I got the following SMS from ‘ACP-Traffic‘ a couple hours ago:

Due to water logging, traffic to international Airport is diverted at Mekhri circle. Traffic moving slowly - Bangalore Traffic Police.

Other people have confirmed receiving the same message. I never registered for any such service anywhere. I wonder if they finally got a wake up call about the bad traffic situation. I wish the traffic police continues to send such messages. Given the kind of roads and traffic situation we have in Bangalore, it could be a wonderful service from them. If executed properly, I am sure this will help a lot of people. But, before that can be done, some more considerations are necessary:

1. There will be people who will not want to receive such messages.
2. A lot of people will be interested in receiving messages which relate to the nearby areas of their present location rather than all places. (I was 30km away from the place and traveling in the another direction when I got the above SMS.)
3. Such messages may also make the roads insecure as it may divert attention of some people when a message beeps while driving.

One possibility that immediately came to my mind was, to have digital LED displays at traffic lights which show the messages while the traffic light shows ‘Red’. Traffic police can also recover the cost of such displays by selling advertisements on them.

Leave a comment on what you think are other possible feasible solutions? A lot of people have already talked about various traffic problems in Bangalore at the recent Blogathon.

I wish to change the icon of my recycle bin. How can I do it in Windows XP?
- Meet

1. Open the Control Panel.
2. Double-click on Display.
3. In the Display Properties window click the Desktop tab.
4. Click the Customize Desktop button.
5. In the Desktop Items window select either the “Recycle Bin (full)” or “Recycle Bin (empty)” folder and click the Change Icon button.

When I try to open GMail, I get the error ‘The page cannot be displayed’. The URL in the browser changes from http://www.gmail.com to http:///?%20www.gmail.com. I am using IE 6 on Windows XP.
- Irene

This seems to be a issue of some malware/ virus.

1. Take a look in C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\Etc\Hosts. (You can open the file in Notepad).
2. If there is any line referring to any site, then delete it. By default, the file has one line which looks like ‘127.0.0.1 Localhost’.
3. You should also update your anti-virus software. If you don’t have one, I will recommend using AVG Free.
4. I will also recommend installing Microsoft Defender and Spybot S&D.

I have a Dell laptop. How can I put a password on my BIOS?
- Kate

When you turn on the system, press F2 at the boot screen to enter the BIOS. Use the arrow keys and select “Security”. Now press the enter key. This will expand the list and give you several password options for the system. Select the one of your choice and set the password.
Note: It can be bad if you forget your BIOS password.

I have a computer running Windows XP Professional. When I boot my computer, I see the Windows logo at the boot up. After a while the screen goes blank and nothing happens. Everything works fine when using I use the ‘Safe Mode’.
- Paes

From the description of your problem and given that the display works fine in Safe Mode, it seems to be an issue with the set of video drivers. Boot into ’safe mode’ and change the driver to a generic VGA driver. Once you are able to boot the machine properly, try to install the proper video drivers. If you updated the drivers recently you might want to rollback them as they may be the primary culprit of the problem.

I installed Windows XP Professional some time back on my PC. I became the administrator, and also made another user in it. I have forgot the password of my administrator account. I did not make a password recovery disc at that time. I did not even type a hint for the password. I cannot afford to uninstall or format my drive.
- Rajat

There is a utility at http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/bootdisk.html which allows you to reset the Windows XP/ Windows Vista password to whatever you choose.

Just follow the detailed instructions given there. I have used this several times and have always had success.

I need to wipe my whole hard drive clean as can be. My whole system is corrupted and I need to start over from scratch.
- Isabelle

1. Boot your computer from the Windows CD.
2. When the system boots from the CD, and you attempt to install Windows, you can format the drive partition(s) before installing Windows.

Does Skype allow you to talk on webcam with others?
- Axel

Yes, Skype supports video calls/ chats. You can start a video call by clicking on the video button of the contact in your contact list or by choosing “Start video” during a call. You can switch video on and off during the call, by clicking the option on the call tab. Ensure you have enabled Video in Tools > Options > Video Settings > Enable.

How can I watch movies on a TV which are running on my computer? I am not sure which cable I should buy.
- Kaiser

An S-Video/ DVI/ VGA to RCA adaptor should work for the video depending on whether your computer has S-Video/ DVI/ VGA port. For the sound, you can attach the speakers to your computer.

I need a converter that can convert FLV to MP4. I wan’t something that is free, no watermark, registration limit or anything like that.
- Kevin

You can download WM Converter 2 available from Download.com.