Mouse gone in Windows 10

You're using Windows 10 with your laptop and suddenly you can't see and move the mouse with your touchpad anymore. Here's a way out.

A first attempt would be to just reboot your computer, even though it's unlikely to work. Another idea is to plug in a USB mouse, unplug it and hope that the touchpad is now working.

If that also doesn`t work go to the control panel or Settings. Select 'Mouse' (or 'Mouse & Touchpad'). Go to the Mouse properties ('additional mouse options').

Select the ELAN tab (maybe called differently on another laptop, this was on a Lenovo one) and enable the device which should be disabled at that point.

I also experienced similar issues with Windows 8 and it could be solved in more or less the same way. This issue can occur from time to time.

Is LINE better than WhatsApp?

(c) LINE (c) WhatsApp

LINE is a messenger and especially in Japan often used. But is it better than the even more popular WhatsApp? Here's what I found out.

Recently, I wanted to know how the messenger works and if LINE has some things better solved than WhatsApp. Interestingly, there're a few things.

But from the beginning: I downloaded LINE from Google Play Store and after starting I could already see who from my phone contacts also has this app installed. Quite WhatsApp-like. The chat itself is as easy as it should be.

The emojis are in comparison to WhatsApp really different. The emoji list starts with white-colored heads, but there are also some of the already known yellow faces. LINE also has more animal-referring emojis. So basically it's different. In addition LINE has stickers (bigger, moving icons) like you may know from Facebook, which WhatsApp hasn't included.

Like in WhatsApp there are also free calls included, but LINE already has the video call feature. Video calls are expected to be added in WhatsApp in the future, but in terms of that LINE lies ahead by now.

I also saw that there's a PC version for LINE. With an email verification - which includes a few exchanges of numbers to make the connection more secure - it's also possible to login on your computer. It's somehow reminiscent to the classic ICQ. A real messenger software installed on your PC.

And everytime you connect with your PC your phone gets a message. So in case of an inauthorized usage you'll be informed. And your phone don't have to be online to use LINE on your PC. Unlike WhatsApp Web where your phone needs permanent Internet connection to be used.

The whole identification with your email address is something WhatsApp also needs in the future. Also in this point is see that LINE is ahead.

Another interesting feature in LINE is the included timeline - something we all know from Facebook and that's something WhatsApp doesn't have. Anyway, it gives LINE users the opportunity to share content with anyone they want from their list. Ok, WhatsApp has broadcast messages and the profile status - the last one LINE also has - but it's a entirely different way to share a message. In the privacy settings you can also decide which one of your friends is allowed to see it and who not. I wouldn't say WhatsApp should have that but it's an interesting approach.

Also interesting is the 'KEEP' feature: LINE offers every user 1 GB of cloud space to save pictures, messages and so on. So you can touch a message and chose 'Save to Keep' in order to move it into the cloud. Same as WhatsApp LINE has also the search option to find special messages with keywords.

Additionally LINE has also included a coins system in order to purchase more stickers or even games and apps.

So let's take a look at this overview to see the important points:

Where LINE is better 

- video calls included
- login with email address or ID (not just phone number)
- a PC software version and the phone doesn't need to be online 

Where WhatsAPP is better 

- no in-app purchases

Where both can improve 

- a better chat backup as an HTML, not just a colorless text file

Conclusion

Comparing to WhatsApp LINE has a few features which the worlds no.1 messenger doesn't have yet. But I expect these to be added to WhatsApp soon - especially video calls. A possible email verification is also on my wish list. Same as independent usage from other devices.

The only advantage I see in WhatsApp is that there are no in-app purchases. Even the subscription has been changed to 'forever free'. Else it's worth to mention that WhatsApp has more than a billion users and LINE just around 220 million, but it only looks less in comparison. It's still a lot. Else, they're pretty equal in my view.

But there's one thing where I see both can improve: The chat backup and export. Both WhatsApp and LINE only have an export option as a colorless text file. I'd like to have an HTML like with in 'MyPhoneExplorer'. That tool made it possible with SMS exports in a nice website file.

But anyway. It's worth to test and use LINE, but you just need someone to communicate with. You usually find more WhatsApp  than LINE users, but in Asia it seems easier. Just give it a go and you'll see.

Facebook Live for everyone - My first viewer impressions

(c) Facebook

After Facebook launched its live video feature for everyone it's interesting to see how people are using it. A first impression...

The first time a noticed the new live feature was a few months ago when popular people were using it to communicate with their fans.

For example the Formula One vice world champion Nico Rosberg used it to have a Q&A with his followers which were using the comment section to ask their questions. I found it was a quite interesting way too reach a lot of people.

Basically a live stream is nothing new in the Internet, but an interesting feature for social media. YouTube also has this feature of course, but on Facebook it makes a difference - especially for usual people.

Many people don't have a YouTube channel and are just using it passively - it's more likely they have a Facebook account. So the audience is different and the kind of recorded videos are also different. More natural and uncut. You can see that especially when you take a look for who is using the live feature at the moment.

To do that you can now see 'Live map' listed under 'Apps' in Facebook. Following that you can see a world map with blue points. Every point means there is a live broadcast right now. I clicked on various points just to find out what people want to show to the world, here's an overview:

• A Korean girl singing Japanese songs but she only showed half of her face
• A Russian driving with his car
• two people in Alaska playing with a little snake in a bathtub
• pupil in Chile discussing in school class
• a band playing in a bar
• two guys sitting in the office working in California
• a DJ mixing music on his laptop in Portugal
• Greece girls listening to music
• a concert in Spain
• people using a Shisha at the Canaries
• a German girl eating cookies
• girls chilling and playing with their hair on Hawaii
• a guy walking through the streets of Melbourne
• a sunset on Tenerife with guitar music in the background
• people eating in Tokyo

And this could have been continued endlessly. So entirely different things, but it's surely interesting to follow - not everything, but it gave me a basic impression about this 'new way of watching videos'. I mean everyone can have 'his own TV station' to have a worldwide broadcast just by using a phone. And it's really easy to use.

It's an interesting development and there's way more to follow. Facebook will expand its features way more. I only need to say 'VR'...

Ways to make screenshots in Windows without extra tools

The possibilities of making screenshots in Windows have increased over the last decade. Of course there are some extra tools doing the same job - but what can Windows do on its own?

I'll show you three possible ways to accomplish that: A classic way, an included tool and a new fast key combination.

1. The 'Print' key and Paint
That's more or less the oldest trick to make screenshots in Windows. You press the 'Print' key on your keyboard and go to 'mspaint', right-click 'Paste' and the screenshot is within the file and you just need to save. Instead of Paint you can use other software of course - even Word. With pressing 'Alt' + 'Print' you copy just the windows in front to the clipboard.

2. Snipping Tool
Since Windows Vista Microsoft has included another way to make screenshots. With the Snipping Tool you are able to decide which part of the screen you want to take a screenshot from. Since Windows 10 the tool got an additional feature: It's possible now to make screenshots with a previously set time delay.

3. "Windows" key plus "Print" key
That's the one I would bet many of you didn't know. Since Windows 8 you can press the 'Windows' key plus the 'Print' key and a screenshot will be saved as a *.png file in the following directory: \Pictures\Screenshots. That's definitely the fastest possible way Windows can offer.

Classic Moorhuhn and Windows 10

The classic Moorhuhn game from 1999 - or in other countries known as 'Crazy Chicken' got its problems to be used with Windows 7 and 8. But as I now found out: It works with Windows 10.

The game which was first only be planned as a Johnnie Walker promotion game was quite popular during the time around the the turn of the millennium.

It was named 'Die Original Moorhuhn Jagd', 'Die virtuelle Moorhuhnjagd' or just 'Moorhuhn 1', because after the success many new games were produced.

I remember with Windows 7 the game only started with 16 colors which wasn't helpful. With using the compatibility mode there where ways to run it - like with using it in window mode. Others just played the 'Moorhuhn Remake' from 2005.

And with Windows 8 there was a similar situation as far as I know - maybe somebody can confirm that.

But with Windows 10 the exe file 'Moorhuhn.exe' could be started without any additional settings. The classic game from 1999 is really working on Microsofts latest operating system.

And now I was able to see my old high scores again and had my problems to even reach 850 points. Anyway. What's your high score?

About the game: The goal of the game is to get as many points as possible by shooting at chicken with different distances. Close chickens 5 points, far away and small chickens 25 points and 10 points for those with a medium distance. Sometimes a chicken appears just in front of you which will also bring 25 more points.

Change Android system language to Japanese WITHOUT rooting!

Usually it's quite easy to change the system language of your Android device to another one. But how can you proceed if the language you want isn't even listed?

In my case it was a Samsung Galaxy S3 mini with Android 4.1.2 and I wanted to change the OS language to Japanese, but unfortunately there was no option. There was Korean or Chinese, but no Japanese...

I read something about the app 'Language Enabler' (available in Google PlayStore), which is able to enable hidden languages within Samsung devices.

But as I read this app would only work with rooted Android phones - which I didn't have. Nevertheless I downloaded the app and started it.

After starting this app a warning message about this showed up. But: As you can see in the screenshot on the right, 'you can still apply a default language'.

And then I tried exactly just that. The list within Language Enabler luckily included also Japanese. For applying the default language there was a phone system restart necessary, but that didn't happen. So I confirmed the change to Japanese again.

It took like 20 seconds and the language was changed to Japanese without even restarting the phone! But to be sure I restarted my phone and after a reboot the system remained in Japanese.

And that's how it looks in Japanese

So it worked as it wasn't planned. I don't know if the same scenario would work with other devices, but you can may comment your experiences about that.

The next goal would be to understand the OS language. Good luck with that!

5 reasons why Google Picasa will be missed

The announcement was expected, but also a shock: Google will end its support of Picasa this March in order to focus on Google Photos. Today we will look back at five reason why will miss Picasa.

1: Geotags

Current cameras, but mostly smartphones showed very early the possibility to tag photos with their current GPS location. Once tagged, the coordinates are found in the Exif metadata of pictures. And of course you are also able to manually add the GPS data.

By with having all your pictures in the database you can see all the places in the world where you've taken geotagged photos. It looks similar to the map in Facebook, but I'm sure you won't post everything online only to have a proper view of these locations.

I don't know any better way to do just that.

2: Face recognition and tagging

At the beginning there's a bit of work to do: You have to give the faces names, but with more and more data Picasa helps you recognizing persons to connect them with their name profile.

These name tag are also added in the Exif metadata of the picture file, but as far as I know only Picasa can use them properly in a database.

And even if the face recognition doesn't work, you can also add faces manually.

3: Database

The database itself has a lot to offer: You can chose a folder or drive to be scanned and Picasa shows you all pictures and videos from it - the subfolders are even sorted by changing date.

The database is stored in the following location:
C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Google\Picasa2
C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Google\Picasa2Albums

By copying these folders you can transfer your Picasa profile to another computer.

4: Automatic scan of specified folder

You can select to have an automatic folder scan after starting the application.

All new photos and even videos will be added to the database in that procedure and the face recognition might has already done its job.

With a little trick you are also able to scan the entire hard drive...

5: Offline

As mentioned before: Despite there was an option for an online connection, you can use it completely offline.

Obviously for that reason Google decided to drop the tool, because they don't seem to have much interest to invest in offline applications any further. They say the Picasa users can switch to the online service Google Photos but there are all the important features missing....

That's also the reason why the end of its support is not really the end: You can still use it as long as it's installed. You better save the Setup file - just in case.