Using web services for spell-checking in text boxes and forms at the time of typing text, means that you use the same spell-checking technology that is used by Google Search. To do, right-click on any wrongly-spelt word in a text box or form in Chrome, and then from the context menu, select Spell-checker options and from the sub-menu select Ask Google for suggestions.

For more information, visit this Help page for Chrome.

How is it possible to show 100% wins in Freecell statistics, even though one might have won a particular game after 2-3 attempts (which means initially one might have actually lost that game in the first attempt)? Here is how to do it with a little cheat.

I start playing a Freecell game. In any case, out of 100 games, I win 98 or 99 games in the first attempt itself. I win the remaining 1-2 games also, but after 2-3 attempts. So, what do I do when I get stuck in a game to ensure that a loss is not recorded in my Freecell statistics and that I get another chance to replay that came without recording such a loss?

Well, when I get stuck in a game, I simply press Ctrl+Shift+F10 keys together (however, ensure that you press these keys at least one step before the loss in anticipation; if Freecell has already reported a loss, it may not be possible to undo that). Freecell will display the following dialog window that allows you to abort the game:

Interestingly, Microsoft has named this dialog window as “User-Friendly User Interface“. This window displays the following text:

“Choose Abort to Win, Retry to Lose, or Ignore to Cancel“.

Thus, if you click the Abort button, you will win the game!!!

So, go ahead and click the Abort button. After this, try to make any move of a card (even if such move may be an illegal / impermissible move). You will immediately get the success message informing you that you have won the game!!! In this way, I avoid getting a loss recorded in Freecell statistics.

What I would do at this stage is to note down the game number, and then to replay that specific game number again by selecting that game number. I repeat this process till I win this particular game by attempting it again and again.

In this way, no loss is recorded in my Freecell statistics. And, I am able to win all my Freecell games, showing 100% wins in the statistics.

Why do I have to resort to this trick? The reason is very simple. Freecell does not allow an unlimited number of “Undo’s”. It allows only one single undo. Using the Abort cheat, it is possible to replay the same game again without recording a loss in the Freecell statistics. This is indirectly equivalent to having an unlimited number of “Undo’s”.

Are all Freecell games winnable?

At this stage, you may ask as to whether all games in Freecell are winnable? The answer is “Yes”, subject to only one exception, that is, game number 11982. Thus, one can win all Freecell games (after several attempts, if necessary) except the game number 11982. It is pertinent to point out that in the traditional Freecell game, there are a total of 32,000 games which you can play (since, Microsoft deals only 32,000 possible games). These games are numbered consecutively from 1 onwards up to 32,000. Only game #11982 cannot be won and all other games can be won. In fact, there are some cheats available on the Internet that could allow you to win game number 11982 also, by realignment of a single card. Search “Freecell 11982″ on Google to know about this cheat.

This browser extension, MediaHint, for Chrome appears to be working on the principle of changing the proxy server settings of your computer, since in its “Terms of use”, it is mentioned that “MediaHint.com is a provider of free of charge proxy server services that are accessible via MediaHint browser extensions…”. It also states that MediaHint can be used free without needing any manual setup. As per this site, what is needed is to download the browser extension from the above site and then install it in your Chrome browser. It is noteworthy that MediaHint extension is not available on official Chrome Web Store where most extensions for Chrome are available. So, one cannot install it directly after downloading it from the above website. Such an extension can be installed only by following the procedure described in my recent article, how to install Chrome extensions from outside Chrome Web Store.

It is pertinent to point out that the aforesaid MediaHint site claims of having an add-on for Mozilla Firefox browser also. However, I could not locate link for Firefox add-on.

Interestingly, MediaHint does not specifically mention on its website that its browser extension can help you watch free Hulu movies and other videos from any country outside US. But, a tweet issued by it on 28 October 2012 (see following screenshot) clearly states that this extension can be used to access Hulu and Netflix. Subsequent tweets show that Pandora, Songza and turntable.fm sites are also accessible through this extension.

Visit MediaHint for more details. I’ve not tested MediaHint, though reactions of other users available on Internet show that it works. Please use MediaHint only at your own risk, including those relating to licensing / copyright terms, and subject to the laws applicable in your own country and/or in US.

Enable desktop notifications for your Gmail account for Chrome browser:

Here is how to enable desktop notifications for Gmail when you use Chrome browser for Gmail; in this case you will not need any software and only change of some settings in your Gmail account will suffice. Proceed as under:

(1) Login to your Gmail account. Click the Settings icon (of the shape of a gear) in the top-right corner of the window, and then select Settings option from the drop-down menu.

(2) In the Settings page that appears on the screen, select the General tab (usually, it is automatically selected).

(3) In the “Desktop Notifications” section, you can either enable or disable Chat notifications. For email notifications, you have the following three options:

• New mail notifications on: this option will notify you whenever any new email arrives in your Gmail inbox.
• Important mail notifications on: this option will notify you only when an important email arrives in your Gmail inbox. However, you will not be notified for every email received when you select this option.
• Mail notifications off: when this option is selected, you will not get any desktop notifications on receipt of an e-mail in your Gmail account.

Select the appropriate option for email notifications depending on whether you want to receive desktop notification for every e-mail arriving in your Gmail inbox or only when an important e-mail is received in your inbox.

(4) Click the “Save changes” button.

That’s it! However, please note that, as mentioned above, at present desktop notifications will work only if you open your Gmail account in Chrome browser. Moreover, you will not receive any notification when you are logged off from your Gmail account or when it is not open currently in your Chrome browser.

Enable desktop notifications for all browsers using Gmail Notifier:

This is an alternative method for enabling desktop notifications for Gmail for all browsers, irrespective of whether or not to use Chrome browser for checking your Gmail account. For this purpose, you can use Gmail Notifier software that is free for use and is launched by Google itself. There are two different versions of the software: Gmail Notifier for PC (that works on Windows 2000, Windows XP, and higher versions of Windows), and Gmail Notifier for Mac (that works on Mac OS 10.4+ versions). You need not use this software if you use Chrome browser since in that a mere change of some settings will do the trick, as explained earlier in this article.

Gmail Notifier is a free software that will alert you as and when you receive a new email in your Gmail account. It displays an icon in the system tray of your Windows computer that will inform you about the unread emails in your Gmail account, including details of the sender, subject, etc. This alert is displayed even when your browser is not open.

(1) The first method is the simplest one. Irrespective of which program or app you are running in Windows 8, simply press Windows key. This will make the Start screen appear, on which you can easily locate the Desktop tile. Now click this Desktop tile or tap it gently. You will see the familiar Desktop appearing on the screen.

(2) The second method is to press Windows + Tab keys together, and then to release the Tab key while holding the Windows key pressed down. This will open the Windows 8 Switcher on the left side of the screen in the form of a vertical bar. You may notice Desktop in the list of thumbnails here. Click it or tap it gently to open the desktop.

(3) The third method is to press Alt + Tab keys together, and then to release the Tab key while holding the Alt key pressed down. This will open a list of thumbnails in a horizontal format, including a thumbnail for desktop. Click it or tap it gently to open the desktop.

Thus, you can quickly open Desktop in Windows 8 irrespective of on which the screen or apps you are working currently.

When you install Save to Google Drive extension in your Chrome browser, a small icon is placed in the top-right corner of the browser window. When you use this browser extension for the first time for saving web content to your Google Drive account, it will ask for your permission to access your Google Drive account. Next time onwards, you can save web content by right-clicking and then selecting “Save to Google Drive” option on the context menu or by clicking the icon for this extension. The web content will be uploaded to your Google Drive account.

This extension offers several options for saving a web page in different formats:

• Save as Image of the entire web page as PNG file.
• Save as Image of only the visible part of web page as PNG file.
• Save as HTML file (this will, in fact, save the web page in HTML source format).
• Save as a web archive in the MHT format that is used by Internet Explorer to save complete web pages.
• Save as a Google Document.

To save an image found on a web page, right-click anywhere on the image and then select “Save to Google Drive” option from the drop-down menu. The image will then be saved in your Google Drive account.

It may be mentioned that this extension saves such web content in the root folder of Google Drive. It does not offer any option to change the location of the default folder where such content is saved, though you can subsequently transfer such content to another folder on your Google Drive account.

Moreover, though it is claimed that this extension allows you to save web content directly to Google Drive, it is noticed that such web content is actually uploaded from your computer, instead of the web content being directly transferred from the concerned web server to Google Drive.

Another irritant noticed by me was that after each action of saving a specific web content, the extension presents a dialog box that needs to be closed. It would have been better if the action of saving content took place in a silent manner without requiring any manual intervention each time.

One more issue is regarding saving of web pages in a specific format, which has to be changed in advance from the Options. It would have been better if there was an additional option to ask you at the time of saving each web page as to in the format you would like to save it.

Another desirable feature is the option to save a web page in the PDF format in addition to the PNG format.

The Save to Google Drive extension is also capable of saving files on your computer (i.e., through the “file://” protocol or URLs). Likewise, it can also work in the incognito mode of Chrome browser. For enabling these features, type chrome://extensions/ in the address bar of Chrome, and then locate this extension and select the appropriate checkboxes meant for these purposes as shown in the following screenshot:

Despite several deficiencies, Save to Google Drive can be useful and convenient tool if you want to save the web contents in the cloud for future use from multiple locations and/or multiple devices.

Firstly, let’s understand different terms used in connection with an email account. For example, let’s presume that your name is “John Doe” and that your email address is john.doe@hotmail.com (please note that this name has been chosen only as a fictitious name and any similarity with a real person is only an unintended coincidence). When you send an email from this account, the sender’s details in the “From” field of the email will be shown as “John Doe <john.doe@hotmail.com>”.

With reference to this, we can now try to understand different terms used herein:

• john.doe@hotmail.com is the “email address”.
• John Doe is the “display name” (as well as the “name” if you wish to call it like that).
• john.doe is the “username” for the email address john.doe@hotmail.com.

Having understood these terms, let’s now try to find out what can be changed and what cannot be changed. We’ll using these terms (as we defined them hereinabove) in the following discussion.

Can I change my “email address”?

The simple answer is “No”. You cannot change your “email address” (such as john.doe@hotmail.com). Please remember that the email service provider, such as Hotmail, identifies you by your email address, and thus it has to be unique for you. It cannot be changed. Of course, if you so wish, you can obtain a new email address from the same email service provider and thereafter, transfer your existing contacts, etc., to the new email address, and then delete the old email address if you so wish. However, it is not possible to change your email address.

Also see: How to import contacts from one Gmail account to another; and, Import mail and contacts into Gmail from other accounts.

[Note: I may point out that Gmail allows you to put as many dots as you like in your “username” and yet your email address remains the same. For example, if your email address is john.doe@gmail.com, then you can also write it as johndoe@gmail.com, or jo.hn.doe@gmail.com, or j.o.h.n.d.o.e@gmail.com, or joh.nd.oe@gmail.com, and the like. These email addresses may look to be different, but in fact they point to the same email address, since Gmail ignores dots in your “username”. Other than putting additional dots or removing one or more dots in your “username”, even Gmail does not allow you to change the “email address”. For more details on this, please see my previous article: Have many Gmail addresses from one Gmail account]

Can I change my “username” in my email address?

The answer is again similar to the one for changing email address. Thus, you cannot change your “username” in your email address. The reason is very simple: the only part in the email address that identifies you uniquely is the “username” since the remaining part is the same for everybody for a given email service provider. For example, in the email address john.doe@hotmail.com, only the “username” part, namely, john.doe is unique to you that identifies you, while the remaining part of the email, namely, @hotmail.com is the same for all email addresses at Hotmail.

Therefore, it is not possible to change the “username” in your email address, though as mentioned earlier, you always have the option to create a new email address with a different username.

[Note: Here again, I must clarify that Gmail allows you to put as many dots as you wish in your username. For example, if your email address is john.doe@gmail.com, then your username john.doe can also be written such as johndoe, or jo.hn.doe, or j.o.h.n.d.o.e, or joh.nd.oe, and the like. As explained earlier, these usernames may look to be different, but in fact they point to the same username, since Gmail ignores dots in your “username”.]

Can I change my “display name” for my email address?

Finally, there is good news. You can do it. The answer is “Yes”. You can change your “display name” (or simply the “name”) displayed along with your email address.

As mentioned above, when you send an email, the sender’s details in the “From” field of the email are shown something like this: “John Doe <john.doe@hotmail.com>”. Here, John Doe is the “display name” or simply the “name”. You can easily change it to anything, for example John D. or something else.

The method for changing “display name” for your email address is described for Gmail, Hotmail and Yahoo Mail, separately, as under.

How can I change my “display name” for Gmail?

To change the display name for Gmail, proceed as under:

(1) Login to your Gmail account. Click the Settings icon (of the shape of gear) in the top-right corner of the window, then select Settings from the drop-down menu.

(2) On the Settings page that appears, click the Accounts and Import tab.

(3) Locate the “Send mail as:” section. Click “edit info” next to the email address for which you want to change the display name.

(4) In the new window that appears, in the “Name” section, type what you want to display as your “display name”, and then click “Save changes” button.

Your display name for Gmail account will now be changed accordingly.

How can I change my “display name” for Hotmail?

Follow these steps:

(1) Login to your Hotmail account. Hover the mouse over your name displayed in the top-right corner of the window (or click on your name). Select Options from the drop-down menu that appears.

(2) On the next page, your “Account Summary” is displayed. Click “Edit name” just below your name displayed on this page.

(3) On the next page called “Edit name”, change your First name and Last name appropriately in the manner you want your display name to be shown.

(4) Click Save button to save your changes. Log off from the Hotmail account and login again so that the changes could take effect.

Your displayed name will now be changed in your Hotmail account.

How can I change my “display name” for Yahoo Mail?

This procedure is for the latest version of Yahoo Mail as of the date of this writing:

(1) Login to your Yahoo! mail account. Click “Mail Options” from drop-down menu from the Settings icon in the top-right corner of the window.

(2) From the left side bar, select “Mail Accounts”.

(3) Under the “Sending Mail” section, in the field “Sending name”, type the display name as you would like it to appear.

(4) Click Save button in the top bar of the window.

This process will change the display name for your Yahoo! mail account.

As a matter of fact, a wireless Internet connection is capable of providing Internet speeds of up to 100 Mbps or even better speeds with newer technologies and protocols. For example, my wireless Internet connection is capable of providing a speed of up to 54 Mbps. The fact remains that a normal wired Internet connection will also usually provide you the same speeds or a speed that is in a similar range.

In fact, the problem lies somewhere else. Even though my wireless router is capable of providing me a speed of up to 54 Mbps, I am never able to get that speed since my broadband Internet speed (as provided by my Internet Service Provider, i.e., the ISP) is itself in the range of about 1 Mbps. In fact, many a time, the actual speed which I may be getting may be even less than 1 Mbps (for reasons, read Why do I get less Internet Speed than promised?). Therefore, even if my wireless router hardware is capable of providing me much higher Internet speeds, my actual Internet speed is restricted by the limit imposed by the ISP. The same problem of restricted speed from the ISP would arise even if I had a wired Internet connection.

It is often said that the strength of a chain is in its weakest link. Likewise, the actual speed of an Internet connection is the lowest speed in the whole network through which you get the Internet. In view of these reasons, it hardly matters whether you have a wired Internet connection or a wireless connection for Internet. In most of the cases, the hardware is capable of providing you much higher Internet speeds (irrespective of whether you have a wired connection or a wireless connection) than what your ISP can provide you. Therefore, on most occasions, it is irrelevant whether you have a wired Internet connection or a wireless connection. In fact, even in future, this issue is likely to remain mostly irrelevant since evolving wireless technologies are also likely to offer you great Internet speeds.

PanicButton places a small icon in the top-right corner of Chrome window. The moment you click this icon, all the open tabs in your Chrome browser are immediately closed. The web pages open in these tabs are saved as bookmarks in your browser in a separate folder (“Temporary panic” sub-folder in “Other Bookmarks” folder). Later, you can restore these web pages by clicking on the PanicButton icon again.

PanicButton gives you an option to choose a Blank Page, or a New Tab Page, or a Custom Page of your choice that will be displayed immediately after your open tabs are hidden when you click the PanicButton. It also allows you to protect the stored tabs with a password so that other people cannot restore these tabs. Another option allows you to hide the icon that represents this extension in the top-right corner of Chrome window; and, you can activate PanicButton extension to hide open tabs by a keyboard shortcut instead (however, the keyboard shortcut currently works only when you are on a http:// or https:// page).

The PanicButton icon is of red color. But, it turns green when you hide the open tabs, and it then also shows you how many tabs are currently hidden.

Thus, PanicButton can be useful Chrome extension to protect your privacy.

(1) Login to your Google Docs account. Create a new document or presentation, or open an existing document or presentation in which you want to insert Google Drive Stock images. Move the cursor to the desired place.

(2) Click on Image on the Insert menu. A new “Insert Image” window appears on the screen. It gives you several options to insert an image in your document or presentation. For example, you can upload an image from your computer, insert an image from its URL, take a snapshot, select an image from your own albums, search an image from the Internet, or search an image from Google Drive Stock images. We are interested in the last option, i.e., we want to select an image from Google Drive Stock images. So, click on Search in the left sidebar, and then select Stock images. See the following screenshot:

(3) Now, enter your search expression in the search box, and then click the Search button. Stock images from Google Drive, that are relevant to your searched expression, will now be shown. For example, I had searched “drawing room”, and I got the following search results (all search results are not visible in this screenshot):

(4) Select an image from the results to add it to your document. Once it is inserted in your document, you can edit it, resize it, etc., as desired, as you would normally do with other images.

That’s it! However, please take care to use and modify only those images or photos that offer you free right to use it and/or to modify it. The copyright of the image-owner needs to be respected. Usually, the search results by Google will show you the copyright details, such as “commercial reuse with modification”, etc. Also see: Search commercially reusable images with Google Images.