TechCrunch reported that Facebook blocks and prevents you from posting any Polls that contain terms such as MySpace, Orkut, etc. So if you mention the competition it will not allow you to post your Poll giving the following error, “The poll question contains restricted text.”

To bypass this, there is an easy hack…

Create a new poll and Type in your Poll Question with a restricted term.

Hold down on the Alt key and press 0173. This creates a blank character. Carry this out multiple times in the restricted term (Before, in-between and after) that is banned, in our case, MySpace.

e.g. Is Facebook better than M(alt+0173)ySp(alt + 0173)ace(alt + 0173)(alt + 0173)

The Facebook algorithm reads it as shown above and lets you publish your Poll. While to the human eye it will be Is Facebook better than MySpace.

Easy? For proof see the screenshot below…

Know problems:

• You might have to try this a few times, for some reason it rejects it at times and allows it after a few tries.
• Also try placing the Alt 0173 in more random places in the restricted term
• I tired placing a ? at the end of the Poll question and did this hack, for some reason Facebook manages to catch the term despite the hack and will not let you publish the poll.

Do you know of any suggestions or hacks? Comment below or Contact us!

I came across http://www.jakkass.com and saw that they offer free SMS text service. You can send free text messages to any number, anywhere!

At first I was a bit skeptical thinking it was a scam but I gave it a go and it works flawlessly! I don’t know how they can afford to keep up such a service but enjoy it while it lasts.

So if you can’t find your phone, or want to save money on the pay as you go… Use jakkass, it is simple, there is no sign-up required and it gets the work done.

The US military is blocking troops from using certain websites for sharing photos, video clips and messages. A memo from General BB Bell, US Forces Korea commander, says use of YouTube, MySpace and 11 other popular sites via US military portals will be blocked. The US says the use is taking up too much bandwidth and slows down the military’s computer system. But a US Strategic Command spokesman said a “secondary benefit” was to help operational security.

BBC defence and security correspondent Rob Watson says the decision could stop thousands of soldiers from communicating with friends and loved ones. For many US soldiers serving overseas, YouTube and other similar websites are a popular way of keeping in touch, he says.

The spokesman for US Strategic Command and Joint Task Force-Global Network Operations said: “As these sites have become more and more popular, they’ve had an impact on bandwidth resources and network availability and we’re having to restrict use of some of them.” He denied that the military was unhappy with the nature of content being posted. “We’re not stopping anybody looking at anything. It’s not the nature of the stuff being posted.”

However, he added: “Wherever you have sites this popular, you have the potential for malicious activity. A secondary benefit of restricting use of these sites is for operational security.” The block on accessing such websites will not affect those soldiers with their own personal computers. Those, though, are few and far between in places like Iraq and Afghanistan, our correspondent says. The Pentagon only recently started posting its own videos on YouTube, showing soldiers in action in Iraq in a move designed to reach out to a younger audience and to show the successes of the US military.

In two months, the Multi-National Force-Iraq channel has climbed to 16th in YouTube’s most subscribed-to listing and has, the military says, just passed the one million video-views mark. The BBC’s Laura Smith-Spark in Washington says the channel is also a belated attempt to counter the influence of Islamist extremist groups, that have used the internet to post footage of hostages or attacks on US forces.

Source: BBC News

IE7Pro is a plug-in for Internet Explorer 7 (duh!). But I must say I was pretty sceptical about using it as I don’t really like plug-ins.  There is something different about this… It is easy to download and install, no spy-ware and above really makes IE7 easier and  maybe fun to use.

I like the Super Drag and Drop and the Mouse gestures features and I was thinking why didn’t IE7 integrate these features when it released? The  userscripts integration (similar to Greaskmonkey, FF) and save ‘Current Tab to Image‘ option was very useful and did save quite a bit of time. So there you go everyone… Go download IE7Pro  and enjoy your IE7 as it should be.

Visit http://www.ie7pro.com/ for more details and a list of all the features.

I was really excited when I found out that you can use a USB drive as a RAM booster on Vista but was disappointed when Vista decided that my USB drive (1GB Microsoft MVP edition) does not meet the requirements. WTF??

Well, I came across an article by Chris..

“Got a USB stick that Windows Vista doesn’t want to use for memory? Read how to use it anyway.

Sooner or later, everyone’s computer tends to slow down. Call it old age or simply doing too much, but even the most cutting edge PC’s seem to lag after a year or so of use.

For those who aren’t keen on opening up their PC to put in more memory, Windows Vista has a handy little feature called ReadyBoost that can use USB sticks for additional memory. Unfortunately, Windows Vista doesn’t take kindly to the slower sticks on the market and refuses to use them. Proving once again that we control the computer and not the other way around, here’s four simple steps to get around this limitation and use any USB stick you have to increase your computers memory.”

Click here to read the article and boost your PC speed in no time!

(It seems to be down, Click here to see the cache)

1. Upgrade the hard drive (and how to open the case).
2. Run Xvid movies.
3. Attach a keyboard and mouse.
4. Enable SSH.
5. Install VNC remote desktop.
6. Boot Apple TV from a USB drive.
7. Turn it into a web server.
8. Install OS X.
9. Install the Asterisk open-source VOIP system.

Source: Wired

We couldn’t put it clearer - use Firefox! It is so much better than Internet Explorer or Opera, even Safari. You can get Firefox on a number of different platforms - for Windows, Linux, Red Hat, and even Apple Mac, don’t forget mobile editions.

It loads things faster, it’s more secure, it’s simpler, it shows websites much better than Internet Explorer, it manages passwords and saved data much better, it’s easier to use, it updates itself automatically to keep you secure from online threats, it has in-built safety features such as a phishing filter (which Microsoft stole of course). All these, and it’s completely free.

Currently 61% of Live and Beyond viewers (as of 31st March 2007) use Internet Explorer and only 28% use Firefox. C’mon, use Firefox to view Live and Beyond and show us that you really support open-source and better browsing. Let’s try and get that figure up to at least past half way. If you’re using Internet Explorer, we’ll tell you so in the top right hand corner of your screen.

Cutting down time on the ransom notes

Ransom Note Generator via Lifehacker

p.s. Doesn’t seem to generate the most important symbol ,’$’. Dammit!!

Want a list of useful and interesting web companies and startups? Yes, it is arranged in an alphabetical order.

Guess where?

The TechCrunch Companies and Product list that lists all the Companies and Products featured on TC. Very useful when you want to quickly search for a company/product or randomly click on any link if you are bored!

There are a few really popular websites out there which aren’t really websites, they’re web operating systems and they can be quite miraculous to say the least. In the build up to the Google OS announcement (which to be honest isn’t that exciting), there are a number of better web operating systems out there and here’s a quick rundown.

Web OS: eyeOS
Website: http://eyeos.org
Graphics: 1/10 - they could have done a lot better, a background for a start.
Useability: 5/10 - has basic applications and works well, but too browser-based.
Simplicity: 4/10 - things not as clear as they could be.
Overall: 10/30

Web OS: YouOS
Website: www.youos.com
Graphics: 4/10 - rather basic but it looks good and simple.
Useability: 6/10 - basic applications that you’d expect in an operating system.
Simplicity: 8/10 - a little too basic perhaps, but it sports a good show.
Overall: 18/30

Web OS: Desktoptwo
Website: http://desktoptwo.com
Graphics: 5/10 - nothing too flashy but gives good perspective and easy to read.
Useability: 9/10 - has all the applications you’d need - email, OpenOfifice, RSS and IM etc.
Simplicity: 7/10 - very similar to Mac OSX and user experience is very friendly.
Overall: 21/30

Web OS: Goowy
Website: www.goowy.com
Graphics: 9/10 - Mac OSX design but with Vista style graphics and transparency in the taskbar and the windows.
Useability: 8/10 - everything you might want in a web environment anywhere you go - a Mac OSX style taskbar at the bottom is a hit.
Simplicity: 8/10 - useful hints, tooltips and icons make it clear what you want to use - plenty of options to customise your desktop with.
Overall: 25/30 - definately the one you’d want to use.