tips Archives - Page 2 of 2

Make your browser’s search box more useful

All of the modern browsers have a search box built right in but they don’t always feature the sites you’d like to use. In this tutorial we’ll show you how to search your way.

Head over to the Mycroft Project homepage where you will find more than 22 thousand sites to choose from. It’s now just a case of finding the site you’d like to use (YouTube UK and Wikipedia are good examples) and clicking on the name. You will be presented with a box asking if you would like to make this your default search provider and in IE, if you would like to use search suggestions.

You can now search your favourite sites without having to go to their homepage first. What sites do you search most? Let us know in the comments here or on Facebook.

Improve your WiFi signal with a reflector

wifi What do you do if your WiFi won’t quite reach to a bedroom at one end of the house? You have several options:

Move your router closer to your bedroom.
Buy a better wireless card for your laptop (one with an external antenna would give best results).
Buy a wireless repeater and put it half way between your router and your bedroom.
Add an external WiFi antenna to your router.
Abandon WiFi and use a Cat5 cable.

All of the above options involve purchasing extra hardware and thus, extra cost. There is a much cheaper option if you’re on a budget… our free WiFi reflector!

How it works

Unless your router is in the middle of your house, much of it’s output power is being wasted. With a vertical antenna, the signal pattern is emitted in a circle (with the antenna at the centre). Typically, people put their routers near a wall (as that’s where the phone socket is) so up to half of the signal is going in the opposite direction to where it’s needed. A reflector will help focus that power in a more useful direction.

How to assemble the reflector

Download our free WiFi reflector.
Print onto some thin card.
Glue a sheet of tinfoil onto the back of the card.
Carefully cut out the design making sure you include the tabs on the centre piece, cut slits where shown in the main reflector and punch a hole for your antenna in the centre piece.
Gently double over the centre piece and insert into the reflector.
Slide the reflector onto your antenna and face towards the area which has a poor signal.
Enjoy your improved signal!

Here’s one in position so you know what you’re aiming for:

wifi-reflector-assembled

Some routers have 2 antennas, just go ahead and make 2 reflectors and face them in an appropriate direction.

Let us know how effective your reflector is in the comments here or on Twitter and remember to share with your networks.

Source and more scientific info

Tweak Google Search Time Periods with a URL Hack

Here’s a great tip to find results from a specific time period. You can change or add
the following term to the end of the URL. Some examples:

Starting with a search in the last month: &tbs=qdr:m
&tbs=qdr:m2 will give you two months,
&tbs=qdr:d4 will give you four days.
&tbs=qdr:y3 will give you three years.

See where this is going? This allows you more specific control than is offered by the links on the left of the Google page.

Tell us your Google tips in the comments.