Re-enable Services and Windows Features Disabled by Virus Instantly

If you have been working on a Windows machine for some time now, you must have come across many computer virus attacks till now. Also you might be knowing what the system status is, after each attack. There are many different kind of computer virus and malware, each having their own type of adverse effect on the computer. Even if you have successfully removed the virus from your system, your computer might be struggling.
Most of these viruses affects computer and disables many Windows programs like Folder Options, Registry Editor, cmd and other features. Even if you have removed the virus from your system, these features are disabled and need to be re-enabled back before they can be used again. But a normal computer user can’t re-enable them back as these involve complex registry operations, even there is no surety that it would get fixed.

I came across one tool that can help you in this regard called Tangosoft’s Re-Enable II (or Re-Enable 2.0). As the name of the tool suggests, this tool can re-enable many windows functionalities and services in just one single click. You just need to make sure that the virus has been removed else the changes might not take effect. Also it is worth noting that, if the changes are undone then your system still have some traces of virus left.
With one click Re-enable will repair the following windows features:

• Safe Mode
• Registry Editor
• Command console “cmd” 
• System restore 
• Start menu Run command
• Task manager 
• Task scheduler 
• Safe mode  
• Right click context menu 
• My computer properties 
• Folder options 
• Windows explorer search 
• start menu search 
• Reset file and folder attributes
• Ms Config  
• Restore explorer registry key
• Re-enable will also edit hosts file 
• Scan and delete Autorun.inf files

The tool is free to use for personal use and requires .Net Framework 3.5 or above. You can also try the portable version of Re-Enable 2 but it would be of larger size as it already contains the required .Net Framework.
Download Re-Enable 2.0

Easily Update your System Drivers with DriverIdentifier

System Drivers are the most important constituent of our system as with the help of these only we are able to use other hardware like video, audio and other things. By default most of our systems have the drivers installed in our systems but it can happen that due to some malfunction drivers gets lost and we need to install them back. But what if you don’t have the driver CD with you?
Our Update settings in the computer are such that we regularly gets the notifications to update them but it is not always possible to update them. So whatever be the case, here is a tool called DriverIdentifier that can help you in scanning your system for the installed Drivers and suggests you to update them in one go.

What DriverIdentifier does is, it scans your system for the installed drivers and checks their online database for any updates, thereby suggesting you to update them. This means that you don’t need to manually visit each website and update the system. You just need to click the Scan Drivers button for it to display the list within seconds to you. The only concern I found was that it displays the list in the web browser rather than the desktop window.
The information displayed consists of system hardware details at the top and the driver details below. The driver information is also displayed with many other details like manufacturer name, version and release date etc. The tool is free to download and works well with both 32 and 64 bit versions of Windows. Just pay attention while installing as it might change your web homepage or install some toolbar.
Download DriverIdentifier

Block Programs accessing Internet with Firewall App Blocker

One of the great features that Windows have is the Firewall which helps us in not only blocking the functionalities of the programs but also prevent them from connecting to the internet. This helps us in many ways as preventing a program from connecting to internet helps in saving internet data, helps in securing the system, preventing the program to download some unwanted stuffs and other things.
Any user can make use of the default Windows Firewall and block any program but the process of doing this is not that easy. It involves some complex steps like visiting the Control panel, opening up System Security and adding the program as an exception. Although you may find this process simple but it can’t get simpler than just dragging and dropping the tool to enable all the restrictions.

Yes with the help of this tool called Firewall App Blocker, you just need to do this only. Just download the app from the link below, run it to open the interface and drag drop the program to add to the block list. The tool contains only two main buttons, Add and Delete which works in a simple manner. You can also browse for the executable file of the program and click the Add button to add it to the block list. Clicking the Delete button will remove it from the list.
The program not only improves the Windows Firewall functionality but also enables you to block any program accessing internet at the backend. The program is free and simple to use and since it do not require any installation it can be run directly from the USB drive portably.
Firewall App Blocker is tested to work on Windows 7 both 32 and 64 bits, however on Vista and Windows 8 it has not been tested to work.
Download Firewall App Blocker

[Solved] Fix Windows is Not Genuine Message in Windows 7

We know how it feels when you are prompted by this “Windows is not Genuine” message every time you boot up your system. Though Windows is easily available today, not everyone wish to pay for this and thus uses the pirated copy of Windows OS.
Note: We do not encourage piracy and advise our viewers to use genuine software only.
Earlier we have also written about the “Windows Software Counterfeiting” problem and posted the solution using the RemoveWGA tool, which you can read here. “Windows is not genuine”, is a different problem than this and thus here is the solution below.

Steps:
1. Solving this problem is very easy and can be done by using a simple tool called RemoveWAT.
2. What you all have to do is, just download this tool from the link below (in case this link is not working you can search the net for this tool with the same name).
3. Extract the archive and double click the tool to run it.

4. You will see couple of options listed, just click on the “Remove WAT” button and it will start working on the problem automatically.
When the problem has been fixed, your system will be required to reboot. You will see that after the reboot your problem has been fixed and you will no longer see the “Windows is not genuine” watermark at the bottom right of your screen.
Now you can use the system as original and also set the wallpaper and themes which you were not able to, earlier.
Download RemoveWAT

How to Put a Movie Theater in Your Home on the Cheap

Movie tickets are becoming more and more expensive, and with quick home releases there are fewer reasons to make a trip to the theater. You may get an enormous screen and high quality sound, but you can also have that in your home for a lot less than you'd think. With a little extra work and know-how, you can put a movie theater in your home on the cheap.

About six years ago I had a terrible day at work—on my birthday. When I finally left the office full of stress and frustration, I only had one purpose: I was going to make an irresponsible impulse purchase to try and make my day suck just a little less. I took the subway to Best Buy, found an inexpensive 720p DLP projector (~$1000), and put it on my credit card. While I can't recommend this method to anyone else, it was the start of a great new project: putting together a movie theater in my home.

This was back in 2006 when prices on HD projectors were just starting to decline. Nowadays you can pick up one that's as good as mine for a lot less money. It's not the only thing you'll need—a good screen and sound system are important, too—but you can easily assemble a pretty killer home movie theater for as little as $1,000. In this post, we're going to take a look at how.

Step One: Choose Your Hardware

Buying a projector, a screen, and a good pair of speakers isn't cheap, but the total cost isn't much higher than a similar setup with a good flatscreen television. You can always spend more for better quality, but it's not necessary. We're only going to talk about awesome projectors (and other necessary components). Mine projector is six years old and is worth about $400-500 today, but it's been so good I've had no need to upgrade. If you've got some freedom to spend, we'll talk about options that are worth the extra cash. If not, don't worry—it'll be great nonetheless.

The Projector

At the time of this writing, the Optoma HD66 is one of the best deals you can get on an HD projector. It's currently priced at about $535, is extremely bright (it offers 2,500 lumens, which is good enough for viewing in daylight), has a very long lamp life (up to 4,000 hours), and uses inexpensive replacement lamps (only about $130 at the moment). The downside is that it's 720p, but I'd argue that's not as important as you might think. While you'll probably be able to tell the difference between a 720p and 1080p picture projected at a size of somewhere between 80 and 120 inches no matter where you're sitting (unless it's across the street), 720p still looks very good. It can be tempting to pay more for that extra detail, but I think you'd be surprised by how satisfying it looks. If you do want 1080p, however, the Optoma HD20 will give it to you. Its projection isn't as bright (1700 lumens) and it costs about $300 more, but that'll get you nearly the same projector with 1080p.

If you're willing to spend a little more money, the Epson PowerLite Home Cinema 8350 ($1,278 at the time of this writing) is a great option. It offers 1080p, a fair amount of brightness (2,000 lumens), and is widely considered to be one of the best budget home theater projects you can buy (see Projector Central, PC Magazine, and Projector Reviews for evidence). Aside from the stellar image quality, the Epson 8530 offers a few distinct advantages over the Optoma options: it uses 3LCD instead of DLP projection (DLP can cause a rainbow effect for a small subset of viewers) and offers lens shift features. This may not seem like much, but when you're setting up your projector you'll find that aligning its image with the screen is one of the most frustrating parts. Lens shift does what the name implies—it allows you to shift the lens so your projector doesn't have to be mounted in a single, specifically perfect location. This added flexibility is often worth the extra money, especially if you're mounting the projector from an unusual angle or far distance.

Again, any of these projectors will provide a great image. I still use a 1,000 lumen, 720p DLP projector and I'm very happy with it six years later. Whether you're aiming for cheap or have a little extra to spend, you'll be pleased with what you get.

The Screen

Picking out a screen is a bit easier than picking out a projector, as you really only have a couple of choices: a pull-down screen (that you can roll up like a window shade) or a fixed frame screen that's always visible. Either is fine. I chose a pull-down screen because it was cheaper at the time, but a fixed frame screen tends to look a lot nicer. You should expect to spend around $200-300 and have room for a screen that's at least 90 inches (while many will be 100 inches or larger). Yes, all these screens are pretty enormous—but that's the point! You're making a home movie theater. You'll need to choose one that fits your home best, but here are a few examples to get you started:

• FAVI 120" Manual Pull-Down Projector Screen ($110)
• Elite Screens 100" Manual Pull-Down Projector Screen ($192)
• Elitech 100" Fixed Frame Projector Screen ($220)

One last thing to note is that some screens will claim to offer enhanced contrast. This is generally accurate, but the effectiveness of the claim varies. As with anything, be sure to read reviews and see how others have responded to the screen's quality before purchasing.

The Speakers

Sound is an important element of the home theater, and the speakers you choose can make or break the experience. That said, we could put together an entire post on home theater audio but it's just not the focus here. Instead, we're going to address the issues projectors pose when sound comes into the mix and leave the speaker buying guide to Gizmodo.

Unlike a TV, the primary speakers aren't going to be next to the projector. Instead, they're going to be across the room. That means you're going to have to run a wire from the projector (or sound source) to the location of your speakers. If you don't have a good way of stealthily running an audio cable across the room, one surprisingly effective solution is the Audioengine W1 wireless audio transmitter. Using it means you're foregoing the option of surround sound, which may be important to you, but the W1 is exceptionally easy to set up and actually sounds really good. You just plug them both into power—and they're powered by USB—and connect the output to the transmitter and the input to the receiver. This is a very simple solution to an annoying cable problem and it only costs $100. Audioengine also offers a variety of great stereo speakers (like these), so if you're not looking for a surround sound system they're a good place to start.

The other problem with sound is that you'll likely have multiple sources connected to the projector but the projector won't handle switching sound between them. That means you need to swap sound inputs separately. You can get an expensive system, or you can just pick up a simple AV input switcher like this one and call it a day. You could spend more money, but you don't have to.

The Media Center

Everything we've looked at so far doesn't do you a lot of good if you don't have something capable of playing a movie. That may just involve as little as buying a Blu-ray player or as much as building a home theater PC (and installing XBMC or Plex). If you just want a Blu-ray player you should have no problem finding one of those on your own, but if you want to put together a home theater PC you have plenty of options. Jailbreaking the Apple TV 2 and installing XBMC is a great, simple, $99 solution. If you want to spend a bit more and get additional features, you can do what I did: build a hackintosh mini. You don't actually have to make it a Hackintosh—you can always run Windows or Linux on the same hardware. Since my build is a little out-of-date, here's a more recent option that'll work with the operating system of your choice:

• SIlverstone SG06BB-450 Black Aluminum Case with 450W Power Supply ($143)
• Gigabyte GA-H67N-USB3-B3 LGA1155 Mini-ITX Motherboard ($200)
• Intel Core i5 2500K 3.3 GHz Quad-Core Processor ($215)
• G.SKILL 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 RAM ($55)
• Geforce GTX550 Ti Amp 1GB DDR5 Graphics Card ($140) - This is optional, as you can use the integrated graphics if you want
• Western Digital 2TB Hard Drive ($100)

If you want to save some money, you can buy less RAM, swap in a slower (compatible) processor, purchase a smaller hard drive, and so on. If you're planning to make this build a hackintosh, be sure to check out the tonymacx86 forum post from which it originated.

Mounting the Projector and Screen

One of the hardest parts of owning a projector is the setup. I'm not going to downplay it: the process sucks. It's time consuming, difficult, and frustrating. That said, the results are worth it and you get better at hooking it every time (if you even have to do it more than once). I've moved my projector an unfortunate total of five times since I bought it and what took me several hours initially now takes about 20 minutes.

What You'll Need

Before we jump into the setup, let's talk about what you're going to need:

• An electric screwdriver or drill with a Phillips screwdriver head (trust me, you don't want to do this manually)
• A level
• A stud finder
• A ceiling mount for your projector or just a shelf you can mount to the wall. (Ceiling mounts are much harder to install, so I highly recommend the shelf route.)
• Any materials needed to hang your projector screen. What you'll need will vary from screen to screen (and sometimes be included with the one you purchase), but may be as simple as a couple of metal wall hooks that are rated to hold a good 60 lbs. or so.
• Optional (but highly recommended): a friend to help.

Make Your Calculations

With all of that together, you're just about ready to get started. Before you dive in, you're going to want to make a few calculations to figure out where your projector's image is going to land, how big it will be, if there will be any distortion, and so on. If this sounds like an absolutely miserable task, don't worry—Epson offers an online distance calculator that can handle all the math for you. It even shows you an image of what everything will look like. Make use of this tool before you do anything else. It'll help you mount in the right spot and prevent you from placing the projector too close or too far away.

Put it All Together

Once you've got your calculations figured out, just follow these steps to get the job done:

1. (Hopefully) with a friend, hold the screen up on the wall in the location where you want it. Use the level to make sure it isn't crooked, then use a pencil to mark on the wall where the corners of the screen rest. (If you're mounting your screen with hooks, just mark where the hooks will go.)
2. Use the stud finder to find the nearest studs in the wall. If your proposed location overlaps the necessary studs, you're good to go. If not, adjust the screen's positioning based on the location of the studs in the wall.
3. Go ahead and mount the screen on the wall. If you're mounting with hooks, just install the hooks and hang the screen. If you're using a specialized mount, follow the instructions it came with. For pull-down screens, pull them down so they're visible. This will help you align the projector in the next steps.
4. Plug in the projector and turn it on. Lift it up towards the ceiling—approximately where you expect it to live—and aim it at the screen. Get a basic idea of where the projector needs to be to hit the screen and mark that area with a pencil on the wall. (If your calculations were right, this shouldn't take much work.)
5. If you're using a shelf, install the shelf on the wall around the X you marked in the previous step. When finished, set the projector on top of it and see how well it aligns. You'll be able to make adjustments—especially if you purchased a model with lens shifting—so don't worry if it isn't perfect. If you're using a ceiling mount to attach the projector to the ceiling, use the X as a guide mark to horizontally align the mounting device. Once you know your position, follow the included instructions to attach it to the ceiling. (Note: this is only if you're mounting in the back of the room and not in the middle. Mounting in the middle means you'll have cables hanging down from the projector in a bad place unless you route them through the ceiling. That's a tough job, and a little bit beyond this guide.)
6. Place the projector on the shelf or attach it to the ceiling mount. Turn it on and line it up as best you can. If you're using a shelf, you may want to consider using double-sided tape or sticky mounting squares to help hold the projector in place. Although you may not notice it initially, it will move over time and so it helps to encourage it not to. Also, don't forget to zoom the lens and focus it so you get the image size and clarity you want.
7. Once you're physically aligned, adjust the picture settings so the image will fit your screen better. If you have lens shift on your projector, this will be pretty simple. If not, you should have keystone settings that will let you warp the picture a little bit to correct any distortion caused by the angle of projection.

Now you're good to go! Sure, it isn't the easiest process, but once you get the hang of it you won't spend a bunch of time figuring out the perfect alignment—you'll just know. Also, expect to make mistakes. Having a little spackle around for a few holes you drilled in the wrong place can't hurt. Despite the frustrations and mistakes, the important thing to remember is that when you are finished, you will essentially have a movie theater in your house. It turned out to be one of the best accidental decisions I've made. Chances are you'll love it, too.

What Multitasking Does To Our Brains

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We've all heard it hundreds of times: to work efficiently we have to single task. No multitasking. And yet, we let it slip. We end up eating lunch in front of the TV with our laptop open. We browse Twitter and Facebook whilst sending emails, and probably chatting in Google+ too. If we should be focusing on just one assignment, blog post, or proposal...why the heck is it so hard to focus?

Why we multitask in the first place: It makes us feel good

To understand why we always fall into the habit of multitasking, when we know we shouldn't, I found some very interesting studies. The answer is in fact quite simple:

[People who multitask] are not being more productive—they just feel more emotionally satisfied from their work.

This is what researcher Zhen Wang mentions in a recent study on multitasking. She mentioned that if we study with our books open, watch TV at the same time and text friends every so often, we get a great feeling of fulfillment. We are getting all these things done at once, and we feel incredibly efficient.
Unfortunately, exactly the opposite is the case. Students who engaged heavily in multitasking activities felt great, but their results were much worse than that of people who didn't multitask.
Another problem a study found, is that multitaskers seem very efficient from the outside, so we want to be like them. We see someone who can juggle emailing, doing phone calls and writing a blogpost on the side and feel "wow", that is incredible. I want to be able to do that too!
So very unknowingly we put a lot of pressure onto ourselves to juggle more and more tasks. When really, it only seemingly makes us more productive. The daily output as Wang found, only decreases though.

What is going on in our brains when we multitask?

The interesting part is that our brains can't multitask at all. If we have lunch, 5 Facebook chat windows open and also try to send off an email, it isn't that our brain focuses on all these activities at the same time.
Instead, multitasking splits the brain. It creates something researchers have called "spotlights". So all your brain is doing is to frantically switch between the activity of eating, to writing an email, to answering chat conversations.
In the image below, you can see the different brain activities for various tasks that the brain switches between. It jumps back and forth as you focus on each task for a few seconds at a time:

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What's more is that Clifford Nass, a researcher at Stanford assumed that those who multitask heavily will nonetheless develop some other outstanding skills. He thought that they will be amazing at 1. filtering information, 2. being very fast at switching between the tasks and 3. keeping a high working memory.
He found that none of these 3 points are true:

We were absolutely shocked. We all lost our bets. It turns out multitaskers are terrible at every aspect of multitasking.

People who multitask a lot are in fact a lot worse at filtering irrelevant information and also perform significantly worse at switching between task, compared to singletaskers.
Now most studies all point towards the fact that multitasking is very bad for us. We get less productive and skills like filtering out irrelevant information decline. Personally I had the same results without ever reading the above studies before. I put some things in place, especially with working online, to win my productivity back and ban multitasking from my workflow once and for all.

How I developed a singletasking workflow online by adding a twist to well-known techniques

Before I learnt about any of the above, I had my own struggles with multitasking. I would have 2 separate email inboxes open, TweetDeck at the same time, as well as Facebook and an instant messaging tool.
The thing was that I felt very much on top of things, hitting "command + tab" all the time to check if I missed anything in one of the windows. With every tab switch it felt as my head would get bigger, whilst I would get less and less done at the same time. Both my brain and my work was rather scattered.
I had to stop this and I had to stop it immediately to work more productively on Buffer. To solve my multitasking madness, there were in fact 3 key changes I made to develop a full-on single tasking focus:

1. The single browser tab habit
   One strategy I put in place is something I call singletab browsing. I would limit myself to only keep 1 browser tab open whenever I am working. That way I had to really prioritize what the most important task was that I had to work on.To explain in some more detail. Some key tasks I am juggling are email support via our HelpScout inbox, Tweets for our @bufferapp account, blogposts for the Buffer blog here and emails from my personal inbox.
   Before I would have all these things open at the same time. Now I work through them one by one. Only my HelpScout inbox is open. Then only TweetDeck is open to reply to any Tweets. Then I move on to close everything and only open Word to start writing. And finally I move to my personal email inbox, closing everything else again.
2. Doing this is only possible with one improvement I put in place:
3. The evening planning routine.Every evening, I would sit down and jot down what I would want to get done the next day. That's a very common technique, and probably something that you have done before also. It's a simple to do list, that you learn to keep in elementary school.There was only a slight problem with to do lists. I wouldn't stick to them.
   So I added a twist to it. Besides jotting down what I wanted to do, I would add a brief brainstorm with Joel. Doing this seemed like a small change, but made a huge difference.
   When we sat down for just 10 minutes every evening, to briefly walk through the tasks of the next day, everything changed in terms of productivity. The reason was that instead of just writing tasks down, I was forced to also think through the tasks and explain them to Joel. "I want to write this article on this type of content, because of this inspiration I had. I will structure it like this.." and so forth.The to do list I jotted down didn't change, but it felt as if I had done half the work of it all in my head already. The next day, all I had to do is look at the task and get it done.
   If you keep a to do list, but rarely stick to it, try the same and find a colleague, spouse or friend to brainstorm 10 minutes every evening. You can do this for each other and frankly, it becomes a lot of fun to meet up for this quick brainstorm every day.
4. Change work location at least once a day
   This is something that inevitably has made me more productive and focused on singletasking. We read many times that we have to work on building a comfortable work space to focus. What I found was this: I had to create many of them.To regain focus after finishing one task and moving on to the next one, just spending 5 minutes as a break, getting a drink or similar didn't work. Nor did closing the laptop for 5 minutes or standing up from my desk. I had to physically move from one place to another.
   So most times, I work out of my apartment for the first half of the day, then I have a list of coffeeshops I can go to, or the lounge area in our apartment building.
   I completely understand that moving around isn't possible for everyone due to their work setup. There are some very creative workarounds some companies have come up with though, that might help you here. Valve, dubbed "The bossless company", gives every employee a desk mounted on wheels, so they can change location every so often during the day.

Quick last fact: listening to music whilst working isn't multitasking

In case you were wondering whether now you also have to give up listening to music to be more productive, rest assured, that isn't the case, Stanford Professor Clifford Nass mentions:
"In the case of music, it's a little different. We have a special part of our brain for music, so we can listen to music while we do other things."
Personally, I am very excited to challenge my own workflows and see how I can exchange my existing routines for more effective ones. Singletasking has had one of the most powerful effects more me. This has worked both for results for Buffer and my personal projects. Of course, this only works if grouped with other habits that set you up for a successful singletasking day.

Two Excellent, Customizable Start Pages Worth Trying (Now that iGoogle’s Going Away)

 

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Google may be shutting down the super-customizable iGoogle start page, but that doesn't mean you're stuck without your daily dose of news and other widgets. Here are two great alternatives to iGoogle that you can use as your new do-anything start page.

NetVibes Is a Super Customizable Start Page for RSS Geeks

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NetVibes has long been a popular portal for news, weather, email, and other customizable widgets, and it's a good choice as an iGoogle replacement. Just like iGoogle, you can choose from a myriad of different widgets, including weather, news, Gmail, Facebook and Twitter, stocks, a to-do list, and more blogs and RSS feeds than you can shake a stick at. It has a lot of specialized widgets for more popular sites, but you can also embed web pages and other objects into your page as well, if you want to embed something like Google Tasks.

The Good: What makes NetVibes really cool is its customizability. You can create as many different tabs as you want, each with its own set of widgets, and each with its own movable layout. That means you can have up to four columns of widgets, some wide, some narrow, arranged in many different ways. It also has a ton of pre-made themes as well as the ability to create your own, so you can really customize how it looks. Plus, it makes for an awesome RSS reader. You can exit the widgets view to go into a very Google Reader-like interface, so you don't need to use a separate RSS reader if you don't want to. It has everything you need.

The Bad: The main downside of NetVibes is that it can be a little difficult to use at times. Dragging widgets around isn't nearly as easy as it should be, and sometimes creating new widgets from feeds can get a little frustrating. Moreover, some of the widgets can be downright ugly, especially if you're creating your own from scratch (seriously, they look horrible). Its selection of widgets isn't bad, though, so you'll have to try it out to see if you can get by without having to deal with ugly ones.

Protopage Is an Attractive Start Page that's Dead Simple to Use

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Protopage is very similar to NetVibes: You have your own customizable page to which you can add widgets, create customizable tabs, and change themes to fit your desires. It has a number of built-in widgets, but most of the widgets you'll create yourself by typing in a feed, connecting it to your email or social networking account, or creating one from a web page (again, like if you use Google Tasks).

The Good: Protopage is significantly easier to use than NetVibes. Dragging widgets around is smooth as butter, and you can resize any individual widget to take up more than one column (unlike Netvibes, where you choose from a premade layout or resize entire columns at once). Creating new widgets is easy and intuitive, and feed widgets look much better than regular feed widgets on NetVibes. Anyone can get up and running with a good-looking page in minutes since it's a bit more one-size-fits-all.

The Bad: Protopage is a bit more limited when it comes to its built-in widgets. Its list is pretty short, although most of them can cover your needs just as well as NetVibes'. For example, NetVibes has a dedicated widget for Gmail, Yahoo, and other mail clients in which you just type in your credentials and go, whereas Protopage only has one mail widget that requires you to connect via IMAP. It takes a bit more work, but it works with everything. It also doesn't have any specialized feeds for specific news sites like NetVibes does. You just type in the site and Protopage spits out a feed. The feed widget isn't quite as customizable as the ones you'd get on NetVibes, but it is arguably much better looking.

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It's hard to say whether one service is better than the other since they each have their own advantages and disadvantages. On the whole, we'd recommend NetVibes to those of you that are willing to tinker a little bit longer with your page, and like the idea of switching between widget and feed reader mode. Protopage is a bit better if you want a simpler, but slightly less powerful page that looks good without a lot of work. Their both worthy alternatives, and you don't need to create an account for either until you actually want to save your settings—so go ahead and give both a shot. After all, you have until November 2013 before iGoogle kicks the bucket.

The Best Google Features You’re Probably Not Using

 

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Google is a vast machine with all types of apps, programs, and tools. A lot of these—like Gmail and Google Docs—are clearly useful and beloved by many. But hidden inside Google's network are some awesome, lesser-known gems that can make your life easier.

Over the last couple of years Google has experimented with a lot of products. Hidden beneath popular apps like Gmail, Google Search, and Chrome are a lot of cool features that most people don't mess around with. Here are some of our favorite unsung Google features, from Google Drive apps to Google+ to everything in between.

Use Google Drive Apps for Added Functionality and Features

For most of us, Google Drive is just a fancy rebranding of Google Docs. However, the recent integration of web based apps into Google Drive is starting to get interesting. These apps utilize your Google Drive folder directly either by storing new files there, or integrating with the files you already have. Here are a few of the Drive apps we find useful.

Send and Receive Faxes for Free with Hellofax

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HelloFax isn't the only service to send faxes online, but its tight integration with Google Drive makes it incredibly easy to use.
With HelloFax installed, every fax you send with the service is linked directly into Drive. Need to fax some forms? Send them from Drive. Waiting on a fax? HelloFax will stuff it right into your Drive folder so you can access it from anywhere. Most of us only need a fax machine on rare occasions and HelloFax is a handy alternative to a big clunky machine.

Sign Any Document Easily with DocuSign

Just like sending faxes, another thing you probably don't do often is sign and return documents. DocuSign is a Drive app that does just that. You can share documents that need signatures, or add your own directly from your Google Drive. You only get 15 free signatures with the service, but honestly, how often do you need physically sign something?

Edit Photos Right in Your Browser with Pixlr Editor and Aviary

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Both Pixlr Editor and Aviary are simple, but useful photo editing tools for Google Drive that work right in your browser.
If you're looking for a photo editing app similar in function to Photoshop, Pixlr Editor feature set makes it a pretty good choice. Pixlr Editor doesn't have the abundance of tools as Photoshop, but as a free cloud photo editing tool it works great.
If light touch-ups to photos are more your thing, then Aviary is all you need. Upload your photos into your Google Drive and you can make simple edits like color balance, and blemish correction right inside Drive.

Get Details About Your Google Docs Usage with Spanning Stats

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Ever wondered what you actually spend your time doing in Google Docs? Spanning Stats is an app that breaks it down for you in a graph. For most people this means you'll see a breakdown of what's taking up space in your Drive. Advanced users will benefit from graphs that show you the volume of documents created by week, month breakdowns, and more. You also get a nice visualization of the times you typically create new documents.
If you're a fan of the idea of the quantified self, then Spanning Stats is a nice app to keep around in your Google Drive. With Spanning Stats you can see how you're using Drive and hopefully use that information to use your time better.

Google+'s Handy Hidden Features

Google+ hasn't taken off as a social network, but as an open platform for social-type things it works really well.

Use Local to Find and Share Your Favorite Places

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Google+'s local tab doesn't really seem that interesting from the description alone: type in an address and Google+ shows you restaurants with a Zagat score. More interesting is the fact your Google+ peers can also write reviews and they'll show as recommendations. Done right, you can get restaurant recommendations from people you know every time you search for restaurants.
Even without the social features, Google Local is handy for finding a good place to eat quickly. Sure, millions of different restaurant recommendation services exist, but Google Local is integrated into where you probably already start most restaurant searches: Google Search.

Organize Your Parties with Events for Open Access and Invitations

Facebook has an Events system, but the problem with it is that you need a Facebook account to use it. Google's brand new Events is a lot easier to use. Create an event, share it with your Google+ friends, or anyone in your email list, and you're done. They don't have to sign up for Google+ just to see the invite.
After the event is going, people can share photos live as they happen directly on the event page by enabling Party Mode in the Google+ app, take a look at photos afterwards, and download all the pictures with one click. As a way to invite and document an event, Google Events is pretty strong.

Store Your Photos in the Google+ Cloud Automatically

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Even if you're not using Google+ for much of anything, it's a good place to store photos. Again, you already have the account, so you might as well make use of the space it offers. You can enable the Automatic Upload feature on your iPhone or Android and every picture you take will automatically be stored in the cloud. As a free, easy-to-use backup service, it's not a bad option.
As far as sharing is concerned, you can set up photos so they're visible by certain people in your Google+ circles, or make them private and share them directly through email. The recipient doesn't even need a Google+ account to look at the gallery. If you prefer a desktop client, all the Google+ photo settings integrate seamlessly with Google's free photo management tool, Picasa.

Run Any Meeting Online with Google Hangouts (and Its Apps)

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Google+ Hangouts is a simple video chat room that allows up to ten people to participate in a conversation together. It simple to use, and we here at Lifehacker use it for our weekly meetings. More interesting is the abundance of specialized apps developed for Hangouts that add all sorts of functions ranging from whiteboards to video poker. Here are a few of our favorites:

• Cacoo: Cacoo is a full suite of nerdy extras for Hangouts. Inside your Hangouts you can create mind maps, collaborate on diagrams, and even work on office layouts. Cacoo probably isn't something most of us will use every day, but it'll certainly come in handy on occasion.
• SlideShare: SlideShare is all about presentations. You can create slideshow presentations with SlideShare and share them with others in a hangout. Simple, easy, and doesn't require a bit of technical knowledge to use.
• ConceptBoard: Want to collaborate on a big project and let everyone just dump ideas into one simple image? ConceptBoard is a giant whiteboard for your hangouts. It might seem a little silly at first, but it works pretty well if you collaborating on something that needs visuals.
• Screen Sharing: Screen sharing is one of the built-in features of Hangouts that makes it great to use when you need to do tech support for friends or family. In a Hangout, simply click "Screenshare" at the top of your screen and you're done. You can't remotely control someon's computer, but you can share exactly what you're doing (and they can do the same with you) to make troubleshooting easy.

Google Drive and Google+ are certainly where Google is concentrating a lot of its momentum right now. Still, a few of its other minor services are just as interesting.

Everything Else: Apps, Products, and Automated Scripts

As we mentioned from the start, Google has a ton of different services, apps, and features. It's hard to really pay attention to them all, let alone care about most of them. Hidden inside their product list are a few smaller apps that have grown on us over time. Let's take a look at some of our favorites.

Google Schemer as a Planning Tool and Project Idea Generator

At its core, Google Schemer is a great way to find new things to do in your city. You can type in your address into Schemer and see what types of things people are doing around you. We've also talked about using to help achieve your goals because you can set public goals that your friends can track.
Essentially, Schemer is a means to not just find something interesting to do, but to share it with locals and friends. Schemer can help you find new things to do if you're popping into a new city for a night, or just want to explore your own town.

Custom Google Maps for Personalized Navigation

Custom maps in Google Maps are very simple to make and what you end up with is a completely personalized map of a city. We walked you through using custom maps with Yelp to create a personalized, shareable restaurant list, but that's just one of the many options.
You can, for instance, keep a running map of your life in general. Toss in your home address, your work, and places you like to go. As you discover new places, add them to the map, share them with family, and create a list of all your favorite places. Your list is integrated right into Google Maps on your computer so you'll always have an idea of where you are in relation to your favorite hangouts.

Activity Reports to Track Your Google Use

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Ever wanted to know what you spend your Gmail time on? Activity Reports breaks it down for you. Activity Reports look at your Google activity and show you what you're looking for the most, how many searches you do, how you use Gmail, and more.
What you do with all this data is up to you, and its usefulness is going to vary depending on how much time you spend on Google. Still, as a look back at how you spend your computer time, Activity Reports are a valuable resource that may help you figure out where you're going wrong (or right) with your computer usage each month.

Google Bookmarks as an Integrated Read-it-Later Service and Browsing History

Before read-it-later services like Pocket and Instapaper, there was Google Bookmarks: a service that allows you to save web pages for later viewing without clogging up your browser's bookmarks bar.
You can sort these bookmarks into labels so they're easy to find, and you can add any page to the list with a simple bookmarklet. Google Bookmarks doesn't have the flash of a service like Instapaper, but as a place to save links for research, or just to read later, it's nice to have around.

Google Apps Scripts to Automate Everything You Do in Google Apps

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Google Apps Scripts are essentially little Automator-style workflows you can create and share that automate tasks between your Google apps. The learning curve for making your own isn't high, but the best part is that you can easily download and utilize other people's scripts directly in your documents (open a new spreadsheet in Google Drive and click Tools > Script Gallery). Recently scripts have been integrated into the Chrome Web Store so using them is going to get that much easier. They come in a wide variety of flavors, but here are a few of our current favorites:

• Gmail Meter: The Gmail Meter script works a lot like the above-mentioned Activity Monitor, but with more data. Each month you get an email with a full list of all your Gmail-related activity. Gmail Meter breaks down your usage in crazy ways, including average word counts, email times, response times, and thread lengths.
• Gmail Attachments to Google Drive: This script sends every attachment sent to your Gmail account directly to your Google Drive. It's simple, but handy if you do a lot of editing in Drive.
• Gmail Snooze: Gmail Snooze does one thing: gives your Gmail Account a snooze button so you can rest and not worry about getting email for a little while.
• Gmail Filter to SMS(This ones in the Scripts Gallery): You can set up this script and you get a notification you through a text message when an email is labeled a certain way. It could come in handy when you want to shut your email down, but need to keep in touch with one person.

In the past, Google Apps Scripts have been geeky endeavors. With the addition of Google Drive support and the ability to upload scripts to the Chrome Web Store, they'll likely get a lot more user-friendly.

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Want to check out a few more of the features tucked into your Google products? Here are a few of our favorite experimental features you add to your favorite Google apps.

Top 10 Gmail Labs You Should Enable

As if Gmail wasn't powerful enough, you can find all sorts of goodies and extra features in Gmail Labs. The list is pretty massive, so we've narrowed down our 10 favorite labs to help increase your email productivity.
Title image by Ben Krebs.
We've actually gone through our 10 favorite labs... More »

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10 More Experimental Features You Should Enable from the Gmail Laboratory

We've highlighted top 10 Gmail Labs you should enable before, but you'll find more than ten useful features hidden inside Gmail's Laboratory, and Google's releasing new ones all the time. More »

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8 Great Experimental Features to Enable in Google Calendar's Labs

We've highlighted plenty of Labs features for Gmail, but Calendar has some pretty great Labs offerings, too. Since it's been nearly two years since Labs were added to Calendar, we thought it was about time they got a bit more attention. More »

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5 Great Experimental Features You Should Enable from the Google Maps Laboratory

Today we're taking a look at five great experimental features you can enable in Google Maps that solve a few annoying problems and make using the service easier.
More »

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Six Great Experimental Features to Enable in Google Chrome's Labs

Google Chrome is a favorite among power users in no small part due to its innovative experimental features (many of which are eventually integrated into the stable browser). More »

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Even Google power users can't keep track of everything Google introduces. As Google integrates its services into a more cohesive whole, tying those services together with apps and scripts is going to become more powerful and more important. Hopefully, getting used to some of the above features and apps now means you'll be better prepared in the future.