Gadget Experts - ಗ್ಯಾಜೆಟ್ ಪ್ರವೀಣರು

Google launches Go programming language

2009-11-11T21:43:00.000-08:00

Could be used to build web servers and databases

Google has just released a new experimental programming language to the open source community.

Go is an attempt by the web giant to mix the dynamic, web-friendly attributes of scripting languages like Python with the performance and security benefits of compiled languages like C++.

The move follows similar attempts to gain a foothold in the world of core IT infrastructure, which include the creation of the Android mobile operating system (OS), the Chrome PC browser and the as yet unreleased Chrome OS.

Work on Go was started two years ago, but it was assigned a dedicated development team to work on it full time about a year ago. Team members include industry heavyweights Ken Thompson and Rob Pike, two of the creators of the Unix operating system, and Robert Thompson, who developed the Java HotSpot compiler.

Google said in a blog posting that Go is intended to be a systems programming language for building software such as web servers and databases. Its concurrent programming model is optimised for multi-processing and multi-core-based machines.

Described by the vendor as a “fresh and lightweight take on object-oriented design”, the language is intended to improve the handling of dependencies between reusable software components such as libraries.

"Here at Google, we believe programming should be fast, productive, and most importantly, fun. That's why we're excited to open source an experimental new language called Go," read the blog.

"Typical builds feel instantaneous; even large binaries compile in just a few seconds. And the compiled code runs close to the speed of C. Go lets you move fast."

Google said it has already tested the language internally, but is not currently using it to build user-facing applications itself as it is considered too immature. The firm hopes that releasing Go to the open source community wil l provide it with help in terms of future development.

View Sonic introduces VPD 400 MovieBook

2009-11-11T21:39:00.000-08:00

View Sonic, a manufacturer and provider of visual technology, has introduced its new VPD 400 MovieBook, all-in-one portable entertainment player that enables users to watch HD movies, listen to music, view photo albums, read digital books or even record voice memos at a very affordable price.

Stylish and ultra thin Viewsonic VD400 comes with 4.3-inch screen (800 x 480), larger screen format with HD 720p. It has wide range of video, photo and audio format compatibilities, which includes JPEG, BMP, PNG, GIF, AVI, RM/RMVB, FLV, MP4, MOV, PMP, MPG, VOD, DAT, H.264, H.263, MP3, WMA, WAV, FLAC, APE, OGG

The device comes with internal memory (NAND Flash Memory) of 8GB. In addition, Viewsonic VPD400 also supports micro SD cards slot for expandable storage.

The VD400 has long battery life (1800mAH Li-Ion), which supports playback of up to 12 hours (audio), 6 hours (video), and 3 hours HD video on a single charge. The device weighs only 0.3 lb. (140 g).

The VPD400 MovieBook is compatible with Windows® 98/2000/SE/ME/XP/Vista and available at a price tag of $129.99.

Matrox debuts world's first single-slot octal graphics card; supports 8 displays

2009-11-11T21:37:00.001-08:00

Specialized graphics manufacturer Matrox Graphics introduced on Monday a graphics card that’s capable of simultaneously supporting eight displays.

The Matrox M9188 PCIe x16 Octal graphics card can support eight DisplayPort or DVI Single-Link outputs from a single workstation. The card offers 2GB of memory, resolutions of up to 2560×1600 per output and several modes — independent or stretched desktop modes — for use in energy, transportation, process control, financial, and other mission-critical industries.

Or, you know, your basement, if you’re into that kind of thing.

The card can be combined with a second M9188 to drive up to 16 displays from a single workstation.

The M9188 offers support for Microsoft Windows 7, Vista, XP and Server 2003/2008, as well as Linux.

Specs for the M9188, according to the company:

Native PCIe x16 performance
Single-slot graphics cards
2GB of memory
Drive eight DisplayPort monitors at 2560×1600 per display or DVI Single-Link monitors at 1920×1200 per display
Can be combined with other M-Series products (multi-card support)
Support for stretched or independent desktop modes across all monitors
Easy deployment and wide enterprise flexibility with unified driver package
Support for Microsoft Windows 7 (32/64bit), Windows Vista (32/64bit), Windows XP (32/64bit), Windows Server 2003/2008 (32/64 bit) and Linux

Matrox M9128 and M9188 Availability and Pricing
The card will be available before 2009 comes to a close and will sell for $1,995.

Matrox is also selling the M9128 LP PCIe x16, which supports two displays and sells for $259.

U2's YouTube coup: Band becomes first to stream live stadium gig over the website

2009-11-08T23:30:00.000-08:00

Bono, left, and Larry Mullen Jr of U2 perform for the audience at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California and thousands on YouTube

U2 became the first stadium-packing stars to allow a full live show to be streamed for free on YouTube today.

Millions of people around the world could watch the Irish band's show from the Pasadena Rose Bowl in California via the internet at the same time as thousands of fans who packed into the stadium.

The rockers revealed the tie-up with the video-sharing website last week.

U2 manager Paul McGuinness said: 'The band has wanted to do something like this for a long time.

'As we're filming the Los Angeles show, it's the perfect opportunity to extend the party beyond the stadium.

'Fans often travel long distances to come to see U2 - this time U2 can go to them, globally.'

More...

Apps to make your mobile phone even smarter

The Rose Bowl show was U2's penultimate show this year on the 360 degrees Tour and sold out to the biggest crowd of more than 96,000 fans.

Wearing his trademark sunglasses, lead singer Bono said: 'Thank you Los Angeles. Thanks to everyone watching on YouTube all over the world - seven continents.'

Bassist Adam Clayton (left) and guitarist The Edge rock out at the live streamed event

The band performed classic U2 hits including 'I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For' to rapturous applause.

Michele Flannery, YouTube's music manager, said: 'YouTube is thrilled to be able to provide our global audience with a live streaming performance from one of the world's greatest bands.

'We are always looking for new ways to connect fans around the world with their favourite artists, and this is the perfect opportunity to do just that.'

You can now watch footage of the live event on the official U2 YouTube channel. However the stream is timing-out occasionally

It's all plane sailing: The Super Aviator sub in action

2009-11-08T23:28:00.000-08:00

The Super Aviator can dive to a depth of over 1,000ft at a top speed of six knots and is intended to explore the limits of the continental shelves where marine archaeologists would initially look for ancient ship wrecks

She glides silently through the cobalt water, banking gently to the left so smoothly the movement is barely discernible. Seconds later, with pinpoint precision, we swoop down to chase a school of fish confused at the sight of this strange new creature of the deep. My cockpit headset crackles into life: 'Now, brace yourself for the porpoise,' says Captain Alfred McLaren, the excitement palpable in his voice.
As the joystick is thrust backwards sharply, the world's first underwater 'flying' machine shoots upwards, breaching the water surface nose-first, before splashing back down and descending once more to the depths.
The Super Aviator, a revolutionary submersible, could be considered the ultimate boy's toy. Sleek and oozing more sex appeal than your average fighter jet, the 22ft long futuristic sub has already seduced billionaires such as Roman Abramovich and Richard Branson. They've both made enquiries about buying one of the £1.5 million machines.
But this is far more than a rich man's plaything, says senior pilot McLaren, a former U.S. Navy nuclear attack submarine commander.
'This is to underwater exploration what the first Wright Brothers plane was to commercial flight.'
McLaren, who along with partners John Jo Lewis, Jay Wade and Canadian Dr Phil Nuytten are directors of Sub Aviator Systems (SAS), the company behind the Super Aviator, says the possibilities for underwater exploration in the sub are endless.

The Super Aviator is brought to the water on a trailer

'This submersible represents a revolution in underwater adventure and exploration. Most subs go up and down using a ballast system, similar to a hot-air balloon. They have limited manoeuvrability and range. Then you have unmanned subs, but they are normally tethered to a mother ship.
'This craft offers a freedom of movement never seen before. It's built along the principles of flight, with thrust, lift and drag allowing you to "fly" beneath the waves. It has wings and a joystick to bank like an aeroplane and it can turn and curve at will. Plus the visibility is much better than with scuba diving. You're not loaded down with heavy gear and you don't have to exert yourself physically in the way you do on a dive. Our sub has the ability to cover large areas for hours at a time without fatigue or decompression worries.
'We envision that scientists will be able to use it to study parts of the ocean and delicate reef formations that have so far been inaccessible. And because it is so quiet, you can eyeball fish and other underwater creatures without scaring them off. You really do get a truly unique viewpoint.'
The submersible can dive to a depth of over 1,000ft at a top speed of six knots and is intended to explore the limits of the continental shelves where marine archaeologists would initially look for ancient ship wrecks. Pilots are encased in one of two 'pods', or cockpits, pressurised spaces topped with thick Perspex domes allowing you a 360-degree view underwater.
The Super Aviator is capable of maintaining a state of positive or neutral buoyancy, which makes it easier to control and allows it to 'hover' if the pilot wants to stop and savour the view or carry out work tasks. The vehicle itself is battery-powered, making it environmentally friendly and virtually silent.

Watch the incredible Super Aviator sub in action below...

The mini-sub in action: The cockpit is similar to that of a typical aircraft. There is a joystick, rudder pedals, compass and altitude indicator

When I see the machine for the first time by the banks of Lake Tahoe, it's clear this revolutionary craft is something special. Within moments of it being wheeled out from its 'hangar' (in reality, a large motorised trailer), a curious crowd has gathered.
I am here to take part in the world's first underwater pilot training school, a £5,000, three-day event that has attracted some legendary names from the field of exploration, including oceanographer Dr Don Walsh (the first man to go down to the deepest part of the ocean, the Mariana Trench, in the bathyscaphe Trieste in 1960) and former Apollo 8 astronaut, retired Air Force Major General William Anders.
Another student, former French Navy captain Paul-Henri Nargeolet, has dived to the wreck of the Titanic more than anyone else - a total of 120 times. If you fancy becoming a fully qualified pilot, that will cost you £10,000.
But for SAS's John Jo Lewis, the three-day course is strictly business. A real-estate entrepreneur, he has sunk several hundred thousand dollars of his own money into the sub (he refuses to say precisely how much but admits that my estimate of $1 million 'isn't too far off').

'This isn't a joyride... You need to be capable of assuming control in an emergency,' said senior pilot, Captain Alfred McLaren, a former U.S. Navy nuclear attack submarine commander

The cockpit is similar to that of a typical aircraft. There is a joystick, rudder pedals, compass and altitude indicator. The 'flight' controls match a standard military aircraft layout with a thrust lever, directional thrust and power sequencer. The only differences are the depth gauge, levers that control emergency air bags and a drop weight that would aid the sub to get to the surface safely in the event of a catastrophic underwater failure.
With McLaren in the forward pod, I carefully climb into the rear cockpit. It takes a minimum of an hour of instruction before you can safely leave terra firma. First you are strapped in, using a five-point harness, then the crew chief talks you through the practicalities of the sub, focusing on safety procedures.

There is a lot of information to take in - oxygen regulators, the CO2 scrubber, pressure equalisation valve, throttle control, joystick, rudders, console, underwater communications equipment... You are taught to read the interior percentage of oxygen and the atmospheric pressure in the pod, and much more besides.
'This isn't a joyride,' says McClaren.
'The submersible is safe but it is essential that you monitor conditions in your own pod and know exactly how to use the safety equipment just in case something happens to me when we are out there. There are no passengers in this sub. You are my co-pilot and you need to be capable of assuming control of the sub in an emergency.'

The Super Aviator is battery-powered, making it environmentally friendly and virtually silent

After a final safety check, the hatches are closed and secured. Next, the regulator is set and the oxygen begins to flow. The sub is pushed on a trailer to the launch site. Two divers unhook the craft from the trailer and gently guide her into the water.
Almost immediately, the sensation is like being in a washing machine on the 'slow cycle'. In the choppy waters of Lake Tahoe, the sub bobs along on the surface as communications are established with the support vessel, a small craft affectionately called 'Sub Daddy.'

'Reporter Girl': Caroline Graham

Each pilot is given a Top Gun-style moniker. McLaren is Arctic Fox, Lewis is Rabid. I'm dubbed Reporter Girl.
Inside the sub it's surprisingly cozy and dry. After five minutes bobbing on the surface, McLaren asks, 'Are you ready to dive?'
After receiving the all-clear from Sub Daddy that there are no other vessels close by, he pushes the joystick forward, increases propulsion power and the Super Aviator slides beneath the waves and into another world.
As she slips downwards, the water colour changes noticeably. The glare from the surface quickly disappears, to be replaced by a soothing blue and then, as we go deeper, to a dark azure and then black.
It is a womb-like, calm experience. Several fish swim idly by. As the depth gauge reaches 100ft and then 200ft, a sense of peace descends. We reach a world of gently sloping sand banks topped with sea grass; seaweed unveils itself before us.
The sub is surprisingly responsive. A small right push on the joystick and it banks to the right, a gentle pull back and she begins to nose for the surface. The quiet is interrupted at regular intervals by calls from Sub Daddy on the surface to check the oxygen levels and air pressure.

All-too-soon the first hour-long dive is over. At the surface, we cut through the water until we reach the landing dock and the divers guide us back onto the dock.
The sub was the brainchild of maverick British inventor Graham Hawkes, who designed a prototype of the machine in the late Nineties. Originally from Tooting, south London, Hawkes went from designing underwater devices for British Special Forces to developing radical new one and two-man subs.

THE LOW-DOWN ON THE SUPER AVIATOR

Length 22ft

Wingspan 12.2ft

Weight 3800lbs

Max descent rate 320ft/min

Max ascent rate 600ft/min

Max speed 6 knots (with optional thrusters, 7.9 knots) Capable of around four one-hour training dives a day, or a single four-hour long-range search mission. It has been depth tested to 1,250ft. Powered by electricity, it produces no pollution and almost no noise.

He was working with Steve Fossett at the time of the adventurer's death in 2007 on a deep-dive sub capable of plunging to 35,000ft.
Lewis became involved with Super Aviator after seeing the sub during early sea trials in the Bahamas.
'It was love at first sight,' he says. Lewis put together a consortium of fellow adventurers and investors and bought out Hawkes two years ago. Together with McLaren, crew chief David Harper and investor Jay Wade, he formed SAS.
The original sub's design was radically overhauled by engineer Phil Nuytten, a Canadian who made his name and fortune inventing the 'Newt Suit', a hard-shelled, jointed diving suit widely used in the offshore oil industry.
Originally the sub was designed as a positively buoyant machine; in other words it used battery power to move forward and down but had to wage a continuous battle to stay underwater. If it went slower than the sub's 'stall speed' or got into diffi culties, it would automatically nose up and head to the surface.
'That system had several drawbacks,' says McClaren. 'You had to continuously use speed and thus steadily drain the batteries to remain submerged. So we fitted a ballast system between the two pilot hulls. When it is time to submerge, the pilot can release air from the buoyancy tank and replace it with water to allow neutral or near neutral buoyancy.'
The team plans to offer further flight schools and is hoping that the myriad capabilities of the submersible will be recognised by academic, government and commercial organisations to conduct scientific and archeological work in the oceans' depths.
'The possibilities for this sub are endless,' says McLaren. 'It can be used to explore shipwrecks and coral reefs, you could use it to survey oil rigs and other large underwater structures or for underwater filming.
'Finally, and most importantly, it can be used to educate the next generation on the largely unexplored wonders of the deep.
'It is the closest feeling to what flying is like in your dreams.'

'Fear detector' being developed that will be able to sniff out terrorists

2009-11-07T11:24:00.000-08:00

A device that smells human fear is being developed by British scientists and could soon be sniffing out anxious terrorists.

The technology relies on recognising a pheromone - or scent signal - produced in sweat when a person is scared.
Researchers hope the 'fear detector' will make it possible to identify individuals at check points who are up to no good.
Terrorists with murder in mind, drug smugglers, or criminals on the run are likely to be very fearful of being discovered.
However calm they might appear on the surface, their bodies could give them away.
Although the research is at an early stage, the aim is to develop a prototype device in the next two to three years.
Evidence that the smell of fear is real was uncovered by US scientists last year who studied the underarm secretions of 20 terrified novice skydivers.
The researchers found that people appear to respond unconsciously to the sweat smell of a frightened person.
Scientists at City University London now hope to develop security sensor systems that can detect the human fear pheromone.

Team leader Professor Tong Tun told The Engineer magazine: 'The challenge lies in the characterisation and identification of the specific chemical that gives away the signature of human fear, especially the fear in relation to criminal acts.'
The project will look at potential obstacles to reliable detection such as the effects of perfume, and natural differences between individuals.
If the initial 18-month feasibility study is successful, the first detectors could be developed in the next two to three years, said Prof Tun.

She added: 'I do not see any particular reason why similar sensor techniques cannot be expanded to identify human smells by race, age or gender to build a profile of a criminal during or after an incident.'
In the US study, scientists at Stony Brook University in New York State used taped absorbent pads to soak up sweat from the skydivers' armpits just before they made their first tandem jump.
Other volunteers, who were not told the true nature of the experiment, were later asked to sniff the samples through a nebuliser. At the same time, their brains were scanned.
The study showed that the scent of sweat from the scared skydivers triggered a heightened response in brain regions associated with fear.
But sweat samples taken from the skydivers as they ran on a treadmill - with their feet safely on the ground - did not have the same effect.
Animals are known to produce 'alarm pheromones' to alert each other to danger.

Source : Daily Mail

Psychic 'mind-reading' computer will show your thoughts on screen

2009-11-07T11:22:00.000-08:00

A mind-reading machine that can produce pictures of what a person is seeing or remembering has been developed by scientists.

The device studies patterns of brainwave activity and turns them into a moving image on a computer screen.

While the idea of a telepathy machine might sound like something from science fiction, the scientists say it could one day be used to solve crimes.

Leap forward: Halle Berry in X-Men. The telepathic abilities from the films are closer to reality after inventors created a mind-reading machine

In a pioneering experiment, an American team scanned the brain activity of two volunteers watching a video and used the results to recreate the images they were seeing.

Although the results were crude, the technique was able to reproduce the rough shape of a man in a white shirt and a city skyline.

Professor Jack Gallant, who carried out the experiment at the University of California, Berkeley, said: 'At the moment when you see something and want to describe it you have to use words or draw it and it doesn't work very well.

'This technology might allow you to recover an eyewitness's memory of a crime.'
The experiment is the latest in a series of studies designed to show how brain scans can reveal our innermost thoughts.

Using a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanner, normally found in hospitals, the American team scanned the brains of two volunteers while they watched videos.
The results were fed into a computer which looked for links between colours, shapes and movements on the screen, and patterns of activity in the brain.
The computer software was then given the brain scans of the volunteers as they watched a different video and was asked to recreate what they were seeing.
According to Dr Gallant, who has yet to publish the results of the experiment, the software was close to the mark.
In one scene featuring comic actor Steve Martin in a white shirt, the computer reproduced his white torso and rough shape, but was unable to handle details of his face.
In another, the volunteers watched an image of a city skyline with a plane flying past.
The software was able to recreate the skyline - but not the aircraft.

Source : DailyMail

Sesame Street's Cookie Monster sang about Google 27 years ago

2009-11-07T11:21:00.000-08:00

The Google logo is being eaten by the Cookie Monster to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Sesame Street.
The American educational children's TV series, which is well known for its Muppets characters created by Jim Henson. It premiered on November 10, 1969 and is the longest running children's programme in the U.S.
Celebrities as varied as Jim Carey, James Blunt, Michael Jackson, Ben Stiller, Hilary Clinton and Destiny's Child have made guest appearances.
It comes as a video reveals the popular blue character celebrated Google in a song 27 years ago - long before the World Wide Web was a twinkle in Sir Tim Berners-Lee's eye.

The cookie monster's 'googly eyes' make up the two 'Os' in the latest Google Doodle

Introduced by Kermit the Frog as the 'music event of the century', the song is based on words that rhyme with 'oogle' and is performed by Old MacDoogle on the bugle.
The Cookie Monster is chosen to sing the lyrics, as his 'googly eyes' made him 'one of the world's most famous Googlers,' according to Kermit.
And it seems the search engine company agrees, placing the friendly monster at the top of the Google page.

Google regularly changes its logo for special events. Recently it replaced the 'G' with a picture of Gandhi to mark the day of his birth in 1869. A barcode and Wallace and Gromit have also graced the page.
However, the internet giant had to withdraw an extra letter added to its name for its own anniversary.
The internet giant broke with the tradition of only marking historic events with a doodle for a UFO-inspired mystery that led up to author H.G. Wells' 143rd birthday.

Watch the Google video here...

Source : DailyMail

Can you really smell memories?

2009-11-07T11:17:00.000-08:00

How childhood scents get 'etched' onto the brain

From the sudden whiff of school cabbage to the pungent smell of hospital disinfectant, nothing transports people back to their childhood more than an unexpected smell.

Now scientists think they have discovered how scents from the past make such a lasting impression.

Using brain scans, they have shown that new 'odour memories' - such as the association of a perfume with a person - really do get 'etched' onto the brain.

The 'signature' of the memory is different from other types of memories, they found.

Dr Yaara Yeshurun, who led the study at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel said early smells had a 'privileged' status in our memories.

Scientists have long known that smells are one of the best ways to evoke the past.

Past studies have shown that memories triggered by smells are more vivid and more emotional than those triggered by sounds, pictures or words.

The new study, reported in the journal Current Biology, tried to mimic the creation of childhood memories of smells in 16 adult volunteers.

In a laboratory, the volunteers were shown a picture of an object as they were exposed to a whiff of either a pear or fungus.

Ninety minutes later they were shown the same picture with the other smell.

A week later, the scientists tested which of the associations was remembered more strongly by exposing the volunteers to the same smells.

All the tests were carried out while the volunteers were inside a functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) scanner which monitored brain activity.

Overall, the volunteers found it easier to remember unpleasant smells rather than pleasant ones.

But the MRA scans also showed that part of the hippocampus region of the brain 'lit up' in a peculiar way when the volunteers were exposed to the first smell they had been exposed to the week before.

But their brains did not respond in the same way when the volunteers sniffed the second smell.

The experiment was repeated using sounds rather than smells to see if they had the same impact on memory.

'We found that the first pairing or association between an object and a small had a distinct signature in the brain,' said Dr Yaara.

'This "etching" of initial odour memories in the brain was equal for good and bad smells, yet was unique to odour.'

The researchers also found that they could predict what a person what remember later based on the activity in their brains on the first day.

Dr Yeshurun said it makes good evolutionary sense for people to remember unpleasant memories.

But the findings show that there is something 'particularly special' about early memories of smells, he added.

Smells may trigger such strong memories because our ancestors were more dependent on their noses to avoid poisonous plants, rotten food or enemies than modern people.

Source : DailyMail

Cybersecurity Fears? Check Google Dashboard

2009-11-07T11:15:00.000-08:00

Google is attempting to allay growing concerns about privacy by unveiling a one-stop shop for users to see what information it holds on them.

The launch of Google Dashboard is the search giant's response to critics who argue its dominance of the web allows it to collect too much personal data.

The page lists details of the Google products and services the account-holder uses, from which YouTube videos have been viewed to details of their Gmail inbox.

It offers a single place for people with accounts to adjust their privacy settings or delete content. Although the dashboard shows only what a user does when logged into a Google service, it reveals the breadth of the information collected.

"Some concerns have been raised about Google and privacy in the past few years and we always try to take proactive steps. No one asked us for this," Google spokesman Anthony House told Sky News Online.

"The information you're seeing, we've always been transparent about that. But it has never been easy for people to go to one place," he added.

"For many people, what you're seeing is not a surprise but others might remember they signed up for a service they don't use anymore... They can make a more informed choice."

He admitted it was "not a total coincidence" that the dashboard was unveiled during a meeting of privacy regulators in Madrid, Spain.

Bloggers offered a mixed response to the launch.

Mashable's Stan Shroeder described it as "disappointing," and suggested "there's nothing really new about this list."

He wrote: "Unfortunately, it's also an unpleasant reminder of just how much data you're giving out to Google (and other online services)."

iPhone App Translates Baby Cries

2009-11-07T11:09:00.000-08:00

An iPhone application claims to decipher the meaning behind a baby's cries.

The Cry Translator uses patented technology to analyze the tone and duration of the cries and match them to one of five possible types: hungry, sleepy, annoyed, stressed or bored.
It then offers tips on how to treat the child according to the type of cry.
"These five cries are universal to all babies regardless of culture or language," creators Pedro Barrera and Luis Meca told the UK's Daily Mail.
"Every baby has a unique accent and tone, just as adults do," says the app's Spanish developer Biloop Technologic.
"These inflections combined with a familiar cry pattern allow parents/caregivers over time to decipher their baby’s cries.

"For example, a stressed cry has a strong, short sound, falls slowly and then rises again, whereas a hungry cry is high-pitched and energetic."
It reportedly took six years to develop the technology behind the app.
Biloop claims the application has been scientifically proven with independent third-party tests in the pediatric department of Clinic Hospital Juaneda Menorca.
The application, which takes about 10 seconds to record and analyze a cry, had over 90 per cent accuracy rate during the clinical tests with 104 infants.
It is currently selling for $9.99 in Apple's iTunes App Store for the US, UK and Spain.

Source : FOX News

Microsoft reveals new-look MSN

2009-11-05T22:05:00.001-08:00

UK users will see the new-look homepage in 2010.

Microsoft's web portal MSN.com has been given an extensive revamp for the first time in almost ten years.

New features include fewer links, a column dedicated to social networking sites Twitter and Facebook, and a large search engine box.
The company hopes the new look will drive more traffic to its Bing search engine, launched as a competitor to Google in June 2009.
It will roll out in 2010 with a small group of US users getting access now.
The new site carries links organised into five categories: news, entertainment, sports, money, lifestyle and "more". US users will also be able to get localised information about their area.
Partners supplying content include MSNBC and Fox Sports.
The MSN logo has also been redrawn to more closely resemble that of Bing.
"More than half of people online start their sessions on sites like MSN and they told us they want simplicity - yet still want the latest information and their favourite services delivered together," said Lisa Gurry, senior director at MSN.
In related news, UK users will have access to relaunched online music store MSN Music from 4 November.
It has a library of over 1 million tracks, with payment for downloads operating on a credit-based system.
Users can buy credits in packs of 10 for £7.99. Ten credits will buy one standard album or ten standard singles.

Source : BBC News

Keeping Google out of libraries

2009-11-05T22:04:00.001-08:00

Google is in the process of scanning millions of books

The proposed settlement between Google and US publishers must be resisted, argues Bill Thompson
Google is in the middle of a massive project to scan and digitise every book it can get its hands on, whether old or new, and if it gets its way then the US courts will soon endorse an agreement between the search engine giant and the US book industry that will allow it to do this without fear of prosecution for copyright infringement. Authors and publishers will get some money in return, and we will all benefit from the improved access to digitised books that Google will provide.
The deal sounds like a good one, but not everyone is happy with it. The Department of Justice in the US has begun an investigation to see if it is anti-competitive, and last month a number of library associations got together with Amazon, Yahoo! and Microsoft to form the Open Book Alliance which argues that it should not go forward.
The details of the settlement are complex, and it is almost impossible to be sure what would emerge from it because many of the provisions involve setting up things like a Book Rights Registry, and we don't yet know what they will look like.
World's librarian
But whatever the detail there remains a fundamental problem. It is not that the settlement will give Google indemnity from prosecution should it be found to have scanned books that are in copyright without the copyright owner's permission, nor even that it gives Google freedom to exploit scanned content commercially.
It is, rather, that the settlement gives only Google these privileges, and places one company in a prime position to become the world's de facto librarian instead of encouraging open access, open standards and a plurality of services and service providers.
Neither Google nor any other company should be entrusted with that responsibility, and nothing in the detail of the agreement or the funds that will be made available to authors as a consequence can change this.
If Google is given a monopoly, either explicitly in the settlement or implicitly because any other scanning project would be forced to negotiate its own multi-million dollar agreement, then the deal must be rejected.

If we let Google have its settlement we will all be the poorer

Bill Thompson

The proposed settlement came about after Google began a project to scan and index millions of books, including many that are still in copyright.
It was sued by groups representing authors and publishers who felt that scanning books, even if the text was only used to create a searchable index which then pointed readers to the relevant text, was an unlicensed use and therefore illegal.
The book trade was also worried that Google might scan the books under the pretext of creating an index and then start offering them online or even selling them, even though it was always absolutely clear that such behaviour would be a breach of copyright.
Instead of fighting the case through the US courts and winning a great victory for those of us who believe that three hundred year-old notions of copyright should not be used arbitrarily to limit new ways of making use of creative works, Google announced in October 2008 that it had reached a settlement with the US Authors' Guild and the Association of American Publishers that would allow it to continue scanning with permission.
At the moment the settlement hangs in the balance, waiting for what is quaintly termed a 'fairness hearing' in US District Court on October 7.
At this hearing of the questions raised since the settlement was announced will be debated, including the question of how the relatively small Authors Guild came to speak for all published writers in the US, living and dead, in negotiating with Google.
One of the arguments being made in favour of Google, most clearly by US industry analyst Jeffrey Lindsay, is that Google deserves to benefit from having taken the risk of digitising books when the project's legal status was uncertain and that Google, unlike Microsoft and Yahoo!, has invested millions of dollars in the project and is committed to pushing forward.
Microsoft did indeed abandon its own book scanning project, Live Search Books, in 2008, largely on cost grounds but also because the legal uncertainties clearly exposed the company to potential liability in what was never a core area of its activity.
Tribal lands
But Lindsay's view seems hard to accept. Pretending that the world's libraries are some unexplored continent to be opened up and claimed by the adventurers from Mountain View may appeal to the frontier mentality of US commentators, but it is not a metaphor likely to have much appeal elsewhere.
For one thing the bookshelves of the worlds are already inhabited, just like the territory of the United States, and those of us who remember the fate of the Native Americans may not be happy to see Google build its railroad tracks over our tribal lands.
Even without the dodgy analogy, the project of digitising the information held in the world's printed books is too important to be dealt with purely as a commercial venture between rights holders and a potential supplier of services.
We are at an inflection point in world history, and the transition we are making from analogue to digital is happening so quickly and offers so many delights that there is a temptation to let the past moulder in archive boxes and concentrate solely on the new and digital.
For those who take that view then letting Google pay to digitise books is an uncontroversial decision, one that can deliver more digital stuff to search through without apparently costing anything.
George Santayana wrote 'those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it', but it may also be true that those who do not care to digitise their own past will end up paying a high price to regain what they give up so thoughtlessly.
If we let Google have its settlement we will all be the poorer. Not for a while, perhaps, but one day we will need more from this new library of Alexandria than Google is willing to offer, and find that the price it demands is more than we can pay.

Bill Thompson is an independent journalist and regular commentator on the BBC World Service programme Digital Planet.

Source : BBC News

Danish pupils use web in exams

2009-11-05T22:02:00.000-08:00

Sanne Yde Schmidt says teachers trust pupils not to cheat

In Denmark, the government has taken the bold step of allowing pupils full access to the internet during their final school year exams.

A total of 14 colleges in Denmark are piloting the new system of exams and all schools in the country have been invited to join the scheme by 2011.

Greve High School, south of Copenhagen, is one of the pilot schools.

On the morning of the exam, the exam room the floor is covered in cables. IT experts are busy helping the teenagers set up their laptops, making sure they all work.

At five to nine, the room falls silent. CD-roms and exam papers are handed out together. This is the Danish language exam.

One of the teachers stands in front of the class and explains the rules. She tells the candidates they can use the internet to answer any of the four questions.

They can access any site they like, even Facebook, but they cannot message each other or email anyone outside the classroom.

At nine o'clock the exam begins.

Embracing technology

Denmark is a country which has traditionally embraced modern technology. For over a decade pupils have been able to type up their exam answers on computers.

The Danish government says if the internet is so much a part of daily life, it should be included in the classroom and in examinations.

Sanne Yde Schmidt, who heads the project at Greve, says: "If we're going to be a modern school and teach them things that are relevant for them in modern life, we have to teach them how to use the internet."

Pernille says pupils are disciplined enough not to cheat

The obvious concern is cheating. Communication is banned, but how can they stop a student emailing a question to a friend? The answer is they cannot.

Ms Schmidt says they rely on the integrity of the pupil and the threat of expulsion if they are caught.

"The main precaution is that we trust them. I think the cheat rate is very low because the consequences of cheating are very big."

Pupils' integrity

The pupils themselves told me they did not think their classmates would abuse the system.

Bertel Haarder says the internet is indispensible

Pernille Günther Jensby, 18, says: "It's possible to cheat but I think we have so much respect and self discipline, so we won't do it."

Nina Ahmed, also 18, adds: "I think it'd be very difficult [to cheat] because you don't have time, you're under pressure, and you have too many tasks."

The teachers also think the nature of the questions make it harder to cheat in exams. Students are no longer required to regurgitate facts and figures. Instead the emphasis is on their ability to sift through and analyse information.

Minister for education in Denmark, Bertel Haarder, says: "Our exams have to reflect daily life in the classroom and daily life in the classroom has to reflect life in society.

"The internet is indispensible, including in the exam situation. I'm sure that is would be a matter of very few years when most European countries will be on the same line."

Use of the internet is the same as any open book exam; the pupil can check formulae or dates, but how they use and interpret that data is (should be) what is being tested

Mark GE, Witney, UK

He says he is proud of the fact Denmark is leading the way and believes other countries will adopt this system.

Stephen Heppell, professor of new media environments at Bournemouth University, says UK examinations need to be brought up to date: "As a nation we've been really good at embracing technology - we've been really at the forefront of doing this well in the classroom.

"Then they go into the exam room and all that's taken away and they're given a fountain pen and a sheet of lines paper and a three hour time limit. It's time to get real, isn't it?"

Source : BBC News

Accentium Launches Another Search Site – This Time Not Niche, Thankfully!

2009-11-05T21:45:00.000-08:00

We have covered newly launched sites endeavouring to satisfy all possible needs, at least they strive to thrive. But sometimes, too much competition might not allow one particular enterprise to get all that they look to deliver. May be the content available today on the web has stopped fulfilling a user’s needs to some extent.

One such internet company, Accentium Web Pvt Ltd has compounded various domains pertaining to diverse demographics of users. With an aim to be one of the leading internet players in India, they launch their new site called Taaza.com. This adds up to their extensive range of sites inching them closer to their dream.

With local search engines from the internet space in India battling for growth, Taaza.com emerges as a complete news portal to provide latest news from various sectors. It becomes utterly confusing to understand the commencement of such a news portal that only incorporates links and two liners of news flashes on their homepage from a source.

If news portals and entertainment chatters were of such a great deal, there would have been a Yahoo News Channel or rather a Sify News Crew hovering around A Raja to get his quote on a latest happening! Gratuitous to say, but no matter how fresh it sounds or which tea company it infuses doesn’t really make a difference to the web world. Does it? The world would never need news agencies otherwise. Certainly, it has a submit story option that lets one paste a URL and share it with the world, provided that’s all their “niche” audience has been looking for. I mean, even Wikipedia lets you do that!

“We are already in specialized niches such as education, matrimonial and cars, but we would also like to extend our reach into other verticals with good quality internally generated, aggregated and user generated content. This is the idea behind Taaza.com – Currently we have launched with content around News, Videos, Loans, Insurance, Photos and Videos – We plan to add content around Movies, Stocks, Travel and add a classifieds engine as well. We are excited to grow Taaza.com and add unique and value addition content and grow traffic to the site – Various sections are monetizable and we plan to do so once we have built up critical traffic mass,” said Vivek Pahwa, CEO Accentium.

Accentium sites include Gaadi.com, the one which we tracked ranking second in the Auto Portal category according to the traffic measurement tool, ComScore. It has an education-based portal called StudyTimes.com which labels different categories in the education field at home or abroad. There’s SitaGita.com which is just another friendship guide to the problematic and platform starving masses who need dating tips and call center agony aunts. AdLift.com deals with SEO and SEM services but again, their clients include Gaadi.com and SecondShaadi.com. As hysterical as it sounds but they also have SecondShaadi.com which has its own TV commercial as well. We have already analysed how second marriages is a tough thing in the Indian context and more and more people would pay to subscribe to such a site provided it gave a sense of security and safety to users. So start a new life, switch your mates!

“No one ever attains very eminent success by simply doing what is required of him; it is the amount and excellence of what is over and above the required that determines the greatness of ultimate distinction.” – Charles Kendall Adams

Source : WATBlog

Battle Of Telephonia II: It Isn’t Just The Operators

2009-11-05T21:43:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, we told you about the grand battle which is taking place between the mobile operators, fondly called the Tariff War. On the other hand on a relatively smaller scale (as it appears) another battle is on, and this one is between the phone-makers. After all without handsets, the operators are totally useless.

First of all lets check out some history. As many of you might be aware, Motorola happens to be the first company to develop a working practical mobile phone Motorola DynaTAC in 1973, but it wasn’t until 1983 that DynaTAC 8000X was approved as the world’s first commercial-only cellular device. It started off a revolution of mobile communication in the west with people installing (yes it was quite heavy to be carried around in the pocket) it in their cars. It accounted for two-third’s of Motorola’s gross revenue at that time. But Nokia was one of the first to pioneer th GSM Technology and introduced its first GSM phone Nokia 1101 in 1992. Motorola’s first GSM phone StarTAC came out in 1996, which was then the lightest and the slimmest phone, still Motorola rules the market in wireless telephony, But then came 1998, when Motorola slipped to 2nd behind Nokia.

Nokia was now getting powerful with the style that it was adding to its new handsets, which was lacking in Motorola. Then came RAZR, which became by far the most selling mobile phone on earth, and was recently surpassed by- no prizes for guessing- The iPhone. And now has started the revolution of smart phones with android based phones from Motorola, Apple’s indegenious iPhones and HTC’s windows based phones taking the market of its feet, not to for get Research in Motion’s Blackberry.

Indian Markets, as always have been different. Here consumers definitely would not buy what their neighbours buy, but would always buy something which is ’supposedly’ superior to theirs. While Nokia holds 40% market share globally, in India Nokia dominates a whooping 57%, which is a humbling Monopoly. Note even remotely close is the next best Samsung with about 8%, followed by LG at 5.5%. Emerging mobile handset vendors (around 26, would you believe that!) managed a mere 6.5 per market share. This data is as of sales in 12 month period from June 2008. In this period the total sales crossed 100 million pieces by number and Rs. 20,000 crore by market revenue. And this data does not include people who get stuff from other countries, ‘grey’ markets and black markets. You have enough food for thought to consume.

The Emerging players offer things which are quite unique and have their own appeal- dual sims, QWERTY keyboard, mailing solution, Email2SMS, which permits sending, receiving, composing and forwarding of emails via SMS. The m-commerce application with N-GPAY is another feature to allow users to make bank transactions and pay bills. A decent dual SIM phone may cost you anywhere between Rs. 2000-8000. Add and subtract the above mentioned features, the price changes.

“Indian consumers have moved towards multi-sim and flexi-sim phones to avail the cost benefits of operator bundled services. Spice Mobiles, that has an installed base of 6 million handsets, is now positive of 1 million handset sales per month within the next 12 months,” says Kunal Ahuja, CEO of Spice Mobiles.

Its not just these emerging players who are catalysing changes, but also big international names with ’smartphones’ as their forte, posing a possible threat to the established names. The smartphone revolution in India came after the announcement of the Indian Government to go 3G. RIM’s Blackberry, HTC and of course iPhone are attracting the industry oriented people by allowing fast communication and ease of data storage. As far as the Operating System for handheld devices is concerned, Google’s Android, is surely giving Microsoft a run for their money. Its bloodbath on every front.

Wait, Did we miss Motorola? Nokia after tasting a huge success in India, started to get closer to common Indian man by adding features releavent to them. Indians loved it and Nokia became King. Sony Ericsson, though known for its medium and high end phones is still hot favorites with Indian Youth, just because, they have targetted that specific group. Smartphones have become inseparable part of Indian Executives, and Tech geeks because, of the comfrt and ease they provide. And this is how things work in India. Identify a spot and hit it. Unfortunately Motorola could not market itself to Indian audience so well, as a matter of fact anywhere in the world. Till the time they realised that they lacked style, it was too late, and Nokia had already cashed in their cheque to Monopoly. I had even heard Motorola planning to shut down its mobile operations from a Director of one of its subsidiaries. But the recent launch of Droid, has infused a hope that Moto may return.

Meanwhile, The Government of India and Department of Telecom have plans to promote the indigenous emerging players. The Communication and IT Minister, Mr A. Raja, has constituted a committee to suggest ways to boost local manufacturing. It is expected to Report its findings and suggestions in 3 weeks. This would definitely be a big boost to the economy, and may introduce a new culture of R&D in mobile and hand held systems. Its just for us to wait and watch what future holds for us.

Source : WATBlog

Breaking: Google News Makes You The Editor!

2009-11-05T21:40:00.000-08:00

Google News has just announced on its official blog that it is now switching on a feature called custom sections directory, which allows you to create custom sections on your Google News homepage and share with others. You can think of it as your own magazine rack. Or just think of yourself as a news editor.

This can be seen as one more step in the development of news online, which in the future will be exactly like this. It will be more customizable and social. Google News has always been popular for the various sections it provides, which allows you to search by topic.

It also has a filter by topic option, but to finally arrive at your preferred topic the filters can get really complex at times. The directory now already some pretty cool topics to choose from and you can add any of those to your Google News Menu. Take a look at the Social Media News Section I made from Indian news sources.

Once you are done, you can either publish your custom section for the world to see or just keep it for yourself. Go on, customize and share some news.

You can check out the Google help center for more information on how to subscribe to custom sections or create them.

Source : WATBlog

Shoe Biz Comes Online – Red Tape Launch Their Online Store

2009-11-05T21:39:00.000-08:00

After BPO Agony Aunts and automobile companies, we have even shoe manufacturers looking to spread their wings online. One of the leading shoe brand Red Tape comes out for sale online with not just footwear and leather accessories, they also offer other apparel thereunder. Manufacturer Mirza International is the first shoe company to have their own online store which includes sales and delivery via courier. “In five years, we want to take it to 50 per cent of our sale,” says Director of Mirza International Tauseef Mirza.

Apart from Red Tape there are other players already existing in the Shoe Biz, the only difference being they have a wide range of brands and apparel lined up for sale. So has Red Tape bought their idea? To optimize space utilization, they have begun to stock readymade garments and accessories like wallets and belts in the stores. These are sold under the Red Tape brand, though they are sourced from third-party manufacturers. Sunglasses, watches and fragrances could follow in the days to come which is a challenge for other accessories and apparel portals online.

Shoe sites like BigShoeBazaar.com have almost all the brands available in the market today under one roof. Bata, Converse, Hush Puppies, Lee Cooper, Lotto, Nike, Adidas and so on who wish to save their retailer margins either tie-up with the portal or spend it the saved amount on delivery. Red Tape looks at the similar picture ensuring sales growth and keeping off any third parties. Currently, the premium end of the shoe market, in which Red Tape operates, is worth Rs 1,000 crore per annum. Among the branded ones, Red Tape is a leading player with annual sales of around Rs 80 crore.

Mirza International also have other brands that are sold overseas, in fact as reported by afaqs most of their sales depend on their brands abroad. Hence to strengthen their business in India they apparently need more visibility which can happen either through a promising brand ambassador or through more outlets in larger stores like Lifestyle and Shoppers Stop where they already exist. They endorsed Salman Khan few years back which was a great success, but talking about online credibility they need to provide a popular range of apparel that can entice their audience.

Source : WATBlog

Home audiovisual server Ryoma

2009-11-04T22:18:00.000-08:00

Japanese giant JVC unveils a home audiovisual server 'Ryoma', equipped with HDD and Blu-ray recorder in Tokyo. The system is also equipped with an Internet radio tuner to receive high quality music and moving images from a radio station called M-Link. JVC will put the product on the market next year. (AFP)

KDDI's SA001 and CA003 mobile phones

2009-11-04T22:14:00.001-08:00

Models show off KDDI's latest mobile phone handsets, SA001 (L) and CA003, during a press preview in Tokyo. KDDI announced the upcoming release of 20 new handset models for their 2009 Autumn/Winter and 2010 Spring collections. (AFP)

Arabic-speaking interactive robot

2009-11-04T22:09:00.000-08:00

Students at the United Arab Emirates University look at what is claimed to be the world's first Arabic-speaking socially interactive robot. Greek assistant computer science professor and lab director Nicholas Mavrides said the human like Ibn Sina, named after the Islamic philosopher and scientist commonly known in English as Avicenna, said the robot could be used as a receptionist, salesmen or shopping assistants in malls. (AFP)

Pirated Win7 generates $100K in India- Report by Times of India

2009-11-04T22:04:00.000-08:00

( Image by : Gadget Experts )

LUCKNOW: About 50,000 pirated DVDs of Microsoft Windows 7 are estimated to have been sold here since the official launch on Oct 22, generating unaccounted business of around Rs 50 lakh (nearly $100,000).

The reason for the allure of the pirated versions: These cost Rs 40-Rs 250 in Naza Market in Hazratganj here, drawing buyers from not only the rest of Uttar Pradesh and neighbouring states like Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Uttarakhand but also Nepal and Bangladesh.

"This is the biggest market in the region," said a shopkeeper in Hazratganj, claiming at least 50,000 DVDs of the pirated Windows 7 have been sold since hitting the local markets within 24 hours of the official launch, fetching sellers about Rs 50 lakh so far.

The legal version of the new operating system launched by Microsoft Corp costs between $150-$300 (Rs 7,500-Rs15,000) in the international markets. The company, however, tagged its prices 20 percent below international rates in India, where it is available in the Rs 6,000-Rs 11,000 range through official channels.

Despite the discounted company rates, buyers are opting for the pirated version. "Why invest Rs 10,000 when it is available for Rs 250?" asked Pramod Yadav, a student pursuing a Master of Computer Applications (MCA) course.

Added Mohit Singh, who runs a computer hardware and software maintenance company: "We pay for only the DVD as we are regular customers. A DVD hardly costs Rs 20-40."

Most computer service providers or "regular customers" in Lucknow and elsewhere in India use pirated software, contended Nishant Kumar, a software engineer with HCL Technologies in Greater Noida.

According to him, what makes the pirated operating systems more attractive is that cheap pirated anti-virus software is also freely available.

"A lot of anti-virus software, for example Awast, is available on the Internet," Kumar said, adding that it was equally effective and has the same service life.

Those selling pirated Windows 7 deny doing anything illegal.

"There are over 200 shops in Naza Market. All have everything you want. We are not doing anything illegal as everything is available on the Internet," said a shopkeeper not willing to be named.

"We are only transferring and supplying to buyers who include students, professionals and even big business houses." Those selling authentic software are unhappy.

"Be it software or encyclopaedia, everything is available in pirated form within 24 hours. We do not get the expected business," Amit Mishra of Newgen Technologies, the authorised distributor of Compaq, HP, Microsoft and Lenovo in Hazratganj, told IANS.

The police express helplessness in combating piracy. "We know what is going on for the past couple of decades. But we cannot act on our own. We need a formal complaint to act or else you (the media) will come down on us," police spokesperson AK Pathak told IANS.

Besides software, the Naza Market and the Naka Market in the Naka area are also famous for producing CDs and DVDs of newly released Bollywood movies within 24 hours.

"You name the movie and you will have the CD, DVD the next day," boasted Harnam Singh, a Naka shopowner.

Google sued for sexual discrimination

2009-11-04T22:01:00.000-08:00

NEW DELHI: The search giant Google has being sued by a former employee, James Bara, for sexual and religious discrimination in violation of the Civil Rights Act.

According to a news report in InformationWeek, in his court filing, Bara, a practicing Wiccan, claims that a manager in Google's Atlanta office, Pam Sohn, made numerous jokes about the sexual orientation of a female transgendered employee who joined the company in July 2008.

"I informed Ms Sohn the remarks were inappropriate and she stopped making them," he reportedly says in his discrimination complaint. However, shortly thereafter Ms Sohn began making inappropriate comments about Bara's religion.

Bara's complaint then goes on to describe a series of escalating human resources complaints and alleged workplace retaliation.

In the news report, he charges that he began being treated differently. He claims he and other male workers were not allowed to work from home whereas female workers were granted that privilege. Bara claimed that he was subject to increased data center participation and report requirements.

The complaint goes on to state that despite receiving four promotions, pay raises, and positive managerial reviews in his almost three-year tenure with Google, Bara was terminated in "an obvious, transparent, and classic case of retaliation."

Reacting on the lawsuit, a Google spokesperson told InformationWeek that after a thorough investigation, the company has no reason to believe James Bara was discriminated against or treated unfairly, and that it will defend itself vigorously against these charges.

Incidentally, Google received top marks in 2009 for respecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights in the Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index.

Source : TOI

Take on folks in Beijing and Bangalore, Obama tells students

2009-11-04T21:58:00.000-08:00

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama has hit the road to push a new $4.35 billion grant programme to encourage American schools to develop
internationally competitive standards to let its students take on "folks in Beijing and Bangalore."

The "Race to the Top" fund is one of the largest federal investments in school reform in US history, Obama said on a trip to Wisconsin Wednesday. It is being financed with money made available through the economic stimulus plan enacted in February.

"We're putting over $4 billion on the table ... but we're not just handing it out to states because they want it," Obama told an audience at a Wisconsin public charter school making it clear that the grants will go to only those "committed to real change in the way you educate your kids."

"So, a race to the top has begun in our schools, but the real competition will begin when states apply for the actual Race to the Top grants," he said outlining four key reform measures that will be used to help determine a state's eligibility for grant money.

"The first measure is whether a state is committed to setting higher standards and better assessments that prepare our children to succeed in the 21st century," Obama said noting that 48 US states are now working to develop internationally competitive standards.

"...Internationally competitive standards because these young people are going to be growing up in an international environment where they're competing not just against kids in Chicago or Los Angeles for jobs, but they're competing against folks in Beijing and Bangalore," he said.

Second, the state will need to demonstrate a commitment to policies designed to encourage the recruitment and retention of effective teachers and principals. Conversely, teachers that fail to adequately perform need to be removed, he said.

Third, it will need to design systems to measure student success. Finally, federal officials will examine whether a state is taking steps to overhaul its lowest-performing schools.

"We'll look at whether they're willing to remake a school from top to bottom, with new leaders and a new way of teaching," Obama said. The process of doing so may include replacing a school's staff or even closing a school and sending its students to a better one nearby, he noted.

Source : TOI

Battle Of Telephonia – ‘Per Second Paisa Bolta Hai!’

2009-11-04T21:51:00.000-08:00

It was expected, but never ever did we thought that it would come about this fast. The whole thing was started by the TATAs as they have always done, flagging of new revolutionary ideas for the Indian Economy through the history, and then adopted by a new comer from foreign lands called MTS. They called it ‘Pay Per Second’. Yes you got it right, after all now its literally ‘Paisa’ bolta hai.

Earlier this week WATBlog had covered the announcements of Airtel, Idea and Vodafone joining the pay per second bandwagon. With Reliance, Aircel and Loop announcing their per second billing plans, and then BSNL’s announcement of introducing per second billing for its post paid subscribers by this December, I guess Paisa per Second happens to be the ‘in thing’ in the telecom industry these days.

Reliance which changed the whole equations about a month ago by introducing its ‘50p for anything you do‘ plan, also felt the heat and has now adopted a new strategy by rolling out 3 plans for different target groups (based on frequency of usage);

Short duration callers – 1p per second (pulse-1s)
Standard duration callers – 50p per minute (pulse-60s)
Long duration callers – A Rupee for 3 minutes (pulse-180s)

It does covers up almost everyone of us, and in a very convincing manner too. Let me illustrate:

If I am a long duration caller with my average calls lasting atleast 15-16 minutes. I won’t mind paying 1 Re for some call which don’t even last for 30 seconds. I have already saved so much. Also, after doing some complex calculation on my scientific calculator (trust me lots of functions involved), it turned out a standard duration caller saves about 18-20% by going for the 2nd plan rather than pay per second.

Meanwhile, The erstwhile BPL, relaunched this March as LOOP, operating in Mumbai Circle has introduced pay per second as well. The interested consumer should do a one time top up of Rs. 48, which would change the customer plan making them ineligible to avail previous privileges if any, but changing all their call rates to per second basis.

Vodafone also had a pay per second launch across nearly all circles where its operating but with different recharge amounts, to check the amount you need to pay in your circle check out this assimilation of data.

Source : WATBlog

IPv4 Web Addressing Protocol In Danger – This Is The End!

2009-11-04T21:47:00.000-08:00

There are tiresomely endless sites available on the internet to browse almost everything that comes to your mind and chances of getting disappointed are minute. Today the time has come where even talented music composers are running out of ideas, so they end up stealing stuff. Now the web has a similar problem and it has come to this stage where all the addresses have started saturating. With everything required to be online, companies have a need to make sense not only in the services that they deliver but also representing themselves over the internet.

Without getting into the technical aspects of it, as a kid I always loved to imagine things which were the most useful and they cease to exist one day. Terrible nightmares after that, but this was one of those psychoactive processes that gave me a hint about this happening someday. Here it is, the European Commission surveyed various companies shifting their gears from the IPv4 protocols to the IPv6 zone which happends to be the newest form of platform for internet addresses to exist. One replicating the other and a famous site being replicated to assume user errors in typing the address.

“In the last 10 years, the internet has become hugely important worldwide from a socio-economic perspective. Only by ensuring that all devices connected to the internet are compatible with IPv6 can we stay connected and safeguard sustainable growth of the internet and the global digital economy, now and in the years to come,” said Detlef Eckert, Director in the Commission’s information society and media directorate-general.

The new version of internet’s addressing protocol will help new addresses establish as a site but with necessary investment by companies. The IPv4 protocol uses 32-bit addresses, which enables the web to support around 4.3 billion unique addresses while IPv6 uses 128-bit web addresses, creating billions of possible new web addresses.

Source : WATBlog

Second Life’s Virtual World Goes Enterprise

2009-11-04T21:45:00.000-08:00

Linden Lab, the makers of second life has launched an open beta of , Second Life Enterprise. This would see second life being played under the close networks of companies. Till now second life has created many controversies regarding the flaunting of precious business information in virtual world.

The Second life Enterprise will now allow companies to embrace virtual world under close quarters of its wall by paying nominal fees to Linden Lab. The companies will have to fork out anywhere between $55,000 for buying a secure server running the Second life world.

This means now companies can train their employees or even provide virtual entertainment without spilling beans to the outside world. Linden labs has been working on this product since 2008 when it tied up with IBM for a similar partnership. The company would also come up with an app store for its enterprise customers named Second Life Work Marketplace.

This product will have lot of ramifications for employee trainee programs as companies can leverage the virtual place to train and instigate obligatory regulations on to their employees. This will also open up a whole lot of outsourcing opportunities as companies would be looking at replicating their real-life office spaces on Second life.

This enterprise version will see de-cluttering of enterprise audience from open virtual space to closed wall. This certainly augers well for current users for whom Second Life is a virtual game and they’d like to see less corporate jamming up their way.

In US, companies like IBM and many defense contractors have been using this solution. In India companies like Infosys, TCS, L & T might show interest in implementing this solution as they handle & train a very high amount of manpower and by training those employees in virtual and entertaining manner could prove financially accretive for these companies.

Source : WATBlog

Indian B-Schools Embrace Twitter As An Educational Tool

2009-11-04T21:42:00.000-08:00

Twitter since its inception has seen many uses for its service. It is used by hedge fund managers to keep a tab on news flow and by companies at large to send updates to employees & investors. It is also used to manage brands and products reputation online amongst several things.

Twitter is yet to find a business model on its own but in the meantime it has helped many other businesses to prosper. Even small blog owners depend on it to get traffic to their blogs. In all Twitter is no longer just a conversational tool it has become more sort of a update sender & forum tool specially due to its viral & real-time features.

In latest series of Twitter adoption, Indian B-schools have started embracing Twitter that includes sending updates to students and aspirants regarding the placements and admissions.

IIM Calcutta & Bangalore is among the B-school using Twitter platform to send out frequent updates. IIM bangalore is even using Twitter to send out campus-related news and information. Other IIM’s are not far behind as they too use platform’s like Twitter, blogs to reach out to targeted users.

IIM Lucknow based Credence Capital has also embraced Online social platforms to increase Investing awareness amongst Indians. Other B-Schools like XLRI Jamshedpur has been using Micro blogging network to give details regarding current batch to help recruiters get know-how of inside-campus activities.

Why are companies and institutions adopting Twitter?

Virality:

Twitter is way to much viral even above many social networks. It is also finding its way into mainstream Indian users thus increasing its potential importance to Indian institutions.

Real-Time:

Twitter pushes out updates in real-time and as such its searches are real-time too. This real-time nature helps companies to send out updates which they are sure would reach their followers immediately.

Conversation (showcasing transparency):

A small update could lead to a quality conversation on Twitter regarding the brand or product. This in turn helps the companies to showcase their transparent nature in hearing out its customers a.k.a. followers.

Low Cost:

Creating a Twitter profile hardly takes any money (nearly nothing). It is also very simple to send out updates thus not even requiring professional manpower to do the needful.

Marketing:

Twitter is not just a customer forum but a good tool to leverage the marketing abilities of an institution. Dell reportedly earned millions from sales procuring from its Twitter page.

Source : WATBlog

Google Adds Page Preview Feature – Is It A Move Towards Visual Search?

2009-11-04T21:38:00.000-08:00

Google has been experimenting with search options ever since it added the sidebar on its results page. Google has now added Page previews option on to its sidebar.

Page preview allows users to see more snippets of text than just few lines. It also shows preview of the image on right side of each search results. The search images seems to bundle Google images library results with web search results rather than giving out recent screenshot. Although this feature is full of bugs as few images misses out on search pages it could still be called a good experiment.

Google also needs to change the layout of this visual search by putting small images on the left of search results as done by many Firefox plugins.

Which One is better?

Google Image Preview:

Search Preview Plug-in:

Google seems to have realized that making a search on its search engine is a two second affair but checking the correct content takes more time specially due to high page sizes. Thus this preview functionality will allow its users to filter out search results which they are looking for.

Microsoft too launched Visual search for Bing few months ago which seems to have elicited response from Google. Till now users looking for visual search had to rely on Firefox and other browser plug-ins but making it available in search results sidebar could be boon for searchers as and when this feature gets added functionality.

Google may loose serious ad revenues if this features was to enabled by default on Google search pages so Google at best will be providing it as a search additions and will looking at response garnered from searchers to make any move in merging the functionality to default search.

Therefore it might be too early to say that Google is looking at visual search as a future play but nothing can be ignored looking at the way Google spear-heads the search revolution.

Source : WATBlog

Internet Connection Speed: The Top 10 Countries

2009-11-03T04:42:00.000-08:00

At the end of 2008, approximately 19 per cent Internet connections around the world were at speeds greater than 5 Mbps — a 21 per cent increase over the average global connection speed at the end of 2007.

This is according to the State of the Internet report, a quarterly study by Akamai Technologies, the US-based Internet content distribution giant. The State of the Internet report tracks average connection speeds for countries around the world.
Check out the top 10 nations in terms of average Internet connection speed.
1. South Korea
South Korea rules supreme when it comes to Internet connection speed and broadband connectivity. It is the world’s No.1 with average connection speed of 15 Mbps, ten times the global average!
During 2008, South Korea’s rate of quarterly change appeared to be locked into a cyclical pattern, with quarterly decreases being recorded in the first and third quarters, and increases seen in the second and fourth quarters.

For the whole year, South Korea saw a modest 7 per cent rise in their levels of high broadband adoption. South Korea is also ranked first in terms of high broadband connectivity with 69 per cent connections above 5 Mpbs.
2. Japan
Japan ranks 2nd in terms of Internet connection and high broadband connectivity. Japan ranks 2nd in terms of high broadband connectivity. About 54 per cent of the connections in Japan are above 7 Mbps.
3. Hong Kong
Hong Kong ranks third with an Internet connection speed of 6.9 Mbps. The country ranks fifth in terms of high broadband connectivity with 38 per cent of the connection above 5 Mbps.
4. Romania
Romania is at the fourth position with a Internet connection speed of 5.7 Mbps. The country ranks third in terms of high broadband connectivity with 45% of the connection above 5 Mbps.
5. Sweden
Sweden is at the fifth position with a Internet connection speed of 5.6 Mbps. Sweden ranks fourth in terms of high broadband connectivity with 39 per cent of the connection above 5Mbps.
6. Switzerland
Switzerland has bagged the sixth position with an Internet connection speed of over 5 Mbps. The country however does not figure in the top ten list of countries with high broadband connectivity.
7. Netherlands
Netherlands ranks 7th with an Internet connection speed of 4.9 Mbps. The country ranks 7th in terms of high broadband connectivity with 28 per cent of the connections above 5 Mbps.
8. Belgium
Belgium is at the 8th position with an Internet connection speed of 4.7 Mbps. The country ranks sixth in terms of high broadband connectivity with 31 per cent of the connection above 5 Mbps.
9. Slovakia
Slovakia bags the ninth position with an Internet connection speed of 4.5 Mbps. The country does not figure among the top ten in terms of high broadband connectivity.
10. Norway
Norway ranks tenth with an Internet connection speed of 4.5 Mbps. The country ranks fifth in terms of high broadband connectivity with 38 per cent of the connection above 5 Mbps.
United States is at the 17th position with an Internet connection speed of 3.9 Mbps, up approximately 8 per cent from the average connection speed for the first quarter of 2008.
In terms of Internet connection speed, China is way behind leading economies with an average Internet connection speed of 833 kbps.
India has been ranked at a dismal 115th among 223 countries in terms of average Internet connection speeds. India has an average Internet connection speed of just 772 Kbps compared with the global average of 1.5 Mbps.

Source : techpark

Nokia Unveils Its First Linux Phone N900

2009-11-03T04:39:00.000-08:00

Nokia's First Linux Phone N900

Nokia unveiled N900, its first smart phone running on Linux software, aiming at improving its offering at the top end of the market.

The Nokia N900 runs on the Linux-based Maeme 5 software, featuring true multitasking with applications as well as Web browsing with Adobe Flash support.

Nokia’s workhorse Symbian operating system controls half of the smartphone market volume — more than its rivals Apple, Research in Motion and Google put together. Nokia said Linux would work well in parallel with Symbian in its high-end product range.

“As Nokia announces the software platform that will drive its future services aspirations it created a dedicated solutions unit — the challenge will be to ensure that all these elements work in harmony in the face of fierce competition from Apple and Google,” said Ben Wood, head of research at CCS Insight.

The new N900 model, with cellular connection, touch screen and slide-out keyboard, will retail for around $712, excluding subsidies and taxes.

Nokia also unveiled a new Solutions business unit, which aims to better tie together its phone operations and new mobile Internet services offering.

Technical details of N900:

Display:
3.5 inch touch-sensitive widescreen display
800 × 480 pixel resolution

Web browsing:
Maemo browser powered by Mozilla technology
Adobe Flash™ 9.4 support
Full screen browsing

Camera:
5 megapixel camera (2584 × 1938 pixels)
Image formats: JPEG
CMOS sensor, Carl Zeiss optics, Tessar lens
3 × digital zoom
Autofocus with assist light and two-stage capture key
Dual LED flash
Full-screen viewfinder
Photo editor on device
TV out (PAL/NTSC) with Nokia Video Connectivity Cable (CA-75U, included in box) or WLAN/UPnP
Landscape (horizontal) orientation
Capture modes: Automatic, portrait, video, macro, landscape, action

Video:
Wide aspect ratio 16:9 (WVGA)
Video recording file format: .mp4; codec: MPEG-4
Video recording at up to 848 × 480 pixels (WVGA) and up to 25fps
Video playback file formats: .mp4, .avi, .wmv, .3gp; codecs: H.264, MPEG-4, Xvid, WMV, H.263

Music and audio playback:
Maemo media player
Music playback file formats: .wav, .mp3, .AAC, .eAAC, .wma, .m4a
Built-in FM transmitter
Ring tones: .wav, .mp3, .AAC, .eAAC, .wma, .m4a
FR, EFR, WCDMA, and GSM AMR
Digital stereo microphone
DLNA

Source : techpark

Is Charging Your Gadget Overnight Waste Of Energy?

2009-11-03T04:36:00.000-08:00

A six gadget charger

Many times we leave our gadgets Mobile phones, PDAs, MP3 players, Cameras, Laptops etc with charger plugged in overnight. Lets check if this is a major waste of energy..
What happens if you leave the mobile phone plugged in all night?
According to measurements from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the average cell phone draws 3.68 watts of power from the outlet while it’s charging and 2.24 watts when charged. Let’s take the worst-case scenario and assume that you’re over-juicing a charged battery for the entire night. Leave the average phone plugged in for eight unnecessary hours, and it’ll use about 0.018 kilowatt-hours of electricity. Do that every night for a week, and the figure rises to 0.13 kWh; every night for a year, and you’re looking at a grand total of 6.5 kWh of electricity.
What if you leave your phone charger plugged in all the time, even when the phone itself isn’t attached—how much vampire power would that suck up? Again using the Berkeley Lab figures, if the average charger is plugged in for the entire 8,760 hours of the year, it’ll use about 2.3 kWh of electricity.
Your iPod or Zune probably isn’t worth worrying too much about, either: According to Chris Calwell, the founder of energy efficiency consulting firm Ecos, digital music players only draw about 0.25 to 0.4 watts when fully charged.
What about laptops? If you got yours in the last few years, it may not be much of a nighttime energy hog. According to figures from the University of Pennsylvania’s IT department—which looked at several laptops purchased between 2005 and 2009—today’s laptops draw between one to three watts when switched off but plugged in, and roughly the same amount in sleep mode. That puts them in about the same ballpark as cell phones. A laptop that’s idle, but not asleep, will draw closer to 15 to 20 watts.
Given that the average American’s residential electricity consumption is more than 4,000 kWh each year (PDF), the Lantern doesn’t think that a handful of kilowatt-hours are worth much tossing and turning. You could do way more for the planet, for example, by swapping out a single incandescent light bulb in your home for a compact fluorescent one; as the Lantern pointed out in a previous column, that simple action alone can save 126 kWh a year. Plus, charging your gadgets while you sleep has the added benefit of shifting a tiny fraction of your energy usage from the daytime, when demand is highest, to the nighttime, making things just a bit easier on your local grid.
As Cambridge professor David MacKay notes in his book Sustainable Energy—Without the Hot Air, obsessively unplugging your charger is like “bailing the Titanic with a teaspoon.” By all means, do it, he says, “but please be aware how tiny a gesture it is.” (He goes on to note that, according to his calculations, keeping your phone charger unplugged for a year saves as much energy as skipping a single hot bath.)

Source : techpark

Microsoft Azure vs. Google Apps vs. Amazon – Your choice?

2009-11-03T04:28:00.000-08:00

It’s been quite some time, Microsoft have joined the Cloud computing space with the advent of Microsoft Azure platform. The other players already fighting battle in this scenario are Amazon and Google. It would be an interesting task to compare the three major offerings existing today in the cloud compute market space.

But, first of all let us know, what is a cloud computing? It is an emerging style of infrastructure that allows companies to utilize the Internet (the “cloud” in cloud computing) for functions such as data storage, security, and enterprise applications. In cloud computing, dynamically scalable, virtualized resources are provided as a service over the internet.

Cloud computing customers do not generally own the physical infrastructure serving as host to the software platform in question. Instead, they avoid capital expenditure by renting usage from a third-party provider. They consume resources as a service and pay only for resources that they use. Many cloud-computing offerings employ the utility computing model, which is analogous to how traditional utility services (such as electricity) are consumed, while others bill on a subscription basis. Sharing “perishable and intangible” computing power among multiple tenants can improve utilization rates, as servers are not unnecessarily left idle (which can reduce costs significantly while increasing the speed of application development).

All of this brings us back to the key solutions present in the market today – Microsoft Azure, Google Apps and Amazon web services (AWS). Here is a quick summary for each of them. Later we will compare them on feature by feature.

Microsoft Azure

The Azure Services Platform (Azure) is an internet-scale cloud services platform hosted in Microsoft data centers, which provides an operating system and a set of developer services that can be used individually or together. Azure’s flexible and interoperable platform can be used to build new applications to run from the cloud or enhance existing applications with cloud-based capabilities.

Its open architecture gives developers the choice to build web applications, applications running on connected devices, PCs, servers, or hybrid solutions offering the best of online and on-premises.

Azure is still in beta, and Microsoft hasn’t given a schedule for making it a released platform, but developers have just started using it through the Community Technology Preview (CTP).

Google Apps

Google App Engine is a platform for developing and hosting web applications in Google-managed data centers.

Google provides you a fixed environment, based around the Python language, the Django development framework, Google’s BigTable database/storage system and Google File System (GFS). At present, developers get 500 MB of storage and compute power for up to about 5 million page views per month for free. Google has also announced pricing for more active sites.

Because this has been built so closely around Google’s own operating environment, it should be relatively easy for developers who know those frameworks to get started.

Amazon Web Services

The Amazon Web Services (AWS) are a collection of remote computing services (also called web services) offered over the Internet by Amazon.com.

It is one of the most mature solutions in the market today. It offers basic cloud infrastructure required (compute power to run virtual machines, storage, communication queues, and database) and allows you to fully control your virtual machines and run your LAMP- or Microsoft-stack applications any way you like.

The one offering, that gets the most attention in AWS is called the Amazon Elastic Computer Cloud (EC2), a web service that lets you assign your application to as many “compute units” as you would like, whenever you need them.

The Amazon platform’s basic advantage is simple: you can just use the amount of storage you want, when you want it. The platform itself seems to be very low-level and very flexible. Amazon provides lots of “machine images” with various operating systems, databases, application development environments, etc. so that you can pick the one, suiting to your needs.Now let’s take a close look and compare the features of each solution:

Feature Microsoft Azure (Azure) Amazon Web Services (AWS) Google App Engine Availability Early private CTP Yes, commercially available In public beta Computing Architecture Provide .NET code for front-end and back-end servers which Microsoft then runs on Windows 2008 virtual machines according to your environment specifications (how many machines of each kind you need, and so on.) Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) allows you to upload your XEN virtual machine images to the infrastructure and gives you APIs to instantiate and manage them. You write your web application in Python or Django with a specific set of limitations set by Google and submit the application code to them.

Now let’s take a close look and compare the features of each solution:

Feature	Microsoft Azure (Azure)	Amazon Web Services (AWS)	Google App Engine
Availability	Early private CTP	Yes, commercially available	In public beta
Computing Architecture	Provide .NET code for front-end and back-end servers which Microsoft then runs on Windows 2008 virtual machines according to your environment specifications (how many machines of each kind you need, and so on.)	Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) allows you to upload your XEN virtual machine images to the infrastructure and gives you APIs to instantiate and manage them.	You write your web application in Python or Django with a specific set of limitations set by Google and submit the application code to them.
Load balancing	Yes	Yes	Yes
Data Storage	Yes: Application storage and SQL Data services	Yes: Simple Storage Service (S3) and SimpleDB	Yes: Database Datastore APIs (Big Table)
Message queuing for machine communcations	Yes: Queues in Windows Azure storage	Yes: Simple Queue Service (SQS)	No
Integration with other services	.NET services:Access control services, workflow service, service bus.Live MeshVarious Live services (contacts, mail, maps and so on.)	No	Yes, with existing Google services: authentication, mail, base, calendar, contacts, documents, pictures, spreadsheets, YouTube.
Tied to the vendor datacenter	Yes	Yes	Yes
Development tools	Yes, integration into Visual Studio, support for any .NET languages,	Not applicable. Amazon simply runs your virtual machines and does not care which development platform you are using on top of the base OS.	Yes, have basic editing, local simulation, and deployment tools. Language selection limited to Python and Django.Application-level tools such as Google Web Toolkit (GWT) do not seem to have any integration with Google App Engine.

So, what’s your decision now?

Source : globallogic

Hard Drive Lock Picking

2009-11-01T22:07:00.000-08:00

Need to get into a tricky lock, why not make a lock pick out of one of your old hard drives? That is what the guys over at sorgonet.com did.

Panoramic Camera Build

2009-11-01T22:02:00.000-08:00

"Materials for Panoramic Camera with lots of build details

* Hitec HS-785HB Winch Servo Motor
* ServoCity SPT200 Direct Drive Pan & Tilt System
* Pololu Micro Serial 8 Servo Controller
* Hitec HS-425BB Servo Motor
* A digital camera
* Small plastic container
* Battery holders
* (Rechargeable) Batteries
* A piece of aluminum (I used an old heat sink)
* A long nut (of the same size as a tripod screw)
* A screw (that fits into the tripod attachment on the camera)
* A tripod
* Cable ties
* A small piece of neoprene (or any other mushy substance)
* A USB to Serial cable
* Some female headers and wires"

Switchital - Moving 7 Segment Digital Wall Clock

2009-11-01T21:57:00.000-08:00

Swiss designer Matthias Pugin has made a crazy clock called Switchital which is a Moving 7 Segment Digital Wall Clock that works by moving hidden magnets which arrange bars of 7 segment displays. At first I thought this was a design simulation but I think it’s real! I would like to have a look at the guts inside the clock and the controller that is an amazing choreographer.

Robot plays Rockband on the iPhone with Simulated Fingers

2009-11-01T21:53:00.000-08:00

Rockband is lots of fun. What can be more fun than rocking out with Rockband on your iPhone? Well the answer is making a robot that is better than you at it! This robot uses sensors to look for the blips streaming down the screen and cool simulated fingers to jam on the touchscreen. The Arduino code is available so you can make your own iPhone Rockband robot.

"The iPhone touch screen isn’t like most PDAs. It uses a capacitive touch screen. More info about that HERE. It would seem that the iPhone is looking for a finger sized touch, from living flesh. According to the link, the screen actually looks for changes in electrical current. I had some conductive foam laying around, its usually used for shipping sensitive electronics. If I put my finger behind the foam and pressed on the iphone screen, it works. If I used something non conductive, like a plastic pen, the foam would do nothing to the screen. My solution to this was to put thin copper wires into the foam (I also used these wires to attach the foam to the servos) the other end of the wires were wrapped around the handle of an exacto knife. When the Robot is playing the game
I touch the handle of the exacto and the robot fingers are able to press the screen."

Windows 8 Ultimate Xtreme Edition x86/x64

2009-11-01T07:59:00.000-08:00

What is Windows 8 xTreme ??

- Windows 8 xTreme doesn't have any components removed from Original Windows 7 Image so you wont lose any compatibly with software, hardware or miss any stuff at all.
- Windows 8 xTreme, its a Clean Windows 7 Image with a compilation of the best tweaks and a new integrated look ... keeping all new features like superbar, etc ...
- Windows 8 xTreme has been tested in a real machine with a compilation of over 200 softwares ...
- All default applications are silently installed before StartUp ...

Tweaks:

* UAC Disabled
* Take Ownership
* Show File Extensions
* Automatic Defragmentation with Diskeeper
* New Cmd File to Right Click
* Enabled Search System Folders in Search
* ClearType
* Windows Will Tell You Exactly What it is Doing When it is Shutting Down or is Booting
* Increase Network Throughput
* ... many tweaks for IE8
* ... many more tweaks for W7 ...

Design:

* New Windows 7 Themes
* New Start Button
* New Cursor 3D
* New Hd Wallpapers
* New Hd System Icons Integrated In System
* New User Account Pics
* New Windows Scheme Sounds
* New Logon Screen
* ... and more

Extra Toos Integrated In System:
* SPTD

Extras:
* Cursor Fx + Cursor 3D (separate optional)

Nokia to scrap N-Gage gaming service

2009-11-01T03:19:00.001-08:00

Nokia has lately been busy developing mobile gaming applications and building up the portfolio of the games in Ovi Store. The Ovi Store currently has over thousand games that are supported by around 100 Nokia devices. And now the N-Gage Blog reports, that this Ovi store will be taking over the working of the N-Gage.

Reportedly, the official N-Gage website as well as the N-Gage Arena and other community features of the N-Gage will remain in operation throughout 2010. But users will be able to purchase games from the site only till the end of September next year. Thereafter, Ovi Store will be the new central place for all the mobile games that Nokia and other publishers offer.

The games that have been purchased from N-Gage will continue to work on N-Gage compatible mobile devices even after the site closes down. However, community features of the games will not be functional after 2010. The blog also states that Nokia is planning to incorporate new community elements in the Ovi Store. This will help users share their highest scores with other players.

Well, to conclude Nokia will continue to sell earlier launched devices with N-Gage application pre-installed for sometime. But the upcoming Nokia devices will shun the N-Gage in favor of the Ovi Store.

Intel's next-gen memory closer to reality

2009-11-01T03:18:00.000-08:00

This image shows phase-change memory built atop a conventional CMOS microchip. Memory cells can be controlled using rows and columns of wires that lead through the chip.

(Credit: Intel)

Researchers are two steps closer to creating a mass-market version of technology called phase-change memory that could change how computers of the future are put together.

Intel and Numonyx, the chipmaker's joint venture with STMicroelectonics that's focused on flash memory, announced Wednesday they've built a new type of phase-change memory chip they hope will help fulfill the technology's promise for small size and large capacity.

Its 64-megabit capacity isn't momentous on its own--Numonyx announced a 128Mb device in 2006 and Samsung said in September it's producing a 512Mb chip. But what is significant are two major advances in making the decades-old idea practical.

First, the researchers built a grid of wires into the chip so a computer can easily control the writing of a 1 or 0 in each of the 64 million memory cells. Second, they announced their manufacturing process lets them stack several layers atop each other so memory can be packed more densely in a given volume.

Storing numbers in a computer hardly is new, so why could phase-change memory, which records ones and zeros by changing the molecular state of a particular type of glass, be a big deal?

In short, it could combine conventional computer memory's high speed with flash memory's low cost, low power demands, and high capacity. Having lots of fast memory on hand could simplify computer hardware and software that today must reckon with a hierarchy of storage technologies that trade off performance for capacity.

Operating systems today must constantly work to keep important information in memory while relegating the rest to "virtual memory" stored on hard drives--or, these days, an intermediate layer in the hierarchy, solid state disks made of flash memory. Deciding what goes where is complicated, and priorities change from one moment to the next.

"At Intel, we see this as an important milestone in enabling a future class of memory where you can combine attributes of memory semantics and storage semantics, potentially collapsing the technologies into one memory type," said Al Fazio, Intel's director of memory technology development, discussing the technology Wednesday. "The research is very promising in delivering that."

For another thing, phase-change memory could get around difficulties of shrinking current memory technologies to ever-smaller sizes. And for another, it could lower the power consumption, reducing waste heat and extending battery life.

A long history
But be sure to temper that promise with a long history.

Phase-change memory is a decades-old idea. Intel co-founder Gordon Moore, of Moore's Law fame, wrote a paper on the idea in 1970. It's made some headway since then: phase-change technology is used to store data on rewritable DVDs and CDs.

Intel and Numonyx aren't alone in trying to commercialize the technology. Start-up Ovonyx also is working on it, as are IBM, Samsung, and Philips Electronics. But as the years of labor show, it's been difficult bringing phase-change memory to market.

Fazio and Greg Atwood, senior technology fellow at Numonyx, took pains to say their companies' work on the technology began in earnest at the beginning of the decade.

"Significant new memory technologies are really quite rare," Atwood said. "There are many hurdles in introduction of new memory. Ten years is not an unreasonable time frame."

Arguably, Atwood said, there only are three forms of memory developed since the 1960s, he said: dynamic random access memory (DRAM) that's the mainstay of computer memory, the more expensive static dynamic random access memory (SRAM) that's often integrated on processors, and electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), of which flash is one variety.

Adding phase-change memory, sometimes called PCM, PRAM, or ovonics, therefore would be quite a departure in the history of computing.

How's it work?
Phase change memory stores 1s and 0s in a tiny patch of glass material that can be changed from one state to another--specifically, so its molecules are arranged either in a crystalline pattern or an amorphous jumble. It's conceptually similar to water being either a liquid or an ice.

In addition, Intel announced "multi-level" phase change memory in 2008 that adds two intermediate states, a move that means a single cell could hold two bits of data instead of one--the binary numbers of 00, 01, 10, or 11. That effectively doubled the 128Mbit capacity of the prototype chip to a 256Mbit chip, Intel said.

The stacking technique could increase memory density further, though there are limits, Atwood said.

"In principle, we can stack as high as we choose. In practice, every layer of memory has an additional cost," he said, requiring more processing and increasing the risks that defects will lower the yield of useful chips produced from a production batch. "There's no reason why we couldn't stack four layers for example, or potentially more."

Though the researchers are excited about stacking, the 64Mbit prototypes uses only a single layer of memory cells. "The first layer is the hardest layer," Fazio said. And today's flash memory is only one layer thick.

Like flash but unlike conventional computer memory, phase-change memory is nonvolatile, which means that once data is written, it stays put even if the power is switched off. That doesn't just preserve data when a device is off; it also means that unlike DRAM, power isn't required to keep the data in memory.

Ever smaller
Intel was cagey about just how closely packed its latest memory cells are. But the company expects to achieve the same density of memory cells as flash memory--then go beyond it eventually.

Flash memory today requires relatively high voltages--about 20 volts--to store its data, Fazio said. But high voltage and small distances are hard to put together, a fact that imposes limits on flash memory.

Today's flash memory features measure about 30 nanometers, or billionths of a meter. Because of the voltage issue and the fact that the difference between a 1 and a 0 is just "a handful of electrons," it's getting harder to shrink flash memory technology.

Phase-change memory, though, can get much smaller. "Research in the industry has shown that to be stable down to 5 nanometers and lower," Fazio said.

The new wiring grid helps keep up with the shrinking trend by providing a way to get at the data even as cells get smaller.

All this is important for the computer industry, which has struggled with the challenges of data storage.

Once upon a time, memory and processors worked at closer speeds, but they've diverged over the years, which means processors often must idle while the memory system fetches data the CPU has requested. System architects have responded by building a hierarchy of storage systems--different levels of SRAM cache memory on the chip or right next to it, DRAM that's one level removed, and hard drives a step beyond that.

Today's flash memory, which is faster than a hard drive and cheaper than conventional memory, is changing that arrangement. It's already revolutionized the portable device market with enough capacity for lots of songs, videos, and photos. Now it's begun arriving in high-end laptops with solid-state drives that offer longer battery life, higher performance, and greater ruggedness. And servers are on the cusp of major changes with the incorporation of flash memory.

But flash memory is sluggish compared to conventional memory. If phase-change memory meets its high-performance promise in coming years, expect more profound changes for computing systems.

Source : cnet

Let's kill the OS upgrade disc

2009-11-01T03:15:00.000-08:00

I love upgrades. But I hate upgrade discs and upgrade pricing. Let's find a way to do away with both, or at least make the upgrade transaction a bit cleaner.

Operating system upgrades
The reason I'm writing this column won't be a surprise to anyone one who follows technology: Windows 7. I bought the upgrade disc (on the pre-order special price). When it arrived, I started the upgrade process for my Vista desktop. Knowing that the disc was licensed only to upgrade an existing Windows installation, I pressed the big button for a "Custom" installation and the disc set up my computer more-or-less cleanly with Windows 7. What I really wanted to do was re-format my hard drive and start from a blank slate on my computer, but I was afraid to do that since I thought the disc would see that as a non-upgrade install and not work.

Eventually, I did it anyway, thanks in part to the confidence I got from other users who had found ways to install an upgrade disc to fresh PC. I re-installed Windows 7 on the computer and asked the installer to format the disc first. It did, it installed Windows 7, and two days later I nervously entered my license key for Windows to authorize itself. Which it did, no problems. I didn't have to resort to any hacks. Hats off to Microsoft for doing what it should have. But my fear about the upgrade did cause me some nerves, and is also the reason I did the "custom" or semi-clean upgrade in the first place, which turned out to be a waste of valuable time.

I'm also peeved that I had to pay for this for this upgrade. Wasn't running Vista for two years payment enough? That OS was patched and upgraded numerous times while I was running it, at no cost to me. Windows 7, while a better experience, is still clearly Vista with problems fixed and an improved interface. I don't feel I should have to pay for again.

Then there's OS X Snow Leopard, another upgrade I paid for. Sure, it was only $29, but what did I get? Nothing that's made a tangible difference in my Mac experience. My Macbook runs very well now. It ran very well before I did the upgrade, too. There are nice new features, but they're incremental.

How many times can operating system vendors charge users for offering the same fundamental benefit on the hardware that they already own?

Here's what I propose: no more OS upgrade pricing. Vendors, make your money for each new machine that runs your OS, either up front when the OS is installed on the machine (easy for Apple, which makes 99.99 percent of the machines that run the Apple OS), or by letting customers subscribe to operating system upgrades as an ongoing service. The OS subscription model is probably a better bet for business customers on the Windows side. On OS X, it could be part of Apple Care. When users retire a machine, they can end the subscription and get a pro-rated portion of their money back.

So much of what you pay for with an OS is ongoing maintenance and security updates anyway, I don't see how a reasonable subscription fee would be a stopper for reasonable users, assuming the total cost for the subscription was about the same as the cost for buying the operating system license outright.

It's time to recognize that the Webware, or software-as-a-service model, can work for installed software, especially now that we've become accustomed to paying subscription fees for almost every digital asset we use (examples: Web apps, mobile phones, cable TV boxes, multiplayer games). We need ongoing vendor support for an OS anyway, so why not level out the expense?

Sure, OS makers don't get the big revenue spike when they ship a major new version. But they do get a predictable revenue stream, and as machines age and people replace them, and as new machines are built and bought, they can still make enough money. And market forces would, I would hope, keep prices competitive. (If we end up paying more for our OSes, I will be first in line to tar and feather myself.)

Application upgrades
There's another form of upgrade that I find vexing: the major app upgrade. I'm looking at Microsoft again here, with its Office upgrades, but also at Adobe and many other software vendors that offer upgrades at retail for existing users of their products.

These upgrade prices are often so low in comparison to new-user prices that they encourage users to find workarounds, legal and not, to get the deals. One co-worker, for example, once acquired Photoshop by buying an upgrade version online, and a leftover, older version at a local computer store, just so he could install the older version and upgrade it. Legal? Sure. Ridiculous? That, too. With new-user pricing for major apps being so high, it's no wonder that people will go to lengths to get the cheaper upgrade path... and then be stuck with having to install two apps to do the job of one.

Here's a better idea: Sell software at a reasonable price. And take the upgrades off the shelves. Instead, offer upgrades to apps exclusively from within the apps themselves, to current users of the apps, and deliver the code over the Net. Users might pay the same for major software upgrades, but the upgrade discs won't be floating around telling new users that they're being taking for a ride when they want to buy the app for the first time. Hopefully this could help vendors actually lower prices and get their apps in the hands of more customers.

I was surprised to hear from a Microsoft exec that the issue with in-place full version upgrades is more technical than economic. Chris Bryant, director of Office Product Management, told me that building an upgrade path into an app requires a clear vision of the future of the app so the upgrade framework will work (which doesn't quite explain how major service pack upgrades are possible). The reason I expected to hear--that retailers wouldn't benefit from the upgrades--he said didn't necessarily hold, since Microsoft has methods to track who sold an installation of the software first, and can credit that seller for revenues from in-place upgrades.

These are just a few ideas, and I'm aware they're far from perfect solutions. But upgrade discs cause consumers confusion. There are ways to give users and companies the same benefits in cleaner packages.

Source : cnet

Bing mobile interface gets a makeover

2009-11-01T03:13:00.000-08:00

Bing has released an update for its Bing mobile browser at the m.bing.com. Bing has always offered users a mobile-optimized way to do local searches and view maps. This new update will enhance the local searches, quick answers, and maps and also incorporate a few new and advanced features.

The various features that this update tags along include NLF and Flight Status. The NLF feature allows users to type the name of a team or a player and get full details about it including upcoming games, stats, and scores. In the US this feature will also provide real-time updates of matches. The Flight Status feature prompts users to enter the name of an airline and the flight number and provides details like the latest departure and landing times.

The update will also bring in new and improved features for touchscreen devices. The new update enhances the touch navigation and also adds new movie features. This new version of the Bing browser is currently supported by iPhone, Zune HD, T-Mobile G1, Verizon Imagio, and Samsung Omnia.

The update for the Bing browser is now available in more than 31 countries and is compatible with almost any handset. The updated browser can be tried at Bing’s official website.

Source : mobiletor

Facebook awarded $711 million in spam lawsuit

2009-11-01T03:10:00.001-08:00

Facebook was awarded $711 million in a judgment Thursday against self-described "spam king" Sanford Wallace.

Judge Jeremy Fogel of the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of California granted Facebook's application for a default judgment against Wallace for violating the Can-Spam Act, which bans "false and misleading" marketing e-mails. Fogel also found that Wallace "willfully violated" a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction issued in the case and referred the matter to the U.S. Attorney's Office for prosecution of criminal contempt.

"The record demonstrates that Wallace willfully violated the statutes in question with blatant disregard for the rights of Facebook and the thousands of Facebook users whose accounts were compromised by his conduct," Fogel wrote in his judgment order, which also permanently prohibits Wallace from accessing the Facebook Web site or creating a Facebook account, among other restrictions.

Facebook said the order should serve as a strong deterrent against spammers.

"While we don't expect to receive the vast majority of the award, we hope that this will act as a continued deterrent against these criminals," Sam O'Rourke, Facebook's lead counsel for litigation and intellectual property, wrote in a Facebook blog post. "This is another important victory in our fight against spam. We will continue to pursue damages against other spammers."

Facebook sued Sanford and two others in February alleging they used phishing sites or other means to fraudulently gain access to Facebook accounts and used them to distribute phishing spam throughout the network.

Wallace earned the nicknames "Spamford" and "spam king" for his past role as head of CyberPromotions, a company responsible for sending as many as 30 million junk e-mails a day in the 1990s.

In May 2008, Wallace and another defendant were ordered to pay MySpace.com $234 million following a trial at which Wallace repeatedly failed to turn over documents or even show up in court.

Wallace has also been previously sued by the Federal Trade Commission and companies such as AOL and Concentric Network. In May 2006, Wallace and his company Smartbot.net were ordered by a federal court to turn over $4.1 million.

As large as it is, the Facebook judgment against Wallace is not the largest for a case brought under the Can-Spam Act. Late last year, the federal court in San Jose awarded Facebook $873 million in damages against a Canadian man accused of spamming users of the site.

WordPress for iPhone 2 comes to App Store

2009-11-01T03:09:00.000-08:00

To offer rich mobile blogging experience, the new version of WordPress is now available for the iPhone. The new version called the WordPress for iPhone 2 brings several new features and usability enhancement.

It comes with a new user-friendly interface that allows users to efficiently switch between comments, posts and pages. The new user interface is refined and bugs encountered in the previous version are eliminated. The comments interface also displays Gravatars and author URL in the comment list.

When the new version is installed, it doesn’t overwrite the previous version. The older version can be easily removed from the device if not in use. WordPress for iPhone 2 automatically saves posts and restores them if the connection is lost while publishing.

It offers same features like the previous version that include support for multiple blogs, upload photo and post reviews, tags, categories and password protected posts. Passwords are stored in the keychain. Users can now manually enter the XMLRPC endpoint for non-standards setups with the new interface. The new version is improvised with rotation-related visual errors and malformed XML that prevented access to XMLRPC endpoint. Photos are displayed in the order they have been uploaded.

Like the previous version, WordPress for iPhone 2 is an Open Source app. The application’s source code is available publicly. The new version is available at the App store.

Mozilla releases first beta of Firefox 3.6

2009-11-01T03:06:00.000-08:00

Those keen to try out Mozilla's latest browser--and its new process to update the software more frequently--now can try Firefox 3.6 beta 1.

Among the features in the new version, according to Mike Beltzner, Mozilla's director of Firefox, and Mozilla evangelist Chris Blizzard:

• Personas, which lets people customize the browser appearance. Personas has been available as an add-on, so there are plenty of Personas skins to choose from.

• Faster execution of Web-based JavaScript programs, better browser responsiveness, and faster startup time. Mozilla has been working on JavaScript performance for many months, but the urgency of that and other performance improvements increased with the arrival of Google's Chrome browser.

• The ability to drag and drop files from the computer to the browser. This is useful for uploading files to Web sites, as will a feature not in the beta but planned for the final version, support for the multiple-file input tag so more than one file can be added in Web forms.

• Expanded support for geolocation technology so it can provide a Web site with an approximate physical address of the user, not just latitude-longitude coordinates.

• The ability to detect the computer's orientation for machines that offer accelerometer support.

• Video built into Web pages with the HTML5 "video" tag now can be viewed full-screen.

Mozilla also released a full list of Firefox changes developers should know about with more details.

Firefox is at the vanguard of the second generation of browser wars. Although it competes with Google's Chrome, Apple's Safari, and Opera, all those browsers are also allied in a way against Microsoft's Internet Explorer, which though dominant is relatively slow at some tasks and only now complying more fully with Web page standards of yesteryear. The rivals, meanwhile, are pushing ahead with new features in HTML5 in development right now.

Mozilla released the alpha version of Firefox 3.6, code-named Namoroka, in August.

The organization plans to release the final version by the end of the year, with Firefox 3.7 in the first half of 2010 and Firefox 4.0 in about a year.

One complication of the upgrade is compatibility of add-ons that extend Firefox's features; the new browser version makes some changes. Mozilla is debating whether to release Firefox 3.6 as a minor update automatically distributed to 3.5 users or as a major update that requires those users to actively retrieve it.

One major element of Firefox 4.0 is a new add-on technology called Jetpack that eases this compatibility problem.

Source : cnet

Windows Users Should Wait to Upgrade, Firm Warns

2009-11-01T03:03:00.000-08:00

Users should wait for Microsoft to work out the bugs in Windows 7 before jumping on the new operating system, a Syracuse, N.Y.-based computer support company said today.

"From the calls we're getting, as well as our own experience in the past with all Microsoft's operating systems, we're recommending that people stick with their time-tested OS and wait for the dust to settle," said Josh Kaplan, president of Rescuecom.

Citing a litany of reasons, ranging from the risk of losing data during an upgrade to tough economic times, Kaplan urged Windows users to put off upgrading to Windows 7 or buying a new PC with the operating system pre-installed. "There are some compelling reasons for both businesses and home users to move to Windows 7," Kaplan said, "so we're saying 'just wait for a bit.'"

Upgrading an existing machine -- whether it's running the eight-year-old Windows XP or the much newer Vista -- is particularly risky, he added, especially if users haven't taken time to make a full backup before they migrate their machines.

"Transferring all their data, their digital life essentially, is one of the most common, and most troubling, issues that users have," said Kaplan, noting that the chore is among the top problems Rescuecom's support technicians field. "Even if you're doing an in-place [upgrade], if you don't have a proper backup, you're still at risk. Without the proper preparation, moving to a new OS is risky for anybody."

Some users have found that out first hand. Among the top subjects on Microsoft's support forum is one that has put some PCs into an endless reboot loop when their owners tried to upgrade from Vista to Windows 7. Microsoft has not yet come up with a solution that works for all the users who have reported the problem, sparking frustration.

"I have had enough. I have now given up and have gone back to XP, which still works fine but is getting a little old," said "daeld" on the support thread dedicated to the endless reboot problem .

"Wait until your current hardware dies, buy a new PC with Windows 7 then transfer your data from backup to the new one," said Kaplan. "If you wait, there will be even more computers designed for Windows 7, and the driver situation will be better. While Windows 7 is made to be compatible with the same hardware and software as Vista, there are always exceptions. It's safer to wait for the patches and new drivers to be released."

Another consideration, noted Kaplan, is the price of Windows 7. The least-expensive single-license upgrade to the new OS costs $119.99, while the three-license Family Pack runs $149.99. "Given the economy, is that really a necessary expense right now?" he wondered.

Last May, Rescuecom posted five steps users can take to extend the life of their aging PC. "Making sure it's protected from malware, viruses, all the evil things on the Internet, that goes a long way," Kaplan said today. "Cleaning up your hard drive, the normal day-to-day computer maintenance, that's another."

Computerworld 's How to make Windows XP last for the next seven years , although more than two year's old, also includes tips that still apply.

"Any upgrade is a challenge," Kaplan concluded. "At the least, wait for the first service pack," he said, referring to the major updates and bug fix collections that Microsoft rolls out at infrequent intervals.

Google’s First Dog

2009-10-30T03:13:00.000-07:00

Yoshka, Google's first “company” dog, comes to work with Google's senior vice president of operations, Urs Hoelzle.

Urs Hölzle
Senior Vice President, Operations & Google Fellow

Dog owning-Googler are called as Doogler.

Google Likes It Bi(n)g: Increases Search Box Size, Creates More News and Blog Posts To Crawl

2009-10-30T03:00:00.000-07:00

Last night I changed a the height of a content box in one of our websites and even added a new page but nobody noticed. Google’s Marissa Mayer who is the VP for Search Products & User Experience there posted on the Google blog that they have changed the size of Google’s search box on the home and results page and it lands on Techmeme. A lot of people are downright confused and to an extent agitated why this piece of news should get so much attention. Though there are quite a few voices who consider it important though for no particular reason other than the fact that Google is doing it.

Let’s hear it from Google first, so Marissa Mayer blogs that

For us, search has always been our focus. And, starting today, you’ll notice on our homepage and on our search results pages, our search box is growing in size. Although this is a very simple idea and an even simpler change, we’re excited about it — because it symbolizes our focus on search and because it makes our clean, minimalist homepage even easier and more fun to use.

Very simple idea indeed, but certainly mine and Marissa’s idea of fun certainly don’t seem to match. And it is a thought echoed by Matt at Search Engine Land.

What are the possible reasons for this move if it is not for fun’s sake?

: Source: Venture Beats

The initial reaction was that it is the Bing effect. Bing introduced a whole different look to searches and has a considerably long search box among many other things. While it would be callous to pronounce that Google increased its box size simply to outdo Bing, it is interesting to note all other search engines have comparatively longer search boxes than Google’s. It is still not bigger than Bing though.

Nathania Johnson of Search Engine Watch thinks it is to cater to the senior citizen demography in USA. ” If I had to guess, it would have been that search terms are getting longer and that senior citizens are one of the fastest growing demographics on the web. Plus, with tens of millions of Americans set to enter senior citizen-hood in the next decade, it makes sense to cater to that demo.” I must admit that was my first reaction as well, but this doesn’t hold true for a lot of other markets, say for instance India where the demo isn’t going anywhere above 50 for good couple of decades from now. And Google has implemented this change all across its regional sites as well so the reason perhaps has to be different.

Many believe it is just a statement from Google that it is commited to search. I don’t see how making CSS changes enhances or sends an assurance of commitment to its core product. Exactly the reason why even Google’s officiall announcement seemed a bit out of sync. Why not have a bigger, wider and taller box then, shut up all critics once and for all.

My mind bends more towards those who opine that this move is targeted towards the further long tail of long tails in search. And if you put a couple of things together everything begins to make sense.

Google on its part had a conference call with Wall Street, and one of the points of discussion was summarized as this:

Overview of the search market. 20% of queries have never been seen before. Additionally, 10 terabytes of new data are created each day. Speed is very important in search behavior. In a map search, Google found that increasing the speed of a search almost doubled usage of maps (increased from 4 pans to 7).

The important point here is 20% new queries. In Google’s search planet that is a huge number, and this when you look at from the angle of the long tail with perhaps longer phrases and more niche keywords, a bigger box would seem a more important move than otherwise. Another important factor here would also be newer users on the block as Google expands into newer markets and demographies. Local and regional characters like say Chinese, or Tamil might also be an important point in this regard. For we are talking about a company which when it increased its search results from 10 to 20 in a page saw a dramatic drop in usage (can’t find the link) and all for a few seconds of slowness.

So while it might be a small cosmetic change without any serious implications in terms of revenue or algorithm, it offers another glimpse to the changing ways of the web. One perhaps that publishers probably should notice in my mind.

On the other hand I have serious reservations of this move considering most of search is going to happen on mobile in future and a larger box isn’t a convenient option really on smaller mobile screens.

PS: The headline doesn’t add up to the story a lot, while it isn’t misleading, it doesn’t paint an accurate picture either..just an experiment thanks.

Source : WATBlog

Google Introduces Fast Flip And Shares Revenue With Publishers For The First Time

2009-10-30T02:42:00.001-07:00

Scott Karp of Publishing 2.0 summed it up the best, Google understands web publishing and the web better than publishers. So while the men in the business of news (and the women for that matter) are all busy thinking better models of business to survive in digital medium, Google has come out with an all new way to access and read news. With Fast Flip, Google makes news a more print like commodity and delivers and innovation that perhaps publishers should have been the first to try. And to make it happen Google has also gone out of its usual ways and done a revenue share with publishers.

The idea behind Flip Fast as one can gauge from the name is to make browsing faster. The enormous amount of news and content that is available on the web makes sure that loading a news site is pain to the eyes and a load on even the fastest browsers in high broadband. Google considers that a print like solution where we can flip through to the content that we need like in a magazine is what the web needs.

The flow should feel seamless and let you rapidly flip forward to the content you like, without the constant wait for things to load. Imagine taking 10 seconds to turn the page of a print magazine!

So with that in mind Google has now introduced Google Fast Flip.

Like a print magazine, Fast Flip lets you browse sequentially through bundles of recent news, headlines and popular topics, as well as feeds from individual top publishers.

Google has tired up with over 40 big names in publishing to aggregate content on Fast Flip. The full list includes BBC News, Billboard, BusinessWeek, Center for Investigative Reporting, Center for Public Integrity, Christian Science Monitor, CosmoGirl, Cosmopolitan, ELLE, Esquire, Fast Company, FRONTLINE, Foreign Policy, Good Housekeeping, Harper’s Bazaar, House Beautiful, Marie Claire, Men’s Journal, National Geographic, National Review Online, New York Times, Newsweek, Popular Mechanics, ProPublica, Quick & Simple, Redbook, SPIN, Salon, Seventeen, Slate, Smithsonian, TechCrunch, Technology Review, Teen, The Atlantic, The Daily Beast, The Daily Green, US Magazine, Veranda, Washington Post. (Source NiemanJournalismLab)

Why Did These Publishers Join the Game?

This years has been in the news with various voices talking various things about web publishing. From mainstream media complaining about Google using their content to fill its cash coffers to big shots calling for paid models of content distribution. Even Bill Gates wanted Google to share revenue .In all the hoopla what remained was a stagnant manner of disposing news to site visitors.

Google for the first time has taken a step in both directions. It has fundamentally changed the way news is displayed, which is a far shot from the way search results and Google news functions. Also and more importantly it has decided to share revenue with the publishers from whom content is being sourced and aggregated. By all means I think it is fair to think Google would be having a major share on this project considering it is their initiative. However, for an industry grappling with debt, and dipping revenues any new way to get hold of more ad dollars would be a welcome change.

Though Martin A. Nisenholtz SVP of Digital Ops at NY Times did point to a fear perhaps prevalent in more publishers, one that of Fast Flip adding to their woes if it becomes successful. He said it is a concern though that shouldn’t be mean you don’t participate. Like I mentioned, everyone is looking at an opening that can help them survive and grow.

This is what the Fast Flip interface looks like:

The interface somehow reminded me of a Yahoo search results page that they were trying out last year, though it is not quite the same.

A point however on whether this move would be appreciated in general is that of an old web design argument. Sometime back when CSS was gaining ground over simple HTML an argument arose when someone tried a split column to display text. Like we see in magazine, that given the limitation of vertical length the article is split into 2 or more columns on the same page. A lto of designers suggested it is not the best move considering web doesn’t have size limitations at least vertically. They said web needs to use its strength and it is best to leave articles in a single bottom scrolling column. While the debate died down and more or less all sites adopted to the latter point., it would be interesting to see how this move is viewed by usability experts.

Another important question would also be how smaller publishers would want to get into this league and if Google would make it possible for them to be part of it. Obviously it wold be a great boost to traffic and revenue for the independent publishers the web produced over the years. And that’s a juicy carrot that Google is dangling with Fast Flip.

Source : WATBlog

Microsoft Ties-up With JNTU, Offers Free Softwares To Students

2009-10-30T02:37:00.000-07:00

One of the perks of being a student is that you do tend to get a lot of discounts on software and products. However, Microsoft took it way ahead when it lunched the DreamSpark programme.

It provides no-cost access to Microsoft designer and development tools for verified students around the world, to support and advance their learning and skills through technical design, technology, math, science and engineering activities.

Bill Gates had launched this programme initially in February 2008, it has later officially launched the same in India in November 2008, and the current vision is to target even school students. It is estimated that a whopping 35 million students will be able to access these software titles free of charge through this programme. Currently Dream Spark is functional in 11 countries including India, the other being United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, France, Sweden, Switzerland, Finland, Spain and China.

Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad, has entered into an agreement with Microsoft India under this initiative; over 300,000 students from 380 affiliated engineering colleges in the State will have access to this programme.

Now the question is what exactly does the programme offer, well here you are -

Expression Studio 3
Windows Server 2008 Standard Edition
Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition
SQL Server 2008 Developer Edition
Plus a whole lot more.

Additionally, DreamSpark also offers free ebooks, up to 22 hours of free e-learning courses on Microsoft technologies and 1 free Microsoft certification exam. Most of the above is also available in your nearest NIIT, Aptech centers in a DVD Format at a nominal cost of Rs 50 only or at your nearest MTV Staff for free.

The only catch is, the software is available for personal and home use only, anything beyond that would be breaking the law and the software would expire on completion of your studies but future releases would not be available. Also not available would be the flagship titles like Office and Vista. However I guess that is okay otherwise Microsoft would not be able to earn a single penny from home users.

DreamWorks is tied up with the Sakshat programme of MHRD.

Offering platforms of interaction to students has been a continuous policy of Microsoft, be it the Highly popular Microsoft student partners programme, the highly resourceful Microsoft student lounge and pass website or the Student Tech Clubs. All this is now being supplemented with the DreamSpark Programme which targets the basic needs of Engineering and science students .

Way to go Microsoft! Readers, what’s your take on this move?

Source : WATBlog

Facebook Overtakes Orkut in India! SHOCKED ???????

2009-10-30T02:34:00.000-07:00

Orkut and Facebook has been a favourite topic for most of us here. Who’s winning? Who WILL win? What’s the future of social networking in India? Recently, there was a huge furore over Facebook promoting itself in India by urging people to add their Orkut Friends. Then Orkut blocked their nifty little tool, so on and so forth. Look at any mention of Orkut news that we’ve covered, you’ll find subtle or obvious comparisons with facebook. With Facebook dominating almost EVERY other country, India and Brazil were Orkut’s last bastion.

And that has now crumbled.

As of today, Facebook is India’s fourth most popular site. Orkut.co.in lags at Number 5.

What does that mean? Are more Indians now on Facebook? The last stats showed that Orkut had a huge majority when it came to volume? Now, to the extent that my knowledge of Alexa’s system goes, it records not the number of visitors registered on a site, but it checks the frequency of visits, number of unique visits and number of pageviews per visit.

Now, in figures, Orkut still leads. Here’s a somewhat recent article from TechCrunch on how Facebook’s Diabolic Plan to Dominate India might just be working. The stats (as quoted) from the article:

“In August, Orkut’s unique visitors in India dipped by 800,000 within a month, from 16 million visitors in July to 15.2 million visitors in August. On the other hand, Facebook grew its unique visitors in India by 700,000, from 7.5 million visitors in July to 8.2 million visitors in August. This the largest drop in unique visitors Orkut has seen in India over the past year, while Facebook has been steadily growing each month. In fact, Facebook’s audience in India is up 228 percent from a year ago, compared to a 35 percent annual gain for Orkut.”

The reasons : The controversial Friend Export Tool. Another? Facebook Lite. Though a lot of users have complained via WATBlog Comments on how much they hate it, there’s no denying that it possibly has had an impact. Especially since it’s easy and fast to load.

So, Orkut has MORE people on it, but very little stickiness. People are way more frequent on Facebook. From a social media marketing perspective, Facebook then CLEARLY has a lead, since it’s users return more often and actually spend more time on the site.

Yesterday, Orkut, on its blog announced its commendable review of OrkutHeroes, a site which is not theirs, but merely offers excellent resources on Orkut. Why? To quote Swati Rai, Consumer Operations, Orkut (India? Presumably), it can sometimes be tough to stay on top of everything that’s happening on orkut. Being a once-active Orkut user, I did browse the site.

Decently interesting. However, it seems too promotional for my taste. It features interviews and articles on other Orkut Users, all Indian (predominantly). So is Orkut now only a Brazilian and Indian thing?

We found out that Orkut might also be launching Status Updates, which led us remarking on Orkut aping Facebook aping Twitter.

Orkut’s last hope is Brazil. In Brazil, Orkut reign at No. 2, while Facebook lags at a meagre 22. Will Facebook steal that away too?

Source : WATBlog

The Chrome OS Beta is a Fake, Don’t Download

2009-10-30T02:31:00.000-07:00

If you read this like right now and head to Twitter and search for “Chrome OS”, you’ll find over a 100 tweets getting updated by the second that Google has released a Beta Version of its Chrome OS.

The link that you see on the image leads to a Google Sites page. The which has just four pages immediately seems like a shady part of the web for Chrome OS to be made available. The Download page says this:

Chrome OS is at the beta stage. You can download the free virtual appliance of Chrome OS here:

And gives links to a couple of torrent files with other file details like the size. What’s easy to miss though is a tiny bit of line which says:

Chrome OS is not related to Google. Service provided by SUSE Studio. See the license.

So there you go, despite what people might be tweeting, Chrome OS is not out. And what you have instead is a Linux software made out of Suse. So don’t download it.

Unless of course you want to have some fun like the guys at Download Squad did. The post shows all the goof ups the scamsters made along the way to stealthily convince us that Chrome OS is out. And going by the initial reactions on Twitter they still managed to have some fun of their own.

Which brings me to the more important point here. Since I began writing this post, another 500 people have tweeted about this already. And many of them are retweets of someone’ else message without bothering to read or verify the fact. Reminds me of some of my posts which got over 60 70 retweets without any comment on the post itself.

All people had to do was go check the site, within minutes it would have been evident that the site is a fake and so is the Software. For God’s sake why would Chrome put OpenOffice Suite when it has been building Google Docs all these years. And why would Google host it on Google Sites! But people are still tweeting and installing with gay abandon.

The questions therefore are:

Is Twitter making us mere headline junkies? Is our web attention span reduced much like the 140 characters that opinions have reduced to? Is that a problem in the first place and how do we deal with it if it is?

While this may not be such a big news, it shows the vulnerability that citizen journalism and real time news tools can be prey to in future. Who is going to ensure that rumors and news are filtered and not spread as the same?

Source : WATBlog

New Orkut Launched With Many Facebook-Twitter Like Features – We Review Whats New?

2009-10-30T02:28:00.000-07:00

We had reported that Orkut was to ape twitter’s status updates feature and so it has with the launch of the new orkut. Orkut sent me a mailer with an invite to check out the new orkut. They have setup an orkut group for all those folks who want to try out the new orkut here. There is also an animated video describing whats new in the new orkut (Caution: I found the video rather irritating!)

So whats ‘NEW’ with Orkut?

1) “What are you upto?” feature?

As many of you would know orkut never had a status update feature. It always had a USP in scraps which turned into spam posts with malicious links pretty soon. While facebook and twitter have had status updates as the key feature which has worked well for both of them. This move by orkut can be called ‘playing catch up’ to the growing trend of status updates.

2) Friend Suggestion Feature

The friend suggestion feature was another winner at facebook in connecting people that we may know but might not have added when we signed up. This feature works very well on orkut and my assumption is its because it refers my gmail contacts list to churn out these results unlike facebook which tracks friends of friends to show the results. Offlate a couple of people have already added me on orkut and it remains to be seen if this feature does take off.

Click on screenshot below:

3) Friends Updates Feature

Friends updates or mini feed as its called on facebook is another feature thats been introduced with this new revamp. The feature allows me to see updates of all my friends as well as my updates as well.

Click on screenshot below:

So what has not changed in Orkut?

Well aspects like search and groups seem unchanged. I was disappointed to see groups not seeing any changes as Facebook had made groups more like fanpages recently and I think the status updates model for groups as well as fan pages works really well.

So Is New Orkut Really “New”?

I am not so sure.. The trend I clearly see is that Facebook is becoming more like twitter to stop people from migrating to twitter and orkut is becoming more like facebook to stop people from migrating to facebook. But as we have seen in the past social networking sites have a short life. Starting from friendster, Hi5, Myspace and now orkut all seem to be phasing out after a while. Revamps have been made but it seems users graduate to a new level with each social network and the features that were once sticky don’t remain sticky anymore. Given no cost of switching to a new network there is very little social networks can do to retain users besides for constantly innovating with new features that help users stick. Constant innovation isn’t easy.. Not even for Google!

Source : WATBlog

Top 5 cameras under Rs. 10,000

2009-10-29T02:13:00.000-07:00

If a tight budget is making you reconsider your camera buying decision this Diwali, here is a list that might be of some use to you. This buying guide lists the top five digital cameras that perform well and cost less than 10K. However, please bear in mind that there is no specific logic in the order that these cameras are shown. We've used multiple brands, as we do have a lot of loyalists who would want to stick to their favorite brand.

Canon A480
Price: Rs. 7,500

Replacing the A470, the Canon Powershot A480 has been around for a few months now. The CCD has been boosted to 10 MP and it features a new smaller restyled body and simple user interface. The A480 offers a decent 35-122mm eq lens with 3.3x optical zoom, max aperture range from f/3.0 to f/5.8. Also featured on the back is a 2.5-inch LCD (115K) LCD display that is used as the viewfinder as well as for reviewing pictures. The A480 sports 15 scene modes for still pictures and can record 20fps VGA or 30fps QVGA video in QuickTime Motion JPEG format. Sensitivity ranges from ISO 80 to a maximum of ISO 1600. It has no on-board memory but stores images and videos on a SD card.

It's a great buy for those who only want to record those special occasions without the need for experimenting.
The Canon PowerShot A480 should be available for about Rs. 7,500 with a one-year warranty and since this is a huge festive season, you should be able to bargain for a free charger and rechargeable batteries or at least a 2GB SD card.

Sony CyberShot W190

Price: Rs. 9,800

If you think the Canon A480 is too crude for your taste, you may want to take a look at this one.

Slimmer, sleeker and definitely much better looking than most cameras in this price range, the Sony W190 features a 12 MP CCD and a 35-105mm Sony branded 3x optical zoom lens. Aperture varies from f/3.1 to f/5.6 across the zoom range. The back of the camera houses the 2.7-inch (230K) LCD that acts as the viewfinder. Sensitivity ranges from ISO 100 to ISO 3200.

The W190 also makes use of Digital Image Stabilisation, which functions by raising the camera's sensitivity (ISO) to reduce motion blurring. It also includes face detection and features in-camera red-eye correction and trimming functions.

Other features include seven scene modes, a 320 x 240 pixels (QVGA) 30 frames per second video mode, and both USB 2.0 / and video output connections. Powered by a proprietary NP-BK1 InfoLithium rechargeable battery, the W190 should last for more than 180 clicks on a single charge.

In addition to the 12MB built-in memory, it has a Memory Stick Duo / PRO Duo card slot to store all the pictures and videos that you shoot.

Available in two colors - red and black, the Sony CyberShot should be available for Rs. 9,800 with a three-year warranty from Sony.

Some dealers may bundle a 2GB MS Pro DUO.

Olympus FE-5010

Price: Rs. 9,500

If, like me, you have a problem with the lousy 3x zoom available with most entry-level compact digital cameras, look no further.
The Olympus FE-5010 comes with a 12 MP sensor 36-180mm eq and a good 5x optical zoom. The back of the camera houses the 2.7-inch LCD viewfinder. Sensitivity ranges from ISO 64-1600. It features mechanical image stabilization that forms one part of its Dual Image Stabilisation system. The other half is Digital Image Stabilisation.

It offers 14 scene modes including an Intelligent Auto mode that can automatically select the correct shooting mode for the scene. Other features include contrast-detection autofocus system, face detection and tracking capability.

Powered by a proprietary rechargeable LI-42B Lithium Ion battery, the FE-5010 should last you for about 120+ shots on a single charge. The FE 5010 has 48MB of internal memory, as well as on xD-Picture and memory cards.

You should be able to get it for about Rs. 9,500 and do ask for some freebies like a 2 GB xD card.

Kodak EasyShare M380
Price: Rs. 9,500

I know a lot of you might flame me for not including the Kodak C140 in this article, but I have a good enough reason to choose the M380 instead of the C140. Read on.

The Kodak EasyShare M380 comes with a 10 MP sensor and a 38-190mm 5x optical zoom. While the best that the C140 can offer is an 8MP CCD and 3x optical zoom (albeit at a lower price).

The M380 comes with a three-inch screen (the biggest in this range) and offers a generous 16 scene modes with Kodak's face detection technology. Sensitivity ranges from ISO 80-1600. The EasyShare M380 also offers a movie mode, capturing VGA (640x480) or QVGA (320x240) clips at 30 frames-per-second, in QuickTime MotionJPEG format.

Images and movies captured on the Kodak M380 can either be stored on the 32MB internal memory or on SD cards.
Powered by a proprietary KLIC-7003 lithium-ion rechargeable battery pack, the M380 should last you for about 100 shots for a single charge.

Available for around Rs. 9,500, The Kodak EasyShare M380 comes in colors including colors including black, purple, red, and teal.

Samsung ES55
Price: Rs. 7,000

It sports a 10 MP CCD and a 35-105mm 3x optical zoom lens. The back of the camera houses a 2.5-inch (320K) LCD that acts as the viewfinder.

It comes with an array of shooting modes and assist modes for those new to digital photography. Notable features include Face Detection, Self Portrait, Red Eye Fix and Multi Slide Show. Sensitivity ranges from ISO 80-1600. It has a 9 MB internal memory and also comes with a SD card slot. Powered by a proprietary Li-Ion battery it should easily last for about 120+ shots on a single charge.

This 10 MP compact camera is almost as stylish as the Sony W190, and if you think you'd like to save a couple of thousand bucks, this is the way to go.

Source : techtree

Entry-level PC for about 20K

2009-10-29T02:09:00.000-07:00

If you are one of those who have been saving to buy a PC this festive season, here is a guide that would help you put together an entry-level PC.

In today's times this is basic computer that will allow you to easily perform all your daily tasks without any problem, which may include some Office applications, internet, multimedia (music & movies) and some casual gaming.

We set off with a budget of Rs.20,000 in mind, which is a fairly acceptable price for your first PC or someone looking for a basic setup, but not bare bone either like a netbook. These are all Mumbai prices, so if you're in Delhi or Chennai then you may get these components for a little less since these things are always a little pricier in Mumbai. So without wasting any more time let's get on with it and build our entry-level PC.

CPU and Motherboard Combo (Rs. 5,500)

AMD Athlon II X2 240 (2.8Ghz)
Gigabyte GA-MA74GM-S2 (740G Chipset)
Whenever you buy a CPU and motherboard, it's better if you buy them as a set as many vendors offer you a small discount when you do so. The two choices were Intel E5200/G31 and Athlon IIX2/740G. We chose AMD for our entry-level system because you get a higher clock speed for the same price as an Intel E5xxx series chip. Yes, you can overclock the E5200 more easily but we are not targeting that audience here and more importantly we are looking for a solid performing combo, and even a blonde would agree that the 740G kicks the G31's butt.

This is micro-ATX board with plenty of features like 3+1 phase power design, solid state capacitors, 6 SATA II ports, Gigabit LAN, DVI and VGA, and the list goes on. It also has a PCI-E x16 slot in case you want more graphics power later.

Memory (2GB RAM)
G.Skill F2-6400CL5S-1GB NY (2 sticks) - (Rs.2200)

Next step is buying the memory, prices of which have shot up lately for some reason. After a little digging around we found that the difference between a regular Kingston 1GB RAM and G.Skill was only 100 bucks, which is why we chose the G.Skill for its better performance. Note that this matters much for an entry-level PC, so it's up to you really if you want to save the 100 bucks. It's better to go for two 1GB sticks instead of a single 2G stick, as you get an added advantage of Dual Channel.

Hard Drive
Hitachi 500GB - (Rs. 2,450)

For the HDD we wanted to go for the Seagate 500GB, which sells for 2.4K. However, the new version (7200.12) has some problems like developing bad sectors or simply dying. The price of WD is still a bit high at 2.7K (for our build at least), so we went with Hitachi, which isn't talked about much, but performs well and doesn't have any major issue that Seagate is currently facing with their 500GB.

Optical Drive

LG, Sony DVD Writer (Rs. 1,125)

Here you can go for any brand that is easily available to you. All of them are around the same price of 1.2K.

Monitor
AOC 831S+ : 18.5" LCD Monitor (Rs.6200)

The monitor of choice here would be the AOC 831S+, which has some good specifications like 1366x768 resolution screen, 300 cd/m2 of brightness, 10000:1 Dynamic contrast ratio, 5ms response time, VGA and a piano black finish.

If you want something cheaper, then there's the Acer AL1716W, which is a 17 incher that retails for 5.9K. I would still suggest you go for the bigger screen though.

Keyboard & Mouse

Logitech Desktop/ Microsoft Desktop 500 (Rs. 650)

This is the most basic keyboard and mouse combo that is comfortable to use and relatively cheap.

Speakers
Altec Lancing BXR1221 (2.1 System) - Rs. 1,050

2.0 speaker system known as the BXR1220. This is desktop variant that comes with a 4-inch subwoofer that should provide some decent bass in music and movies. Another alternative to this is the Logitech R20 (also a 2.1 system) that retails for just Rs. 850.

Final Build

What this will let you do?

Watch Full HD movies
Play music
Office and other productive work
Surf the Internet
Light/Casual gaming

Thanks to the strong onboard GPU that's derived from the 780G, you can easily play games like The Sims 3, StreetFighter IV, or anything on the Unreal 3 engine albeit at low settings. In fact, even full HD movies are not a problem when you use Media Player Classic: Home Cinema, which uses the GPU to decode the movie. Below is our entire PC at a glance.

So there you have it, our entry-level PC is ready. You can mix and match some of the components if you wish, but this guide should give you a good idea where to start. Next up is our "Jack of all trades" PC that will do pretty much anything but without breaking the bank, so stay tuned.

Source : techtree

Download Windows 7 Enterprise 90-day Trial

2009-10-29T00:45:00.000-07:00

You can download Windows 7 Trial edition at microsoft link : -

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/cc442495.aspx?ITPID=wtcfeed

Word Spin hits the iPhone!

2009-10-29T00:41:00.000-07:00

‘Word Spin’ for iPhonehas hit the App store recently. ‘Word Spin’ for iPhone is the mobile version of the award-winning classic word game that has you spinning lettered wheels in order to spell as many words as possible.

This is a highly polished app based on one of the world’s favorite word games. It’s a great mental exercise and its quite fun to challenge your friends and see who has the better mind for words.

Bizarre, I can’t remember playing this at all as a kid – yet it does seem to have been popular – at least from the googling I’ve done. Anyone else play this when they were younger – well if so you can now take it mobile!

Source : intomobile.com

Google's Ad-supported Navigation App?

2009-10-29T00:39:00.000-07:00

After bringing Maps to the mobile platform, Google is rumored to be working on a turn-by-turn based navigation app. This step would hit quite a number of location based navigation service providers that charge a premium for their services. If Google comes out with a free app, it would break the market for premium-based navigation services. Android-based mobiles would be getting this app before other mobile platforms would.

According to Forbes, the navigation app would also support voice-guided directions. Though the app would be available for free, it will have ad-supported model within the app itself.

The advertising model for this application would be valuable since user's precise location information and destinations could be known. This would help advertisers to get specific customers for their business. Recently, Apple's iPhone map application has started showing ads - thanks to Google, since it helped build it.

There's no doubt that Google has been keeping its maps data to itself, for instance, Street View. Many mobile carriers offer their own navigational services and if Google rolls out Android
version with Maps embedded in it, carriers would lose that amount of business. Also, those small navigation service providers may have to kneel down before Google.

Google spokeswoman Carolyn Penner noted that consumers frequently ask the company to add navigation to Google Maps. However, Penner declined to comment on details regarding the future products.

A majority of iPhone owners have been asking for turn-by-turn based navigation which was fulfilled with the iPhone OS 3.0 software update. Hence, it's likely that Google will come out with a native turn-by-turn based Navigation app for Android.

Source : techtree

Mobiles without IMEI number may face disconnection: ICA

2009-10-29T00:32:00.000-07:00

Mobile handsets without the unique identification number, which helps authorities track users, will face disconnections by December 1, Indian Cellular Association said on Wednesday.

The International Mobile Equipment Identification (IMEI) is a 15-digit code that identifies a handset and enables security agencies to track down users.

The department of telecom had recently asked the mobile operators not to allow calls to be completed on handsets without IMEI number.

Though there are no official statistics on the number of handsets without IMEI number, an industry guess was around 25 million, Pankaj Mohindroo, President, ICA said.

The Indian Cellular Association had begun a nationwide campaign to create awareness and prevent sale and purchase of such devices.

Proliferation of unbranded phone devices, without IMEI number or with invalid or cloned numbers posed a serious threat to national security as they could not be tracked, he said.

These devices are mainly sourced from China and are adversely impacting the organized mobile devices market apart from causing huge loss in revenue to the government, he said.

Source : TOI

How To Safely Uninstall Ubuntu From A Windows Dual-Boot PC

2009-10-28T05:55:00.000-07:00

Linux is a great operating system and more often than not, it’s the installation of Linux that is the matter of discussion.
For a change, I will be talking about how to uninstall Linux Ubuntu (or other operating systems) from a dual boot windows pc, and still being able to boot into other OS without much work. So let’s get started right away.

Backup your Linux files

It pops up everytime, but backup really is very important. If you have been using your Linux system for some time, chances are you would have created files you wouldn’t want to loose. In such a case, you can boot into Linux, backup your files (check out your Home directory) on an external device or onto a Windows partition.
Alternatively if you somehow managed to mess up and can’t boot into Linux, you can use ext2 IFS which allows you access to your Linux paritions. It can only read ext2 and ext3 filesystems though. If you are using other filesystems, you would have to look around a bit for a similar application. In any case, you can always boot from a Linux live CD to backup files if everything else fails.

Delete Linux Partitions

Next step: delete every Linux partition. That would include everything – boot, swap, home, whatever way you set up your system, it is time to delete all Linux partitions. There are a couple of ways to achieve this, easiest being from within Windows’ Computer Management. You need to:

Log in to an account with administrative privileges.
Right click on My Computer, click ‘Manage’.
Choose ‘Disk Management’ listed under ‘Storage’ and you will see all of your partitions listed there.

Next, you need to identify Linux partitions. The Linux partitions generally don’t have a file system listed with them if Windows doesn’t recognize it, so this can serve as a clue. Other ways can be identifying by size or partition number. You can use partition managers, these are generally better at identifying filesystems. Go ahead, delete the partitions, just make sure you delete the correct ones. Linux is gone and so is GRUB, which allowed you to choose operating system to use at boot time. So currently, you cannot boot into any other operating system, without some help. We are going to fix that soon.

Restore MBR

As we noted, GRUB is gone and so is the ability to boot into Windows. You would now need to boot from the Windows CD/DVD to restore the Master Boot Record. You can also use other Live CDs like one of my absolute favorites and highly recommended HBCD just in case you don’t have Windows installation media handy. Here are the steps:

Boot from Windows CD/DVD and choose “Repair” when it shows up.

Choose command prompt on the resulting screen and run the following two commands:
- bootrec /fixmbr
- bootrec /fixboot

XP users need to run the recovery console from Windows XP CD and then type fixmbr when at the command prompt.

Reclaim free space

Restart now, remove the CD and you should be able to boot into your Windows installation. Once there, you should go ahead and reclaim the unpartitioned free space which was previously occupied by Linux. Doing so is simple and straight forward:

Fire up Disk Management as before.
Right-click on the unparitioned space, choose new partition or new logical drive.
Specify the size and other options according to your needs and you are done.

The free space should now be accessible from My Computer like any other partition. Alternatively, you can create multiple partitions from the free space or resize existing partitions to suit your needs.You can use utilities like GParted, Easues Partition Master or any one of the many partition managers on HBCD to perform such advanced tasks easily.

Source : makeuseof

Can Open Source Software Save Democracy?

2009-10-28T05:36:00.001-07:00

A group working to produce an open and transparent voting system to replace current proprietary systems has published its first batches of code for public review.

The Open Source Digital Voting Foundation (OSDV) announced the availability of source code for its prototype election system Wednesday night at a panel discussion that included Mitch Kapor, creator of Lotus 1-2-3 and co-founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation; California Secretary of State Debra Bowen; Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder Dean Logan; and Heather Smith, director of Rock the Vote.

The OSDV, co-founded by Gregory Miller and John Sebes, launched its Trust the Vote Project in 2006 and has an eight-year roadmap to produce a comprehensive, publicly owned, open source electronic election system. The system would be available for licensing to manufacturers or election districts, and would include a voter registration component; firmware for casting ballots on voting devices (either touch-screen systems with a paper trail, optical-scan machines or ballot-marking devices); and an election management system for creating ballots, administering elections and counting votes.

“How we vote has become just as important as who we vote for,” Miller told the audience of filmmakers and technologists who gathered at the Bel-Air home of film producer Lawrence Bender to hear about the project. “We think it is imperative that the infrastructure on which we cast and count our ballots is an infrastructure that is publicly owned.”

Miller said the foundation wasn’t looking to put voting system companies out of business but to assume the heavy burden and costs of research and development to create a trustworthy system that will meet the needs of election officials for reliability and the needs of the voting public for accessibility, transparency, security and integrity.

“We believe we’re catalyzing a re-birth of the industry … by making the blueprint available to anyone who wants to use it,” Miller said.

The foundation has elicited help from academics and election officials from eight states as well as voter advocacy groups, such as Rock the Vote and the League of Women Voters, to guide developers in building the system. Technology bigwigs such as Oracle, Sun and IBM have also approached the group to help with the project.

“That was unexpected,” Miller said.

The code currently available for download and review represents only a small part of the total code and includes parts of an online voter registration portal and tracking system, election management software and a vote tabulator. Prototype code for producing ballots has been completed and will be posted soon. Code for auditing is still being designed.

The voting firmware and tabulator program are built on a minimized Linux platform (a stripped down version of Sharp) and the election management components are built with Ruby on Rails.

The foundation already has California, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Vermont and Washington interested in adopting the system and is in talks with 11 other states. Florida, which has been racked by voting machine problems since the 2000 presidential debacle, has also expressed interest, as has Georgia, which uses machines made by Premier Election Solutions (formerly Diebold Election Systems) statewide.

“Currently two vendors impact 80 percent of the vote” nationwide, Miller said, referring to Premier/Diebold and Election Systems & Software, which recently merged in a sale. But if all the states that have expressed interest in adopting the open source system follow through with implementing it, about 62 percent of the nation’s electorate would be voting on transparent, fully auditable machines he said.

The foundation is especially interested in getting a system that would be workable in Los Angeles County, the nation’s largest and most complex election district with 4.3 million voters casting ballots in seven languages.

“If Los Angeles County figures this out, we will have solved the problems for the rest of the country,” Miller said.

Kapor called the project “a breath of fresh air” and said it symbolized the kind of “disruptive innovation” that has characterized all of the best technological developments over the last thirty years.

Source : informationweek and wired

How To Use Your GPRS Cell Phone As A Modem

2009-10-28T05:30:00.000-07:00

I would say that roughly 90% of my work is published online and all my work must be submitted by electronic means. Such is the way for millions of other freelancers, businessmen, consultants and footloose operators the world over. The internet has revolutionized how we work by making us available almost all of the time. This comes with a fatal flaw; the internet can fail.

Over the weekend, the modem provided by my ISP packed up. This is my first day being back to normal. However, I did manage to survive without my own internet connection. And no, I didn’t use someone else’s WiFi connection or scurry down to the local Starbucks. In this article I’m going to show you how to use your basic GPRS cell phone as a modem for your PC – and achieve fast speeds from it. I don’t mean a smart phone with 3G or anything of the sort – just any old cell phone from 2004 onwards.

The most basic way of doing this is to use the disc that came with your phone. My Samsung came with software for loading music and files as well as changing the phone’s settings. Look around on your phone’s software. See if you can find anything about ‘Connections’, ‘Network’, ‘Modem’ or ‘Communications’. If you do, there should be detailed instructions on how to use your cell phone as a modem. Mine was easy to set up, I just told it I lived in Ireland and it detected all of the necessary settings for me.

However, what if your phone didn’t come with a CD, or there was nothing on the CD about turning your cell phone into a modem?

First, connect your phone to your PC using the USB cable (if one didn’t come with the phone there are loads for sale on eBay for many different makes and models of phones for low prices). You can also connect it via Bluetooth, however this will cause the final download speeds to be slower. Your computer should recognize that your phone has been connected to it and begin to install the ‘Drivers’. When this has finished, open the start menu and select ‘Connect To’. At the bottom of the window which opens opt to ‘Create a new connection’. Then select ‘Create a Dial-Up Connection’.

The window shown below will be displayed. For the phone number enter in *99# (this is a kind of universal GPRS number that your carrier will redirect). This will tell your phone to access its GPRS function.

For the username and password you’ll have to do some research on the internet. These are easily found by simply Googling ‘GPRS Setting for [Network Name]‘ or ‘Wap Settings for [Network Name]‘. I am on a network called Meteor so we’ll use them as an example for this article.

Username: my

Password: WAP

One you have done this, finish creating the connection. Then, select the connection from the ‘Connect To’ menu. When it asks for the username and password, enter in the ones appropriate for your network. This will then connect you to the internet.

Because mobile phone technology is at its height, you’ll get fast speeds, especially if you’re in the US. I had assumed that it would be slow like GPRS mobile internet it but this is only slow because of the phone’s browser’s limitations. Not the networks.

I easily checked e-mails, surfed the web and submitted work. Don’t get me wrong, you won’t exactly be streaming HD video but it can be handy when your normal internet goes down. I found that loading complex pages such as makeuseof.com took around 10-12 seconds where as simple pages such as my blog or Twitter only took a couple of seconds.

As with all my articles that require the use of GPRS, I advise you to see if your network has unlimited access for a set fee or capped costs per day like mine does as overusing GPRS can be costly.

Have you done this with your phone? If so, what method does your phone use to connect to the net?

Source : makeuseof

7 Google Labs Features That Help Us Avoid Email Mistakes

2009-10-28T05:22:00.000-07:00

“A computer lets you make more mistakes faster than any invention in human history – with the possible exceptions of handguns and tequila.”
~ Mitch Radcliffe (technology journalist)

That’s spot on. The Delete key is dangerous but we have Recycle Bin/Undo/Trash to help us bounce back. What sometimes seems even more deadly is the Send button under our quicksilver cursor. Making errors in email is not solely about grammatical errors or sending it to a non-existent address (though the former should also be unpardonable). Far more serious gaffes exist and we can all take to the stand on that.

How many times have we sent an email to the wrong guy? At least – once. How many times have we forgotten to include someone in the mail? Many times over! The end result may or may not be as bad as with handguns or as embarrassing as a tequila high, but email mistakes are unprofessional (and can be potentially a huge blow).

The good thing about Gmail is that the boffins in Google Labs have their empathy hat on. They know that foot-in-the-mouth disease is becoming quite common in the online world too, thanks to rapid tools like email and Twitter. That’s why Gmail has quite a few Google Labs email features inbuilt to prevent such errors.

We have brought up some of the features previously mentioned in a couple of Google Labs feature posts. Maybe, this one will help to put all of them on a common thread. Let’s start with two of the latest ones on the experimental block.

To access the Google Labs email features, click on the little green beaker icon at the top right.

Don’t Forget Bob

Who’s Bob? It could be your friend or your boss. But actually in Gmail it’s the new name for the old ‘Add More Recipients’. It’s Google’s way of suggesting adding guys you might have missed while filling your address fields. Click on Enable and it might help you avoid a bit of heartburn from ignored friends while emailing important announcements.
Got the wrong Bob?

Ignoring Bob is bad. What’s even worse is including the wrong Bob. Imagine sending a gossipy email to the wrong person…it will surely ignite the office grapevine. Unlike gossip, emails don’t give you a place to hide. The new feature in Gmail Labs prompts you if it thinks you’re about to e-mail the wrong person. This feature works for group mailing. Gmail looks at the groups you mail more often and alerts you if a new name gets added. If you think you didn’t make a mistake, just ignore it and move on.
Mail Googles

Google’s cure for temporary blood rush to the head or for the dopey eyed. Enabling this feature forces you to do some basic math before sending out the mail. Gmail makes sure that you are in the right state of mind during the odd hours when email mistakes are more common.
After enabling it, you can manually adjust days, times and difficulty level under Settings – Generals.
Forgotten Attachment Detector

This reminder feature is for more professional email results rather than fatal goof-ups. No one will actually mind if you forget an attachment except the HR guy perhaps. The clever feature senses that you are sending a mail with attachment (say, you wrote: “I am attaching this doc file”) and alerts you if you forget to do so.
Authentication icon for verified senders

Falling for a scam is the ultimate email goof-up. Did you hear about the one where the FBI head honcho nearly fell for an email phishing scam? He was banned by his wife from further online transactions. The Gmail authentication icon protects you from such a fate by adding a layer of security. It scans the email headers and places a key icon next to verified emails that are super-trustworthy. The trust is limited to eBay and PayPal for now but as the official Gmail blog says, more senders will be added soon.
Keep your email conversations updated

This is supposed to work like this – if you are in the middle of reading a mail and someone sends in a response to it before you do, Gmail alerts you that a new message has arrived. Click Update conversation to see what you’ve missed. With this feature, you won’t fall out of the loop and can stay – updated. This is not strictly a Google Labs email feature but now a default feature for all incoming mails.
Undo Send

You have committed all the cardinal sins mentioned so far. No worries, Google has a workaround for it too. With Undo Send, you can quickly stop the email from being dispatched. The only problem is that you have to realize your mistake fast and click on the undo button faster. Undo Send gives you just 5 or 10 seconds to see the error of your ways. Ignore it and the e-mail goes through. Click Undo and you are returned to the Compose window.

Most of these are experimental Google Lab email features. They may or may not stand the test of time and use. But while they are there, they can help us keep our follies at bay.

Which feature do you like the best? Which one do you hate? Tell us your reasons in the comments below.

Source : makeuseof

Easily Create A Professional Online Photo Album With Jalbum

2009-10-28T04:38:00.000-07:00

Have you ever wished that you can create a beautiful online photo album and share it with your friends? Jalbum – a web photo album generator that allows you to do just that.

Jalbum is a free Web photo album generator that is incredibly versatile and flexible. Not only is it extremely easy to use, it also comes with plenty of features that can turn you into a professional, without you even knowing it.

Installing Jalbum on your computer is easy. Jalbum was developed in Java and is cross-platform compatible. Regardless whether you are using Windows, Mac, Linux, or even Solaris, HP-UX, AIX, OS2, as long as you have Java runtime installed, you can run Jalbum.

I am not sure about any other online photo album maker software, but using Jalbum is really idiot-proof. You simply drag and drop your photos from the File Manager in your OS to Jalbum and that’s it. You can also use drag-drop to arrange the photos in the order of your liking. Once you are satisfied with the result, simply click on the Make Album button to create your album.

For further personalisation, you can choose from a selection of skins to theme up your album. If none of the default choices catch your eye, you can even download from the list of skins created by others in the Jalbum database. If you have knowledge of CSS and Javascript, you can also create your own skin and customize your album to the way you want it to be.

Simple image editing and filters

Jalbum comes with a set of editing tools and filters for you to improve your images. You can find filters like Crop, Red Eye, Gamma, Levels, Straighten, Gray, Sharpen and many others. There is not much skill involved here. Simply click on the button to add instant effects to your photo(s). If you like it, click Apply, if not, Cancel. As simple as that. In addition, you can also add captions/comments to your photo(s).

Widgets provide more Web2.0 juice

One of the useful features is the availability of widgets that you can add to extend its functionality. There are several widgets available, most of them are geared to make your album more Web2.0-ish. Here are some of the widgets:

About – Show information about your album, like when it was created and what skin was used. It connects to your community profile page by adding your user picture. It also lists thumbnails to your other Jalbums for easy browsing.

Comment – Allows other people to add comments to your albums and photos.

Share – Social bookmarking module for people to share your album with others.

Visitor Counter – Display how many visitors you have.

Name Tagger – This widget does automatic face detection and allows you to tag your friend’s name in the photo.

Easy uploading

When you are done with your album, you can easily upload to the Web server. Jalbum gives you 30MB of free space on their server, under the URL http://your-username.jalbum.net. If you have your own Web server that you want to upload to, Jalbum also comes with integrated FTP that you can use. Just enter server FTP credentials and off you go.

In addition, you can even use the in-built Web server modules to start your own server and share your album right from your computer.

Source : makeuseof

Install An Open-Source Cloud Operating System On Your Server

2009-10-28T03:19:00.000-07:00

In this article we’re going to take a look at another great cloud operating system, EyeOS. EyeOS differentiates itself from other solutions, such as Cloudo, by being licensed under AGPLv3. You can install EyeOS on your own server as easily as you would install Wordpress. This eliminates many issues, as we’ll prove by the end of the article.

First of all, it’s very important to know a little about AGPL:

The GNU Affero General Public License is a free, copyleft license for software and other kinds of works, specifically designed to ensure cooperation with the community in the case of network server software.[…] By contrast, our General Public Licenses are intended to guarantee your freedom to share and change all versions of a program–to make sure it remains free software for all its users. –Free Software Foundation

The AGPL license gives you the freedom to download a copy of EyeOS, install it on your own server, modify the code to suit your needs or add new features – contribute back to the community – and use the software at no cost.

Developing applications is another advantage of EyeOS. You can use a standard WAMP/LAMP server, and code applications in PHP. There are many developers with knowledge of PHP, and PHP is a fairly potent programming language, which could mean that more applications will be available for the EyeOS platform in the long run.

The idea behind eyeOS is not to have an Operating System inside an Operating System, or a browser inside a browser. Instead, eyeOS is another step in the digital life era.

Let’s take a look at the feature set and interface:

EyeOS has a very interesting interface – combining metaphors from Linux, Mac and Windows GUIs: taskbar, applications in a dock but on the top, simple clean lines, transparency and a sort of elegance specific to Apple products. The interface was snappy – moving and switching apps, flawless. You can easily upload and download files.

You can view a complete list of available applications on the EyeOS Wiki.

The most important advantage that a platform like this offers to end-users is portability: take with you documents, applications – no need to think about compatibility between different programs and formats – no need to think about the actual computer you’re using. Your office computer, your home computer, your laptop, there would be no difference between them, no need to transfer files or maintain program versions throughout the environment.

The second most important aspect of EyeOS is the fact that you can own and manage your own server. This means you can set up a VPN connection between you and your server and enjoy complete privacy; prices for private virtual servers are low enough to be feasible even for home users. This solution finally eliminates the privacy stigma that cloud applications suffer from.

Imagine running something similar to MinWin or DamnSmallLinux – providing just the base to run Mozilla’s engine for emulating desktop apps, Prism, and inside EyeOS. That’s what the developers behind EyeOS hope will happen to personal computing: the comeback of thin clients.

The environment is clearly more advanced than Cloudo for example, with a fully featured word processor, presentation creator, calendar – everything you need to be productive. Of course there’s room for improvement, but what I saw impressed me; If only I could use Lightroom and Live Writer, I would buy a server immediately.

EyeOS was mentioned in Jeffry’s article, Five Webtop Alternatives For Cloud Computing. That too is well worth a read.

You can try EyeOS yourself at eyeos.org, then don’t forget to share your experiences in the comments.

Ninite – Easily Install All Your Favorite Free Apps In One Go

2009-10-28T03:17:00.000-07:00

So when you get a new machine or you do a reformat what is the first thing you do? If you are not imaging your system, chances are you will need to install the pieces of software that enable your machine to be a tool instead of a big paper weight.
I find myself downloading Putty, VLC, Firefox and a multitude of other applications each time I install. The ones I downloaded the last time around are easily outdated.
It is important to grab the latest and greatest versions to protect against bugs or other issues with the software. So you have a list of 10 items you need to download and install. Wouldn’t it be MUCH easier if we could select these applications from a list or website and have IT download and install my applications?
It sure would be! And now we will show you how you can do just that! Head on over to Ninite and once you are there it will be a breeze to get the applications you want on your system with a limited amount of clicking. (Note: Ninite currently works only on Windows PCs)
Once you hit the installer app site you will see a screen that looks like this:

Under the instructions you will see applications and check boxes. You can install from a vast array of applications ranging from Skype to Firefox, Dropbox to Google Earth and back to Putty and Notepad ++. You will see the applications broken up into categories that include Web Browsers, Messaging, Imaging, Documents, Anti Virus, File Sharing, utilities, compression, tools and other items. The list is quite extensive but if something is not there you can suggest it!

Let’s run through the list and check the check box next to each item you want to download. If you want FoxIt reader installed simply click the box next to it – it is that simple. When you are done selecting the items you want in your installer app, scroll all the way down to the bottom of the screen.

You will see directly under the entry for Eclipse there is a grey button that says – Get Installer. All you need to do is hit this button and a custom installer app will be created for you on the fly so you can install all of these packages with ease. I selected 3 items and hit Get Installer.

The screen changed and told me the download would start shortly – I can only imagine they are compiling your download at this point. And sure enough in about 1 minute another window popped up.

My new installer app was ready to be downloaded and installed. I clicked Save File and Firefox saved the file to my normal download folder. I navigated through the jungle that is my hard drive and double clicked on the executable. The file’s name has all of the applications listed that you selected. That’s nifty!

Once I ran it it started preparing to run which took about 30 seconds.

Then the application started downloading my installers at the speed of light. The three of them were complete in under 1 minute.

As soon as the downloads were complete Ninite started installing each of the applications silently. I saw NO prompts. Very cool!

And as quick as it started – it was complete.

Upon checking my start menu all of the applications I choose were installed with the newest versions. This is a very handy tool!

Does anyone else use something like this on Windows? We would love to hear about it in the comments!

Source : makeuseof

How To Install A Wordpress Blog Locally On Your Computer

2009-10-28T02:31:00.000-07:00

Oh readers, if only you could see me now. You’d be looking at a guy with three day stubble on his face, a pile of junk food in his stomach and a half-finished Wordpress website sitting on his hard drive starting a daunting article for MakeUseOf that he has avoided for several hours. You’d be looking at a guy who managed to set up a local host on his PC, uploaded Wordpress to it and developed a site as though it was live on the internet.

I’ve been doing quite a few posts about blogging lately but this one take a step outside the amateur ‘how-to’s I’ve done like the one about improving your Blogger blog. This article is inspired by the website I’m building that’s due to be launched in a month or so – and it’s not for tech newbies, this guide.

Many of us have personal blogs or blogs that make us a second income. And we don’t want to go upsetting our readers by coding and developing them on the Internet. Imagine if every time you visited MUO there were design changes, buggy issues or features constantly being moved about and deleted!

So developing your Wordpress blog offline is the best option because you don’t interrupt readership (assuming the blog is online already and you’re simply updating), you don’t have to upload pictures and media and you can view your blog easily without it being live on the internet for everyone to see you shoddy design work. The easiest way to do this is to learn how how to install Wordpress locally. This is done by creating a host on your PC which acts like a host on the Internet such as GoDaddy.

First of all, to set up a blog offline you have to download some PHP Hosting software. There are several well-known options but I’ve gone for XAMPP because I found I had the least hassle with it. You can download it from SourceForge. Once you have downloaded and installed it like you would any other piece of software, open it up from the ‘All Programs’ menu. The window shown below will appear.

Beside Apache and MySQL, select ‘Start’ so that they are both running like in the screenshot. Now, your local host is up and running and is available to be prepared to accept WordPress. First however, we must make a database for Wordpress to be saved in on the host.

To do this open your browser and enter ‘http://localhost/’ into the address bar. This will bring you to the screen shown above. From the menu bar on the left, select phpMyAdmin as illustrated.

In the center of the screen is the section where you create a new data base. Name your server and select collation from the dropdown menu if it’s not already selected. In the second dropdown menu select ‘uft8_unicode_ci’. I cannot emphasise how crucial it is that you do not overlook this. It is not selected as default so ensure you have it selected. It’s the last one in the list. Without it, the host won’t communicate with Wordpress and you’re in a world of problems my friends – if you can’t tell I’m talking from experience. I spend an hour yesterday trying to figure out what the problem was!

Once your server is created you’re ready to embark on the world-famous ‘Wordpress five minute install’ and finally set up your blog. When you have the .zip file, extract its contents to this location:

C:\xampp \htdocs

Your final folder structure should look like this:

If it doesn’t, open the XAMPP program file and drag the extracted Wordpress file into it manually. It must be in there in order for your newly created database to detect it. Then, edit this file using Notepad:

C:\xampplite\htdocs\wordpress\wp-config-sample.php

Scroll down to the part where it asks for database name, username, password etc.. Fill in the details below:

DBNAME: *whatever name you gave to your database*
DBUSER: root
Password: ‘ ’ (This should just be left as two opposing apostrophes)

Then, save the file as wp-config.php instead of the original wp-config-sample.php.

Now, open your browser and enter in the following URL:

http://localhost/wordpress/wp-admin/install.php

This will take you into the Wordpress installation just like you were online. Remember, when you’re returning to your PC to do more coding ensure you have Apache and MySQL turned on – otherwise http://localhost/ won’t exist!

Oh and now a health warning: Coding and toying with Wordpress is addictive. Prolonged exposure may cause excessive caffeine consumption, personal hygiene and grooming to go out the window, social commitments to follow and a truly awesome Wordpress site ready to go live.

Source : makeuseof

How to Morph Into Your Favorite Celebrity Lookalike

2009-10-28T02:24:00.001-07:00

After Michael Jackson’s shocking demise, I was watching some slideshows on the web that showed his face changing over the years. I was reminded of cool morphing special effects in movies and wondered if there was any website that allowed me to morph my face into a famous celebrity. Of course, like everything else here at MakeUseOf, it had to be free. Pretty soon, I was morphing myself and my friends at a cool site, Celebrity MyHeritage.
Let’s see how it works in 3 easy steps.

Step 1: Upload Photo

In order to save and share your cool morph creations, you do need to register at the site. With 30 million+ registered members and a clearly defined ‘no spam, no sharing’ privacy policy, I had no qualms registering with MyHeritage.com.

To begin, rather than using my photo for the morph, I decided to use MJ since that was how the whole idea started in the first place. Clicking on the ‘Celebrity Morph’ tab takes you to the following screen where you upload your photo.

After you upload your photo, it runs its face recognition magic, and you are presented with the best matching celebrity lookalike.

With over 4000 celebrities in its database, the site is sure to find someone you like and look alike! You can browse between a few matching celebrities for your target using the little green arrows. I usually found at least 6-10 choices when experimenting with photographs of different people. I chose another influential African American celebrity idol whose interview of MJ is fondly remembered by many people:

Step 2: Prepare Morph

Click Next to go to the next step, where we prepare the morph. Celebrity Morph automatically sets reference points on the eyes. All you have to do is add a few, so that the morph becomes realistic. Click the ‘+’ button to add points, and the hand icon to position them correctly. For best results, choose the borders of the face, the corners of the mouth, and the tip of the nose, like this:

Step 3: Publish Morph

Without an easy way to save and share this with friends, this exercise would almost be pointless. Fortunately, the guys at Celebrity Heritage seem to know this as well, since they’ve made it very simple to share your morph video on various social networks.

If your preferred network is not there, or you wish to embed it in your own site, the ‘Other’ tab gives you the HTML code to embed it wherever you wish. I checked out posting to Facebook, and after the usual authorization process, it was very simple and worked flawlessly. Of course, even if you do not publish it anywhere, the site saves your morphs under your profile. You can create and play with as many morphs as you like.
This can be a cool gift for your friends: take their photos, morph them into a celebrity, and surprise them! You can also use the site to create a Celebrity Collage. Simply upload your photo, select from various collage layouts, and share it. Other features are a look-alike meter to find out which parent your child resembles more, and auto-tagging people in photographs using face recognition.
You might also want to check out these previously featured sites on MakeUseOf:

Celebrity Match Up: Find your celebrity lookalike
MorphThing: Morph any two photos together into one
Yearbook Yourself: Give your photos a retro look

So who did you morph yourself into? Share with us in the comments!

Source : makeuseof

Photoshop Mobile – A Freeware Image Editor for Your Mobile

2009-10-28T02:11:00.000-07:00

How cool would it be to have Photoshop on your iPhone? Well, it’s not the $700 granddaddy application, Photoshop CS4, but it is called Photoshop Mobile App for iPhone and it’s a freeware image editor for iPhone camera photos, or any images housed in your camera library. A similar version of the application is also available for other mobile phones.
After downloading the app from the iTunes Store, you can set up a free account on Photoshop.com to upload, save, and share photos processed in the mobile app. You can also save your photos back to your camera’s photo library.
Photoshop Mobile includes what you would expect from an Adobe image processing application: exposure, saturation, and tinting adjustment capabilities, a black-and-white conversion tool, plus eight different filters (Vibrant, Pop, Border, Vignette Blur, Warm Vintage, Rainbow, White Glow, and Soft Black and White) for enhancement or creative image effects. It also includes a tool for cropping, rotating, and flipping images.

Using The Photoshop Mobile

Selecting the exposure or saturation tool, for example, involves sliding your finger across the screen a little to get the desired results, while other tools, such the black-and-white conversion or the filter applications entail simply clicking the tool to apply the effect.
The exposure adjustment works well as expected, further exposing and underexposing an image as needed. However, I was surprised to see that there’s no dedicated contrast or sharpening tool in the mix. The black-and-white conversion is straightforward and similar to how you use the black-and-white adjustment tool in a desktop version of Photoshop. But before making a monochrome conversion, you’ll want to make some exposure adjustments and maybe apply an appropriate filter, such the Vibrant setting, to improve contrast as much as possible.

As for the filters, the Vibrant effect works well, boosting the overall color saturation. However, filters like the Soft Focus and Vignette Blur lack the ability to control the direction or intensity of the effect, thus their application will be pretty much hit-and-miss depending on the photo you’re applying the filters to. Also, on the iPhone you need to turn the display into landscape mode in order to see two other filters, White Glow and Soft Black and White, that are hidden when viewing a photo in portrait mode. The app includes both a preview of the effect and an undo button to change back to the original photo.
You can click the red x button on the bottom left side of the application’s interface to undo all the adjustments you made, but once you save your adjustments you can’t undo them. It’s great, however, that when you select a photo from your photo library on your phone, Photoshop Mobile does not change the original; instead, it creates and saves a copy with all your applied adjustments.
A few missing features that could be added to Photoshop Mobile is the ability to copy and apply adjustments you make to one photo and apply them to one or more others, as you can in say Adobe Lightroom, or in another iPhone camera application called Best Camera. Also, if possible, being able to have control over the effects of filters would make them more useful.

While Photoshop Mobile won’t replace the counterpart Photoshop desktop applications, it does help to enhance camera images by adding some often needed contrast, vibrancy, and color saturation. Saving the photos to your Photoshop.com account is a quick easy way to archive them for safe keeping. So all this makes the mobile app a nice addition to a growing repertoire of iPhone camera applications.
If you’re an avid iPhone camera user, let us know what you think of this freeware image editor application.

Source : makeuseof

How To Make Photoshop Faster On Slower Computers

2009-10-28T02:07:00.000-07:00

Of course, the easiest way to get rid yourself of almost all performance issues is to have the money to buy a new, faster computer. But it’s much easier said than done, especially when you are not so financially independant. So, let’s say you have an average PC/Mac and whenever you start Photoshop, it takes some time to load (enough to use the bathroom, make coffee, send an email to your loved one, etc. ) or maybe it slows down when processing high resolution images or rendering a filter.

I’ll give you some tips on how to make Photoshop faster just by tweaking some options in Preferences.

Note: I am using Photoshop CS4 and the screenshots are from that version, but don’t worry if you have an older version of the software – they all have those options, only the text and positioning may vary. Look around and you will find them.

To bring up the Preferences dialog box go to Edit-> Preferences or click Ctrl-K:

Tip 1: Adjust the Performance settings

Choose Performance:

As you can see, you have four sections here: Memory Usage, Scratch Disks, History & Cache and GPU Settings. We’ll play around with first three.

Memory Usage

Photoshop uses a lot of your system’s RAM and shares it with the operating system. The amount of RAM usage is adjustable in Photoshop — you can set the limit (maximum amount) that the application uses. Depending on how much RAM you have fitted on your computer, change it to 55-65% (for those of you with up to 2 GB of RAM) and 70-75% (for 4 GB RAM and more).

Note: don’t push the slider all the way to the maximum because your system may crash. Use it wisely, leave some for the operating system.

Scratch Disks

In addition to RAM, Photoshop uses Scratch Disks or so-called “virtual RAM”. A scratch disk is hard drive space that is allocated for the program to as virtual RAM use while processing data. If you have more than one hard drive, allowing Photoshop to use the secondary hard drive will dramatically increase its working speed.

Set as many as you want, don’t worry about the space – it is only temporary and will be wiped once you quit Photoshop.

History & Cache

We are not perfect, right? And we do lots of mistakes while working on a task (I do a lot). Just imagine how would it be if there were no “undo’s”? Fortunately, in Photoshop we can even set the amount of History States (undo’s) but the more you set – the more memory it takes. Because every action is “remembered” in virtual memory thus, it requires more space to keep those steps available for recalling.

By default, History States is set to 20, which, for the slower machines is just too much. Sad, but it really slows down Photoshop, especially when you are working with large images. Set it to 10-15 and it’ll run a lot smoother.

Cache levels are used to improve screen redraw and histogram rendering speed. Choose more Cache levels for larger documents with fewer layers, or fewer Cache levels for smaller documents with many layers. You can choose from 1 to 8 levels.

Note: all these changes will take effect after you restart Photoshop.

Tip 2: Purge your Clipboard

Here again – RAM issues. Photoshop’s clipboard uses a lot of RAM and if you have copied several large images and pasted it to a new document, it is still in your clipboard. Free up the RAM by purging unnecessary data from your clipboard. To do that, go to Edit->Purge:

Note: this action is cannot be undone, so think twice if you don’t need the data in clipboard, history, or undo’s anymore.

Tip 3: Defragment your hard drives

Especially for smaller capacity hard drives, fragmentation is an issue. Use Windows Defragmenter to optimize your hard disks every once in a while. I do it once a month. Go to Start>All Programs>Accessories> System Tools>Disk Defragmenter. Choose the drive to be defragmented and then select the Defragment button.

There are several great alternative defragmenting apps, like the ones Mark covered in his article Five Free Programs to Defragment your PC; or perhaps 8 Best Defragmenters To Keep Your PC Running Like New; not forgetting 3 Essentials to Keep Windows in Top Shape.

Tip 4: Close unnecessary software

This tip is kind of obvious but sometimes we forget about it and then complain why Photoshop is running so slowly. This is due to applications that are running in the background, using up processing power and RAM. Quit everything except for the applications needed for the task.

These are tweaking tips I use to speed up my Photoshop and they really are useful. If you have more tips on that let the people know, leave them in comments.

Source : makeuseof

Want 50Mbps Internet in your town? Threaten to roll out your own

2009-10-28T01:59:00.000-07:00

Regional telco TDS Telecommunications last week issued a press release announcing a major milestone for the company: 50Mbps service over fiber optic cable to residents of Monticello, Minnesota. The Minneapolis suburb became one of the few non-FiOS communities in the country to experience full fiber-to-the-home deployment, and subscribers will all receive a free upgrade from 25Mbps service to the new 50Mbps tier.
Even better is the price, which starts at $49.95 a month for 50Mbps fiber service without the need to buy other services.
TDS is thrilled. "This is a huge first for TDS," said market manager Tom Ollig. "TDS is working incredibly hard to deliver the faster speeds customers want."
But the entire congratulatory press release glosses over a key fact: the reason that Monticello received a fiber network was the town's decision to install a municipal-owned fiber network to every home in town… spawning a set of TDS lawsuits that went all the way to the Minnesota Supreme Court, which ruled in favor of the town.

Screaming to be heard

The saga began in 2007, when the town passed a referendum approving the city-owned fiber network. The city says that it had approached TDS and was told that no such system would be installed in town in the near future, so it went ahead with its own plans.
After the referendum, the city was sued by the telco just before groundbreaking began. The suit didn't seem to have much of a chance under Minnesota law, and indeed judges at multiple levels ruled for Monticello. But in the meantime, TDS rolled into town with nine crews of its own and began installing—you guessed it—fiber to the home.
Monticello had just become one of the only US cities in which twin, parallel fiber networks were being built at the same time. Backers of the muni fiber plan were outraged; not only could TDS build a modern fiber network on a moment's notice when it wanted to do so, but the lawsuits prevented the city from doing much of its installation even as TDS moved ahead.
We spoke to TDS about the situation last year, and its director of legislative and public relations told us that TDS didn't act earlier because it didn't actually know that people really, really wanted fiber; once the referendum was a success, the company moved quickly to give people what it now knew they wanted.
After delaying the town's deployment through lawsuits and rolling out fiber service of its own, TDS issued a statement in June 2009 in which it then called the whole rational for the government project into question.
"In view of TDS' development of a robust broadband platform in Monticello during the past year, it is questionable whether or not the City's feasibility study supporting its own fiber project, which was premised on no broadband competitors and on which the revenue bond purchasers relied when they secured the bonds more than a year ago, is still accurate, and whether the city fiber project is feasible today."
Now, it has upped the ante by doubling everyone's speeds. The moves all seemed designed to keep the idea of a muni-owned fiber network from spreading, but they might well have the opposite effect; one takeaway from the entire saga is that trying to build a muni fiber network is an excellent way to "encourage" investment and innovation from regional or national companies that might not otherwise have your town's own best interests at heart.
Such stories aren't limited to Minnesota suburbs, either. Just last month Telephony Online ran a piece on how Cox cable prices had "dropped considerably" since Lafeyette, Louisiana lit up a fiber system of its own.
"Cox froze the cable rates in Lafayette, and they didn’t freeze the rates in other areas," said Terry Huval, director of the muni project. "We figured our citizens saved over $3 million in cable rates even before we could offer them service."

Competition

This shouldn't be a surprise, as it's really just a classic case of direct competition—something not seen often enough the wired broadband market. Unfortunately, getting high-speed Internet to your town isn't always as simple as threatening to start a municipal network. Many times, incumbent providers simply file lawsuits while keeping speeds the same.
If your town is really unlucky, the incumbent will just head right to the state legislature, seeking to pass laws constraining the practice. That's what happened to Wilson, North Carolina, which runs a moderately famous 100Mbps system known as Greenlight (which just happens to be the fastest ISP in the entire state).
When Time Warner Cable (which still tops out at 10Mbps and no DOCSIS 3.0) was asked why it had not stepped up to meet the city's demand for faster access, a company rep told TechJournal South that it hadn't actually heard a citizen outcry over the issue—or it would have acted.
Wilson's Internet manager is having none of it. "We don’t want to run anyone out of business," he said, "but we also don’t want to take the leftover table scraps. If they had offered us what we were asking for, next generation good service, we would have happily stepped aside."

Claim: Pirate Bay shutdown hurting piracy (for now)

2009-10-28T01:42:00.000-07:00

The shutdown of the world's most notorious file trading site The Pirate Bay by Swedish authorities two months ago has "significantly, if temporarily, disrupted" the worldwide pirating of digital media files, according to a new study.
Anti-piracy company DtecNet says the closure has "rippled across the worldwide traffic in illegal digital media, cutting traffic for several days, then causing temporary secondary outages on other trackers which traders started to use to obtain pirated media."

In other words, the shutdown of Pirate Bay caused all the other BitTorrent servers to be flooded with traffic ... unsure if that's really a Big Win then ... though the above graph certainly suggests piracy took a sizable hit.
The paper further notes that Pirate Bay updated its trackers to point users to another pirating site, OpenBitTorrent.
"Traffic volumes are slowly recovering to previous levels with OpenBitTorrent as a probably Pirate Bay successor, and enforcement target ... BitTorrent is expected to soon return to levels seen before the Pirate Bay shutdown."

Netgear's New RangeMax Dual Band Router

2009-10-27T23:15:00.000-07:00

Netgear has announced the availability of wireless router, RangeMax Dual Band Wireless-N Gigabit Router WNDR3700 to fulfill the lifestyle needs of different customer segments.

NetgearWNDR3700 wireless router offers dual band reliability, gigabit performance, storage access and green features. This new 3G and Wi-Fi router enables mobile broadband access virtually anywhere.

The Netgear RangeMax Dual Band Wireless-N Gigabit Router WNDR3700 has features like ReadyShare for faster access to a USB hard drive
from any device on the network, broadband usage metering and video Quality of Service (QoS).

It is also compatible with DLNA-certified products. This feature enables media enthusiasts and gamers to stream digital content to new DLNA-compliant HDTVs and gaming consoles. The router is the first to feature broadband usage metering, which enables consumers to accurately monitor their usage of download traffic in a given time period, so they can stay within the limits designated by their ISP.

Additionally, the router's eight ultra-sensitive, internal, metamaterial antennas are fine-tuned for each frequency band, delivering extended range beyond competing routers.

Features

    * 680 MHz powerful MIPS 32-bit Processor
    * Memory: 8 MB flash and 64 MB RAM
    * ReadyShare USB Storage Access - support FAT16/32, NTFS Read/Write,
    * Ext 2 Read/Write, Ext 3 Read/Write
    * Denial-of-service (DoS) and stateful packet inspection (SPI) firewall
    * WPA/WPA2 - PSK and WPA/WPA2 Enterprise
    * Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) - Pin and Push Button
    * Advanced Quality of Service (QoS)

The Netgear RangeMax Dual Band Wireless-N Gigabit Router WNDR3700 is priced at Rs. 11,000 and comes with a one-year warranty.

How infants pick up their paces

2009-10-27T23:02:00.001-07:00

A new American study has pointed out the chemical changes in the brain that transform the learning process of infants.
Psychologist Gordon A Barr of The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and neuroscientist Regina M Sullivan of the Nathan Kline Institute and New York University Langone Medical Centre studied the mother-child behaviour in rats to draw parallels in humans.
The scientists say their findings can also be applied to infant behaviour in dogs, rats and people.
Barr said: "For humans, the findings may shed light on the pathologically strong attachment that children are known to have, even for abusive caretakers."
The conclusions of the study also suggest that scientists may detect neural mechanisms due to which other transitions such as a baby's switch from breastfeeding to eating solid food occurs, he added.

Why mosquitos like to bite humans

2009-10-27T23:01:00.000-07:00

Scientists at the University of California, Davis, have discovered why mosquitoes like to feast on the blood of humans.

They have identified a dominant odour naturally produced in humans and birds that attract the blood-feeding Culex mosquitoes, which transmits West Nile virus and other life-threatening diseases.

The groundbreaking research explains why mosquitoes shifted hosts from birds to humans and paves the way for key developments in mosquito and disease control.

Entomology professor Walter Leal and postdoctoral researcher Zain Syed, of the UC Davis Department of Entomology, found that nonanal (pronounced "no-nan-al") found in human blood is the powerful semiochemical that triggers the mosquitoes' keen sense of smell, directing them toward a blood meal. A semiochemical is a chemical substance or mixture that carries a message.

"Nonanal is how they find us. The antennae of the Culex quinquefasciatus are highly developed to detect even extremely low concentrations of nonanal," Leal said.
Image: Close-up shot of a mosquito sucking human blood
Photographs: Wikimedia Commons

Source : rediff

Spectacular Moon-Jupiter conjunction lights up evening sky

2009-10-27T23:00:00.000-07:00

Sky gazers on Tuesday had a celestial treat, as the Moon and the Jupiter formed a conjunction over the evening sky.

Jupiter came close to Gibbus moon (more than half moon) to form the conjuction in the southeastern sky, Science
Popularisation Association of Communicators and Educators (SPACE) president Chandra Bhushan Devgun said a news agency.

The celestial phenomenon occured soon after sunset and was visible till late in the night, he said.

Conjunction is a term used in positional astronomy for the relative positions of celestial bodies
. In the Moon-Jupiter conjunction, two celestial bodies will appear near each another in the sky. The event is also sometimes known as an appulse.

The conjunction was easily seen through naked eyes in thinly-clouded sky and city lights.

The two heavenly bodies were around 3.5 degrees apart, that means as seen from earth the apparent distance between them in the sky was 7 times the size of full moon, he said.

"It was a lovely treat for us (amateur astronomers). Seeing the Jovian planet, Jupiter popularly known as, coming close to the moon was spectacular," an Amateur astronomer Nisha Jain said.

Source : zeenews

NASA's Ares I-X test flight delayed by weather

2009-10-27T12:02:00.000-07:00

Launch of NASA's Ares I-X rocket on a planned $445 million test flight was delayed 24 hours Tuesday because of bad weather and an errant freighter that briefly strayed into the off-shore danger area.

"For everyone, great job today. You gave it a great shot," Launch Director Ed Mango told the team. "We had some opportunities and just couldn't get there, weather didn't cooperate. But good work today."

The Ares I-X rocket atop pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center during launch preparations.

(Credit: Bill Ingalls/NASA)

Launch was rescheduled for 8 a.m. Wednesday. Forecasters are predicting a 60 percent chance of acceptable weather during a four-hour launch window, with lighter winds and less cloud cover. It is not yet clear whether Thursday is an option if additional problems force another delay Wednesday.

NASA began Tuesday's launch campaign at 1 a.m. EDT with the start of a seven-hour countdown. With forecasters concerned about high clouds, showers, and friction-induced static charge buildups, NASA passed up the 8 a.m. opening of the window and the countdown remained in an extended hold at the T-minus four-minute mark in hopes conditions would improve.

In a bit of a surprise given a 60 percent "no-go" forecast, conditions improved and NASA was preparing to come out of the hold and proceed to launch when a freighter strayed into the launch danger zone.

The ship was contacted and immediately began moving out of the area. NASA reset launch for 10:49 a.m., but the delay caused by the freighter held things up long enough for clouds to move in. Two minutes and 37 seconds before liftoff, weather officer Kathy Winters ordered a hold.

The countdown was recycled back to T-minus four minutes and holding in hopes conditions would improve.

Throughout the morning, clouds rolled over the Kennedy Space Center from the west and while occasional breaks were seen on radar, the timing didn't work out for NASA. Around 11:20 a.m., launch managers called off the attempt.

"It looks like we're not going to get there with weather on these opportunities and per our discussions, I guess we're looking for your recommendations and what you would like us to implement from a launch perspective," Test Director Jeff Spaulding said to Mango.

"Your team has done outstanding getting the vehicle ready," Mango said. "Weather (officer) has been outstanding in trying to help us. We're not going to be go today. So we can set up for a scrub."

There are no technical issues with the Ares I-X rocket. But in attempting to launch Tuesday, engineers pulled a sock-like cover from an air data probe at the very tip of the rocket that is designed to measure the atmospheric conditions ahead of the launcher.

Because of the booster's height, and the need to use a shuttle launch pad with a gantry that is much shorter than the rocket, the cover had to be removed by technicians, atop the pad's service gantry, manually pulling a long lanyard. The protective cover hung up at the base of the probe, but the technicians were able to pull it free after a few minutes of energetic tugging.

The cover cannot be re-installed. If rain water gets into the probe between now and launch, it could prevent accurate readings. NASA managers said earlier that was an acceptable condition and that the data, while desirable, was not required for launch.

Source : cnet news

Fake Facebook e-mail contains Trojan

2009-10-27T12:00:00.000-07:00

A new variant of the Bredolab Trojan horse is attached to a fake "Facebook Password Reset Confirmation" e-mail, security firm MX Labs is reporting.

Some users are receiving the e-mail from "The Facebook Team," according to the security firm. The sender's e-mail address displays "service@facebook.com." In reality, the address and sender were spoofed.

MX Labs found that the e-mail was accompanied by an attachment named, "Facebook_Password_4cf91.zip and includes the file Facebook_Password_4cf91.exe" that, the e-mail claims, contains the user's new Facebook password. The security firm said that the element between the underscore and .zip are randomly chosen letters and numbers for each recipient.

When a user downloads the file, it could wreak havoc on their computer. MX Labs said in a blog post that the Trojan horse Bredolab "executes files from the Internet, such as rogue anti-spyware. To bypass firewalls, it injects its own code into legitimate processes svchost.exe and explorer.exe. Bredolab contains anti-sandbox code (the trojan might quit itself when an external program investigates its actions)." In other words, it's nasty.

Once it makes its way to the user's PC, Bredolab creates "%AppData%\wiaservg.log" and "%Programs%\Startup\isqsys32.exe" in the user's system files. MX Labs said that it also creates two new processes, called "isqsys32.exe" and "svchost.exe."

For its part, Facebook was quick to point out that the e-mail containing the virus wasn't coming from the social network.

"This virus is being distributed through email, not on Facebook," a Facebook spokesperson wrote. "The email is disguised as a Facebook password reset e-mail with an attachment that purportedly contains the new password, but is actually the virus. We're educating users on how to detect this through the Facebook Security Page."

Facebook said that users should be "suspicious of unexpected emails claiming to be from Facebook." The company also said that it will never send users a new password as an attachment.

Source : cnet

Gmail….Google wave and now Google cloudboard

2009-10-26T23:41:00.000-07:00

First google introduces igoogle, then they move on to introduce google wave, which is a hit so far, well now google is becoming more ambitious in introducing google cloudboard. What this software does is it links up many of your google features, so instead of going to 5 different websites for your daily surfing needs, google cloudboard incorporates them all into one tool.

This service designed to act as a clipboard that shares data between Gmail, Google Docs, and other Google applications. Google-focused weblog Google Operating System discovered an internal feedback form (it’s currently disabled) asking users to share their experience with Cloudboard, which the form describes as a “server-side clipboard for Google Apps.” From Google Operating System.

Google seems to have invented new ways to reach to a farther and wider audience than ever before. This tool is very much a revolutionary tool and so far no other online company has done this at such a huge scale. The next closest would probably be yahoo’s homepage, which now incorporates all of the yahoo add-ons into one single easily manageable page.

I hope all the best to google in all of their future endeavors.

Source : thelatestnews

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Length 22ft

Wingspan 12.2ft

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