Windows XP

List of fast DNS servers for better Internet experience

August 9, 2009 2:36 am by Jal

Some months ago, I wrote a post on DNS server and how it can change your browsing experience. This time I am providing a list of useful DNS servers which you can use to make your internet reliable, faster and safer.

DNS (Domain Name Server) translates the website address from human readable form to an IP address. If your DNS server goes bad then you may receive errors like ‘page cannot be found’, ‘cannot connect to the page’, ‘error timeout’ etc. By using better DNS servers you can reduce these type of glitches.

So how to use DNS servers? For an end user like you and me, we just need to enter an specific IP address in the Preferred DNS Server field in ‘Network Connections’. Open its properties. [See screenshot below]

Just choose the option ‘Use the following DNS server addresses’ and enter any of below mentioned IP addresses into the two textboxes.

List of DNS servers:

1) OpenDNS

Preferred DNS Server: 208.67.222.222

Alternate DNS Server: 208.67.220.220

2) Scrublt

Preferred DNS Server: 67.138.54.100

Alternate DNS Server: 207.225.209.66

3) DNS Advantage

Preferred DNS Server: 156.154.70.1

Alternate DNS Server: 156.154.71.1

4) OpenNIC

Preferred DNS Server: 58.6.115.42

Alternate DNS Server: 58.6.115.43

5) Other public DNS Servers

Preferred DNS Server: 198.77.116.221

Alternate DNS Server: 198.77.116.223

Technorati Tags: dns server list,dns servers,faster internet

Top 5 RSS Feed readers for Windows

July 19, 2009 22:36 pm by Jal

Once you get properly acquainted with the web, you feel the need for a utility that can ease down your tasks. One such task is to get regular updates from your favorite website or blog aggregated for you. This is where Feed Readers come into picture. RSS Feeds are actually a convenient and hassle-free way to read website and blogs as and when they get updated. It needs to be powerful yet very low on resources, quiet but feature-rich. I have used many such ‘feed readers’ and would like to present the best of them all.

1) FeedDemon :- My personal best. FeedDemon is a RSS news feed reader which is very light on resources and highly customizable. It is very comprehensive, easy to set-up and has a clean interface.

2) Windows Live Mail :- It is actually a mail program but does the job of an RSS news reader quite well. With just a downside of being a little heavy on the system, it is very stable, mature and powerful RSS news reader on Windows.

3) Google Reader :- Without any doubt the most used, a stupidly simple RSS reader out there. It is very convenient to use and configure. Google Reader is web-based RSS reader so you don’t have to install a separate program for it.

4) Omea Reader :- Unknown but very powerful with top-notch features. Omea Reader is a freeware and it also does the task of a bookmark manager. It also provides browser integration.

5) BlogBridge :- With OPML support, synchronization feature and user-friendliness, BlogBridge is yet another free RSS reader. It has something called Smart Content Processing and has plugins too. It can run on Linux too.

There are also some other paid RSS readers like NewzCrawler, Blog Navigator, etc. but the mere price tag on them deprived them to show up in the above list.

Technorati Tags: best rss readers,rss readers for windows,news aggregators

Software Informer: Know which programs need updates

July 12, 2009 4:57 am by Jal

I was updating my installed programs one by one last night and it was a tedious task to do because I have over 50 programs installed on my computer. I thought I should search for a software which would tell me which of my software needs updates. Though I started without much hope, I instantly found a software that claims to do precisely that. Software Informer – A very cool application that keeps a track of your installed programs and whenever its update is available, it not only informs you but also link you to the update page which saves much time.

When I installed Software Informer, it scanned through the installed programs and immediately started searching for their updates. Once it was done, it opened up a page in my default internet browser and listed the programs that needed updates. It shows the current installed version and the latest version available so you can decide whether or not you want to update it. A ‘Get Update’ button makes task much easier as it redirects to the precise update page so you don’t have to search around every time you need to update.

As a value addition, the application also has a floating icon which, when clicked, shows a menu that lists all the installed programs which can be quickly launched from there. Click here to download Software Informer.

Technorati Tags: software informer,update installed programs

Add ‘Turn off monitor’ option in desktop context menu

April 2, 2009 23:09 pm by Jal

Say you have started a process which you are sure will continue for couple of hours on your computer like converting a movie file, uploading/downloading a large file, a scheduled task etc. Now if you are using a desktop computer then you would just turn off the monitor to save power. What if you own a laptop? There are options in the battery settings when to turn off your monitor automatically. But then, what if you want to turn it off manually when you wish and get it back on with slightly moving your mouse. The easiest option available is to make an entry like “Turn OFF Monitor” in your desktop context menu. Well, there is one really small utility that does precisely that. WinFlog eXtreme. Download it. It is just an executable so you don’t even have to install it. Just run WinFlog.exe and you are ready to customize the options.

Click on the tick-mark against the ‘Turn OFF Monitor’ option in the Desktop/Explorer Right Click Menu tab. This will put a new entry named ‘Turn OFF Monitor’ in your desktop context menu. Something like this:

That’s it. Now whenever you need to turn off the monitor of your computer, just right click on desktop and click the ‘Turn OFF Monitor’. As you can see, in WinFlog eXtreme, there are other options available too. Tweak them according to your preferences.