3 ways to speed up your old smartphone

As smartphones age, they tend to slow down and lag too much while performing the simplest of tasks. But worry not, you can make your old gadget operate faster, just follow these three tips:

Updates
Firmware updates take care of lags, bugs, and other issues that you may not be aware of. Such issues crop up with reasonable frequency, so updating regularly will ensure the best performance for your phone.

Memory issues
Low internal memory might be the reason behind any severe lag that your phone is experiencing. Move your media (pictures, MP3 files, videos, and so forth) to the external memory, usually an SD card. Some low-end and mid-range smartphones might already have low internal memories, in which case, moving your files to the SD card won't help that much.

Apps
The application store of your phone, regardless of which OS it uses, will have plenty of apps that can help boost your phone's performance. Task managers help you monitor and close unnecessary processes. This frees up some RAM memory, and so, the phone will run faster. A good antivirus application will scan your phone for any possible viruses and malwares, which can also slow down your phone.

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An algorithm to help you find best dating partner

US researchers have developed an algorithm for dating sites that uses a person's contact history to recommend partners with whom they may be more amorously compatible.
The team, led by assistant professor Kang Zhao, developed a model that combines two factors to recommend contacts: a client's tastes, determined by the types of people he/she has contacted; and attractiveness/unattractiveness , determined by how many of those contacts are returned and how many are not.

Those combinations, Zhao says, do a better job of predicting successful connections , because what people put in their profile may not always be what they're really interested in.

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3 tips to set up a blog

A blog can be a great outlet to express your personal opinions on any subject. But many people are not sure how to create a blog on the internet. Here are three tips to help you set up a blog from the scratch.
The blog address
The domain name is probably the most important when it comes to a blog, because it will be your calling card. If your blog is successful, it can become a status symbol as well as a brand by itself. Make sure you choose the right blog web address so that people can find it easier to search for you on the internet.

Given a choice, always go for '.com' . Avoid '.info' or '.net' as they may not help much. Also, be sure to use the keywords you've chosen when setting it up.

Customizations
Looks do matter when it comes to a blog, more so when there are a lot of other blogs to compete with if say, you have a food blog, of which there are plenty. There are several websites that offer an extensive selection of themes that are both free and chargeable.

After you've settled on an attractive look, install plugins on the page that can make visiting your blog as fun and interactive experience for people who visit it. Plugins also help you to manage your blog efficiently.

Write away
After spending time and energy to make sure your blog looks spiffy enough, it's time to populate it with interesting articles. The more unique your style is, the more it'll stand out. And if you're hit by a case of writer's block, you'll find plenty of online tutorials and how-to articles that will help you create awesome content for your blog.

While following online guides might be a good way to start, don't let it hamper or inhibit your own style. Consider getting some of your friends to contribute as well. In this case, more is always good.

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LG to launch curved smartphone in India on Dec 11

LG is slated to unveil its curved screen smartphone G Flex in India on December 11. The company has sent press invites for a launch event to be held in New Delhi.

Though the G Flex made its debut in October, its sales had been restricted to South Korea only. Last week, LG announced the international launch dates for the smartphone, though it did not revealed when the device will hit the Indian market.

LG G Flex is the second smartphone in the world to have a curved screen, next only to Samsung Galaxy Round. LG G Flex has a 6-inch flexible OLED screen that is curved along the horizontal axis. The phone's 3,500mAh battery is also curved.

Though the screen is flexible by itself, the glass casing does not allow it to be bent at will. However, the phone still bends if sufficient pressure is applied on it as the glass film is thin enough to be bent slightly.

The G Flex's curved screen provides the same viewing experience from 1 feet away that a 55-inch HDTV does from 10 feet, LG claims.

Apart from the curved display, this phone has another unique feature - a self-healing back. LG has used a self-healing technology on the phone's back, which allows it to heal small scruffs and scratches on the rear panel within 5 minutes. This self-healing is due to a molecular substructure coating on top of the phone's back panel and depends a lot on the room temperature; hotter the room, faster the healing. However, deep cuts that pierce through the coating will not be healed.

Key specs of LG G Flex include a 720 display, 2.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor, 2GB RAM and 32GB internal storage. Just like LG G2, the new G Flex has the power key and volume buttons on the back, positioned below a 13MP camera with LED flash.

Earlier, LG said that the G Flex will be available for pre-orders in Singapore from December 8 and Hong Kong from December 13. It will hit other "key markets" of Asia by the end of the year. The smartphone will be available in Europe early next year and hit the US market thereafter.

It is rumoured that the successor of LG G Flex, expected to hit the market next year, will have a screen that will bend at 90-degree angle with ease. Samsung has also revealed that it will launch its first phone with a bendable screen next year.

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Yahoo buys Evntlive, an online live concert service

Yahoo has reportedly acquired an online platform for live concerts, Evntlive, for an undisclosed amount.

Evntlive was founded in late 2011 and launched in beta in April 2012 after raising $2.3 million in funding from notable investors including Vint Cerf.

According to Mashable, post the deal, Evntlive will be shutting down its services and join the Yahoo team for their projects.

Evntlive said that since their beta service launch, they have live streamed hundreds of performances from amazing artists and festivals to fans all over the world adding that although, now their service will not be available, they are excited to join Yahoo.

Meanwhile, a Yahoo representative said that they were excited to welcome Evntlive and see a lot of potential for how they can expand upon their shared vision for an entertaining content consumption experience.

Since CEO Marrisa Mayer took charge of the once-popular internet giant, there have been many acquisitions with the most notable being that of Tumblr for a whopping $1.1 billion.

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Email authentication has reduced phishing: Google

The development of email authentication standards has finally reduced email phishing scams, according to Googlesecurity researchers.

Elie Bursztein, Google's anti-abuse research lead, and Vijay Eranti, Gmail's anti-abuse technical lead, said that these authentication standards, called DomainKey Identified Email (DKIM) and Sender Policy Framework (SPF), are now in widespread use, CNET reports.

Internet industry and standards groups have been working since 2004 to get email providers to use authentication to put a halt to e-mail address imitation.

According to the report, more than 3.5 million domains that are active on a weekly basis use the SPF standard, when sending email via SMTP servers, and nearly half-a-million email sending and receiving domains that are active weekly adopted the DKIM standards.

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Healthkart appoints ex-Zynga exec as CTO

Gurgaon-based online health store Healthkart has named former Farmville executive Gaurav Agarwal as its chief technology officer and head of products, an announcement that highlights Indian internet companies' focus on attracting managerial talent as they look to ramp up operations.

Agarwal, 35, was earlier general manager at Farmville, the popular social network game launched by Silicon Valley-based gaming developer Zynga. He will also head Healthkart's products division, with a specific focus on taking forward the company's web and mobile initiatives.

"Gaurav will focus on driving higher conversions for Healthkart, customer engagement and bring in global best practices for the company," said Prashant Tandon, cofounder, Bright Lifecare, which owns and runs Healthkart.

The high-profile hire comes at a time when Indian internet companies are increasingly bringing on board top corporate executives to drive growth strategies, as they march towards profitability and prepare to go public. Last year, e-commerce major Flipkart named Aparna Ballakur, formerly of Yahoo India, as its human resources head. The company made the headlines last week after it emerged as the top recruiter at the country's premier engineering institutions - the Indian Institutes of Technology.

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