Knowledge Bytes ! !

In addition to the keyboard, the other major item Android users love to change up is the stock web browser. Now the stock browser is OK and gets the job done, but one of the great aspects of Android is that there are always alternatives. Over the last year or so, there have been a fair number of alternative web browsers that have hit the market. Some work well and some are a work in progress. It has been a while since we posted on web browsers so here is my list of some of the more popular web browsers available for Android devices today. Dolphin Browser® HD (Free) Dolphin Browser is probably one of the oldest and most recognized alternatives to the stock Android browser, and rightly so. With this browser, you get a ton of options and customization. They have designed it to provide the maximum amount of real estate on the screen. All menus are setup as sidebars, and to access them you simply swipe inwards from the sides. When I think of the Dolphin Browser, I thi

The device is sleek and sexy, but can it hold up under pressure?   When future historians look back at the evolution of the computer and corporate computing superiority, June 18, 2012 will be circled with red pen as a key date in history. On this day, Microsoft introduced the Surface, a revolutionary new supertablet product that helped the company regain its mantle as the market innovator, a mantle Apple stole long ago. Or, perhaps, this day will go down in history as a futile last-gasp attempt to stay relevant, much akin to how Polaroid and Eastman Kodak were a day late in jumping into the digital camera arena. The final verdict will, of course, be delivered on store shelves this fall. At this moment in time, Apple is king of the tablet experience, with Android gaining ground. Microsoft is nowhere to be seen — nowhere, that is, until now. Meet the Microsoft Surface. First Impressions Without a doubt, the Surface is a sexy device. It's sleek — more angular than you

An active sunspot is amping up the sun's activity, and has already unleashed two strong solar flares that triggered weekend geomagnetic storms on Earth, NASA officials say. The M-class solar flares set off two coronal mass ejections (CMEs) that erupted from the sun on last Wednesday and Thursday (June 13 and June 14). The first flare peaked Wednesday at 9:17 a.m. EDT (1317 GMT), and lasted for three hours, NASA scientists said. The resulting CME was hurled into space directly toward Earth, but was not expected to carry serious effects for the planet because it was traveling at a relatively slow speed. The second solar flare peaked on June 14 at 10:08 a.m. EDT (1408 GMT), and was also considered a long-duration event, agency officials said. NASA also released a video of the M-class solar flare on June 14 as it was observed by the sun-watching Solar Dynamics Observatory. Both CMEs from last week crashed into Earth's protective magnetic bu

  Much has been written about the missing Start Menu in Windows 8, the little orb that would usually sit in the bottom-left corner of your Windows desktop and offered you quick accessto frequently used software programs, documents, search and other parts of Windows.   The Start Menu has been around since Windows 95 [the original design was rectangular] and is probably one of the most-used features of Windows. People aren’t therefore feeling very happy about the demise of Start Menu in Windows 8. Want the Start Menu back? There are third-party utilities that recreate the Start Menu in Windows 8 but you don’t need them – there’s a hidden menu in Windows 8 that offers most of the Start Menu functionality and you can activate it by right-clicking in the bottom-left corner of your Windows 8 desktop. The menu provide one-click access to Windows Explorer, Run box, Desktop Search, Control Panel, Command Prompt and other “power” features. The only thing missing is a list of your frequently

Here are my picks for the 101 most useful websites of the year. The Most Useful Websites and Web Apps The sites mentioned here, well most of them, solve at least one problem really well and they all have simple web addresses (URLs) that you can easily learn by heart thus saving you a trip to Google. 01.   screenr.com   – record movies of your desktop and send them straight to YouTube. 02.   bounceapp.com   – for capturing full length screenshots of web pages. 03.   goo.gl   – shorten long URLs and convert URLs into   QR codes . 04.   unfurlr.come   – find the original URL that’s hiding behind a short URL. 05.   qClock   – find the local time of a city using a   Google Map . 06.   copypastecharacter.com   – copy special characters that aren’t on your keyboard. 07.   postpost.com   – a better search engine for twitter. 08.   lovelycharts.com   – create flowcharts, network diagrams, sitemaps, etc. 09.   iconfinder.com   – the best place to find icons of all sizes. 10.

Microsoft's FUSE Labs has released an "experimental research project" called So.cl, which aims to make sharing a natural part of the search process. Rather than trying to replace other social networks, So.cl seeks to improve research and content discovery by organizing information by interest and adding intuitive social sharing elements, such as eye-catching image collages and video playlist parties. But how well does So.cl combine search with social? Setup Currently, the only way to create an account with So.cl is to link to an existing Facebook or Windows Live account. So.cl promises to never post anything to your Facebook wall without permission and we had no experiences that proved otherwise. However, it is nice to have Windows Live authentication for those wanting to keep their Facebook account separate. So.cl does not support image uploading quite yet, so your profile picture is automatically populated based on the connected Facebook or Windows Live a

Talking is on the way out. Calling minutes are losing their value so fast that Verizon, for example, is just throwing unlimited minutes into its new plans — which take effect at the end of the month — and differentiating plans based on monthly data allotments (which in many cases will end up costing you more, by the way). You may not need a huge chunk of minutes, but sometimes you do have to talk, whether it's calling the parents or having a serious discussion. Prospective employers do interview by phone, but probably not by SMS. Also, you may just be one of those people who likes to gab. What's the cheapest unlimited talk plan? If you are a big talker, your best bet is to go with one of the no-contract wireless providers. Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile offer the best price: $55 for unlimited voice and text (plus unlimited data on Boost and 2.5GB per month on Virgin). What if I'm a minimal talker? Perhaps some months you scarcely make actual phone calls.