Custom Kernel Can Increase Performance and Better Battery Life

As I wrote yesterday you can breath new life in to a old device without spending a fortune on a new phone. In my post New Life for Older Devices I detailed my experience in rooting and flashing a custom mod. This has turned my older, outdated phone into a powerhouse device with new features and settings that were unavailable using the stock Rom.

Many cellphone users are plagued with the same common issue poor performance and short battery life. Even after tweaking each setting and making adjustments the battery life is still poor and at times hinders the performance of the device. For stock users some tweaks can only be made with a rooted device, and other need both a rooted device and a custom Kernel.

On the XDA site there are many custom kernels that in combination with Cyanogenmod can greatly enhance both battery life and performance. I use the AJK Kernel and Cyanogen 10.1.3 with stweaks, this makes setting and changing different profiles easy and as an added backup you can reset profiles within the recovery mod in case you get stuck in a boot loop or the results were less that positive. making for a safe return to default settings.

Since I am not an expert in flashing and installing roms, I leave that to you. I am providing the links for you to be able to conduct you own research and decide if this appeals to your need to update and reinvigorate your older device.

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Cyanogenmod- New life for older devices

I have been using the same cell phone for a number of years and was stuck using the stock rom which has not been updated in at lease a year. My Samsung Galaxy S2 I777 is running Gingerbread and Straight Talk has discounted OTA updates which renders this phone obsolete. One possible solution is to buy a new phone, some new state of the art smart phone, or flash a new rom ( which will void any warranty. ) I chose the latter.

After doing some intense reading and research at both the XDA Developer site and the Cyanogenmod Site I found the tutorial to both Root and flash a new mod for my i777 device. I don't recommend this approach unless one understands the process and the possible outcome of flashing/rooting your device. This will void your warranty and you will not be able to get support through your carrier. Rooting and flashing can also brick your device resulting in boot loops or rendering your device unbootable.

After reading and understanding the risks you can breath new life into your device and take advantage of features and apps that your device would otherwise not have access to. Rooting and flashing can also unlock access to setting that might have been disabled due to a particular carrier. For example my carrier has disabled both tethering and the ability to change, add, or modify APN settings. I was also limited to using the Gingerbread Android OS, after flashing Cyanogenmod I am running Jellybean 4.2.2 and in a few weeks time will be able to move up to 4.3 and eventually the new kitkat 4.4.

 With the wealth of developers, wide range of cell phones and tablets and the enormous amount of research material on rooting devices you can take an old phone and teach it new tricks so to speak. If you want to save money or are like many and stuck using an older phone this can be a worth wild way to have the latest and greatest features and apps without the cost of a new smarter often more expensive phone.

Here is a starting point if you wish to research if your device can be rooted and flashed and the tutorials in doing so. You can look here to see if your device or tablet is supported. Device Support List

1) XDA Develpoers
2) Cyanogenmod

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Improved Preformance and Privacy in Firefox 21.0

Improved Preformance and Privacy in Firefox 21.0

 Mozilla has released Firefox 21.0 Final, a major new version of its cross-platform, open-source web browser for Windows, Mac and Linux. Version 21 gives users more control over their tracking cookie preferences, extends the social API to support four new providers and implements support for tools to help with troubleshooting and performance issues.

Also included in this release are improvements to its Do Not Track Feature, users now have three options via the Privacy tab of Firefox’s Options dialog. The default "user says nothing" and "user says don’t track" have now been joined by a "Tell sites that I want to be tracked" option for those who wish to allow tracking in order to see more personally relevant advertising.

Mozilla has also improved Firefox's Social API to support new providers. Users now have the option to add Asian social providers Mixi and Weibo, plus news aggregators msnNOW and Cliqz. Once installed, users switch between providers by clicking the main button and selecting the chosen provider from the list.

 Lastly is this author's personal favorite the new Firefox Health Report. A tool that provides information designed to improve browser performance while also sharing data with Mozilla, This can be disabled for those that do not wish to share data with Mozilla, Options dialog -- select Advanced > Data Choices tab to do so. Firefox will also monitor start-up times and alert users via the status bar of slow start times and offer a link to a web site which will offer advise on how to improve start up speed.

Version 21.0 update also comes with the promise of improved graphics performance, the implementation of Remote Profiling for developers and the removal of support for certain depreciated History APIs as part of Firefox’s drive towards asynchronous History and Bookmarks.

Download FireFox 21.0

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nVIDIA GeForce Drivers for Windows 320.14 Beta

nVIDIA GeForce Drivers for Windows 320.14 Beta

Recommended driver for Nvidia cards. It is Microsoft WHQL-certified and will also be available for download via Windows Update.

 nVIDIA GeForce Drivers for Windows 320.14 Beta

Latest Changes

• - Performance Boost – Increases performance by up to 20% for GeForce 400/500/600 series GPUs in several PC games vs. GeForce 314.22 WHQL-certified drivers. Results will vary depending on your GPU and system configuration. Here is one example of measured ga
• - GeForce GTX 660: ?Up to 20% in Dirt: Showdown
• - Up to 18% in Tomb Raider
• - Up to 10% in Metro: Last Light
• - Up to 8% in StarCraft II
• - Up to 6% in Sniper Elite V2

Download nVidia Drivers

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Homedale:WLAN Monitor WIFI access Points

Homedale::WLAN Monitor

Homedale lets you search for Wi-Fi / WLAN Access Points and monitor their signal strength. See an overview of all available access points with their signal strength, encryption [WEP/WPA/WPA2], speed and channel. You can also monitor the signal strength of selected access points in a graph over the time. With a right mouse click, you can start logging to a text file and create a screenshot. Make a right mouse click to connect and disconnect from a WLAN access point.

Signal Strength

You can also monitor the signal strength of selected access points in a graph over the time. With a right mouse click, you can start logging to a text file and create a screenshot.

 

Connect

Make a right mouse click to connect and disconnect from a WLAN access point. The blue icon shows the currently connected access point.

 

Download Homedale.zip

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