Internet Connection speed tests with HTML5

It makes sense at time to check the connection speed of an Internet connection. Maybe you just got a new line, upgraded an existing one, or are traveling.
Maybe it is just for making sure that you get the advertised connection speed, or making sure that the hotel's Internet connection is sufficient for pushing that Gigabyte video to YouTube or a company server.
Most Internet speed tests up until now used Adobe Flash to power the tests. While that worked, it required Adobe Flash to work at all.
The rise of HTML5 brought along with it services that either added a HTML5 version on top of the existing version, or created new solutions based purely on HTML5.

HTML5 Internet Connection Speed tests

The following guide lists some of the services that provide you with plugin-free speed tests using HTML5.
All tests conducted on an idle machine with 50 Mbps down, 10 Mbps up.

Bandwidth Place

The service tests the upload and download speed, and the ping. The download speed measured was the lowest in the test with 45.12 Mbps. Upload speed was measured at 9.10 Mbps which was also fairly low.
The service allows you to change servers for the test, but result remained the same or were even worse. The site displays quite a few ads around the content area.

Fast

Netflix's Fast.com is the simplest speed test that we have tested for this article. You open it, it starts testing the download speed right away and displays only it in the interface.
It does not display distracting ads on the page, but links to Speedtest.net and Netflix.
The speed was significantly lower than what the line is capable of (46Mbps measured).

Open Speed Test

The service tests the download and upload speed of the Internet connection, and measures the ping while the test is running.
The highest upload and download speed is displayed in the interface afterwards. Options to switch locations are not provided.
The interface is quite messy with lots of ads displayed near the main content area.
Results were fairly accurate. Not as good as Speedof.me, but close enough.

Speedtest Beta

Speedtest by Ookla is one of the most popular Internet connection speed tests. The beta version of the HTML5 version of the service is currently available as an alternative to the Flash-based speed test.
The test checks the latency, upload and download bandwidth. Results were a bit lower on the test device with the download reaching only 47.xx Mbps and the upload only 9.xx Mbps.
You may change the host however either by selecting one of the available hosts from the list or by using search to find another host that is not necessarily in the vicinity.
Settings are provided to change metrics from miles and Mbps to Kilometers and Kbps.
The interface of the speed test is quite messy as well, with loads and loads of ads displayed around the tiny (in comparison) content area.

Speedof.me

The Speedof.me site is only available as a HTML5 version. It tests the latency of the connection as well as upload and download speed using different file sizes.
The site looks somewhat messy with the large ads listed on the left and right of the actual content. The test picks a server closest to your physical location, and updates the data as the test runs.
Results were accurate with upload and download speed correctly maxed out on the test connection. There is no option however to switch servers.
Results may be downloaded as images, PDF or CSV files.

Closing Words

Speedof.me came closest to the actual speed of the Internet connection. While it lacks options to change servers, it was the most accurate HTML5 Internet speed testing service.
Your mileage may vary depending on your location in the world though.
Now You: Do you test your Internet connection speed?
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Do you Uninstall or Keep Software that you no longer use?

Have a look at the list of installed -- or portable -- programs on your system right now. Do you see programs on the list that you used in the past but no longer? Or programs that you never used even though they are installed or available?

The All Apps listing of the Windows 10 Start Menu can for instance be a glaring reminder of programs sitting idly on your hard drive.

There is nothing wrong with keeping most of the programs installed. While you may regain some hard drive space, usually up to a couple of hundred Megabytes unless we are talking games, there is little benefit other than that for most programs.

Some programs on the other hand interact with the system or the Internet even if you don't use them. Think of auto-updating programs like web browsers that update frequently, or programs that add entries to menus in Explorer if you are using Windows.

And then there are programs that may introduce security issues or other issues on your PC. If you keep Adobe Flash or Java installed, but don't update as soon as patches get released, you may as well give attackers the key to your castle PC directly.

Pro Uninstall Argument

Keeping your PC clean by removing software that you no longer use has several advantages. I mentioned the gain in free hard drive space already. If you uninstall a web browser for instance, that is usually several hundred Megabytes right there. If you remove a game, it can reach the two-digit Gigabyte space easily.

Uninstalling programs will also clean up the Start Menu entry of the program, and remove links from context menus or the desktop if they were placed there during installation or use.

A cleaner start menu improves its usability. Considering that programs that you don't use are dead weight, you'd improve discoverability of programs that you do use by removing those dead weight programs from it.

While you can do so manually as well without removing the application, there is little need for keeping it around if you know that you will never use it again.

You may also benefit by removing programs that use Internet bandwidth regularly for updates, even if they are not used.

Depending on the program, you may also remove attack vectors from your system. If you don't install Java or Flash, attackers cannot use exploits for those programs to attack your system.

Pro Keeping Programs

There are good reasons for keeping programs around. For instance, if you are not sure that you will never use a program again, you may want to keep it around. This is true especially if the program does not take up a lot of space on the hard drive -- or if you have plenty -- and is not cluttering up menus.

One example of such a program is one that you tried, but did not think it was ready yet. Maybe you want to wait for updates to be released for it to check it out again at a later point in time.

There may also be situations where removing programs removes the license you got as well. Say, you got a program from one of those daily giveaway sites.

It is usually not possible to re-install those program versions at a later point in time (without prep work) as they are time limited. So, it may be better to keep it around if there is a chance that you may use it again in the future.

Last but not least, you may want to keep a program if it is not available anymore elsewhere, or if there is a chance that it might become unavailable.

Now You: How do you handle programs you no longer use?

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WinBOLT Automatic Maintenance Tool for Windows

WinBOLT is a free maintenance tool for Windows machines designed by its developer to automate as many maintenance related operations as possible.

The program is portable, and you may run it right after you have downloaded it and extracted the contents of the archive to the local system. Please note that you need to run the program with elevated rights.

Note: The program creates a directory on c:\ called WinBOLT where it places its files in.

WinBOLT uses a command line window to display options to you. You are asked to accept the terms of service before you can start using it though.

The program lists options as numbers in the interface, and separates them on pages to improve the application's accessibility.

WinBOLT

The first page lists the main operations the program supports:

1. Install Chocolatey (package manager for Windows to install programs).
2. Run Windows Update and Chocolatey updates (will download and install all Windows updates, and Chocolatey core and program updates).
3. Enable Maintenance Script. This runs various programs (like CCleaner or Emissoft CLI Scanner) and services (Windows Update) on the 16th of every month.
4. Run the following tools: Rkill, TDSS, Delete Temp, CCLeaner, EEK Scan, CryptoPrevent.
5. Defrag all HDD, run Sys File Check, File Sys Check.
6. Run all of the above.

A tap on the N key opens the second page of actions that WinBOLT offers.

You find two additional operations listed on the page. The first enables you to install custom programs on the system. You may tap on 7 to display the list, and install any of the programs listed there on the local system.

This includes several excellent programs such as KeePass, CCleaner, EMET, Firefox, RKill or NotePad++.

This is the author's selection of programs that he uses on his computer.  A tap on 8 on the previous page lists hardware information

You may hit 9 for another page of tools and actions. Please note that the files are not distributed with the main WinBOLT application, and that you need to download them separately either before you load the page, or on request when you do so.

The package has a size of 336 Megabytes and ships with several security applications that make up the bulk of the download.

As you can see on the screenshot it offers to run Kaspersky TDRSSKiller, Sophos, Vipre, Malwarebytes and Emsisoft software to run full system scans.

You find additional options there, like fixing printing issues, renaming the computer host name, extracting the Windows serial key, or running RKill.

Last but not least, you may run several of the security programs one after the other using the Thunder Scan option.

Closing Words

WinBOLT does not do anything that you cannot do manually as well. The main appeal of the program is that it automates many of the processes.

All actions and operations are optional which means that you may pick the ones that you are interested in and ignore the others.

WinBOLT can save you some time, especially if you run it on a new computer or a computer that you check out for the first time.

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Ramme, a cross-platform desktop Instagram client

Ramme is a third-party cross-platform Instagram client for the desktop that lets you manage your Instagram account and explore images posted to the service.

The program is available for Windows, Linux and Mac computer systems. If you download the Windows version, you simply extract the archive once the download completes and run Ramme.exe to get started.

You need to sign in using Facebook or your Instagram account before you may use any feature the Instagram client offers.

Once done, the feed is loaded automatically. The program displays options on the left for you to explore.

Search is probably one of the most interesting options that Ramme supports. Click on the search icon to get started, and then on the search field that opens.

You may use the form to search for people or tags. The program lists suggestions as you type, and you need to pick one of those to explore the stream.

If you picked a tag, top posts and most recent posts are displayed on the next page. You may click on any image thumbnail to display it in full, and even watch videos right away in the client.

Videos are listed with a camera symbol in the upper right corner so that you know what is what before you click.

Ramme displays twenty or so thumbnail images per page. If there are more, you may click on the load more button to load them so that you end up with stream of images on a single page.

Instagram is all about social interaction, following, liking and leaving comments, and you may do so too using the program.

This works pretty much as you would expect it to work. Click on the follow button to send a follow request, on the heart symbol to like the post, and on add comment to post a comment of your own.

You may check the people that you follow and that follow you with a click on the people icon in the interface. From there it is possible to stop the following, or explore a user's Instagram feed to check it out.

There is also the heart icon which displays new social interactions (followed you), and lists when Facebook friends start to use Instagram.

The one thing that Ramme does not support is uploading photos to Instagram. That's apparently against Instagram policies and will likely never be added to the program. Photo upload is still listed as under consideration on the GitHub project page.

Also, stories support is considered. The next versions of Ramme will introduce pull to refresh and notifications support.

Closing Words

Ramme is a well designed desktop client for Instagram that you can run on Windows, Linux and Mac devices. It lets you interact with others on Instagram, and explore feeds and photos posted to the service.

One bug that I encountered was that going back one too often using the back button made me land on Facebook (which I used to sign in), with no option to go back to Instagram.

One more thing, the Electron process would not stop after closing Ramme. If you experience the same, kill it using the Task Manager.

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Now Google Cast is built into every Chrome browser

Like Gmail prior, it honestly seems like Google Cast has been in beta forever. Well, it's actually only been two years according to Google, and that test period ends now. Cast is directly built into Chrome as of today and anyone can use it without ha...

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Google ci fa giocare al Solitario e a Tris dai risultati delle ricerche

Netgear Orbi è il router Wi-Fi che copre tutta casa e semplifica la vita

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Android N (Nougat) arriverà il 22 agosto

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Calore addio, il bucato si asciuga ad ultrasuoni. La bolletta ringrazia

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How to Monitor your Website’s Uptime with Google Docs

How to use Google Sheets as a free website monitoring tool and receive instant email and SMS text alerts when your website goes down. The app runs on Google Servers and can monitor unlimited websites.

Would you like to receive instant alerts as soon as your website goes down or is inaccessible to users? Would you like to receive these downtime alerts as an email message or text on your mobile phone or both?

Most website monitoring services follow the “freemium” model – they have free plans for basic downtime & uptime monitoring of a website but need to pay for unlimited email or SMS alerts. You may also need to upgrade to monitor multiple websites. There’s a good alternate though.

Create your own Website Uptime Monitor with Google

You can create your own website monitor that runs on Google servers and sends email alerts or SMS when your website goes down or is up again. It logs everything in a Google Spreadsheet or you can even store the downtime activity inside Google Analytics.

How to Setup Website Monitor

Here’s how you quickly configure Google Docs to monitor the uptime /downtime of your website. This has to be done just once and the spreadsheet will continuously monitor your sites in the background. Let’s get started:

1. Click here to copy the website monitoring Google sheet into your Google Drive. You may either use your Gmail or Google Apps account to sign-in.
2. Go to the Website Monitor menu (near Help) and choose Configure. You may have to authorize the sheet the first time you configure the monitor.
3. Specify your website URL and the email address where you wish to be notified. You can put multiple addresses separated by commas.
4. [Optional] Enter the Google Analytics Id (e.g., UA-123456-78) and the site monitor will log downtime / uptime events in  your Analytics account.
5. You can turn on “Get text messages” to receive download alerts by SMS* on the mobile phone connected to your Google account.

Click the Start button and the Google sheet will start monitoring your website in the background. You can close the sheet.

The uptime and downtime times are logged in theGoogle Spreadsheet so you can use that data to analyze the performance of your web hosting company.

How Website Monitor works with Google Docs

Internally, a Google Script attached to the Google Sheet is doing the monitoring and logging events in Google Sheets and Google Analytics.

The script triggers every few minutes and then tries to fetch your website using URLFetchApp, a Google service similar to wget or curl. If the HTTP response code is anything other than 200, it indicates that there’s an issue with your website and an email alert is sent.

Sending SMS Alerts via Google Sheets

Google Apps Script can send email messages through Gmail but uses a workaround for sending SMS text messages. It creates an event in your default Google Calendar with an SMS reminder  – the event is set to expire in 30 seconds and thus you get an instant text alerts on your mobile.

Also see: Get SMS Alerts for Important Gmail Messages

*The SMS option is however only available to Google Apps for Work accounts. If you aren’t getting text alerts on your phone, please ensure that your phone number is associated with Google Calendar as detailed in this tutorial.

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