Apps for Students – Best Smartphone apps for students

Smartphones applications are playing great role not as an entertainer but also as a rich source of knowledge for students, professionals and housewives. Here we discuss some of the best apps for students, which assist them to manage their time and complete their projects in time.  

My Class Schedule: Timetable (By Sebastian Mayer)

This app helps students to keep track of schedules, exam dates, homework etc. and complete the tasks in time. The reminding feature and easy to understand color-coding brings this app more closer to its users.

 *Free: Android

Wolfram Alpha: (by wolfram alpha, LLC)

A must-have application for preparing reports with a large collection of data and domains categorized in various subjects to answer all the computing related questions whether its Maths, Physics, statistics or astronomy. This computational knowledge engine comes with instant answers to your queries.
*Android, iOS: Rs164.24

Dictionary.com

There is no need to explain the features of this well known handy App for students. All I want to mention here is it’s a good tool with definitions, synonyms, daily content including Word of the Day and voice search. A notable alternative is the Merriam-Webster dictionary for Android.
*Free: iOS, Android, Windows Phone

Dunno (by spacestation6 Inc)

If you are researching over some topics, you don’t need to stick to your library any more. Just get Dunno and have the experience of huge amount of knowledge compiled with sections for websites, blogs, images, news sections and even tweets.

Free: iOS

Trello (by Fog creek software)

Students love to work in groups and me too. This extraordinary tool helps them to create projects collaborate. This collaborative tool allows students to do group projects with ease and organise work while others can add their inputs.

Free: Android, iOS

So, go ahead and select the apps which suits your need and pocket as well.

How to solve ‘Error Code 0’ in Mac OS X Mountain Lion

How to fix Error code 0 in Mac OS X 10.8? – A very frequently asked question on various Macintosh support forums. We are trying to answer the query and help new Mac users with this article.

Data stored on Mac’s hard drive is certainly the most valuable thing. However, what is the security measure you take in order to keep your personal and professional data (such as collection of pictures and videos, movies, and many other things) protected against various threats? You most likely would say that you move every single essential file to an external hard drive for backup purpose. Though keeping a backup copy for every essential file is a wise decision, you may not always be successful in copying/moving large files (i.e. videos, movies, etc.) to an external drive, and get the following error:

“The operation can’t be completed because an unexpected error occurred (error code 0).”

Error Code 0 appears when the size of the file you are copying or moving is too large and the file cannot be located on the selected destination drive due to either less disk space or any other issue, such as file format (i.e. FAT file system) of the destination disk does not allow saving such a large single file. Getting such errors on different computer operating systems is general, and you most likely can resolve them by following the right rectification procedure. However, you must be aware of the cause of the error.

Cause of Error

The file system plays a significant role in the operating system.  One of its primary functions is to maintain the integrity of data. FAT (i.e. File Allocation Table) file system has a biggest limitation that it does not support storing a single file of size  equal to or more than 4GB. The NTFS (New Technology File System) file system supports file sizes up to 16TB.

Possible Resolution

Mac OS X formats the hard drives using HFS+ file system that facilitates storing a file of size up to 8exabyte. Therefore, you can resolve the issue by converting the file system of the destination drive from FAT to HFS+ (in Mac). Make sure the destination drive is empty before you start formatting it. However, you can recover Mac data using advanced data recovery software for Mac if it is formatted. Following are the simple steps to format a hard drive to HFS+ file system.

·  Connect the hard drive to your Mac machine.

·  Launch Disk Utility (Applications > Utilities folder > Disk Utility).

·  Select the destination hard drive in the left pane and go to Erase tab.

· Select ‘Mac OS Extended (Journaled)’ in the ‘Format’ dropdown list under ‘Volume Information’ area.

·  Click ‘Erase’ button.

·  It will prompt a warning message, and then click ‘Erase’ again.

Mac data recovery application are available on the Internet facilitating lost, deleted data recovery. They also support recovering data from any formatted media. Choosing a better one matters. Download and use demo/trial versions of these software, and then opt for the best one.

What it Takes to Migrate Mac Applications to another Mac

When it comes to application support, Mac OS X is the leader since its unique features (such as its incomparable data processing speed, highly interactive graphical user interface, application support, and more) take it beyond comparison with every other computer operating system available today. Even though Mac computers are quite sophisticated to use, they actually perform incredibly well and make you proud, thereby proving their worth being termed as excellent.

Just like every other computer, Macs are also electronic-cum-digital machines that accept certain types of data as their input, which is transformed into their equivalent outputs after going through a set of binary operations. While performing these operations, they utilize system resources (i.e. RAM & Processor) greatly. As a result, they come across performance issues and their overall output is degraded. In such a situation, you experience that your Mac boots sluggishly, executes applications poorly, or sometimes, it does not boot even. In fact, whatever the issue your Mac faces, it results in data loss at the end of the day.

Earlier, Macs embed hard drives as the prime source of data storage space. However, they most likely have been replaced with Solid State Drives (SSDs) in recent Macs. Well, in case your Mac has a hard drive installed on it, you cannot be too much reliant on it for data security, as it may crash anytime in adverse situations.

Backup – A process that avoids data loss

Since you cannot be too much reliant upon a hard drive to store your data protectively, you must be backing it up regularly to avoid it loss.

“Data backup is the process that refers to copying and archiving your data in such a way that you can extract this archive to restore your data in its original form.”

Time Machine in Mac OS X is the advanced data backup tool that implements incremental backup approach to back up your data. In order to use Time Machine for data backup on your Mac, you need to configure it first. Time Machine configuration refers to setting backup preferences that includes choosing one or more volumes or the entire Mac drive, backup time, and more. After configuring it, the very first backup it takes includes the complete backup of the selected drive(s). In the next backup (i.e. after an hour), it reiterates its backup loop and this time it backs up only recently created or updated files.

Important: In fact, Time Machine reiterates its backup loop after an hour of the previous successful backup.

The most important thing you need to keep in your mind when configuring Time Machine is that it needs a separate hard drive being the backup drive, which can be either an internal or an external drive. Time Machine is also compatible with a Time Capsule. Apart from facilitating to back up you data automatically, Mac OS X allows you migrate Mac applications to the backup drive using its inbuilt utility called migration assistant.

Migration Assistant is a Mac inbuilt utility that copies user accounts, user files, applications, printer and fax drivers, network settings, and other system as well as user settings from one Mac computer to another, or from a recent full backup drive. Therefore, partition your backup drive, install Mac OS X on it, and then migrate all your apps to this drive. However, before you proceed to migration, you must remember the following things without failure:

1. If you boot your Mac from an external drive, then make sure this drive is plugged in.

2. Make sure both source and destination Macs have updated drivers installed.

3. The applications installed on the source Mac should be the latest versions.

4. On the Source Mac, choose System preferences under Apple menu; click Sharing and look for the name in the Computer Name field.

5.  None of the Macs should sleep during migration process.

6.  For migration through Ethernet, use a single Ethernet cable to connect both Macs.

7.  For wireless migration, use 802.11n network for best experience.

Ways to transfer Mac apps

Migration assistant allows you migrate Mac applications from one Mac computer to another in the following ways:

1) Migration using FireWire and ThunderBolt

Limitations: Migration assistant fails to transfer applications from Mac OS X 10.4 or earlier to Mac OS X 10.8 or later over wired and Wi-Fi networks.

Step1: Connect both Macs with a FireWire or ThunderBolt in Target Disk Mode before running migration assistant.

Step2: Restart the source Mac and hold down the T key

Step3: On the target Mac, launch Migration Assistant (found in Applications > Utilities folder) and click Continue.

Step4: On the next screen, select “From another Mac, PC, … … … …” and click Continue.

Step5: When prompted, type the admin password and click OK.

Step6: Select “From another Mac or PC” on the next screen and click Continue.

Step7: Select the target system and click Continue.

Step8: Now, select the items and sub items that you need to migrate, and then click Continue to start migration.

The amount of time elapsed in migration relies upon the amount of data to being migrated.

2) Migration over Wi-Fi or Ethernet

Important: Both the source and destination computers should be connected to the same network, which can be either Wi-Fi or wired.

Step1: On the target Mac, launch Migration Assistant and click Continue.

Step2: On the next screen, select “From another Mac, PC, … … … …” and click Continue.

Step3: When prompted, type the admin password and click OK.

Step4: Select “From another Mac or PC” on the next screen and click Continue.

(Now, it will search for other computers on the same network.)

Step5: Now, launch Migration Assistant on the Source Mac and click Continue.

Step6: Select “To another Mac” and click Continue.

Step7: When prompted, type the admin password and click OK.

Step8: On target machine, click Continue button to close all running applications and continue migration.

Step9: Now, match the password appeared on the target Mac with the source Mac and click Continue.

Step10: Close all applications on the source Mac and click Continue

Step11: On the target Mac, select the items and sub items that you need to migrate, and then click Continue to start migration.

The amount of time elapsed in migration relies upon the amount of data to being migrated and the network’s speed.

3) Migration from time Machine or external disk

Step1: On the target Mac, launch Migration Assistant (found in Applications > Utilities folder) and click Continue.

Step2: On the next screen, select “From another Mac, PC, … … … …” and click Continue.

(Make sure the external drive is connected to your Mac. If not, then connect it.)

Step3: When prompted, type the admin password and click OK.

Step4: Select “From a Time Machine backup or other disk” on the next screen and click Continue.

Step5: Select the disk and enter the password if prompted.

Step6: Now, click Continue button to close all applications.

Step7: On the target Mac, select the items and sub items that you need to migrate, and then click Continue to start migration.

The amount of time elapsed in migration relies upon the amount of data to being migrated and the speed of the network.

In order to view the applications migrated, go to Apple menu and select Log Out, and then log in as the Migrated user.

Modifying Mac Boot Volume using Mac Boot Disc

“Macintosh HD, the boot partition of your Mac drive, is termed as the primary partition since it contains the system files. Though Mac OS X facilitates it volumes to be modified on Intel-based Macs, you must not try making any alteration in the boot volume when booted from it. In case you have the bootable disc of your Mac, you can use it to make required changes in the boot volume.”

Though you can create, format, delete, modify, and repair any of the secondary volumes of you Mac drive whenever it is required, you cannot; in fact, you must not try making even a single alternation in the Mac boot volume since it may cause failure of your Mac. Well, in case you need to perform any of these operations on the boot volume, you need to boot from a secondary bootable media. For this, you can boot from either Mac bootable disc or Recovery HD (i.e. in case of Mac OS X Lion or Mountain Lion).

Need for Bootable Disc

Booting from Mac bootable disc is quite safe and productive as compared to booting from Recovery HD. In fact, following are the advantageous of having the bootable disc:

1. With bootable disc, you can repair corrupt Mac boot volume.

2. With bootable disc, you can repair corrupt permissions of Mac boot volume.

3. Bootable disc facilitates installing Mac OS X on your as well as other Mac machines compatible with this version of Mac OS X.

4. In case the Recovery HD of your Mac Lion or Mountain Lion is not accessible, you can boot from Mac bootable disc to modify Mac boot volume.

5. Having bootable disc eliminates the need for downloading Mac OS X installer app whenever it is required.

6. Bootable disc helps you clone Mac boot volume as well as the entire Mac drive.

Well, if you are a Mac OS X Lion or Mountain Lion user, then you must know that you were not shipped Mac bootable disc with your Mac machine. Therefore, either you create a bootable DVD from your current boot volume using a professional partition manager for Mac or download Mac OS X installer app from the online Mac App Store after purchasing it.

Creating Mac Bootable Disc

After being known with the advantageous of having Mac bootable disc, you must want it for your Mac as well. Well, in case you do not have it, you can create it on your own after downloading the Mac OS X installer app.

Step1: Go to /Applications folder and look for Mac OS X installer.app

(You can recognize it with the name “Install Mac OS X <version name>.app”, where version name would be Lion or Mountain Lion.)

Step2: After this app is located, right click (or control + click) it and choose ‘Show Package Contents’ in the context menu.

Step3: In the folder that opens, navigate to Contents > Shared Support folder and look for the ‘InstallESD.dmg’ file.

Step4: Now, minimize this window and launch Disk Utility (Applications > Utilities >Disk Utility).

Step5: Drag the ‘InstallESD.dmg’ file to the left pane of Disk Utility.

Step6: After that, select the ‘InstallESD.dmg’ file at the left and click the Burn button on the Disk Utility toolbar.

Step7: When prompted, insert a blank DVD and choose/ fill the required options in the window that pops up, and then click the Burn button.

As the disc burning process is finished, a message pops up to notify the same to you.

Partitioning Mac drive by resizing Mac boot volume

As discussed above, the boot volume of your Mac drive is the primary volume that you must not try modifying while booting from it. Therefore, you need some other bootable media (e.g. Mac OS X boot disc). After creating Mac bootable disc using the steps discussed above, you need to boot from it for making required modifications in it. In this regard, you need to track the following steps:

Step1: When your Mac is running, insert Mac OS X boot disc and restart it.

Step2: Right after you hear Mac startup tone, hold down the C key to boot from the Mac boot disc.

Step3: When you see the gray screen, release the C key.

Step4: In the Mac OS X boot window, select a preferred installation language and click the Next button.

Step5: Now, in Mac OS X Utilities screen, launch Disk Utility.

Step6: Once in Disk Utility, select your Mac drive at the left and go to the Partition tab at the right.

Step7: In its graphical view, select the Mac boot volume (i.e. the volume named as Macintosh HD) and drag it upwards (to shrink it) by holding its bottom boundary or the bottom-right corner.

(By shrinking the boot volume, you create free space on your Mac drive. Using the available free space, you can either enlarge one or more existing Mac volumes or create a new one instead.)

Step8: When required amount of free space is available, highlight it in the graphical view and click add (+) button to create a new volume.

Step9: Now, give this volume a Name, choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled) as its Format, and specify its Size under Volume Information area.

Step10: When you are finished, click the Apply button to save the changes.

Now, exit Disk Utility and other windows as well, and then restart your Mac normally. Make sure you eject the boot disc and verify the changes you have made after booting it in normal mode.

In order to perform all these operations, you can also use a professional partition manager for Mac. However, make sure you are well familiar with it before making any alteration, as it may adversely affect your Mac.

How to Scan Mac Drive for Bad Sectors and Repair Instantly

You might be impressed with the eye pleasing GUI (Graphical User Interface), faster data processing speed, and many other features that your Mac offers. Though these features altogether make Mac computers excellent, they are also sophisticated in equal proportion. Since computers are nothing but electronic-cum-digital machines, you may not find your Mac performing seamlessly well during its entire lifetime. In fact, they usually come across performance issues after a long period of rigorous usage and none of the computers guarantee for its incessantly high performance. Therefore, not only you, but many other users as well find the situation quite weird when a so-called excellent computer faces performance issues. In such adverse situations, you must be careful about the health status of your Mac and take necessary precautions as well as suitable actions to fix them.

Computers embed hard drive as the prime source of data storage space that facilitates storing massive amount of data. However, do you think your data is safe from a number of internal as well as external threats when it is saved on your Mac drive? In fact, when it comes to the security of your data, you just cannot rely on a hard drive, as it is subject to corruption due to power failures, Master Boot Record corruption, and other like causes. Not even the hard drive, but other electronic as well as mechanical components embedded on your Mac are also prone to corruption.

In this regard, though you cannot prevent failure of your Mac drive due or corruption, you can surely avoid data loss by performing a regular health checkup of your Mac drive. For faster and efficient results, it is recommended to perform Mac drive scan using a professional Mac drive monitoring application. However, you can perform this task using Mac inbuilt Disk Utility for this task. With Disk Utility, you need to verify Mac volumes individually and the complete drive at once. Well, in case you find any error after it finishes hard drive scanning, you need to make necessary repairs immediately to avoid its failure.

In fact, you can refer to the S.M.A.R.T. (Self Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology) status of your Mac drive regularly (especially when you face slowdown issues). In case you see the S.M.A.R.T. status of your Mac drive as Verified, it means this drive is fine. However, if it is not shown as Verified, you are recommended to back up your data or upgrade to a new drive, as it may crash anytime, thereby ruining all your data.

Important: In order to avoid data loss due to failure of your Mac drive, you are recommended to check its S.M.A.R.T. status regularly.

In this regard, you can follow the steps discussed underneath using Disk Utility:

• Launch Disk Utility (Navigate to Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility).
• Select your Mac drive at the left and go to the First Aid tab at the right.
• Now, look for the S.M.A.R.T. status in the bottom pane.
• If it is shown as Verified, then your Mac drive is OK.
• Otherwise, you need to repair it.

Checking Mac drive for bad sectors

Since the S.M.A.R.T. status refers to the health status of the entire hard drive, you cannot judge exactly where the corruption lies. Therefore, you need to check in which volume exactly the corruption lies. In this regard, you need to track the following steps:

Step1:   In the left pane of Disk Utility, select one of the secondary volumes and click the Verify Disk button at the right under First Aid tab.

Step2: If it reports any error, then click Repair Disk button.

Step3: Likewise, repeat the Step1 and Step2 for other secondary volumes as well.

In this way, you can repair the corruption if it lies in any of the secondary volumes of your Mac drive. However, if the corruption lies in the boot volume, it becomes quite difficult to fix it. In such a situation, your Mac does not boot normally. In fact, sometimes, it does not boot even. Therefore, in order to check and repair the boot volume of your Mac drive, you need to boot your Mac from a secondary bootable media.

In this regard, you can boot your Mac Lion or Mountain Lion from Recovery HD or earlier versions of Mac from Mac OS X install disc.

Booting Mac from Recovery HD

Go to Apple menu and choose restart in the context menu. When it is booting, you need to hold down the Command + R keys or the Option key. Once you see the grey screen, release these keys. From the Mac OS X utilities window, launch Disk Utility.

Booting your Mac from install disc

When your Mac is running, insert your Mac OS X install disc and restart it. Now, hold down the C key to boot from the Mac install disc and release it as you see the grey screen. In the installation mode, choose a preferred Mac OS X language and click the Next button. After that, launch Disk Utility in the Mac OS X utilities window.

Repairing Mac boot volume

In order to repair Mac boot volume, you need to track the following steps:

• Select the volume Macintosh HD in the left pane of Disk Utility and click the button Repair Disk at the right under First Aid tab.
• When it is finished, exit Disk Utility and other windows as well.
• Now, boot your Mac normally.

You most likely will not find the issues again. However, if the same issues persist, you need to perform Mac drive scan using a professional Mac volume repair application.

Google acquires robot making company Boston Dynamics

Google has acquired the world’s fastest running robot developer – The Boston Dynamics. The deal’s prize and size are not disclosed but it clearly highlights Google interest in robotics. This is the eighth deal of 2013 when company has acquired a robotics firm. Few others include Schaft.inc, Redwood Robotics, and Industrial Perception.

In Larry Page’s words:

"I am excited about Andy Rubin's next project. His last big bet, Android, started off as a crazy idea that ended up putting a supercomputer in hundreds of millions of pockets. It is still very early days for this, but I can't wait to see the progress."

Dr Raibert, a former professor of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and founder of Boston Dynamics, (recognized as the “father of walking robots” in the United States), reveals that it is exciting to see Google’s “ability to think very, very big”.

Dr Raibert always believed in making advancements in making robotics technology rather than becoming a full-time military robot developer.