press Windows key and while holding it down, press Pause/Break key.
2. In the window that appears, click on Advanced system settings in the left side pane.
3. In the Advanced tab, under Performance Section, click on Settings
4. In the Performance Options window (refer figure) that appears, under Visual Effects tab, disable the options that you do not need. Or simply selecting ‘Adjust for best performance‘ will disable all options.
5. After disabling the option, click Apply and then OK.

Doing the above might make the screen less attractive. But, the performance will surely get a boost.

2. Using minimal Sound Effects

For disabling sound effects, do the following:

1. Click Start. In the search box type mmsys.cpl and press Enter
2. In the Sound window (refer figure) that appears click on Sounds tab
3. Set the Sounds scheme to ‘No Sounds‘
4. You could set only the essential sounds if needed in the Program Events, by selecting the specific event and then choosing the sound from the Sounds drop-down menu below.
5. You can as well disable the "Play Windows Startup sound" option.
6. After the settings are done, click Apply and OK.

Software and Services related

1. Run a trusted Anti-Virus program

Ensure that you have a good anti-virus software loaded on your laptop/computer. This will ensure that no malware or spyware gets planted in your system. Without such protection software, there are chances of third party malware and virus being installed or stored on your system, causing harmful effects and also eating up precious space.

2. Install only essential software

Ensure that you install only that software which you need. If you install any trial software and find out that you don’t really need it, uninstall and delete it immediately. Else, they might hog precious disk space, RAM and processor cycles. If you’ve installed a software, which you are unable to get rid of, and which is hampering the normal functioning of your laptop, then you might have to format your hard drive. Be aware that formatting your hard drive might wipe out all your data. Therefore it is best you take a back-up before going ahead with formatting.

3. Disable or make unneeded services Manual

Some processes and services, which might not really be necessary, are by default made to start automatically once the system starts up. They will consume RAM as well as the processor’s attention, slowing down other important tasks. It is best to disable them. For this, do the following:

1. Click Start. In the search box type services.msc and press Enter
2. Go to Services & Applications > Services. You’ll see the Services window (refer figure).
3. Right-click on a service that you wish to set to manual or disable. If the service is already started, Stop it first.
4. Once the service is stopped, again right-click on it and select Properties.
5. In the Startup type, you can either set the service to Manual, if you would be using it later, or Disable it, if not needed.
6. Once done, you can close the window.

4. Disabling Unwanted Start-up programs to speed up System Start-up

Some programs are set to start during system start-up. These might slow down the start-up process. Programs that are not really needed during start-up can be disabled. For this, do the following:

1. Click Start. In the search box type msconfig and press Enter.
2. In the System Configuration window (refer figure), go to Startup.
3. Uncheck the box next to those processes that are not important for start-up. This will disable them.
4. Once you’ve disabled the processes, click Apply and OK.

Hard Drive related

1. Clean up the hard drive

Remove unwanted files, like temp files, downloaded program files, recycle bin, etc. You could use Disk Cleanup option to do this, as follows:

1. Click Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Cleanup
2. The system will first calculate how much space can be freed up this way. In the Disk Cleanup window (refer figure) that appears, select the files in that need to be deleted under the Files to delete list.
3. For deleting ‘System Restore‘ and ‘Shadow copy‘ files, click "Clean up system files" and then on "More Options" tab
4. Finally click OK. You’ll be prompted again before the deletion. Click Yes.

2. Enable Write caching on device

This is an option which allows the OS to flush changed data to the hard disk when the system is idle, so that performance is not affected when in use. For enabling this, do the following:

1. Press Windows key and while holding it down, press Pause/Break key.
2. In the window that appears, click on Device Manager in the left hand pane.
3. In the next window that appears, expand Disk drives.
4. The drop-down list will show the hard drive. Right-click on it and select Properties.
5. Click the Policies tab in the Device Properties window (refer figure).
6. Check the box next to "Enable write caching on the device"
7. You can as well check the box next to "Turn off Windows write-cache buffer flushing on the device" and then click OK.

Note: However, there is one disadvantage in enabling these options – if there is a power outage or a system crash, data might be lost or corrupted. If you have a secondary power supply, like a UPS, you could go ahead with checking these options.

3. Perform Disk Defragmentation

When there is no sufficient space to store in a hard drive, the OS splits the file into parts and stores it in different areas on the hard drive. Defragmenting allows all these parts to be stored in contiguous memory locations. For defragmenting disk do the following:

1. Click Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter
2. In the window (refer figure) that appears, click on the drive that you want to defragment and then click Analyze disk.
3. This will estimate the time required for the process. When done click on Defragment disk.
4. Once done you can either View Report or click Close.

These pretty much sum up the small things that you can do, to make a big difference to your Windows 7′s performance. If you have some personal tips you’ve done yourself to improve the performances, we’d like to hear from you.

Animal with the most extreme hearing

Posted On Thursday, May 09, 2013 at 02:08:43 AM

Researchers at the University of Strathclyde have discovered that the greater wax moth is capable of sensing sound frequencies of up to 300kHz – the highest recorded frequency sensitivity of any animal in the natural world. Humans are only capable of hearing sounds of 20kHz maximum, dropping to around 12- 15kHz as we age, and even dolphins, known exponents of ultrasound, can’t compete as their limitations are around 160kHz. The research, conducted at the University, has identified the extraordinary sensory characteristics of the moth, paving the way for developments in air-couple ultrasound. “We are extremely surprised to find that the moth is capable of hearing sound frequencies at this level and we hope to use the findings to better understand air-coupled ultrasound,” said James Windmill, who led the research. “The use of ultrasound in air is extremely difficult as such high frequency signals are quickly weakened in air.

New device extracts DNA ten times faster

Take a swab of saliva from your mouth and within minutes your DNA could be ready for analysis and genome sequencing with the help of a new device. University of Washington engineers and NanoFacture, have created a device that can extract human DNA from fluid samples in a simpler, more efficient and environmentally friendly way than conventional methods. The device will give hospitals and research labs a much easier way to separate DNA from human fluid samples, which will help with genome sequencing, disease diagnosis and forensic investigations. “It's very complex to extract DNA,” said Jae-Hyun Chung, a professor at the University of Washington. “When you think of the current procedure, the equivalent is like collecting human hairs using a construction crane.” This technology aims to clear those hurdles. The small, box-shaped kit now is ready for manufacturing, then eventual distribution to hospitals and clinics. The team led by Chung, spearheaded the research and invention of the technology, and still manages the intellectual property. Separating DNA from bodily fluids is a cumbersome process that's become a bottleneck as scientists make advances in genome sequencing, particularly for disease prevention and treatm