Charge Your Mobile In 30 Seconds

Admit it, in the modern world, we are dependent to our digital gadget to live. Our mobile device helps  us juggle everything from waking up in the morning, reminding us to go to work or reminding us that we just forgot it's the rest day for the week. It can make us an 'expert' in everything, say like an instant chef by providing breakfast menu and instructions on how or what to make with the existing food items inside the fridge, this of course with the aid of the sous chef, google search.

Many amazing things to be thankful with this device, it has the ability to solve our problems. It is just a matter of a few touches to download apps that is affordably cheap or free and surprisingly  effective, that was unthinkably possible many years back. The only thing that it is struggling to overcome is , well, it's own problem. Yes it does have a problem in it's 'eating habits' like it's human owners.

 It voraciously feed on every drop of energy that can be thrown on it. But not like it's human counterpart that can store and save for future use, it doesn't think of that but let you do the solving of how and where to quickly get to the mains!  As everything halts whilst waiting and asking  how long will it take until it is fully charged or at least to get to in a working state?

Storedot's Nanodot. 

Well, the bothering situation of finding cables and sockets and hours of waiting time to charge may one day be a thing of the past, as one company playing with nano technology has discovered that they can also amaze our mobiles with 30 seconds charging time, that's from completely flat to fully charge. This amazes owners too, as we can be fully charged, geared up to battle in less than a minute.

This is a good news for everybody from the Israeli based makers. The technology is called  storedot which utilizes a bio-organic peptide molecules called nanodots, that are environment friendly unlike the present technology using toxic chemicals. When used in batteries, it cuts the amount of time to charge from hours to just a mere 30 seconds. Although it doesn't help in extending battery capacity, the fast charging time will be sufficient to attract mobile owners to buy the product sometime in late 2016 to 2017.

Watch video below.

See how the NanoDot powere'd battery charges this Samsung mobile in 30 seconds.

Watch here.

Two Ways to Watch Movies From Laptop to TV

If you've been successful from downloading movies from sources that do not show the download links( read previous post...../how-to-download-movies-without-download...), you might want to play this in a bigger screen like your television. Here's how you can do it, the equipments you will need and  free softwares to install.

Play your contents to TV.

Wired.

1. The easiest way to do this is with wires. If both your computer (3) and TV(1) has HDMI(1&3) ports then all you need is HDMI connector(5). With this, both video and audio signals are carried by the connector.

If you have an older laptop with VGA(4) connection, make sure your TV has this input(2) port as well and purchase a male make VGA or SVGA(6) connector. And if this is the case, you also need a 3.5mm male male (7)connector for the audio.

Adverts:

• See HDMI's
•  Cheap VGA's
• More 3.5mm connections

Wireless.

2. The easiest may not be the most convenient solution. If your TV has HDMI input, then you can use wireless connection to view your laptop's content,  even if your laptop doesn't have one, as long as it can connect to a router. This is by means of a streaming device, the chromecast. You also need a router, and a video converter, in this case I used Freemake Video Converter. You also need to download and install from your computer chrome browser, and chromecast extension. 

If you do not have chrome browser yet, you need to download and install it first before chromecast.

• Buy chromecast here
• Download chrome here. https://www.google.com/chrome/browser/desktop/
•  chromecast at https://cast.google.com/chromecast/setup/
• Freemake  from http://www.freemake.com/free_video_converter/

Steps:

Ready
1. Download and install chrome browser then chromecast application.
Connect
2. Connect your chromecast device to your TV's HDMI port.
3. Power chromecast device by connecting the accompanying USB cable to chromecast device and the other end to the TV's USB port if it has one, or you can just use the supplied power adaptor.
4. Switch the TV's input to the HDMI port where the chromecast is connected.
5. Make sure your router is on.
Set up.
6. from your laptop, open up chromecast application and set up your chromecast by following the onscreen procedure, which is similar to the screenshoots below.

8. Once it is set up, open up chrome browser and you will see the screencast icon (8) at the upper right corner of the browser. Click it and click the name of the chromecast (9) to connect . The icon turns blue(10) when it is connected and the screen casted chrome tab will have the icon(11) at the right most part. The content of that tab will be shown to your TV.

Cast your movies.

9. Whilst at the active tab, press simultaneously ctrl + o(letter) and a navigation window will open. Go to the movies you have downloaded and select the one with mp4 extension.

10. The selected movie will appear at the active tab window(12) and this content will be shown on your TV. You will also notice that the address bar is replaced with the file path(13) of the selected movie.

11. Other file extensions like flv, avi and so on doesn't stream with chromecast. But if you would like to play movies with extensions other than mp4, you need to convert them into mp4 first. Freemake is very good at this. See similar post on how to do the conversion at

http://prakticality.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/how-can-i-stream-downloaded-movies.html

Last Words.

Either way, you can enjoy your movies on a bigger screen. Although wireless is more complicated, it is more convenient as you do not need to access the back of you tv to connect it. You can also control the movie from where you are seated as the laptop is doubled as the remote as well. In this mode, you can multitask, meaning whilst the movie is streaming on TV, you can work or access the internet using other tab of the chrome. As only the active tab is screen casted at the one time. Although there is a BETA version of full screen casting(mirroring), meaning what you can see in your computer screen is what you see in your TV, I personally prefer one tab casting.

The downside is the wireless traffic, when many devices are connected to the router, which might affect the streaming speed and hence, wired connection is more suitable.  And if you require to output your movies in an instant and do not have the time to convert it to a suitable format(mp4), then wired solution has the advantage.

HowTo Hack HTML Code To Download Movies Without Download Button

One of the advantages of the internet is users can watch movies without going to the movie houses. Streaming services, whether legal or illegal is abundant. You can take your pick  But just be careful because some of these sites are fake and can cause problems to your computer like  installing  malwares or viruses by enticing you to click a button or a link to watch a movie. One of the classic signs  is when a site is telling you to update a player or missing a player to see the movie.. Another problem is the lack of  bandwidth that you require to watch the streaming movie without interruption.

If this is the case, there are two solutions. One is to put the player in pause and let the movie buffer before playing or  to download  the whole movie first before viewing. Personally,  I prefer the second.  But what if there is no download button?

Most sites do not have download buttons or are  only available to registered or paying members. These are usually hidden on the scripts used. It seems impossible to download the streaming movies on these sites but sometimes they are available in the form of a link when you inspect the HTML code in the site's playing window.  It sounds complicated but it is easy. Here's how to get to it.

1. Go to streaming player window

As you may need to click links after links, this depends on the site you are watching from, you need to be on the page where the entire video is being played. To find this out, click the play video and the running time....

2. Make sure it is the entire video and not just the trailer

 ....(1) should appear or hover your cursor at the  right lower corner of the player window until you see the total running time. If this makes sense, usually more than 60 minutes, then this is the page you are looking for and from here you can extract the download link.

 3. Get the source code

Click the(2) 'control' button, select(3) 'more tools' then (4) 'view source'.

4. Search for video files

Whilst at the source code page, click the (2)'control' button again and this time, click (5) 'find' then type at the (6) search box for these video file extensions one at a time, avi, flv, mp4, mkv.  If available, the search term will be highlighted at the source code and will show(6) how many is identified.

5. Distinguish the correct downloadable link

Not all with the 'mkv' result  is the correct downloadable link. You can distinguish the correct one by looking  at the beginning and ending of the source. It should start with  http:// and ends with the video file type avi, flv, mp4 and mkv, which is at this example  'mkv'.

6. Download

'Highlight' the(7) entire link, right click, then choose (8) 'go to'. 

The link will be downloaded automatically, and if you are using chrome(browser used at this post), the downloaded file will appear at the left bottom of your browser. The completed download can be accessed at your download folder.

Last Words.

This trick is  worth trying if you have limited bandwidth to experience uninterrupted video streaming, or you want to download for later viewing. However, it dos not work on all websites as  other sites are coded well that they do not contain a trace of the video file location.  This post is only for instructional purpose and to point out to some webmasters that their files can still be downloaded even without the physical download button. 

The ElementaryOS Basics

Believe me this OS is fast. It is now installed in my previous Vista computer with this hardware specifications, Intel Pentium Dual-Core T2080 1.73GHz, 2GB of RAM, 100GB of SATA HDD and with Intel 943 graphics having a shared memory of 128MB. This is an 'ancient' specification compared to the newer laptops, specially the graphics which shares it's memory with the RAM.

I like it personally, and as a matter of fact, I use it everyday. Here's why  the 'almost extinct' laptop is again 'roaming' on table taps and laps around the house!

1. Bootup process.

The boot up process is a bit slower this time as it is starting up from the hard drive compared from USB flash drive  when I was trying it without installation, but it's time is still much better than Vista. Having said that, I am impressed that it is ready to go when the desktop appears.

...related story...

2. Necessary connections are up.

Laptops and other gadgets are 'synonymous' to internet as without it there's no point of having a laptop. ElementaryOS knows about this that the connections are ready when the desktop appears. Not like the old Vista that you need to wait for a while until wifi connectivity is ready.

3. The desktop.

The desktop is very clean, and there is no way you can mess it up. Although this may not appeal to everyone, the EOS doesn't allow you to create any shortcut on it, unless you install an advance system tweak, but for me I do not need it, as this is a good thing to help create a more organized file as there is no way in creating a temporary folder to put in the desktop when you are in a rush. You need to dig into the applications button and better to create a permanent one. This way, you minimise the chances of duplicate files and misplaced items.

4. Streamlined buttons and menus.

There's only one menu at the left upper corner (Applications), and this button is where all of the menu's and submenus are located. From applications to files, from connected devices to system settings and tweaks. You just need this one button to access everything.

At the upper right side corner, you have the system's necessary functions, like the speaker, network connection, mail, empathy chat, user and the power off button. You can make changes with these by simply clicking(right or left click) a menu. Another clever thing I noticed is, after clicking one of the functions, all of them becomes active, meaning you can just hover your cursor to see the submenus of each without clicking the functions first.

The dock at the lower middle resembles an apple computer. You can dock anything from applications,  system settings and tools. Adding more items is easy as well as removing what is not useful to you. Putting them in order of preference is just a matter of dragging it to desired position.

Having experienced the positive side of it, this OS has it's shortcomings as well. But these are not permanent as it can be rectified and improved by downloading an appropriate software. The only downside is, you need a bit of a research to do it and if you want to fix it quicker, you need to access the terminal command line.

And here's a list of reasons of what  I miss from windows and apple.

A. Basic software.

Midori browser brings webpages in a flash, but unfortunately it doesn't come with addons like  flash. This means contents with flash media will not play. Although there is a tweak to this on forums which I have not tried yet, I installed chrome browser instead.

The built in media player and photo viewer are very basic. Not all video codecs are supported and you need to download add ons to use it. The same with the photo viewer, it does not have a 'resizer' which I always use to reduce file size. So you do need to install additional software from the built in software centre like a photo editor, media player and word processor to add more functionality. Although the choices are not that much, almost all of them are free and they function very well.  I've chosen Pinta for the basic photo editor and VLC media player.

B. Not straight forward to uninstall software

Not like windows that you just need to hit the uninstall button if you want to get rid of a program or just simply clearing out space, EOS needs you  to go to software center, search for the name of the application you want to uninstall, then click remove. There might be a simpler way which I have not explored yet that could make it easier to uninstall unwanted softwares.

Last  Words.

The EOS is the best alternative to Windows as per my experience. It is easy to install and easy to use. In fact this is my first time to install a new operating system in a laptop that no longer start's up. I have also tried this OS to a Windows 7 using a USB edition without installing. It worked very well as well and in fact it was faster to load. This might be because it is running in a flash drive rather than from a hard disk, or might be because, the Windows 7 laptop is far way better equipped in terms of RAM and processor. Overall, it saved me money as it is free, and saved my old laptop from being binned!

Switch Vista to ElementaryOS

I have been trying to revive the old Vista laptop, primarily not to recover any files in it, but to find  other use of it aside from gathering dust in a corner. And I have second thoughts that ditching it in the bin, to charity or recycling centres might create more trouble if somebody can recover private details from passwords to emails and financial institution that might contain in there.

Desperate solutions.

After my failed attempts of using the recovery disks that was made during it's maiden voyage many years ago,  the elementaryOS on a USB not loading because of 'no configuration file found: No Default or UI configuration directive found' error ,  and I am still having a problem with my other laptop's DVD (windows 7) drive (could not burn an ISO image of the EOS), a streak of light suddenly has revived my hope when I saw the old desktop's XP recovery disk. At this point, my main goal is to know if the laptop's hard drive is still functioning and can install programs on it. And if it accept's the XP disk, this means there's still a chance of reviving it.

Successful installation.

The installation was successful. Windows XP has been restarting fine in the old machine. I was ecstatic for a while after witnessing the windows XP set up screen. Everything was alright until errors about 'not found drivers ' were appearing. I thought I can live with those but when the driver for the sound card is missing that rendered the laptop not to output any sound except bleeps, got me thinking for a second.

What happened?

I just realised that because the rescue disk was meant for the other machine, it did not have the correct drivers necessary to make the laptop's component work, particularly to the laptop's sound hardware.  If the sound card would have worked, I should be contented with the XP and take no more further steps.

No other choice.

I was left with no other option but to find a fix to my other laptop's DVD drive, burn an ISO image of EOS and try to install it there.  Fortunately I found a fix online for the DVD.

..see the solution to 'fix DVD not recognised' here..

Restore the drivers.

As the laptop's problem is the soundcard gone with XP installation,  I need to reinstall the particular driver by using the same Windows Vista recovery disk again, before trying the EOS.  Although Vista is showing a missing 'Bootmgr' after installation, I was hoping that the driver for the particular hardware has been  installed, as I can not test the laptop with the error during start up. The good thing is I also know that the hard disk is not in failure as it did installed the XP earlier.

Successful EOS installation.

As I hoped for, the laptop accepted the EOS disk and installed it wihout any errors. And the drivers were all installed with the Vista disk as there were no error messages, and the sound card working. I was happy everything went very well!

With the the clean interface and the fast to load system, I am beginning to like it! I compare it to like a Mac in speed and neatly packed menus and buttons, but totally free.

I am now using the old laptop with the EOS installed, and I can say that it is fast to boot, open applications, and shut down. Having said that there are also 'limitations' of this pretty and able operating system, which I will discuss on the next post.

Post by Prakticality.

Where's My DVD Drive Gone?

As I can no longer start my Windows Vista Laptop, it was saying a missing 'bootmgr' and could not fix it using online guides, and the EOS on USB doesn't work as well, I decided to try to burn EOS on a disc and try to boot from there. Burning an ISO file is easy as long as you have the program and hardware to do it.

.. see related post

I do not have a problem about the program, win32 disk imager,  which is free to download. You can also use any other ISO burner software that you can find to sites like c/net, softpedia and similar sites. Then I run into a big problem, the program can not detect my drive! I suspected a dirty DVD disc as it was been kept in the drawer for years, but it still could not detect it after a few wipes. The windows explorer can not detect the drive as well. The following steps was done in the hope to restore the drive.

Using built in windows trouble shooter

Windows troubleshooter (access it at start (win7 and earlier, )>then by typing 'troubleshooting' at the search box)  found the problem. The trouble shooter came up with this error message.

' There is a problem with the driver for TSSTcorp DVD+-RW SN-208BB. The driver needs to be reinstalled. 
InformationalDevice information 
Name: TSSTcorp DVD+-RW SN-208BB 
ID: SCSI\CDROM&VEN_TSSTCORP&PROD_DVD+-RW_SN-208BB\4&BB94CF&0&040000 
Error code: 19 '

I tried to update but a dialogue says that the best driver is already installed.

Uninstalling and reinstalling

Windows is able to detect any new peripheral that's connected to the system and automatically detects program that can run the hardware. So I tried to uninstall the device at the device manager(control panel>device manager) by right clicking the drive. The reboot after uninstalling should detect not only the hardware but also the driver for the device. This also failed

Online help from forums

Then Google pointed me out to fixes like deleting some values and creating some registry entries. I did,  but nothing worked. I also tried  system restore, uninstalling the drive itself, hoping that windows will detect the uninstalled hardware and install it properly with the required driver. None of them is successful. Be careful if you do this. Make sure to backup the registry first by hitting 'file' and 'export'. It is also best to create a folder where to keep the backup for easier access.

Searched the solution with specific hardware name.

As I could not see any solution for my drive, I tried to search it with google using the specific name of the drive that the troubleshooter provided earlier, with the search entry of  ' TSSTcorp DVD+-RW SN-208BB' not detected'. This is more helpful as it searches problems and solution to a specific item instead of a fix in general.  The forum post  told me to download a driver installer from this site.

http://www.gearsoftware.com/support/drivers.php

The post also said to remove GEARAspiWDM from the registry if I do not have an application that uses it like iTunes. So I did just download and install it. After that, the DVD drive appeared as nothing happened. A big thank you to auggy at

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_8-hardware/there-is-a-problem-with-the-driver-for-tsstcorp/3baa6be2-b657-4b15-bf15-a99149b7c2de?rtAction=1413240856429

Last words.

With the created disk, I was able to revive my old Vista with a new operating system, the elementaryOS. On the next post, I will discuss the interesting  'problems' encountered in resuscitating my old machine!

My USB Stick Shrunk!

It is still a mystery to me but it happened. My 16GB USB stick has shrunk in capacity to merely 1GB. I was trying to load Vanilla ChromeOS on it and the prompt says it was successful. But the OS on the USB does not want to boot the computer. It seems that the data inside has been corrupted. So I did format it again to delete all the installed elements within.

To my surprise, the capacity, according to the windows explorer is just 1GB (1) after the format. I've searched google for answer, but there was no straight forward procedure to follow. Most of the articles involve downloading a software to fix this problem. I turned to youtube and a very helpful post from PKV'sChannel has helped me restore my USB into it's full capacity. I watched the video and recorded as he goes everything on a note pad.

Here's how.

Command prompt diskpart

Go to command prompt console by clicking start>type 'diskpart' at the search box (without the qoute) to get you into the disk partition utility. Then type  'list disk' and the computer shows you all live drives, the hard disk(1)(Disk 0) and other drives. The disk of interest is Disk 1(3), which it says 14GB capacity, but windows explorer only sees it as 0.99GB(3a)

Carefully select the disk to reformat

This is the crucial part. You need to be sure the location of  your drive as this will erase the content of the drive selected.

 Continue typing on every prompt ,  'select disk 1', 'select partition 1' , 'delete partition'. After delete partition, you will notice that Drive D disappeared from windows explorer.

Reactivate the drive by creating partition.

Continue typing on every prompt, 'partition', 'create partition pimary'.

A vitual disk error occurred after 'create partition primary'(4). To rectify this, type 'clean' (5) then type 'create partition primary' again.

The console will tell you when it has been successful and a prompt to format the disk will pop up.

Reformat

After formatting the disk, the original capacity(8) is then  recognised by windows.

Here's the list of the commands after every prompt (DISKPART>):

diskpart

list disk

select disk(the number of the disk location)

select partition(the number of the disk location)

delete partition

partition

create partition primary

clean(optional if you will encounter error)

create partition prima

How To Create a Bootable ElementaryOS

ElementaryOS(Luna) is an alternative operating system to Windows and Apple computers. This can be loaded into a CD or DVD disk or USB stick and can be run from it without installing first. It is fast, lightweight and the best part is it's free. In my experience, I loaded it up to a USB for it's convenience and no fuss to use. Loading the OS to this device is also straight forward. Here's how.

What you will need.

1. USB Drive of at least 4GB space.
2. Downloaded elementaryOS 

3. Downloaded UNetbootin.


Steps.

1. Format memory card.
Go to 'Computer'(start>computer>select drive(1)>right click>format(2)>start(3))

2. Presuming you have downloaded the two softwares above,  open up UNetbootin.exe and choose the 'ubuntu' distribution from the dropdown menu.

3. Click the browse button(4) and go to the download directory and choose the elementaryos file(5)

4. Start by clicking ok. It would take a while to finish setting up so be patient.

5. You're done. You can now reboot to try  EOS or just exit.

6. After the screen turns blank, start hitting F12,  to select the drive to boot from. This key varies from different computers so watch out at the splash screen before Windows logo appears if this does not  work for you.

Watch video and see how simple it is to run and how fast to load and to shut down.

Post by Prakticality.

Backdoor Windows Access

I was testing the elementaryOS the other day and I was impressed by it's performance. Aside from the fact that I have found an excellent 'replacement' for windows, just in case I lose all my patience in 'waiting' for a program to run or disappointed by random software crash, it also solved one of the most dreaded potential problem of forgetting a profile's password, when you can not access any of your files because you can not log on to it.

Although it has not happened to me yet, one of my friends 'managed' to forget his. This has made him run into lots of trouble and inconveniences as he could not access the files on his computer, as his profile is the main administrator and did not set up his files to share with any of the secondary users. At that time, I could not help him as I have not known elementaryOS, or have not tried a second operating system to run into a windows computer yet.

The elementaryOS could have helped him as it can access the files from windows on any account, with password  or without, using EOS as backdoor access. Here's how.

What you will need.

1. The elementaryOS loaded into a USB device. (steps to load EOS to USB here)
2. Another USB or any memory card for saving retrieved files

Steps.

1. Boot into elementaryOS(EOS)

With USB loaded with EOS and any second memory card plugged into the laptop, shutdown windows. Turn on again and start pressing F12 to change the boot sequence.  Select the USB with the EOS loaded then choose 'try without installing'.

2. Go to Windows files using EOS as backdoor.

Click the 'applications'(1) menu at the  left upper corner of the screen and click 'files'(2).

At the connected devices, open 'system'(3) where the windows files are located, then go to 'users'(4).

Under users, you will find all the profiles created within the windows environment. You can open any profile(5) even with passwords set up and can access any folders and files. Full access is also rendered meaning, there is no restriction on copying of any file. This is useful when you just want to retrieve files and transfer it to a removable drive.

3. Save retrieved files to the second memory stick or card.

Open the folder and choose the file you want to retrieve then  right click and copy. Under devices, choose the other memory stick(6) and paste in there.

The copied windows file(7) pasted without logging into Windows.

Last words.

Although this software is full of potentials and a relief to those who forgot their windows log in passwords, it could form a threat to those running Windows OS in the wrong hands as this software can access any profile without using a password. In fact it did bypass the 'front' door of windows and goes directly to any profile and files like accessing a backdoor. This has changed  my view that profile passwords are not enough to secure computer files.

An Operating System Worth Trying

My old VIsta laptop has died, literally. I suspected a hard disk failure as it is making all these "never heard before" noises. It just would not load the operating system. Could not repair it as I could not find  the rescue disk made during it's first start up. Thinking that if I have an operating system in a thumb drive, I may be able to run it and rescue my files within it! Using the other laptop, google pointed me to try elementaryOS, a linux based operating system with Luna as code name. Downloaded it and put it on a USB drive using UNetbootin. Unfortunately, it did not work with the old Vista and I am convinced that the laptop can no longer be revived.

Intrigued about the OS, I tried it in the other laptop running Windows 7, I was very impressed with it's performance, and here are the reasons why!

Very fast boot time.

After changing the boot sequence (F12>boot>then choose USB drive) to start with the USB drive, I restarted the laptop with the elementaryOS attached to one of the USB ports. Then at the selection menu, I have chosen to run without installing it. This is booting much faster comparing to windows, It came to life and ready to use without installing  it in seconds! As this is booting from a USB drive, this makes it  very portable and handy that it can be carried and tried anywhere.

 Very clean interface.

I could not stop saying 'wow' at the interface. It is very minimal and clean. Not the usual clutter of folders, icons and other shortcuts. The application dock at the bottom of the screen behaves like apple's OS. The usual icons for speaker, wifi and other available connections, battery and power off is handily available at the right upper corner of the screen whilst the  rest of the application can be  accessed at the opposite corner of the screen. The layout is a bit confusing if you are used to windows but could be straight forward if you've used apple before.

Easy internet set up and fast browser.

There's no other thing to set up but the internet connection, the WiFi icon at the upper right is very handy for setting up. Just right click on it and search for your home wi-fi ID.  The Midori browser is fast and minimal looking. It is defaulted to run under it's VPN network and Duckduckgo search engine which is known for it's no ad and no track policy. This means your searches will be invisible so that you will not be bombarded with targeted unwanted ads, which can slow down browsing.

As this is basic to surfing the web, you might need plug ins to download when it encounters files that might need additional softwares to play or render. This can be a good thing as it could block potential threats from rogue flash contents but could also be frustrating specially when playing unsupported video files. This shortcoming is compensated by it's lightning fast render of web pages.

No known viruses.

Safety online is usually compromised with threats from viruses, malwares, adwares, pup ups and other nasty web elements from programmers  driven by greed. This OS has no known virus that can infect it, making it one of the safest OS at the time of writing. You can be confident using it with online banking and shopping.

Improved touch pad functions.

I am also amazed for the first time that the touch pad is behaving like an apple's touchpad. When using the built in browser(Midori) you can scroll the active window up and down with the touch pad, also it allows you to scroll from left to right using the same.

Shutting it down takes seconds as well.

Improved battery life.

My laptop is already 5 years old and the capacity of it's battery has dropped to disappointing 1 hour to atmost about 1 hour and 30 minutes when using windows 7, but using  with elementaryOS dramatically extends it's battery life to at least 3 times, again owing to the very basic software.

Additional applications.

The packaged application with the download is very basic but it is already sufficient for browsing and most of the things you will do with a computer. There is also an application center where you can freely download other apps if you like a bit more like other browsers, aside from the native Midori, more powerful photo editor and more.

Download the OS at   http://elementaryos.org/   and to create a bootable USB disk at 

http://appnr.com/install/unetbootin