This Keyboard Tester can save you hours of frustration

       Have you ever been in a situation where your keyboard or mouse/trackpad started malfunctioning all of a sudden, leading to pages being automatically scrolled up/down, text being scaled automatically or windows and tabs losing focus without explanation? Then this post is for you. Experienced this issue multiple times? Then this post is definitely for you.(No? Just me? Okay then =/)

        When you face an issue like this it can be either a software problem, or a hardware problem. Try a restart of your system first (Fixes a myriad of issues nine times out of ten). Updating outdated drivers is an effective fix in the case of a trackpad if the issue started after a hardware upgrade or major system update. Plugging in an external mouse and disabling your current pointing device is an excellent way to check if the issue is with your current mouse or trackpad. Similarly plugging an external keyboard and disabling the current one can check for keyboard issues.

        However this post targets a solution for a very specific issue that has occured over three times in my time spent on a computer: malfunctioning keyboard. This can be very obvious, like a  malfunctioning "D" key causing errors when attempting to type or making your character move to the right erratically during a game, to slightly harder to identify errors with arrow keys and page up/down keys that can cause erroneous scrolling and folders and files getting selected randomly. Whatever be the case, if you suspect a keyboard malfunction, visit the Keyboard Tester

        The keys on the keyboard map flashes orange when they are pressed on your keyboard, and keys that have registered at least once are shown in green. Loading up the keyboard tester and doing nothing for several seconds is a good way of checking if any keys are firing without you pressing them. This can also be used to check for unresponsive keys: If it doesn't flash orange, its not working.

        If you have found an key that keeps screwing up, and trying to brush the dust out from under it (which is the most common cause for this problem) did not prove effective or is not easily possible (Looking at you, netbook owners.) , you might want to disable or reassign the key entirely. That's were a tool called KeyTweak comes in. It is a small tool (<1MB) that requires a download and install. Then on launching the tool, you can select a key from the map and reassign it to another key using the drop down menu or disable it entirely. Super handy. (A restart is required to apply changes as it reassigns the key by editing the Windows registry.) This tool is obviously not applicable for Linux and Mac users, but similar tools exist for those operating systems as well.

Also just for fun, notice how "No disadvantages" is listed as a con in the downloads section of it's website. Wow.

Internet tracking: Should it be a concern?

        The violation of privacy has been one of the hottest topics up for debate on the internet for a while now. With the influence of tech giants like Google and Facebook seeping into our daily lives to the extent where these companies know us better than we know ourselves, leaving an online 'footprint' too large is a concern for a lot of people. I have made posts in the past relating to this concern, such as methods to remain completely anonymous online and a website that can display your torrenting history.

        This post is for those of us who get creeped out when a totally random website displays advertisements of products you where browsing on Amazon a day ago, which, let's be honest, is most of us. This is because of internet 'tracking' done on you by websites such as online shopping hubs, Facebook, Google and so on.

What is tracking?

        Tech entities recording your actions and using them to change the behavior of their service to you is called tracking. Using accounts that you are permanently logged in to (such as your Google account on android phones and Apple account on iPhones), storing 'cookies' on your browser that record your preferences are some of the ways in which this is done. So let's say you decide to check a smartphone on Amazon. Amazon realizes that you are interested in this product as you have checked it, and records this information, then gives it over to advertisement serving companies, such as Google's AdSense. Next time you search something related to smartphones on Google, the ads that show up will be of the phone that you searched on Amazon, because AdSense now knows you are interested in that device.

        Similarly Google or Facebook will record your interaction with posts and links to find out what kind of content you are interested in, and will provide ads related to such content when you use their services. This is how internet tracking works.

How is tracking good/bad?

        Tracking, to an extent, is extremely useful. It allows Google Search to give you relevant results, it allows Maps to show you the traffic on the way to work every morning, it allows Facebook to remove posts that you have no interest in from your newsfeed, it allows everything from Play Store or App Store to Ebay and Amazon to show you items that you are more likely to be interested in. In other words, it personalizes your internet experience.

          So what are people terrified of? Well, if you think about it, such entities knows where you live and where you work, what kind of clothing you like and your favorite food, what kind of books you read and which songs you listen to, who are your friends and the type of people you would associate with, where you sense of humor sits, what you find offensive and what you don't, what you would like to do in your leisure, things that you would like to buy, your lifestyle, and even the times when you go to sleep and wake up in the morning. And all of this is being sold or can be sold to advertising companies and other agencies. 

Conclusion

        In the end tracking is not as horrible as many people have made it out to be. Most reputable companies like Google and Facebook have privacy policies that they adhere to (Although they do change occasionally and no one ever bothers to read through them), and give users multiple notifications when they change something in their policy that could potentially divulge their privacy. They don't sell too much information to advertisers and have streamlined options to control and manage and even partially delete tracked information.

        So in the end, how much you want to eliminate tracking depends on where you draw the line between 'useful' and 'creepy'. I personally don't like being tracked, but I realize its uses and allows it to an extent, blocking it only when required.

That's it for now, hope you found it useful. Stay tuned for a post on methods to reduce/elimiate tracking in a few days!

Here's a collection of Text Faces! ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

     Gone are the days when emojis were limited to two character contraptions like :) and :P ...
As the information revolution continue to explode forward, an artful collection of complex emoji has become commonplace in every app to which it matters. But the mighty ASCII army never stays down, and over the last year a bunch of new emoji has evolved that cannot be typed out on your keyboard, or cannot be found in any app (yet).

     Since these emoji's cannot be typed out and you are unlikely to know what their names are (( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) is called "Lenny face", by the way.), here's a super useful website that has a collection of the latest freshly baked rage faces free to fill your clipboard. Saying ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ has never been easier.

Link to this super useful site: https://textfac.es/

Cheers!

Hiding your IP address online to remain anonymous

          In the last post, I demonstrated how anyone who knows your IP address can track your torrent downloads without your permission. If you are concerned about your privacy on the internet, the first and most important step to take is to mask your IP address. (Or stop whatever you are doing on the internet that makes you feel insecure -most things shouldn't. But then again, if you wanted to do that instead, you wouldn't be reading this.) Accessing blocked content is another bonus of masking your IP address.

        If you don't know what an IP is, it is an address used to identify your device in a network, and is required for normal communication on the internet. It will be a set of numbers, like "127.0.0.1". IP addresses are not unique to a device, but rather unique to a router. This means that all devices connected to your home WiFi will have the same IP address, but if you connect your laptop to your neighbor's WiFi, it will have a different IP address.

        If you are a user of wireless mobile data, you should be assigned a random IP address by your carrier each time you connect to the internet, most of the time, effectively eliminating the chances of someone tracking your activities via IP. If you don't use mobile data, or want your IP address to make it seem like you are in another region or another continent altogether, read on.

1.Use a proxy

        This is perhaps the quickest and easiest method to mask your IP. A proxy is an intermediate server, and when you use a proxy service, all your internet usage is redirected through a proxy server. So all the sites you visit can only see the IP address of the proxy server assigned to you, while your real IP remains anonymous. There are hundreds of free proxy sites on the internet -although several of these can contain malicious content. Hence, as with all things on the internet, use these at your own risk.

        www.dreamytricks.net/free-proxy-sites-server-list/ is a very useful and up-to-date list of some of the top online proxy services available today, the majority of them being completely free to use.

        Here I am using www.4everproxy.com , although all sites in that list should work in a similar way.

        All you have to do is enter the website you wish to access anonymously in the box on the bottom, and hit "Go to site".

        Here I have opened YouTube via 4everproxy. The bar at the top can be used to navigate to more websites as well. I find that my usual "trending in India" (Since I'm from India) section has been replaced with videos trending in the U.S instead, since the proxy server is located in the US. And just like that, I am able to become anonymous on the internet.

2.Use a VPN

        If the above section did not satisfy the Edward Snowden-inspired "Big brother is watching" enthusiast in you, then look no further than Virtual Private Networks, a.k.a VPNs. Fundamentally these are 'advanced' proxy systems, that offer antivirus filtering and high level encryption to every action you make on the internet while not keeping any logs of your usage anywhere. And when I say all actions on the internet, I do mean all actions, unlike proxies which only work within your browser.

        This super-secure layer on anonymity comes at a price however, as most reputed VPN services on the internet require a paid subscription to use. PCmag has a very good list here. But it's not all dark for those hoping for free VPNs, as a few of these does exist, albeit lacking many of the features of paid VPNs.

        A popular example of a free VPN is CyberGhost, which gives you several options (Some of them require purchasing the premium version, however.) and allows you to choose the country through which your traffic will be redirected. It doesn't have fancy features like ad-blocking and firewalls, but it does offer a high level of encryption, enough to make anyone feel secure.

        It is worth noting that using either proxies or VPNs will make your internet connection a bit slower, as all of your traffic has to be redirected through a server on a completely different part of the world.

So, there you have it folks. The only guide you need to stay in shadows when browsing the internet. Remember there is no such thing has complete anonymity online, but unless you did something to incur the wrath of the FBI or deadly hacking organisations, these should serve your purpose just fine.

I Know What You Download

        Privacy is perhaps the biggest issue booming around the netizen world over the past few years. From Edward Snowden to the outcry for end-to-end encryption on Whatsapp, people are always sensitive about who can see or track what they do on the internet, and for good measure. Being tracked on the internet is about as invasive as a person watching over everything you do, in real life. So I can only assume many users will be shocked if I told you I can tell you everything you have downloaded off popular torrenting websites, most of which would be illegal content.

        Well, I can't just do that, not without having your IP address anyways. Your IP address is used to identify your device on the internet, and every node that connects to the internet, such as your home WiFi or mobile device has it's own unique IP address. This information can be extracted very easily. In fact, every website you ever visit or any internet service you use can view your IP. This itself is not a privacy violation, as the IP address is required to communicate with your device. But once a person interested in stalking your download activity has your IP address, all they need to do is plug it into this website, aptly named "I know what you download", and your torrenting history lists itself, ready to be viewed by anyone's eyes. 

        Okay, so say you are interested in checking if your best friend's favorite midnight past time is downloading TV shows or watching porn. (Please, this is an explanation. Don't ever do that to anyone you sick stalker!). Problem is, you do not know his/her IP address. This website even allows you to get past that. All you have to do is find a website address, any address, to send your friend that you know he will click. Then enter it into the download tracker and hit 'Transform' to generate another URL. Send this to your friend, and let him click it. Everything will seem normal and the link will take him to the intended website. But what really happens is that the link goes to the iknowwhatyoudownload website, which captures his IP address, and then redirects him back to the original link. No suspicions aroused, and one successful IP capture done.

        The existence of websites like this is an ode to the fact that no one can truly remain hidden or cloak their activities while on the internet. You can only take the necessary precautions, and, well, make sure your list on nemeses don't include some creep who would stalk your internet activity.

        I shall soon follow up this post with some basic methods to hide your IP, so that trackers like this won't work on you. Meanwhile, mobile data users can remain safe in the knowledge that they are assigned a random IP address most of time they connect to the internet, preventing creepy trackers from stalking them. For the most part, at least.

            That's all for now, cheers! =)