If you're on Android, just don't use NetTraffic Monitor (from PopSoft) to monitor your traffic. It causes only issues.

NetTraffic Monitor is an app from Android Market which claims to be capable of monitoring your data traffic. It seemed quite weird to me even from the first run, because it requested me super user access (I'm running on a rooted device), even though its only work was to view and count my traffic, and nothing more.

After I installed it, I observed that the internet over 3G/2G networks was no longer working (the device was sending data, but it wasn't able to receive back anything). Actually, I didn't realize that the problems started after I installed NetTraffic Monitor, it took me about 2 days to realize that (during that time, I spoke with my carrier, thinking that they had problems with the network).

The app indicated only about 30 kb during that two days on mobile data networks, and absolutely no traffic on WiFi, even though I probably had about 50 MB on it. So I decided to uninstall it because it was useless (I also realized then that the problems started after its installation), and after the uninstall, guess what? The internet started working normally, and I haven't got any problems since then.

The app is the first one if you search for "Traffic Monitor" in the Market, so just be careful what you install and what you don't.

Setting up WDS (wireless distribution system) between Asus routers.

Asus made a great job with their routers, being a popular company in this domain. Their routers assure a pretty good range of signal, excellent speed, and high stability for network connections. But in a large building a normal router from Asus won't be enough. It won't be able deliver signal and will loose speed if thick walls and other wireless/bluetooth/infrared devices are between. Here comes the WDS, or Wireless Distribution System.

This system consists of two routers of the same type or not (at least both from Asus), which will be connected together resulting a larger area of signal, and higher speeds on devices which had lower signals on a single router.

You need one of the routers to be connected to the internet via a ethernet cable, and the other will communicate (together with his clients) through the first one. Please be sure which one is connected "outside" on the internet (the main router, we'll name it "first router"), and the other one, which will communicate through the "first router" (this is going to be named the "second router")

Here is a guide that will let you know everything that you need to do (with pictures): http://www.4shared.com/file/229730229/3f658e18/ASUS_Wireless_Router_WDS_Confi.html

The main things are:

• both routers must be set to operate into "Hybrid" mode
• both routers must operate on the same Channel
• both routers must have the same security method and the same password
• their LAN ip's must NOT be the same!
• first router must have DHCP server enabled, while the other (second one) doesn't
• first router must have normal internet settings (depending on how you connect to the internet), while the other must have "automated IP" settings.
• after you are sure that you know their LAN ip addresses, give them the same SSID (name)

By doing the last point, any wireless device will allow you to connect to the router corresponding to that name. But, in fact, there are two routers working together under the same name.

Now you should be able to get on the internet on wireless or via any LAN port from both routers.

Method implemented for Asus WL-520GC <--> Asus WL-520GU by me and works perfectly. Good luck!

Meebo is on iPhone.

Meebo is the well known multi-platform internet messenger, and now, it is available for free on the iPhone. It runs on the browser on desktops, but, on the iPhone, it is a stand-alone application. I don't know why, but I was expecting for it to work and move very fast. And I was not disappointed. It really does both things. And it's probably compatible with any network on this planet, without Twitter.

It has a pretty cool interface, and allows push notifications on your iPhone (all new messages can be delivered automatically to your phone and you will be notified of this). The main disadvantage is that an account at Meebo must be made, but this task takes no more that one minute. And this has, of course, to be made only once.

So, give it a try. Search for "Meebo" in the App Store or download via your PC/Mac by clicking here.

Update: Here's a video (sorry for low resolution):

What do you think about the latest attack against Google ?

As you probably know already, a few days ago there was an attack which came from China, against about 38 companies (announced till now), the most discussed being against Google. Many experts say that the attack has been one of the most sophisticated that took place in the last years. After Google confirmed the attack, they said that they think about closing their business in China. But this thing is almost impossible to happen (the probably said that because they were angry after the attack). The attack attempt to get access to Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists, which failed, says Google.

Another company attacked is Adobe, but it has less importance, everybody being focused especially on the attack against Google. The attack seems to came through Internet Explorer, many users being warned to stop using Internet Explorer until Microsoft launches a patch to fix the vulnerability which affects all versions (come on.... how many users are regularly updating Windows/Internet Explorer ?).

Read more on http://www.businessweek.com/technology/technology_at_work/archives/2010/01/how_did_the_goo.html

Problems with TweetDeck shortcuts on Ubuntu Linux.

I've turned my laptop to Ubuntu a few hours ago, and, like usual, I installed a few programs, including TweetDeck. After I rebooted, I noticed that there were no shortcuts for TweetDeck anymore. I searched for it on Applications -> Internet, where isn't, and it is not even on my panel (where I put it after installation). It's not the first time I get this problem, so I've decided to report the problem to TweetDeck, hoping they have a solution (I searched through Google, but it seems that no one has reported problems like these with TweetDeck).

TweetDeck launches and works if I press "Launch TweetDeck" button on their website, so the installation is intact. I guess there are only some issues with shortcuts.If guys from TweetDeck will give me a solution, I'll post it here, even it will be to go where TweetDeck is installed and send from there a shortcut to desktop.

Update: I've talked to somebody from TweetDeck support team, and he told me that it sounds like being an issue with Adobe Air. He recommended me to reinstall TweetDeck, but since Adobe Air is managing it, I wasn't able to find a solution to uninstall it. I've just played a little with Adobe Air (just a few clicks inside it) and after I found TweetDeck into "Accessories". I don't know how it got there, what I know is that it was reseated in somehow, because that "welcome" window appears again (I set it when everything was normal not to open again).

So, I recommend you searching for the shortcut into "Accessories", and if you can't find it there, try to play a little with Adobe Air, eventually give it an uninstall, and then install it again.

Opera 10.05 pre-alpha is available for download.

Opera 10.05 pre-alpha is now available. The new version has a nicer changed interface, and moves faster than the previous one. It seems that opera is again the leader when we are talking about the load time of the webpages, but I personally couldn't prove that. I will soon make some tests on the latest versions of browsers, and then I will tell you this version of Opera is the fastest browser available. As it is a pre-alpha, it is still recommended for testing purposes only. It might have problems displaying some websites, as it's not the final version. I can't actually post from it to my blog, because when I'm trying to do that, it gives me a 404 error and says that the page is not found (that's a strange error, Opera!). But I like it so far, so I think that the final version will be a real success.

Download link (Windows): http://www.4shared.com/file/186494407/f3251093/Opera_1050_3172_en.html

Download link (Mac): http://www.4shared.com/file/186516659/3b4b4d50/Opera_1050_8166_Intel.html