How To: Download Blocked Email Attachment in Gmail — Bypass Gmail Virus Scanner

Ever ran into a problem trying to download an email attachment in Gmail but you can’t because Gmail's virus scanner says it's a virus and unsafe to download?

Well, you’re not alone.

Few days ago, I ran into the same problem trying to retrieve my old email attachment in Gmail I sent five years ago. The file contains an executable file I wrapped in a zip file. But Gmail deems it as a malware and they cannot allow me to download the file at all cost (see screenshot below).

Gmail's Addon Streak Lets You Monitor, Track If Emails Are Read, Viewed By Recipients

Here's an explanation I got from their support page:

As a security measure to prevent potential viruses, Gmail doesn’t allow you to send or receive executable files (such as files ending in .exe). Executable files can contain harmful code that might cause malicious software to download to your computer. In addition, Gmail doesn’t allow you to send or receive corrupted files, files that don’t work properly.

It does makes sense, and it's a proactive step imposed by Google to prevent malicious programs to get inside and contaminate our computers.

But in case you need to access blocked email attachment and you're certain it's just false positive, then, here's a neat trick on how to circumvent this restriction and download blocked attachment in Gmail.

Bypass Gmail's Virus Scanner and Download Blocked Gmail Attachments

The trick is easy. Just launch your Gmail account in a third party desktop app like Outlook for Windows or Mail for Mac.

For Mac Just launch Mail app. Be sure to add your Gmail account in your Mac and navigate to that account to get all your emails.

Once you get there, rummage through your inbox and search for the email attachment you want to download.

How To: Automatically Send Email Messages At Later Time

For Windows Be sure you have your Outlook or Windows Mail correctly setup. If you're on Windows 10, the setup should be pretty straight-forward.

Once your Outlook is up, just search for that particular email attachment and you should be able to download it without any problems.

If you find this tip helpful, would appreciate if you can share it to your friends :)

How To: Remotely Control Apple Music on Computer, Mac Using iPhone, iPad

Since its debut, Apple Music has seriously got some mixed reviews both from critics and fans alike. Some discontented Apple fans called it “a nightmare” while others lauded it as a refreshing and a nearly perfect music app.

And if you are one of those Apple fanboys who are convinced that Apple Music is the best music app in the planet, then, you don't want to miss out this one cool interoperability feature of iOS and OSX: wirelessly control, play Apple Music on your PC/Mac using your iPhone or iPad as a remote.

DokRemote: Remotely Control Your iPhone, iPod Music Player Via Web Browser

Spotify Connect is one sought-after, premium-only feature of Spotify that lets you control the music from any phone or tablet using the Spotify app. And if you're looking for Spotify Connect alternative for Apple Music, then, good news is you too can have the same wireless convenience at no cost!

Play Apple Music Through Your Speakers, Mac or Apple TV Using iPhone, iPad as Remote

Follow this step-by-step guide on how to remotely control music playback active on your PC, Mac using your iPhone or iPad as a wireless remote.

1. Download and install Remote on your iPhone or iPad

2. Once installed, enable Home Sharing on your iPhone. You'll be asked to login using your iCloud account. You should see something like this:

   

3. Turn on Home Sharing in iTunes on your computer or Mac. Go to File > Home Sharing > Turn On Home Sharing. Once enabled, your Remote app on your iPhone should automatically retrieve all your music collection and display them on your iDevice.

   

   Use IFTTT As A Spy App: Secretly Copy, Collect iOS Photos on iPhone, iPad (No Jailbreak)

4. Let's test it. Browse through your iTunes library on your Mac and play whatever playlist/albums you've got. As soon as you hit the play button, your iPhone should automatically pick the track actively playing your Mac, as seen on the video below:

You're done! You can keep the music flowing on your Mac from anywhere in your house using your iPhone or iPad as remote.

Works flawless on my iPhone 5 (iOS8.4) and Mac (Yosemite).

Caveats

Apple's official Remote app for iOS only allows you to choose music you've added on your library. The app can't let you search for new songs in the cloud just like what you normally do on Spotify Connect.

How To: Transfer Large Files Between iPhone and Other iDevices Over Existing Wi-Fi Network

Ballloon: Directly Save Large Files To DropBox & Other Cloud Accounts In Seconds

Previously on this blog we have talked about Cloud Save, a nifty Google Chrome extension that lets you right-click any in-page links & files and save them straight to the clouds.

We've also talked about Mover.io, a much advanced cloud files manager that consolidates all your virtual drives so you can manage all your cloud files in one centralised dashboard.

And now I am thrilled to introduce you yet another rare gem on the web that you'll gladly welcome in your productivity arsenal: Ballloon.

New Web App Ballloon Tranfers Files to the Clouds in Seconds

Ballloon is a brand new web service that lets you save files directly to your cloud storage accounts like Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Drive, Box, etc. It eliminates the need for you to manually download files from the web, whether it's a 1MB audio file or 800MB zip file. Use Ballloon' web app instead to automatically save them to your DropBox or any cloud storage accounts of your choice. You just have to provide a direct link and you're done.

All it takes is your Google account to get started and you can start connecting all your cloud storage account and start Ballloon transfer in seconds. You can also assign a default remote directory every time you initiate a transfer for each cloud storage account.

There's also an official Google Chrome extension you can use, but that's optional. So for those who don't want to bloat their browser with add-ons, the web-based version is already pretty much functional and it works like a charm.

The Good

Ballloon is FREE, and the guys behind it promised that there will always be a free plan should this app matures into a full-blown premium web app.

User interface is also a delight to use, notably modern and straight-forward to navigate; from signing up all the way to connecting your cloud storage accounts, the whole process is seamless.

Access, Manage All Files Stored Across Multiple Cloud Accounts All At Once

What really makes Ballloon stand out is the fact that it moves your files amazingly fast (and I mean it). A 4MB audio file for instance takes only five seconds to arrive in my Google Drive. A 150 MB backup file from my other blog only takes 50 seconds to arrive on my Google Drive.



Think of server-to-server communication; no more delays regardless of your internet speed. And transfers take place in the background; you can close your browser's tab once you've initiated the transfer and your files should arrive in its destination shortly.

The Bad

Apparently only the following cloud storage accounts are supported:

• DropBox
• Google Drive
• Copy
• SugarSync
• One Drive

I hope they can add support for other cloud storage providers like Amazon, Rackspace and even FTP. If they can bring this integration while maintaining the same level of speed I used to enjoy today, I'm happy to fork out a few bucks and be one of their premium users.

Check out the FAQ page for more information.



LINK: Ballloon

Use IFTTT As A Spy App: Secretly Copy, Collect iOS Photos on iPhone, iPad (No Jailbreak)

Learn how you can use IFTTT as an iOS photo spy software to secretly copy every single picture taken on your spouse or kid's iPhone, iPad. Automatically get a backup of every iOS photo including selfies, n*des and other inappropriate snaps.

WARNING: The author shall not be held responsible or liable for any misuse of the app detailed on this post. The method outlined below can get you in serious trouble. Do it at your own risk.

Been fiddling around with IFTTT few days ago and I accidentally discovered that you can actually use IFTTT iOS app as a FREE spy app to secretly collect, monitor every single iOS photo being taken on your spouse or daughter's iPhonE, iPad. Good news is: the process is no rocket science and you don't have to spend a penny nor you need to jailbreak your iOS device to accomplish this.

For the uninitiated, IFTTT (If This, Then That) is a massively popular web automation service that allows you to automatically perform certain actions based on your conditions (or triggers). IFTTT termed them as recipes, and there are plenty of recipes flooded out there that should help you save time by automating certain asks. One good example is you can get SMS alerts from specific email addresses, or you can let your device to automatically send screenshots to your email.

Remotely Get a Copy of Every Single iOS Photo Taken on iPhone Without Getting Caught

Step 1 Compel your target to install IFTTT. Sure it won't be a problem as IFTTT has hundreds of awesome recipes up its sleeve. If you know your partner's iTunes account, then, that's a bonus as you can install the IFTTT straight away.

Step 2 Once you've successfully installed IFTTT, best to burry it in the Utilities folder or anywhere that's least accessed.

Step 3 Enable Background App Refresh for IFTTT. This ensures that all new photos are uploaded to IFTTT server when online. Go to Settings > General > Background App Refresh

Step 4 Disable IFTTT's iOS Notification to ensure your target won't get notified every time the recipe runs. Go to Settings > Notifications, select IF and turn off Allow Notifications slider.

Step 5 Create a new recipe with the following trigger and action:

TRIGGER: Any new photo (under iOS Photos channel)
ACTION: Send an email (under Gmail channel)

See video walkthrough below.

Be sure to save your new recipe and you're good to go!

Now, every time a new photo is added on your target's phone, you will automatically get notified via email including the link of the newly added photo, as seen below:

Caveats

a) The target's iPhone or iPad should be connected to the internet for this remote photo spying method to work. Not necessarily connected all the time but should be connected once in a while so IFTTT can push new photos to their server.

b) Data delivery is a bit delayed.

I don't want this recipe to be called as an exploit but rather a heaven-sent functionality you can use to spy on anyone's iPhone and be in the know what your daughter, girlfriend or wife is up to.

How To: Send, Save Quora Answers In Pocket and Read Offline

As someone on Quora once said, “Quora is a giant campfire where random people come along, sit down, and tell their stories”.

Quora, without a doubt, is one great platform where Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, James Wales of Wikipedia and countless others including world-renowned NASA scientists, astronauts and engineers converge and embark into a stimulating and immersive discussion of just about anything.

So it's normally safe to assume that Quora hosts a plethora of smart & insightful discussions, answers and thoughts from qualified & experienced people with different professional background which are sure a delight to read.

Curiosity.com: Get Answers To Life Biggest Questions From World's Brightest Minds

And if you're like me who doesn't have the luxury of time to immerse and browse through Quora during the day, you probably have wished to just feed those interesting reads to your favourite news reader app like Pocket so you can read them later offline.

The thing is: Quora hasn't have this feature yet nor Pocket has integration support for our beloved Quora.

But fret not, there is a way out..

Add “Save To Pocket” Button In Quora for Offline Reading

Meet Quora Save To Pocket, a Google Chrome extension that allows you to push contents from Quora to Pocket. With this extension, you can save any answer, question or blog post to your Pocket account straight from your Quora feed. Sweet...

How it works

The add-on works this simply:

You install the Chrome extension. Once added, you connect the app to Pocket via the standard OAUTH authentication protocol, and you're done. Save to Pocket link should now automatically appear on every thread and answer on Quora, as seen below:

Wikipedia Gets Export-To-eBook Feature, Lets You Export Wikipedia Articles Into Instant Free e-Book

Pocket actually has its own vendor-specific browser extension that makes it easier to add links to your Pocket account. The problem with their official browser extensions, when used in Quora pages, is you can't selectively add those specific answers you find interesting. And considering how Quora renders its pages, Pocket's official add-ons meet an incompatibility with Quora as yet.



LINK: Quora Save To Pocket (Chrome)

Extensis Fonts Lets You Access, Use Google Fonts In Your Google Documents

Truth be told: Google Docs is one of the coolest word-editing software there is to get the job done like no other. Its collaborative editing and cloud-centric nature make it really a smart choice to make our digital lives a lot easier.

But despite its shiny reputation, Google Docs also has its surprising limitation: you won't be able to access and use thousands of sleek, custom fonts from Google Fonts collection. Yes, you read it right — Google hasn't pushed that feature yet to their Google Docs app which is being heavily relied by millions of users across the globe.

Filling this void is Extensis, a company specialising in font management software, who has launched Extensis Fonts.

Use custom Google Fonts in your Google Documents with Extensis Fonts (link)

3 Things You Didn't Know Google Spreadsheet Can Do For You

Extensis Fonts is a free Google Docs add-on that lets you access and use Google Fonts in your Google Docs files. So if you feel too limited and dissatisfied with Google Docs' built-in fonts, you've got to check out Extensis Fonts.

Getting Started

Now, let's get the ball rolling. Follow this guide on how to use custom Google Fonts in your Google Documents:

Step 1 Open any Google Document, or create a new one.

Step 2 From the Add-ons menu, click Get Add-ons

Step 3 In the Search Add-ons box, enter “Extensis Fonts” (without quotes)

Step 4 Select the Extensis Fonts add-on from the list.

Step 5 Click the Free button in the upper right hand corner.

Step 6 Click Accept to install the add-on to your Google Docs account.

Step 7 To launch the Extensis Fonts add-on, navigate to the menu and hit Add-ons > Extensis Fonts > Start.

You're done.

Once Extensis Fonts add-on is added to your Google Document, a new Extensis Font panel will be accessible on the right. This is where you access the thousands of Google Fonts collection and apply it to your Google Docs or current text selection.

PRO TIP: You can get Extensis Fonts to display only the trending and the most popular Google fonts by sorting it out accordingly.

Get Notified When A Collaborator Made Some Changes On A Shared Google Spreadsheet

Final Verdict:

Extensis Fonts is one cool Google Docs add-on you cannot miss. You may not need it every day, but in case you want to give your Google Docs a facelift, then you should check out Extensis Fonts. It's FREE.

LINK: Extensis Fonts 

How To: Quickly Move, Import Your Spotify Playlists To Apple Music

Now that Apple Music is finally out, you probably have given it a spin and eventually fell in love with the app.

It is hard not to fall in love with Apple's streaming app; its much larger iTunes library plus better radio recommendation make it really a prime music app you can't miss.

And if you've finally decided to move from Spotify to Apple Music, your next step should be: export all your Spotify playlists and import them to Apple Music all at once. And that's the painful part as currently Apple hasn't rolled out yet its own migration tool that makes it easy to move, import your Spotify playlist to Apple Music. And no, both Exportify and Beats Music migration tool do not work either as yet.

How To: Remotely Control Apple Music on Computer, Mac Using iPhone, iPad

The Fastest Way to Automatically Convert Spotify Playlists to Apple Music Playlists

If you can't wait to jump ship, Applefy seems to be the only best & painless way to transfer your beloved Spotify music playlists to Apple Music. But it only works on OSX right now and can be a bit buggy if dealing with music available in Spotify but not in Apple Music. Here's how to get started:

Step 1 Download & install the latest build of Applefy (3.02MB)

Step 2 Launch Applefy and login with your Spotify details.

Step 3 Select the playlist you want to export from the dropdown list and hit 'Save Playlist' button, as seen below:

Step 4 Navigate to your home folder and there will be a folder called Applefy (bring your Spotlight and search for Applefy. This folder contains your exported Spotify playlist containing MP3s.

Step 5 Open iTunes, go to the Playlists tab and make a new playlist.

Step 6 Drag the MP3 files into your newly-created playlist, and then Select all and right click and Choose 'Add to iCloud Music Library' (SEE DEMO)

Step 7 Once the songs have been registered, right click again and hit 'Remove download', you can now stream or download the full song using your Apple Music subscription.

You're done!

How To: Remotely Control Apple Music on Computer, Mac Using iPhone, iPad

Use iOS Clock Timer App As Music Sleep Timer for Spotify, Apple Music, etc

It appears that the clock timer app in the latest version of iOS is finally working. So if you're wondering how you can add that sleep timer functionality on your Spotify or Apple Music on your iPhone or iPad, then, watch the video below and see how it's done:



This trick also works on other music player or podcast apps like Pandora, Rdio, etc. It basically kills whatever media playback active on your iPhone or iPad once the timer's up.

How To: Disconnect Other Wifi Users in A Wireless Network Using Your Phone (Without Them Knowing)

Disclaimer: The purpose of this tutorial is to demonstrate just as how easy it is for anyone with a rooted Android phone to take control of the entire WiFi network you're currently on be it at home, cafes and school. While we believe that the tool and the method you are about to read can be an invaluable one if prudently used, we do not condone nor promote the idea of manipulating one's wireless network to your advantage. Please use this at your own risk.

Ever wondered why you're not connected to the internet even if you're connected to a shared WiFi network? Chances are you're deliberately getting blocked from accessing the internet not by the cafe owner but by a fellow regular who find joy in seeing you annoyed, disgruntled.

Due to the 'open' nature of Google-backed Android, developers have come up with ways to exploit the platform creating applications so clever that most of them don't even make its way to the Play Store.

One great example is the app you might have already heard called WiFiKill.

Sniff Internet Sessions, Hack Facebook Account with Ease Using Your Android Phone

WiFikill, as you can see in the disclaimer above, is one bad-ass, root-only Android app designed to do just that: block or restrict other users & devices to access the internet through shared wireless network. So if you're hanging out in a coffee shop hotspot and you notice the internet seems to be lagging a little more than you expect, then, you can take matters into your own hands. Disconnect, disable their internet connection.

Here's how to disable internet access for any device on a shared WiFi network

The process is no brainer, and even grade schoolers can do this. All you need is a compatible rooted Android phone and you're good to go.

Step 1 Download WiFiKill using WifiKill Downloader HERE. Two variants to choose from:

• FREE version — ads-supported and it shuts down after 5 minutes (more limitations are expected in the next updates)
• PRO version — requires you to make a donation through PayPal via WiFiKill Downloader

Or you can download the older version of WiFiKill v2.1.apk.

Step 2 Once installed, launch the app and grant whatever Superuser request it prompts.

Step 3 Tap the Play button beside the Refresh icon. It should start scanning for the entire WiFi network. Once done, it should show all devices connected to the wireless network as seen below:

(PRO TIP: enable Show Network Names in the Preferences to show the device' names)



Step 4 Here's the fun part. Choose the device you want to disconnect from the network and toggle the Grab slider. It should display the network usage as well as the website being accessed. Once you made that selection, just toggle the Kill slider.

And you're done. The target device should now be blocked and denied to access the internet even if they're connected to the WiFi network. And if you're really that evil, you can even disconnect all devices connected to the network.

Access Surveillance IP Cameras Anywhere In Real Time With Google

See, WiFiKill is one dangerous tool if it lands in the wrong hands.

The Good...

Despite its controversial nature, there are great use cases for this app too. You might want to use it against your kids to restrict access to the internet especially during bed time. Or you're in a coffee shop and you see someone's abusing the extra bandwidth juices for Justin Bieber clips on YouTube, then you can quickly kill their internet connection without them knowing. Yes, the targeted device still says connected to the WiFi network.

So, how you protect yourself?

As much as you can, avoid connecting to the publicly available WiFi network. Bring your own broadband or tether your iPhone or Android so you can browse the web in peace.



For more information about the app, go to WiFiKill official page.

Turn Your Laptop, PC Into Wi-Fi Hotspot Without Using Ad-Hoc -- Internet Sharing Made Easy

Must-Have: PushBullet Makes Your iOS, Android and Computer "Work" Together

Remember the Software Data Cable for Android I mentioned before? That was really a clever tiny piece of  app that every Android user should install. Why? Well, you better see my previous post about it here: How To: Transfer Files From PC To Android Phone Via Wi-Fi (And Vice Versa).

If you ever wished you could do almost the same thing on your iPhone or iPad and make your life a LOT easier, well, then, you've got to check out PushBullet.

PushBullet is your Swiss Army Knife for anything wireless

As a long-time Android user who just switched to iOS, I hate it when moving files & information from my computer to iPhone is such a difficult feat. The same frustration you get when you copy contents from your iPhone to your Mac or Windows PC. And that's the problem that PushBullet is trying to solve.

What is PushBullet

In a nutshell, PushBullet makes it really easy to send files, ebooks, links, and virtually any  media files from one device to another. Whether you're pushing files from your Windows computer to your iPhone, iPad or Android, the process is absolutely painless. All you have to do is to right-click the file or link and select the destination device and voila, you can instantly go right to that file/link by tapping on the notification you get on your Android or iDevice. And no, you don't have to be in the same wireless network to make PushBullet works.

Browse, Access Your Photos From Your iPhone, iPad To Your Computer Over Wi-Fi

And if you have an Android device, you can even automatically “push” all your calls and SMS alerts to your computer so you  won't miss important calls and text messages even if your phone is on silent mode or in another room. Unfortunately for iOS, PushBullet doesn't have this feature yet. But given the more open iOS8.0+ architecture, I believe this feature is currently in the works (check out the paid app Notifyr for iOS, it works almost the same).

Why is it useful?

PushBullet's homepage already has a detailed information on how it works and how it becomes so handy, but allow me to point it out here.

With PushBullet, you can easily:

• Send files from your mobile device to your computer with one click (or the other way around)
• Receive calls, SMS and other phone notifications straight on your computer

And if you're on Android, there are whole lot more you can do with PushBullet like being able to reply text messages straight from your computer.

Final Verdict:

PushBullet is a simple yet powerful push notification service designed to make all your internet-connected devices “work” together. It's a godsend  web service that you will surely appreciate especially if you're dealing with multiple devices. PushBullet is currently available for iOS, Android and as a browser extension for Chrome, Firefox and Opera. There's also an unofficial paid app PushPal for Mac users.

Transfer Large Files Between iPhone and Other iDevices Over Existing Wi-Fi Network

LINK: PushBullet

Use Google Spreadsheet As Website's Time-Machine (Web Archive alternative)

This is the second and the last part of our tutorial on how to get the most out of Google Docs to get things done the clever way. In case you missed it, here's the first part: 3 Things You Didn't Know Google Spreadsheet Can Do For You (Part 1)

LICEcap Is The Best Alternative To Recordit To Screencast & Create High Quality GIFs

Web Archive is everyone's go-to place when they want to see how a specific website looks in the past. It's a wayback-machine that randomly creates snapshots of your site as reference so you can anytime check back when your site's gone awry in the future.

While Web Archive is one reliable tool to do just that, you cannot however specify how frequent a snapshot should be created. If you want to automatically create a site snapshop daily or weekly, then, Google Spreadsheet can do you a favor.

Using Google Sheet as Archive.org Alternative

Here's how:

1 Go to Screenshotmachine.com and create a FREE account. After sign up you will get an account key necessary for the API request.

2 Sign-in to your Google account and make a copy of this Google sheet (File > Make a copy).

3 Provide the required parameters as required like Account Key, URL to Capture and Capture Frequency.

4 Click Verify Now button to see if the API works or not. If it works, a new folder called Web page captures should be automatically created on your Google Drive account. This is where all screenshots will be saved.

Note: you’ll get a pop-up asking for authorization. Grant the necessary access.

5 Click Start Capturing button. You're done.

Depending on the capture frequency you specify, Google Sheet should automatically instructs Screenshotmachine.com to create a site snapshot and send it back to Google Drive.

mHotspot Is A FREE Alternative To Connectify That Turns Your Computer Into Wifi Hotspot

(3/3) Use Google Spreadsheet to Scrape Web Contents Online

One of my favorite features of Google Sheet is the importXML function which basically allows you to grab contents from another site. It's one pretty useful feature of Google Sheet as it saves you time especially if you're asked to web scrape or copy the entire contents of a site.

Watch this video below and see how web scraping can be done so easily using Google Documents Spreadsheets:



The information you get can then be imported to your website using the right apps and tools like WP All Import (if you're using WordPress as your site platform).

How To: Extract All Images Embedded In .DOC Word Documents All At Once

So next time you're asked to export the existing content of a website, then, importXML of Google Sheet is one nice function you can exploit.

3 Things You Didn't Know Google Spreadsheet Can Do For You (Part 1)

There's no denying that we are all slowly becoming too dependent on Google apps. From a simple task of digging the world's information down to locating the nearby coffee shop, we always turn to Google and get the information we want in the blink of an eye.

One of the best web services that Google has ever made for everyone is the Google Docs suite. Its powerful, cloud-centric features along with its ever-improving mobile app makes it really a mature and capable platform.

Open and View Online Documents of Any Format Directly On Your Browser without Downloading Them

But just as every finest web app available in the wild, there are things that you might have missed & didn't realized you could do with Google Sheet app. And in this post, we are going to explore some of the lesser-known Google Sheet hacks and tricks to make your digital life a lot easier.

3 Clever Uses of Google Sheets You Might Not Know Yet (Part 1)

(1/3) Use Google Spreadsheet to monitor website downtime and uptime

If you have a blog or website, you know exactly how important web monitoring apps like Pingdom and Uptime Party can be. These are apps designed to monitor your website's uptime that should alert you in real-time when your site is down or inaccessible. These website monitoring apps work great, but they often come with a price.

In case you need a FREE Pingdom alternative, you can turn to Google Spreadsheet and use it as a website monitoring tool to track your site's downtime and uptime. As with premium apps like Pingdom, you get instant email or SMS notification delivered straight to your inbox once your site is down.

The process should only take about a minute or so to setup, and you're good to go.

Here's how to get started:

1 Sign-in to your Google account and make a copy of this Google sheet (File > Make a copy)

2 Put your website URLs in cell B2 (comma separated) and your email address in cell B3. If you wish to receive alerts by text messages, put Yes in cell B4.

3 You’ll find a new Website Monitor menu in your Google Sheets toolbar. Click Initialize and you’ll get a pop-up asking for authorization. Grant the necessary access.

4 Go to the Website Monitor menu again and choose “Start Website Monitor” to begin the monitoring process. Close the Google Sheet.

That's it. Google Sheet should now monitor and alert you in real-time when your site goes down, as seen below:

Get Notified When A Collaborator Made Some Changes On A Shared Google Spreadsheet

CONTINUE: 3 Things You Didn't Know Google Spreadsheet Can Do For You (Part 2)

How To: Web-Optimize, Compress Videos Without Losing Quality (90% Reduction Guaranteed)

Few days ago, I ran into a problem trying to embed a 40-seconds video into a website.

The problem:

The short video was too large — about 80MB in size — which doesn't seem to justify the length of the video we need to upload. With that ridiculously large size, we cannot easily upload and make it publicly accessible in the website for some performance reasons (if you're a web guy, you get it).

Since video hosting services like Vimeo and YouTube were not an option at that point, we had to come up with ways on how to minify the video without compromising the quality before finally embedding it to the site. And thankfully, we found this awesome tool called Handbrake.

Optimize, Compress Video for up to 90% (Useful for Web Embeds)

Handbrake is one bad-ass video optimizing software that will surely save your day. It allows you to compress any videos of any format, thus significantly reducing the file size without losing quality. It's lightweight, free, and it just works like a charm.

Here's why everyone loves Handbrake:

• Great video format support. You can compress any types of videos like .wmv – Windows Media Video File, .avi – Audio Video Interleave File, .m4v, .mov, etc.
• It is Open Source. That means you don't have to spend a penny
• It works on Windows, Mac and Linux so everyone can enjoy.

GistBox: The Best Place to Store, Organize Code Snippets and Pastes

Using Handbrake is pretty easy. First, you have to specify the Source video file, define Output settings as well as the Destination folder, then, hit Start. It's that easy. See the demo below (click to enlarge):

LICEcap Is The Best Alternative To Recordit To Screencast & Create High Quality GIFs

The result:

Look at that file reduction I got — from 80MB I was able to shrink it down to 7.6MB. That's 90% reduction!

Still not convinced? Download Handbrake for Windows or Handbrake for Mac and see it for yourself.

How To: Upload, Edit Files Without FTP — Use WP-Admin Access To Manage Web Files (WordPress)

Few days ago, I ran into a problem trying to access and update some of the web files inside a WordPress site.

The problem: I needed to access and update htaccess file but I only have /wp-admin/ account and there's no FTP or cPanel account given. Getting back to client and asking for FTP credential was not even an option, as he was already out during that time.

Normally, managing and editing files on a web server requires an FTP or cPanel account. Without a valid FTP or cPanel account, file management is impossible. But with WordPress, that's not the case.

How To Access Remote Web Files Without Using FTP Client

In this post, I'm going to show you a simple workaround on how to get an FTP-level type of access to your WordPress files so you can quickly manage and edit web files from your root directory using only a WP administrator account. This is rather a “dirty” trick and I discourage everyone to do this unless you've got an FTP account in hand.

Using WP-Admin Access To Upload, Edit Files Without FTP Account in WordPress

As you might already know, the real gem of WordPress comes from the thousands of ready-made plugins freely available for everyone. And here we're going to explore yet another awesome plugin called WP-FileManager.

WP-FileManager is a tiny WP plugin that gives you the ability to access and update files on your web server without an FTP account. Sounds like impossible but yes, you can use your wp-admin account to update and manage web files without FTP account.

Getting started with WP-FileManager

Just download and activate WP-FileManager from WordPress plugin repository. Once activated, you'll find a new tab called FileManager. Under this tab comes File Manager and Configuration. The plugins' default home directory is /wp-admin/ and it comes with all options disabled so you may need to go to Configuration first and set the default home directory and tick all the boxes, as shown below:



Once you've done this you can navigate back to FileManager and browse through files and folders.

How To: Automatically Generate Thumbnails, Screenshots For Any Website

WP-FileManager works almost like cPanel's file management system; you can browse through folders and root directory files, create new file or directory and upload files. The only downside: it won't let you edit files on the fly — you've got to download the file first, edit it on your computer, then re-upload it back to the server.

You're done!

As a final note, you only need to install WP-FileManager if and only if that's the last resort and you absolutely need it. Having WP-FileManager installed on your WP site gives everyone with admin account a full access to your web files, including wp-config.php file and htaccess.

Get Notified When A Collaborator Made Some Changes On A Shared Google Spreadsheet

No matter how advance Project Management and CRM tools can get, no one can ever ditch Google Sheet.

Google Sheet is still one powerful tool that if you know how to exploit the service to your advantage, you know that it's more than just a spreadsheet-editing software.

And if you're using Google Sheet as an additional tool aside from your usual project management service, here's a nifty tip on how to enable email notification so you'll be notified in real-time whenever a collaborator is making some updates on a shared spreadsheet; no need for you to waste time waiting for hours for other collaborators to update the sheet.

Gmail's Addon Streak Lets You Monitor, Track If Emails Are Read, Viewed By Recipients

Enable Email Notification On A Shared Google Spreadsheet

Email notification for Google Sheet is actually a built-in feature, but not activated by default. You have to manually enable it to start receiving email notifications. Here's how:

• Open the spreadsheet where you want to get notified for any changes.
• Go to the Tools > Notification rules.
• In the window that popups, select when and how often you want to receive email notifications.
• When:
• “Any changes are made”
• “A user submits a form”
• How often:
• “Email - daily digest”
• “Email - right away”
• Hit Save.

You're done. Whenever someone made some changes on a shared spreadsheet, you'll be automatically alerted via email, like this:



You may also need to setup email push notification on your smartphone so that no emails will be missed.

Use Mover.io To Copy, Move Files From FTP To Google Drive, DropBox, SkyDrive and Vice Versa

Google Sheet is still my go-to place when it comes to working and collaborating with clients for a specific project. During a website pre-deployment, after the QA, we have a client review phase where a client is expected to inspect and jot down all design & functionality hiccups of a website. While BaseCamp, Asana or Teamwork may be used to collect the findings, I find it a lot time-saver and efficient if I can get a consolidated view of all findings inside a single Google sheet. And now that I can setup email notification, both the client and I can save time.

Get Notified When Someone Talks About You On The Internet

New Chrome Add-on Lets You Watch YouTube Videos While You Search, Browse — Similar to YouTube Mobile App

Last year, YouTube rolled out a massively popular update to their iOS and Android app which completely redefines every YouTuber's streaming experience. The revamped YouTube's mobile app gets a multi-tasking support which allows you to watch videos while you search and browse channels and playlists.

That was pretty useful, clever functionality which, unfortunately, YouTube's web app counterpart is currently deprived of.

Get Instant Lyrics for Grooveshark, Spotify and YouTube Web Players with This Cool Add-on

Now, if you heavily stream YouTube videos on your computer, you too can get the same multi-tasking treatment with this Chrome extension called Seek 'n Play.

Watch YouTube Videos and Search at the Same Time, Like On Your Mobile Phone (link)

Seek 'n Play is yet another useful Chrome extension that brings YouTube mobile's multi-tasking functionality to your desktop. With Seek 'n Play, you can search and browse for videos while you are watching another video, just like the mobile app.

How it works?

Every time you navigate to another video or you browse through another channels or playlists, the current playing video will be automatically positioned, fixed at the bottom of your screen so you can continue watching while you keep exploring YouTube . And that's a big user experience boost!

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Seek 'n Play is truly a great extension. It's lightweight, free, and it works great!



Download: Seek 'n Play or check out developer's website for more.

GistBox: The Best Place to Store, Organize Code Snippets and Pastes

Whether you are a seasoned coder or a newbie dabbler, you need a code snippets repository.

A code snippets repository is a place where you can keep a file of your own most-used codes so you can check back and copy the needed lines of codes without having to rebuild them from scratch. Code snippets will basically save you time when developing or administering a website as you no longer have to rewrite the codes to achieve the desired results.

For example, here's a tiny code snippet you can add in your .htaccess file to speed up your site:

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While there are already long standing, well-reputed code snippets storage sites freely available out there, there's not such an abundance of apps that can beautifully store and organize your code snippets similar to how GistBox works.

In this post, we're going to explore how GistBox can help you in becoming more productive and learn why you cannot stay away from it once you get your hands into it.

So, what is GistBox?

GistBox is another code repository service designed to make code snippet management a little less boring. GistBox uses GitHub's backend but it comes with its own advanced label and search functionality — the features which are missing in GitHub's Gist.

Use Mover.io To Copy, Move Files From FTP To Google Drive, DropBox, SkyDrive and Vice Versa

GistBox was designed to be a curated, personal snippet library – like long term memory for the practicing software engineer.

Here's a few reasons why GistBox is the best:

I like Gist, but it's too limited; it lacks of important functionality like being able to organize your code snippets via tags or labels. So here allow me to point out the notable goodness of GistBox.

Color-Coded Labels. You can create labels as much as you want and assign a color for each label. GistBox Labels works like categories, so for every code snippet you add you can organize it by language, project or purpose.

Advance Search. GistBox's search functionality is surprisingly amazing. If you like how Gmail's search works, then, you'll also love GistBox. With GistBox, you can search through the entire code snippet library or through specific labels.

Collaborate with a group. Another cool feature of GistBox is it's ability for you to create groups and share useful snippets among co-workers — great if you're working with a team.

Split Screen: Splits Your Web Browser into Multiple Resizable Windows

GistBox is lightweight, free and usable. And it's a must-have to all devs!
Still not convinced? Go, check out GistBox and see it for your self.

New Chrome Extension Lets You Preview Virtually Any Files (e.g. PSD, AutoCAD) On Your Web Browser

We are a big fan of anything that makes things less of a hassle. Whether it's about extracting text from an image without using image editor or moving around large files from FTP server to your DropBox account, we constantly hunt for the best apps and methods to make the process a little less painful.

And today, we are thrilled to share with you yet another interesting Chrome extension that you might want to add in your arsenal.

Preview Almost Any Kind of File In Your Browser (e.g.PSD, Word, AutoCAD, Video, Audio, etc).

Introducing... FilePreviews.io. It's a nifty browser add-on currently available for Google Chrome designed to generate previews of almost any kind of file including, but not limited to PSD, AI, AutoCAD, Excel files, and much more. And the real cream of the crop? It works straight from your web browser; no need to launch third party apps like Photoshop, Illustrator, AutoCAD apps, etc.

When is it useful?

FilePreviews.io may not be something you use all the time, but in case you want to have a quick look of that large PSD or AutoCAD files you stumbled on the web, you can turn to this app to quickly generate snapshots of those files.

How it works?

As with any other Chrome extension, all you have to do is to install FilePreviews.io from the Chrome WebStore. Once installed, just right-click on a link and from the context menu, select “Preview from source...”. The add-on should automatically take you to a new tab displaying the file preview without ever leaving your browser. How cool is that?

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Go check out FilePreviews.io.