Create your own personal cloud! is a post from: Stuffworks.com

There are a bunch of cloud storage services available today and many of them are free however they don’t usually offer much space to use for storing photos, music or videos.

If storing a large number of files, music or photos, or if you need to store really large files such as movies or backups of programs and .ISO files; then setting up your own personal cloud storage may be just the thing you need.

The 2 easiest ways to get your own personal cloud storage service started are both fairly easy to setup.

1. Tonido – Open source cloud storage software for most Windows, Mac and Linux.
2. PogoPlug – Free for limited use or paid if you want extended features.

Both options use your computers HDD as the cloud storage so the amount of space you get on your cloud is limited only by the space you have on your computer.  Both options also offer a hardware device that you can plug into your home internet connection that allow you to plug in a USB hard drive that can be accessed from anywhere on any device.

There is a Tonido app available for both apple and android devices that allow you to access your personal cloud from anywhere.  You can also access your cloud from a computer by visiting your own personal tonido website.

PogoPlug also offers an app on both apple and android devices and with it you can stream music, movies and access documents from anywhere.

The biggest limitation to creating your own personal cloud is your internet connection speed.  If you have a slow internet speed at home, having your own personal cloud will be fairly slow so having a fast internet speed is recommended.

Both services offer similar features and plenty of expansion options so no matter which one you choose you will be able to access any of your shared files on any device, anytime.  You can even share selected files or folders with friends or family.

Check out both services and let us know your opinion about which one is better.

app Mobi Browser based XDK is a post from: Stuffworks.com

appMobi provides development tools and services that complete HTML5 as a mobile platform, bringing it on par with iOS and Android as a fully capable mobile platform. appMobi’s post-deployment cloud services include user authentication, in-app payments, rich media push messaging, user analytics and live app updates.

appMobi’s XDK (cross platform development kit) allows developers to use HTML5 technology to create fully functional mobile apps that run across different hardware platforms, including Android and iOs. Additionally, the XDK can render the exact same code as a ‘web app’ or an ‘enhanced’ web app that performs exactly the same as a native app. In August 2011, appMobi made the XDK available as a plugin for the Google Chrome browser, offering developers an extremely easy to use tool stack for HTML5.

By leveraging the high functionality and ubiquity of webkit-based browsers and advanced web standards such as HTML5 and CSS3, appMobi allows web developers to create mobile apps without the need to conquer the high learning curves of each platform’s development stack (Objective C, Cocoa Touch for Apple, C++ and Java for Android).

appMobi is available through the Google Chrome Web Store which requires Google Chrome to be installed, available here.

5gb free space on Dropbox is a post from: Stuffworks.com

You can get 2gb of free storage on any day of the week but for a limited time Dropbox is offering up to 5gb of free storage to try out their free beta version of dropbox available for download now.  Because this is a limited time offer and it only gives you space in 500mg increments, up to 5gb, you have to upload photos to the Dropbox in order to get more space.

Here is a direct quote from the Dropbox forums about this limited time beta;

According to the Dropbox forum, the newest public beta comes with a bonus, you get 500mb of space added to your account for up to 4.5gb of space.

Follow the link to download the beta of Dropbox and get started now!

Future Medicine is a post from: Stuffworks.com

Functional Medicine

Functional medicine is an alternative modality that focuses on improving the physiological function as a primary method of improving the health of patients with chronic disease.

Therapeusis defines this approach as “personalized medicine” that deals with primary prevention and underlying causes, using your signs and symptoms, to ameliorate chronic conditions.

Functional medicine practitioners provide chronic care management with the belief that:

The Therapeusis program identifies 33 organ systems as a functional assessment based on the results that you enter through our questionnaires. The program will generate 3 areas of concern for the condition(s):

1. Immediate Concerns [Herbs-Vitamins-Minerals]

This is the organ system that is of immediate concern, contributing to your sign and symptoms. Conditions should improve with herbal tea(s), dietary reform, and correcting vitamin and mineral deficiencies.

2. Core Cause [Eclectic Remedy]

This is the organ system that must be dealt with in order to fully remedy the condition(s) and prevent a return of your symptoms. Homeopathic polycrests are known to be most suitable.

3. Anchor Initiators [Subconscious - Emotional]

The anchor point is where you arrived in early life that set the patterns and staging of the adult onset of symptoms. Memories, habits and life style adaptations have weighed in as “viewpoints” or aberrated thinking patterns resulting in unresolved conflicts, avoidance factors, and deep emotional issues. Anchor points are best treated spiritually with methods like counseling, hypnosis, PCT (photocognitive therapy), etc.

When your results are received, simply click on the organ link and retrieve a full explanation page of the gland/organ, diet and lifestyle changes that will improve the condition(s).

Sample results shown below.

New Online Store is a post from: Stuffworks.com

We have just opened our new online store to allow people to purchase many of the guides that have been written by our users and editing staff to show you how to do all kinds of cool stuff.

If you have a guide or tutorial that you would like to sell please contact us and let us know so that we can discuss setting it up in our store.

You can see what is currently available at www.stuffworks.com/cart

Windows 7 Clean Install from an Upgrade Disk is a post from: Stuffworks.com

Windows 7 is finally out and there has been much anticipation about what version a person should buy to get the best overall Windows experience.  Microsoft is still making it difficult to clean install Windows 7 with Upgrade media, but fear not, there is some good news. While you can’t simply use Upgrade media to do a clean install of Windows 7 on an unused PC with a blank hard drive, the workaround this time is easier than ever. Assuming you know the trick.

If you have ever done this before, you may remember how this used to work? In older versions of Windows, Microsoft would actually prompt you to insert an install floppy or CD from a previous Windows version, to prove that you were qualified for the upgrade version. But beginning with Windows XP, PC makers were able to dramatically change the Windows install disc, so much so that, in some cases, those discs weren’t even identifiable as valid install media to Windows Setup. Clearly a different system was required.

In Windows Vista, Microsoft supported in-place upgrades from Windows XP, but if you wanted to use an Upgrade version of the Windows Vista Setup disc to do a clean install, you had to perform a weird double install trick. This process is documented here at winsupersite.com.

Since Windows 7 is simply a slightly updated version of Windows Vista from a Setup and deployment standpoint, most people familiar with the process could have guessed that the Vista trick would be required in Windows 7 as well.

This is what you don't want to see.

With the general availability of Windows 7 Upgrade media, you can now try this trick yourself. First of all, the double install trick from Windows Vista actually still works in Windows 7. But there’s a better way.

Here’s how to clean install Windows 7 using Upgrade media and a new or reformatted PC with no installed OS.

First, perform a normal clean install of the OS by booting the PC with the Upgrade Setup disc and stepping through Setup.

After performing the clean install, ensure that there are no Windows Updates pending that would require a system reboot. (You’ll see an orange shield icon next to Shutdown in the Start Menu if this is the case).

Then, open regedit.exe with Start Menu Search and navigate to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Setup/OOBE/

Change MediaBootInstall from "1" to "0".

Open the Start Menu again and type “cmd” to display a shortcut to the Command Line utility. Right-click this shortcut and choose “Run as administrator.” Handle the UAC prompt.

In the command line window, type: “slmgr /rearm”  without the quotes.

Then tap ENTER, close the command line window and reboot. When Windows 7 reboots, run the Activate Windows utility, type in your product key and activate windows. It should just work.

The method described above should work for just about anyone, with the understanding that any pending Windows Updates could screw things up. If that happens, just shut down, restart, rerun the command line sequence, and retry activation.

Please let me know if you have any issues with this or if you discover another method that did work for you.

How to burn a Blu-ray disk at home is a post from: Stuffworks.com

Burn a Blu-Ray at home

Blu-Ray Burning Guide

By popular demand we have put together a guide that explains how to burn Blu-ray Movies from your home video camcorder onto a standard DVD media using a regular DVD burner that is playable on the PS3 or Blu-ray player. This guide was written to be easy to do and simple to follow.

Now anyone can make their own high definition vidoes at home.

Disclaimer:

DVD’s burned as Blu-ray disks will not be compatible with all Blu-ray players since it is not a requirement for Blu-ray player manufacturers to provide support for burned disks. This tutorial will provide you with Blu-ray compatible disks that will work on the Sony PS3 as well as many other players. Check for firmware updates for your Blu-ray player to increase disk compatibility.

To purchase this guide and get started today Visit Our Document Store at www.stuffworks.com/cart  or click Here for a direct link to the page.

New Downloads Section is a post from: Stuffworks.com

We have recently decided to re-add the downloads section of our website.  This section will be expanding as we find new programs that you can download for free to help you with your computing experience.