Free Online Tool to Convert PDF files to JPG Image

PDF files are good when you want to look up an article or even a chart. I have a few interesting pdf files with helpful and informative diagrams. Sometimes I want to covert these PDF files into an image format.
I found pdf2jpg a useful online tool which converts a PDF file into JPG image file.

PDF2JPG Features

• Just upload your PDF file and click convert to get image files.
• Sometimes as JPG images can take some time if the PDF file is large. In this case there is the option of leaving a email alert which sends an email when the conversion is complete.
• Unfortunately the only drawback was that it can only manage pdf files which upto the size of 10 MB. This usually should not be a problem in most cases but PDFs with images usually are quite large-sized files.

This is a great tool to manage PDF files along with some others that allow converting a URL to PDF and also convert PDF files to Doc, HTML and Txt format with free online tools.

Do drop in your comments.
Link: PDF2JPG

List of 5 Online Tools to Find Similar Images

Google’s new addition to its image search is “similar image search” through which you can find similar or duplicate images. This feature is particularly useful when you want to view the source image, for example you have found an edited/photoshopped image of Sachin Tendulkar then you might want to know the source of that image.
For example, take a look at the below two images, you can keep the first image as wallpaper (by tiling) but not the second one (looks ugly). So, this can help wallpaper junkies a lot!

Here are some of the best sites which can help you in identifying similar images:

#1. Google Similar Images

“Google Similar Images” was a Google lab experiment but now it’s integrated into Google images. You can see the text “similar” at the bottom of any image when you hover over it. When I checked similar images for the below picture, there were 8 images which were matching it.

Link: Google Images

#2. TinEye Reverse Image Search

This is a bit advanced and it’s the best when compared to rest of them. What amazed me is that, when I searched similar images for the same image (which I used in Google image search), it came up with 32 relevant results!

So, the relevancy of TinEye is very high compared to Google Image search. It also provides cool extensions for IE, Chrome, Firefox and Safari browsers. You can make use of their bookmarklet too!

Microsoft Sending a Message with IE 10 Preview!

IE 10 Microsoft has almost always tied up the development of Internet Explorer browser with Windows. Whenever a new version of Windows is shipped out, the IE browser’s version also gets an upgrade.
Windows XP came with IE6, Windows Vista had IE7 and Windows 7 had IE8 pre-installed. The reception to the browser versions also reflected how the OS was received. Just like people are not ready to upgrade from XP to Vista, IE6 users seemed to not bother upgrading to IE7 or even IE8.

Microsoft’s message with IE 10

With IE 9 being released, many felt it was the last chance for Microsoft to save IE browser. With the release being only a month ago, the preview build of IE 10 was a surprise. IE 9 was expected to be shipped as default with the next version (Windows 8?) of Windows.
With IE 10 Microsoft is telling the internet community that they will probably upgrade browser versions without waiting for newer OS to be introduced.

IE 10 Features

• It is really good at making most use of screen space like IE 9 does.
• The graphics support along with CSS rendering is pretty good, as shown by a tests like Fish bowl and Paint Ball.
• IE 9 has a good record when it comes to handling power efficiency. For Laptop users like me, that is a good incentive. I found IE 10 preview not being as light-weight but that might change when IE 10 goes into Beta from Preview version.

What Microsoft needs to do to give IE 10 a boost?

Firstly, IE 10 preview only works with Windows 7. I am not sure if that will happen with IE 10 browser going ahead but if it does, then it would be disappointing. Internet Explorer needs to offer support to Mac OS and Linux-based OS.
This will truly separate IE from Windows as a product and maybe then we might see IE browser building its own independent identity as a browser which does not only revolve around Windows.
I doubt that all this will happen considering how IE finds itself shooting in the foot, what are your view? Do drop in your comments.
Link: IE 10 Preview

Customize Gmail Layout With Your Personal Image in Background

Gmail is ramping up some of its features. It started the last week with having keyboard shortcuts being made available easily. Now a new update allows customizing your Gmail background with your own personal image from either our computer or Picasa web albums. This is quite like adding customized background images to Google search page.

How to add your own image on Gmail Layout

• Sign-in to your Gmail account and look up settings. Settings can be looked up by clicking on the right hand corner icon that looks like a gear wheel.
• Now in Mail Settings look up the Themes tab. You will see the option of many ready to use themes.

• At the end look up Create your own Theme, which will a window that lets your customize colours and fonts.
• On the right hand corner of the window you can see a drop-down option which allows you to add the background image (see image below).

Select your personal photos and customize your Gmail layouts background.
This is a new and nice addition to Gmail, which will allow people to make their email a little more personal. Do try it out and drop in your views through your comments.

BT4 Assuring Security by Penetration Testing

If you are working in the “information security” field, you must know the BackTrack distribution (otherwise you must be an alien coming from a far away planet!). If you search for the word “backtrack” on Amazon, you will find lot of references but only one book is fully dedicated to the Linux distribution: “BackTrack 4: Assuring Security by Penetration Testing“. I received a copy directly from the publisher and here is my review.

Just for those who are not familiar with BackTrack, it’s a Linux distribution made by security professionals for security professionals: It contains hundreds of tools to perform security assessments and penetration tests. Some of them are well-known like Metasploit, WebScarab or sqlmap and others are real gems (example: ua-tester which was added recently) and  increase the quality of the toolbox version after version.

Even if BackTrack 5 was released a few weeks ago, it does not reduce the book quality. There are so many tools that a single volume is not enough to cover all of them.The following chapters covered the classic penetration testing schema:

• Target scoping
• Information gathering
• Target discovery
• Enumerating target
• Vulnerability mapping
• Social engineering
• Target exploitation
• Privilege escalation
• Maintaining access
• Documentation and reporting

Each chapter reviews the most interesting tools (according to the authors) to achieve the chapter topic. Tools are briefly explained with examples. Straight to the point!
So, who’s need this book? The author’s goal is certainly not to give recipes on “how to hack a website“. The book must been see as a reference for those who already know the BackTrack distribution or who want to learn it. Don’t forget: this is just a toolbox, it does not prevent you to use your brain!
More information about the book here.

New Google Feature (Recommendations when you want them.)

Recommendations when you want them.

Learn more about the +1 button

The +1 button is shorthand for "this is pretty cool" or "you should check this out."
Click +1 to publicly give something your stamp of approval. Your +1's can help friends, contacts, and others on the web find the best stuff when they search.

Currently available for English searches on Google.com.

See +1's

Sometimes it’s easier to find exactly what you’re looking for when someone you know already found it. Get recommendations for the things that interest you, right when you want them, in your search results.
The next time you’re trying to remember that bed and breakfast your buddy was raving about, or find a great charity to support, a +1 could help you out. Just make sure you're signed in to your Google Account.

Show +1's

In order to +1 things, you first need a public Google profile. This helps people see who recommended that tasty recipe or great campsite. When you create a profile, it's visible to anyone and connections with your email address can easily find it.
Your +1’s are stored in a new tab on your Google profile. You can show your +1’s tab to the world, or keep it private and just use it to personally manage the ever-expanding record of things you love around the web.

If you have something to hide from the government, don't use Dropbox

Image courtesy Flickr user imamon.
UPDATE 4/21: DropBox has an official comment.
Or Gmail. Or Google Apps. Or Amazon’s cloud. Or Hotmail. Or any of Yahoo’s many services. Or almost any other online service.
Here’s what’s happening and why I bring this up. Dropbox yesterday changed its terms of service, as reported by Business Insider.
With the new terms of service, Dropbox now says that it will “United States law enforcement when it receives valid legal process” and may, if necessary, decrypt the files in private Dropbox folders, allowing them to be read by government investigators.
Nothing to see here. Move along.
There is nothing really new here, which is why I mentioned so many other providers at the top of the page. American law allows law enforcement certain rights of search.
In most cases, that’s after a judge has issued a search warrant — and whether the nasty stuff you’re hiding is in your Dropbox or your bank’s safety deposit box, the gov has the right to peek inside.
Of course, some of the due process and judicial review has been modified in light of the Patriot Act, but the ability for government examination is important in any complex society and this new terms of service change by Dropbox isn’t anything particularly new.
Of course, this all assumes we can trust the government to not abuse the privilege, but that’s why there’s so much judicial review built into the system.
In the meantime, don’t go doing anything that’ll get you in so much trouble that the G-Men need to decrypt your email or cloud storage.
What are you hiding? Fess-up below in the TalkBacks.

Rumor: iPhone 5 will have A5 processor, Qualcomm baseband

Even though Apple is not expected to reveal the next generation of the iPhone until this fall, the rumor mill is already churning away.
According to Apple Insider, Concord Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said in a note that the iPhone 5 will sport the following “slight modifications”:

• New iOS 5 mobile operating system (set to be unveiled at WWDC 2011)
• A5 processor (as seen in the iPad 2)
• 8-megapixel rear camera
• Qualcomm baseband for both GSM and CDMA models
• Improved antenna design

The last one is unintentionally comedic as its obviously necessary given the catastrophe that was “Antennagate” in summer 2010. However, we shouldn’t expect to see any major exterior design changes until at least the sixth iPhone. (Let’s not even start thinking about that one just yet.) The processor and the camera seem like reasonable upgrades, and given that Kuo has apparently been correct on past Apple rumors, the Qualcomm switch could pan out.
Of course, Apple hasn’t even confirmed an iPhone 5 model (after all, we’re still waiting for the iPhone 4 in white), but we all know its coming. It’s just a matter of when at this point.
[Note: The device in the image above is the iPhone 4 - not a new version of the iPhone that is discussed in this post.]

MSI trots out CX640, CR640 laptops with USB 3.0, Core i3 CPUs

MSI has a pair of new “mainstream” notebooks available for the taking starting today. Both the CX640 and CR640 laptops share a few similarities, including fairly affordable price tags.
Running on Intel Core i3-2310M processors, both notebooks sport 15.6-inch displays, 4GB of RAM, 500GB hard drives and a pair of USB 3.0 ports each. Those hard drives are supposed to be extra-protected from drops and shocks as the disk is in the middle of the chassis and housed inside a “unique” casing.
MSI also promises that these C Series notebooks will boot up “two times faster than standard notebooks.” Presumably, MSI means notebooks in the same class. With these specs, the CX640 and CR640 are nice, but not that far off from standard.
The major difference between these two portable machines is that the silvery CX640 hosts NVIDIA® GeForce GT 520M graphics with Optimus technology, and the black CR640 uses Intel HD 3000 graphics.
The CR640 runs for a bit cheaper at $629.99, while the CX640 costs $679.99.