Tips on choosing a good web host

May 12th, 2008 by Mohd. Hashim Khan

servers

Being a freelance web designer I get a chance to experience many web hosts and till now I have seen almost every big host. From cheap shared web host to dedicated server hosting, I have tested all and found that it’s not always necessary that a host which have costly plans are going to offer you an excellent service. However in case you are looking for cheap host, chances are more that you may get a bad host so you will have to choose after some deeper research but if you are willing to pay more for web hosting then you can go for any popular host without thinking much and you should get a decent service and support. While talking of support, you should choose a host which offer good support to their customers. This is also true for cheap host. If you are buying a cheaper plan, then also you should get an equally good support just like a customer is getting with premium plans. If you are new to website stuff then you should always ask someone who is experienced in these things or simply look for reviews online. Online reviews can not always be true and can be false as well! If you want some honest web hosting reviews then you should look on hosting and tech related forums where people have discussed their experiences and problems related to their web host. Now you will get a clearer picture and you should be able to sort out bad host from good ones.

Recently one of my client who is using a dedicated server plan for his website had his site down for whole week and all because of bad hosting support. He called me several times for but I could do anything since the problem was from hosting side and hosting guys were just too lazy to fix things up. So what I am trying to say here is that a good support is a must to look for when choosing a host, other wise you may experience problems. No one wants his website to be down for several days. To ensure that the web host you are going to choose does offer good support, you can also read web hosting articles where you will also find some good tips and further details on how to choose a web host. Remember that all the hard work you do for choosing a web host is one time pain and then you can host your site peacefully which is really worth the time you spend in choosing the web host.

Super battery for your remote

April 16th, 2008 by Mohd. Hashim Khan

remote

You know that the remote battery is dead but you press the TV remote button harder thinking that it will work! Pressing the button hard doesn’t work and finally you change the battery. Mostly remote controls use two AA size batteries which give about 3.2V when they are new and this voltage declines with the usage. With decline of this volt, range of your remote also declines and you have to fight with remote to change channel! Now my point in telling all this that being a cheap man I don’t like buying new batteries every now and then so I thought of some cheap and long lasting system. Most of us in our home have cellphone which is out of date, not working or just a piece of junk which is thrown away in corner. Its time to use that phone now! Take that phone and if its charger works then charge the phone battery. If phone doesn’t work then take out the battery and charge it using another phone. Now I know this battery must not be in good shape but we don’t need any powerful battery here too. After charging the battery, see the size of this battery and check if any remote in your house can fit this battery inside its battery compartment. Don’t worry for the +ve and –ve contacts, just see if it can fit, remove some extra plastics from the battery if needed. Once it gets snugly fit inside remote connect the +ve and –ve terminals. In my case as you can see in photo that –ve terminal is already aligned with –ve contact of remote, it’s just a good coincidence but for positive I have to use a short wire. Don’t worry if this thing looks ugly as you are going to put back the battery compartment cover after doing all this so no one would know what’s inside. While doing all this, just make sure that both the terminals of the battery should not touch each other, else you may burn your finger or even explode the battery! After connecting, check the remote and it should work now. If it doesn’t then don’t panic, just check the polarity and contacts. If all done properly, your remote will not need any battery replacement for some years to come! And yes one more advantage is that your remote becomes few grams lighter. Enjoy!

Warning: If you are minor then don’t do this experiment on your own, do it under guidance of your parents.

Disclaimer: Though I have checked that above described method works, in fact I am using this in my home but I am not responsible for any damage caused by using the method given above.

Interior design and smart living

March 17th, 2008 by Mohd. Hashim Khan

interior design

There are many things which one can do to improve his or her home looks from inside as well as outside. A proper guidance is needed as without it people can end up doing something which may not look good. I found a blog on interior design and it has great interior design tips which I recommend everyone to read. You will be proud to show off your beautiful home to your guests if you follow those tips and smart living ideas.

All about money

February 28th, 2008 by Mohd. Hashim Khan

logo

Managing your money wisely can be as good as having another source of income. For example there are two people, one who knows how to manage money and the latter do not and both have to buy a car. The person who doesn’t know how to manage money will simply buy the car in cash and give a big hit to his bank balance. Wise people will get the car financed even if they have enough money and thus save on income tax. There are many other ways to save on tax and one should know all to get maximum benefits. Similarly you have to be careful on everything where money is involved. Credit Cards are now a common thing to have and can be found in every wallet. Applying for just any credit card you see is not a good idea, do some research and compare plans online and then go for any one which you feel best. Look at your requirements first and what you actually need from a credit card and then see which type of card matches your requirements best. Like for example, a person like me who does a lot of online shopping will give more importance to cards with net-safe features.

These days we are busy in getting our new house built and we are making sure that it will be strong and look great. Making house is a big investment and we should get it insured just like any other precious item. Home Insurance Quotes are very helpful in finding a better insurance plan always. Accidents and natural disasters can happen any day so make your home safe buy getting it insured. Car Insurance is one such thing which you can’t avoid at any cost. Just like a valid registration paper of vehicle and having a valid driving license is important, cops will also ask you for insurance papers of your vehicle in case of checking which often takes place randomly. And if you don’t have, you will be fined. So to avoid such problematic situations it’s always good to have your vehicle insured and pay the premium on time.

How to tune a bike DIY

February 7th, 2008 by Mohd. Hashim Khan

carb1

Most of us who ride bike daily often feel that bike is not performing like it used to when it was new. You get it serviced and it becomes ok for sometime then again the same sluggishness. This is due to clogged carburetor jets which you can yourself clean. To do it, first clean the bike for any dirt. Wash the whole bike if necessary then carefully detach all the cables like accelerator, choke, and sensors from the carburetor and then remove air filter. Now remove it from the engine too and take out the carburetor apart.

carb2

Examine the type of your carburetor and clean it with petrol from outside so that it becomes shining new. Now make sure every tool you use like screwdriver etc and your hand itself are clean and dirt free because now you are going to open it. At the bottom of carburetor, you will find a cover with four screws. Remove these screws and keep them at safe place.

carb3

After opening it, you will find a plastic part inside which will look like two small drums attached together. It’s called float. Remove it and then you will see two jets as marked in picture above. Using a clean wrench, take out both of these jets and wash then with petrol. Look though the fine hole of the jet and using a single hair of electric wire, poke it so that you can see the light thru the hole. Fit the jets back to their place and using a paint brush (thick) clean the whole carburetor from inside using petrol. Now fit the float and put the cover back.

You have done the cleaning job now and its time to fir the carburetor back into bike and test. When you have fitted the carburetor, start the bike for first time using choke as the carburetor is dry. Adjust the engine RPM roughly and take the bike out for a short spin but enough to make engine hot. Yeah you will be feeling great now riding the bike. Now come back and adjust the engine RPM using a digital tachometer. If you don’t have it, buy it from any auto market as it’s easily available. Read the bike manual for correct RPM setting. Engine RPM setting is done when engine is hot. Your bike is fully tuned and ready. It will be a good idea to decarbonize the cylinder head and sparkplug if bike is a two stroke one and old.

Note: If you are new to such stuff, please do it under guidance of someone who is knowledgeable. Else I’ll not be responsible if your bike don’t start or become a petrol drinking monster!

Switch between multiple tabs easily in Opera

December 21st, 2007 by Mohd. Hashim Khan

opera trick

This is a cool trick of web browser Opera thru which switching between tabs become very easy. Tabs were made for our convenience already but if you open lots of tabs in a browser that you can’t read the website title then going to the page you want take some time to search. Sometimes you might not want someone to show the page in some tab and jump wish to jump to the desired tab directly without looking at every tab. Trick is simple, right click anywhere on the page (keep the right mouse button pressed) and then scroll your mouse wheel on any direction and you will see a popup menu in which all the open tabs will be listed and by scroll wheel you can select the tab which you wish to open and release the right button. You will see that page which you selected instantly in front of you. This trick only works in Opera.

[theNetGuruZ eXclusive]