Technology
Posts related to making your everyday life with computers more efficient.
Setting up a Cyber Cafe PC
Feb 9th
Few days ago I had a mail from a reader of my blog, asking me tips on how to maintain & manage a Cyber Cafe PC. He saw my Lowest cost PC article & it made me think that I didn’t write an accompanying article for the software part. I guess it’s time. This guide is made keeping in mind not to use Pirated software.
1) Use Windows Vista home basic which is sufficient. If you have expertise in Linux then use that instead, however, in that case this blog post is irrelevant. Users won’t miss Aero, Flip3D etc in a Cyber Cafe PC which they come to use for 1 or 2 hours only.
2) Make sure you have UAC enabled & install all the latest updates & service packs.
3) Make a new “Standard user”. Using parental control, disable all application except for some which a cyber cafe will need. The biggest headache in a Cyber Cafe is when users change the settings & install applications at there own. By doing this the user will not be able to install application or make critical system changes.
5) Firefox is a good browser but it is also a geeky browser. For a Power User Firefox is a dream come true but in a Cyber Cafe its better either to use Internet Explorer 8 or Google Chrome. You can customize Google Chrome by following a guide I wrote. I prefer Chrome in Cyber Cafe more then IE 8 because Chrome is faster overall compared to IE 8 & has a simple & easy to use Interface. Frequently used sites are shown automatically & you can add some sites like Orkut, Facebook etc in the Bookmarks bar for easy access. These are the sites people come to visit the most in a cyber cafe.
6) On the desktop use an application like RocketDock & place shortcuts for IE, Firefox, Yahoo Messenger, Google talk, Windows Live Messenger, AIM, ICQ & Windows Media Player. These are all the applications people come in a cyber cafe to use anyway.
7) Install Vista Codec Pack, Quicktime Alternative & Real Alternative in Windows so that all the files play in WMP automatically. Do not install multiple media players, WMP is enough.
People come to use Cyber Cafe PCs sometime to do there office or project work, Install Openoffice 3 which is sufficient for such needs of a cyber cafe.
9) People download all sorts of stuff in a cyber cafe. Using Group policy you can setup the Nodes in such a way that the browser will download only to a particular folder. Since parental control is on, users will not be able to install a new application. If they need something, they should inform the administrator who will do it for them as required.
10) Install jZip which is enough for all archiving needs of customers. All customers will do is either make or extract a zip file, jZip is enough.
11) Give headphones + mic. They don’t cost much anyway & no audiophile comes to a cyber cafe expecting Bose Quality Audio. There are many cheap but good alternatives like Intex or Frontech. This is good for people who voice chat.
12) I recommend installing a webcam. Frontech Webcams are available for as low as Rs 500 & they do the work fine for communication.
13) Install a free Antivirus is all the Nodes. AVG Free 8.0 is good. Also install Windows Defender or Super Anti Spyware to do a full system scan once a week.
14) Disable all USB Ports from BIOS & set a BIOS Password. No pen drive should be allowed in Nodes. If the user wants to copy something then he should go to the admin who will copy the files from his PC to the nodes over LAN. This will save from the headache of those Nasty virus which propagates through Flash Drives. This will also prevent kids from downloading big files in a cyber cafe & taking them in a pen drive secretly.
15) Make a folder named “Download“ in D:\ drive of each node which should be shared over LAN. All files go to this folder only whether they are downloaded or copied over LAN. Nothing goes beyond this folder. A user usually doesn’t come to a cyber cafe to permanently save his files so suppose if he has to work in a Spreadsheet then he can simply download it to this folder, work on it & save it back to his E-Mail etc.
16) Inform users about free services using Simple Printed Banner Ads in cyber cafe with big letters about these rules etc. Tell them that they can use Rapidshare or Windows Live Skydrive to share big files over the internet if they are unable to mail so big files. Or tell them about Microsoft Office Live & Google Docs to share there documents online.
17) Users are using Bluetooth based phones a lot & they like to mail there pictures or upload there videos to others. A Bluetooth adapter costs Rs 150 only these days so install one in the Admin PC. I have seen users coming with there Mobile phone to a Cyber Cafe because they want to mail there pics to there parents.
18) Install a good Color printer & a monochrome laser printer. Users need all kind of text prints so Laser printer reduces the cost a lot. Setup variable cost of colored prints. It isn’t justified charging Rs 20 for a print with 80% text & 20 color in form of some logo etc. Stop overcharging the customer.
19) Pay attention to the space. No one likes to sit in a small cabin where there is barely enough space to stretch your legs. The LCD Monitor should be at a distance from the user & the keyboard & mouse should also be at a proper distance. I don’t recommend using a CRT Monitor due to its size. A 17” LG LCD Monitor costs Rs 7,000 & will live for a long time.
20) Make sure you are updating Windows regularly.
21) You can use Squid to accelerate Web access. I haven’t used it though.
This article was written in a hurry so I may have missed some points, You can add them in the comments section & I will include it in the article.
Windows live for Nokia India : Out Now
Jan 31st
I use Windows Live Mail for Official Purpose & freelance work only. Yahoo & GMail are there for chatting, orutting, flickr, youtube etc & I hardly ever chat on Windows Live because all my friends are either on Google Talk or Yahoo Messenger. The only thing I use is Windows Live Mail, however accessing it in my Phone wasn’t possible so far as hotmail doesn’t integrate in my Phone Message Application the way Yahoo or GMail Mailbox appear. POP3 Service for Hotmail was recently started but it is not available for India yet.
Today I found Windows Live for Symbian which was just released for India. I installed it immediately & the integration with Symbian OS was outstanding.
1) After installing, all my Messenger contacts appeared in my Phone’s Contact Application but in a separate tab automatically from where I can either make them a voice call using Phone network, send SMS to there number or Send E-Mail using my Windows Live Mail which was also setup in the phone’s Message application.
2) Windows Live Mail was automatically set in the Message Application. All I have to do is to click on sync to download new mails over WiFi or Vodefone Live. If I click on a Windows Live Contact in my address book then it automatically open this mailbox to write a new mail.
3) Best part, this also installed a Windows Live Messenger chat application using which I was able to chat with my buddy on Windows Live Messenger just like desktop chat & was even able to send files. Voice Chat isn’t possible yet.
Microsoft or Nokia did something good at least. I wish Yahoo & Google also release something like this. You can have a look at this other review with added screenshots as I wasn’t able to take screenshots of my mobile.
GX Tango : Black & Gray
Jan 17th
Ever since I got my Nokia N79, I am searching for a good & usable theme for it. Since its a mobile phone which while working is straight in front of your face, Icons in 2D Perspective look better then 3D perspective. So far there are 3 icon sets for Symbian S60 which I have come to admire..
1) Pizero Icons
2) Tango Icons
3) Nokia S60 5th Edition Touch Icons
I requested Pizero to fix some minor flaws in his Pure Black theme some time back to which he said he will do it soon. During my search I came across Nahid’s Blog who has made some seriously good themes based on the S60 Touch Icons for S60 3rd edition phones. However I am not a fan of blue color over black color so I requested him to make a black & gray theme too. Ian Flahorn is extracting the Touch Icons from Nokia 5800 Xpress Music but it will release soon.
Since I got my own symbiansigned certificate sometime back, I decided to look upon & make my own theme based on freely available Tango Icons using Nokia’s Carbide UI. The aim of my theme’s design is not something flashy or graphical but something simple which can be easily used everyday. While working on my phone outside I found that in direct sunlight the screen gets dark & on a black background, black or gray text is not quite readable. So I paid attention on the way at least I would prefer to use a theme & started to create the mockups of what to expect from the end result. The first variation of this theme will not have many colors, just black gradient & gray because I intend to make this theme very usable & easy on the eyes both indoor & outdoor. I just want this theme to be as perfect & simple as possible, nothing flashy.
Right now I am using Tango Icons & learning how to make a theme using Carbide.UI but if possible, I would love to useS60 Touch Icons as they are even better then tango Icons for a mobile phone’s screen. Here is what I think for the Standby Screen…how is it, please provide comments so as to make it better.
If you want a preview then just copy this PNG Image to your phone & watch it in full screen. Right now I am making it for Symbian S60 3rd Edition with FP2 only.
Keep in mind that there is a similar Tango theme for Symbian but the author is no longer updating it for new phone & new icons so I have decided to make something similar but with full icons.
Palm Pre’s wireless charger, the Touchstone
Jan 14th
Palm is back in news after killing the Palm Foleo last year with Palm Pre Mobile Phone. This phone is making lots of news & hype these days because this is the first time someone has given a full web based OS in a phone that too this sleek. Palm Pre is based on Linux, competes with Android, uses HTML, CSS & JS to make application…blah blah blah…that’s common these days in any phone due to which this hardly made me take an interest in Palm Pre, although its cute shape did.
What many people didn’t pay attention to is the latest innovation by palm, the Touchstone charger which can charge you Palm Pre without a wire over induction. Now this is something which grabbed my attention as this kind of technology can indeed make life easy.
There was another product like this on display in CES called the Powermat Wireless Charger using a similar concept. At least something good came out of CES.
Nokia Locate Sensor : Make it better
Jan 14th
How many times have you placed your bike keys or Wallet somewhere & unable to find it cos the location just slipped out of your mind, or has it ever happened to you that you lot some small but important thing somewhere & you go back looking for it but unable to find it cos it was lost somewhere on the road side. Well, Nokia just debuted a really cool concept in CES 2009.
Nokia Locate Sensor has just made its debut at CES 2009. The brainchild of the folk over at the Nokia Research Center, Locate Sensor is a prototype service designed to help ensure you never lose anything. You simply attach a physical wireless location tag (see photo gallery) to stuff such as your keys or wallet, and if you drop anything or it gets nicked from your pocket the accompanying Nokia Locate Sensor app points you in the direction of the item and even tells you how far away it is.
This concept is good, but why use a tiny device like this with a limited battery? The device requires a software in the phone so it can be made to install on any Symbian OS phone. Instead of attaching a device that small how about just using a RFID tag sticker, something which you can paste on your item & the phone can find where that RFID tag is. I don’t know if this is possible but this sticker way is much better then using a tiny device. I can paste the sticker somewhere on my bike & easily find it in a crowded parking area using my phone.
Please Nokia, make it happen & this concept deserves a patent.
