Usage

1. Connect your phone and PC on the same network.

2. Download Unified Remote’s Windows app, install it on your PC and launch it.

3. Download and install Unified Remote app from the Google Play Store or the Windows Phone app.

4. Launch Unified Remote on your phone, go to “Servers” and click on “Add -> Automatic“.

If everything is setup properly, you should see your PC’s name show up in the list. Select it and head over to “Remotes“.

In case you don’t see your PC’s name pop up on the server list, make sure both your PC and the phone is connected to the same wireless network and your firewall is not blocking the Unified Remote app.

What about Linux and Mac?

Just in case you are not a Windows user, it seems that the developers are working on a Linux and Mac version, so you should be seeing it in the near future. The iPhone version is also planned to release soon.

Stuff I Bet You Didn’t Know

Other than the usual media player, did you know that Unified Remote can control almost any electronic device including light bulbs and fans (yes, I’m serious), provided you’ve set it up correctly? They’ve got programmed hardware (TellStick) that communicates with electronic devices over an IR transmitter and receiver. No kidding. check out this link to find out more.

Free?

Unified Remote is free, but it also comes with a premium version ($3.99) that is packed with more features such as browser navigation remote for Chrome, Firefox, Opera and IE, supports Pandora, Hulu, Boxee, YouTube, NetFlix, Picasa, Windows Photo Viewer and PowerPoint and switch for turning the monitor display on or off, system standby etc.

Conclusion

Unified Remote is one of the most powerful remote control app that we have ever come across. If you are using your PC as a media center, this is surely one app you will want to own.

The post How to Remote Control Your PC Using Your Phone [Android/Windows] appeared first on Make Tech Easier.

Jiggyape is an online music player that provides a much better user interface than YouTube. Not only does it allows you to search for your favorite songs/artists, you can also create and save your playlist without having to login to your Youtube account or create a new user account. The best thing is, it is completely free, and there are no ads as well.

Creating your playlist

When you arrive at Jiggyape, you will see a big fat search bar right at the top of the site. All you have to do is enter the artist/song name and Jiggyape will list all the titles in the panel below. You can then add the videos to your playlist by clicking the + button before the video name.

Import your music library:

What makes Jiggyape stand out is the Library feature. Jiggyape has a desktop application (Windows only) which syncs your music library with their site. Jiggyape does not upload your music files to their server. Instead your song titles are cross-referenced with YouTube’s database and the best match is stored in your Jiggyape library. The imported music library data is associated to your email address. Once the importing is done, you just have to enter your email address in Jiggyape’s Library tab and the matching music are displayed.

Instead of having to spend countless hours on YouTube finding the music video for your entire music library – it’s just a matter of minutes with Jiggyape.

Discover new music and find similar songs

The Genie is an exciting feature in Jiggyape which will scan your playlist and your library and suggest similar songs. It also sports a feature where you can right-click on any song from your playlist, select “Get Similar Songs” option and discover new music that you’re probably going to like!

Video Player:

Last but not the least, Jiggyape comes with a dedicated (large) video player which lets you view your favorite music videos when you’re in the mood.

Pros and Cons:

Pros:

• Free to use and contains no ads!
• Great library import feature.
• Discover new music and find similar songs from YouTube.
• Supports multiple languages.
• Great Google Chrome app. Download it from the Chrome Web Store!

Cons:

• Does not have an account  feature for saving preferences. Instead, it uses the browser’s cookies for storing data.
• Does not have provisions for connecting social medial accounts such as Facebook and Twitter.
• Does not have an option for reducing video quality in the mini video player.

Give Jiggyape a try and let us know if you prefer it over YouTube.

The post Create Your Own Music Video Playlist With Jiggyape appeared first on Make Tech Easier.

BackWPup is a powerful WordPress plugin that allows you to schedule regular backup of your WordPress site to online storage site like Dropbox and SugarSync.

Installation

1. In your WordPress Dashboard, go to “Plugins -> Add New”. Search for “BackWPup” (without the quotes) and install the first result that comes up.

Alternatively, you can download the package, unpack it and upload the “backwpup” folder to your site’s wp-content/plugins folder.

2. Activate the plugin from the Plugins page. Once activated, a BackWPup option should appear on the left menu bar in your WP dashboard.

Usage

1. Navigate to “BackWPup -> Jobs” and click “Add New”.

2. Type in the Job name. I have chosen “Dropbox” as the job name in this tutorial.

3. Scroll down and find the “Backup to Dropbox” tab. Open a new tab in your browser and login to your Dropbox account. Return to the previous tab and click on the “Authenticate” button. BackWPup will now request an API access authorization. Grant it permission. You should now return to the BackWPup plugin settings page with a “Dropbox authentication complete!” message.

4. Scroll down to the “Backup to Dropbox” tab and enter the Dropbox directory under which the file is to be uploaded. If left blank, the file will be uploaded to the root directory, i.e. directly under the Dropbox folder. I have used “/Backup/MySiteBackup/” in this tutorial.

5. Scroll to the top and click on the “Save Changes” button under the Job Type tab. You’ll find that a new job called “Dropbox” is create under the Jobs page. Click on “Run Now”. This will be the first backup that you take of your site. Once completed, you should find the file in your Dropbox.

How to schedule automatic backups?

Under the “Job Schedule” tab on the right corner, select your type of scheduling. I recommend weekly for a site with medium traffic. The frequency of the backups should depend on the site’s traffic and the amount of new data incurred daily. Check the “Activate Scheduling” option and select the day of the week and the hour/minutes for the backup to run. Lastly, click “Save Changes”.

Some Tips

• Given that Dropbox gives you only 2 GB of free space, it’s better that you use the Tar GZip file format as it guarantees maximum compression and saves both space and bandwidth!
• If you’re looking for a free storage solution, then you might want to consider SugarSync as it gives you 5 GB of free storage compared to Dropbox’s 2 GB.
• The backing up process consumes considerable amount of CPU and RAM. Do not schedule an Hourly Backup unless absolutely necessary – especially on a shared hosting platform. Chances are they might suspend your account on grounds of resource abuse.

What other methods do you use to backup your WordPress site?

Image Credit: iStockPhoto

The post Schedule Automatic Backup of Your WordPress Site to Dropbox appeared first on Make Tech Easier.