Monday, September 29, 2008

These are the steps invoved in setting up Yahoo oneConnect on your iPhone
1. Launch iTunes
2. Go to the App Store
3. Search for Yahoo! oneConnect
4. Download Yahoo! oneConnect (it's free!)
5. Sync your iPhone or iPod touch with iTunes
6. Go to your home screen on your device and tap on the Yahoo! oneConnect icon
7. Follow the instructions to set-up Yahoo! oneConnect
Note: If you do not have a 3G iPhone, you need to upgrade to the iPhone 2.0 Software Update.

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

The latest Nokia N95 clone series is now available. Don’t expect half of the N95’s features, rather Chinese (who else) have packed 2 MP camera, 3″ QVGA touchscreen, Bluetooth, FM radio and microSD card into this blatant rip-off. Plus, there’s a laser pointer - something that even Nokia’s all-in-one device lacks (not that it actually needs it).


Furthermore, unlike the original N95, this “version” doesn’t sports Nokia’s dual-slider mechanism and is thus quite larger — it measures 118×58x18.6 mm while weighing 108 grams.

Sunday, August 31, 2008

Many of you might have not downloaded the Mozilla Firefox version 3 on the Download Day. Firefox 3 was downloaded by 8 million people on June 17th 2008. Firefox celebrated this victory with certificates that carried a Guinness World Records logo.


Well, for all those who have missed the certificate - here is the chance to get it now. Click here for the link and create your certificate now.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Electronics retailer Best Buy has installed vending machines at 8 major US airports. It's a pilot program for the company's new Best Buy Express kiosks, which are large vending machines that carry cell phone and computer accessories, digital cameras, flash drives, MP3 players, headphones, gaming devices, travel adapters, and other items that are likely to appeal to customers on the go. Prices are similar to those in Best Buy stores.

Best Buy is targeting travellers in search of last-minute gifts, as well as those who need a replacement for a gadget or accessory they forgot to pack or lost along the way. The kiosks can currently be found at airports in Atlanta (ATL), Boston (BOS), Dallas (DFW), Houston (IAH), Las Vegas (LAS), Los Angeles (LAX), Minneapolis (MSP) and San Francisco (SFO). Four more will follow over the next few weeks.

It's an interesting move by Best Buy. The convenience factor is an obvious draw for travellers in a hurry, especially at airports with limited shopping options. But the branding on a vending machine by a well-known retailer is also a clear visual signal, instantly recognizable by consumers, which is a real advantage at busy and cluttered airports. One for other retailers to experiment with, too? How about a vending machine by Target, carrying their top 20 small items? Or one by Whole Foods, offering organic snacks?

Sunday, August 10, 2008


A member of staff at Sotheby's in London, holds a 72.22-carat pear shaped D-color (finest white) flawless diamond that was auctioned off in Hong Kong. It was priced at $10,260,000. Mmmm.... that's really Expensive.

Sunday, August 3, 2008

Boss said to secretary: For a week we will go abroad, so make arrangement.

Secretary make call to Husband: For a week my boss and I will be going abroad, you look after yourself.

Husband make call to secret lover: My wife is going abroad for a week, so lets spend the week together.

Secret lover make call to small boy whom she is giving private tution: I have work for a week, so you need not come for class.

Small boy make call to his grandfather: Grandpa, for a week I don’t have class ‘coz my teacher is busy. Lets spend the week together.

Grandpa(the 1st boss :) ) make call to his secretary: This week I am spending my time with my grandson. We cannot attend that meeting.

Secretary make call to her husband: This week my boss has some work, we canceled our trip.

Husband make call to secret lover: We cannot spend this week together, my wife has cancelled her trip.

Secret lover make call to small boy whom she is giving private tution: This week we will have class as usual.

Small boy make call to his grandfather: Grandpa, my teacher said this week I have to attend class. Sorry I can’t give you company.

Grandpa(boss) make call to his secretary: Don’t worry this week we will attend that meeting, so make arrangement !!!

Friday, August 1, 2008

White truffles is the second costliest food after Gold with a price tag of $6,000 and above, per pound. A truffle is a valuable fruit of a group subterranean ascomycete fungi of the genus tuber. Once considered an aphrodisiac by the ancient Greeks and Romans, the high price of truffles is 'due to their unpredictable growth habits.'

The report further added, ". . . no one has been able to domesticate them, relying instead on trained dogs and pigs to sniff them out. . . . Truffle hunters, known as truffeculteurs, work alone; their proven locations are closely guarded secrets."

"White winter truffles, also called Alba truffles after their region of origin, are the priciest, commanding $6,000 to $10,000 per pound (prices vary year-to-year based on availability and quality)," the magazine noted.

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

What: Colgate launches the 'Smile Please' offer where winners will get a chance to flash their smile in a Colgate advertisement.

Details: Colgate-Palmolive (India) has announced a unique offer -- the Colgate Smile Please Offer -- which promises to make its lucky winners famous! The best smiles get the unique opportunity to be featured in select Colgate print and television commercials.

How: Participants can fill in a simple form available in the Colgate Smile Please Offer website or any pack of Colgate Dental Cream (other than 20gm) and send their photograph, sporting the best smile, along with the form to the address mentioned therein. The 100 best smiles, selected by Colgate, will be featured in Colgate Smile Please newspaper advertisements and five lucky winners will be flashing their smiles on Colgate Smile Please television commercials.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Internet telephony

If you have an Internet connection, you can download a messenger service and speak to anyone connected by Net. Of course, there are the Internet usage charges. This uses a technology called Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and is essentially a PC to PC calling solution.

However, service providers have schemes where you can make calls from your PC to landline or mobile at nominal rates. For this you need to download the software and pay your bills via credit card. You would also need a computer with adequate system requirements and a good (preferably broadband) Internet connection.

Skype

The leader in this space has many dedicated users. "It's been a great help in connecting to friends and colleagues abroad," says Saptarshi Roy Chaudhury, a search engine optimisation consultant who uses Skype almost everyday to call professional contacts abroad.

"The higher your Internet speed, the better is the call quality. If you are on a slow connection, the time lag between words will be high and the calls might drop as well," he adds. Skype allows users to make unlimited (10,000 minutes) calls to 34 countries worldwide at euro 10.29 (Rs 657)/month

Friday, July 25, 2008

1. The first things you remember is use the good tools for the communication. Never use the local communication devices like cell phone or landline for conference call.

2. You must have to test your equipments before conference call. Some time during the conference call the instrument have disturbing with strange noises and services get stop between.

3. Select the conference room or special cabin for conference call facilities. Make sure that during the conference call no incoming call either from local line or from mobile phone could not get disturb.

4. Set the speakerphones in properly. Check the button of the speakerphone and volume switch too.

5. If you make conference call by VoIP or messengers than you must ensure the Internet connectivity should be kept properly. You must have to check the speed of the Internet connection.

6. You must have to prepare a note of your discussion with the party and therefore you key in and send it to your party so he keeps the records of the discussion.

7. If you are dealing with the old client than you must give short description about yourself and start communication with the party. You must talk in brief and to the point. It is one of the effective methods of conference call.

Monday, July 21, 2008

In the last few years the amount of spam mail has risen extraordinarily. Today the majority of mail messages that are tried to be delivered is spam. Nevertheless the amount of spam that is seen by end users is lower than some time ago because spam filters have evolved and improved their quality. Of course spam filters have disadvantages also. There is always a small risk that you lose messages that are not spam (false positives) and spam filters can be a considerable resource drag.

Tips to Avoid Spam

  • Hide your email address

  • Make it hard to guess your email address

  • Use a contact form on your web site

  • If you have to publish your email address make it hard to read for machines

  • Don't put a bunch of addresses in the Cc field

  • Use a different email address for newsletters, shopping sites etc

  • Last but not least - Never buy anything from a spammer

Saturday, July 19, 2008

It may sound like a funny thing to want to know about, but how can you tell a rooster from a hen? In reality, distinguishing between a rooster and a hen is not all that hard to do, but many people that answer this question see the humor in it.

From my observation, roosters have a more prominent array of feathers around the head; in other words, the male chickens are really more colorful and prettier than the hens are. The hens will have a slight bit of feathers around the neck area and head, but those feathers will not be as colorful or as plentiful as the roosters' feathers will be, kind of like male peacocks feathers are more plentiful and prettier than the females are. Too, as is alluded to in some of the articles, roosters do usually stand taller than hens and look a bit more sleek than hens do. It is all up to the fact that, when full-grown, it is much easier to to tell a rooster from a hen than it is when they are first hatched.

It is very common to hear people complaining about their blog not getting indexed or take too long time to get indexed by Google. At the same time, there are also people who claimed to get indexed within hours or days by Google. So, why is it that some blog are able to get indexed fast, while the others can’t? The reason behind it is actually very simple: it depends on whether you take the necessary action to let Google know that your blog exist.

If all you did is create a blog, start posting on it and expect Google to find and crawl you, you will be disappointed. They won’t know it and even if they did stumble into your blog one day, it might be months or years later.

So, the important point to get your blog index is to let Google know your blog exist.

How?

The easiest method to do so is to put your blog link out there for Google and there are many ways to do so. You can start to comment on popular blog, forum or use social bookmarking site like Digg, Stumbleupon or Technorati to bookmark your blog content.

The logic behind this method is simple; Google like new contents and so, they frequently crawl these sites. When new content or articles appeared on these sites, most of the times, it gets indexed within minutes. So, when you make comments or bookmarking on these sites; and in the process, leaving your blog URL behind, you are actually leaving a trail for Google to find and reach your blog. When it come to these sites, it will eventually find your blog link and follow through to your blog. Hence, your blog will get indexed subsequently.

There are some people who think that making comments on blogs will not get indexed by Google. They feel that Google will not index your blog because nowadays, most of the blogs are nofollow, so your comment will have no impact at all. Actually, this is a wrong concept. What nofollow does is simply notify Google not to pass on page rank or link juice to the linked site, but, it won’t stop the search engine from following through the link to your blog.

Of course, besides this method, there are many other ways that can help your blog to get indexed by Google fast, but, this is by far the most effective way that I have come across. Using this method, all my other sites get indexed within a week, the faster being a day and the longest takes about 5 days.

Try this method out to see if it is effective for your blog.

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Viruses on Instant Messengers are very common these days. Being the most popular communication too on the internet, only rivaled by the email itself, it is only natural that spammers and hackers target this medium. But it is easy to keep yourself save from these type of attacks by following small simple rules while chatting. No, I am not going to stop you from chatting with strangers ;)

MSN is the most popular instant messaging client with the teenagers today. Hence MSN messengers are widely targeted by virus and trojan writers.Most msn virus are usually not very harmful, but annoying definitly they are. All of them spread via the list of contacts on your messenger. Once affected, they replicate by sending messages to you friends including a link to a harmless image file.

This is something you should be careful about while chatting. Fortunately MSN Virus removal tools are easily available on the net including manual removal and removal with the help of anti-virus and spyware removal tools.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

When the cell phone first appeared on the Chinese market in the late 1980s it cost 10,000-20,000 yuan, and was the size of a brick. Regarded as the ultimate status symbol, it was called the da ge da, meaning very influential person. At that time, sales of mobile phones were under state control, and stocks were limited. Purchasers were required to place an order and make an 80 percent down payment. How things have changed! Mobiles are now available in multiple choices of size, color and function, on request.

Actuality

China has become the world's largest mobile phone manufacturing base and consumer market. In the first quarter of 2008, the total mobile phone shipment in China reached 134 million units, increasing 34.5% year over year. While the subscriber base of mobile services reached 480 million at the end of the first quarter of 2008, which increased approximately 20 million when compared to the statistic data at the end of last year

The Product

When it comes to affordable iPhone clones, Meizu seems to be leading the pack now that they've unveiled the pricing for their M8 cell phone. The 4GB model with built-in camera will go for $310 while the 8GB version will go for $400. The entry-level model (with no camera) will go for only $195 at 4GB and $285 at 8GB. Compare that to the iPhone's $499/$599 price and suddenly Meizu's option doesn't look so bad, though it's still an iPhone clone.

Sunday, July 6, 2008

About SAT

SAT is an aptitude test. Like all aptitude tests, it must choose a medium in which to measure intellectual ability. The SAT has chosen Math and English. Most of the aspirants for undergraduate studies to US need to take it. NEW SAT takes about 3 hours and 45 minutes. It contains Critical Reading, Math and Writing Section. The NEW SAT is about 2400 marks, English section is for 1600 marks while Math section is 800 marks. The writing section is measured on a scale of (0 to 6 points). SAT is offered 6 times a year in India you can register for the exam online on www.collegeboard.com. The present fees for SAT is around $ 85 USD, You will select a test day, pay with an international credit card and complete the transaction entirely online. SAT scores are valid for a period of 5 years.

About SAT Subject Test

SAT subject test where formerly known as SAT II, subject tests are given to access your skills in specific areas subjects include Math, History, Physical Science, Literature and SAT Subject Tests are given to assess your skills in specific areas. Subjects include math, history, physical sciences, literature, and foreign languages. SAT Subject Tests are an hour long and consist entirely of multiple-choice questions.
The score is from 800 marks. It is taken as per direction of universities for the choice of programs mentioned.

About Graduate Record Exam

Graduate Record Exam (GRE) is taken by students interested in pursuing their Masters program in US but renowned universities across the globe accept GRE scores. GRE is essentially a computer adaptive test which is about 2 hours and 30 minutes. It consists of Verbal, Quantitative and Analytical Writing. The scoring pattern of GRE is on Verbal (800), Math (800) and Analytical Writing section is graded on a scale of (0 to 6 points). GRE is offered all year around you can register for GRE on www.gre.org. You need to pay $160 USD for registration. GRE scores are valid for a period of 5 years.
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About GRE subject test:
The GRE Subject Tests are intended to measure your knowledge of specific subject matter. Subject Tests are available in eight disciplines: Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology; Biology; Chemistry; Computer Science; Literature in English; Mathematics; Physics; and Psychology. These tests are given in paper-and-pencil format. These tests are given separately from the GRE General Test and require additional fees. Check with the universities to which you are applying to determine whether any of these extra tests are required.
About GMAT:
The Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) is taken by students interested in pursuing MBA program in the US. It is also accepted by major business schools world wide. It consists of 3 sections (Quantitative, Verbal, and Writing). It is a 4 hour computer-adaptive test (CAT). Scoring pattern is on a scale of 800. GMAT is offered all year around you can register for GMAT on www.mba.org. You need to pay $250 USD for registration. GMAT scores are valid for a period of 5 years.

Importance of SAT, GRE, GMAT:

As the admission process gets tougher every year. It is mandatory for
the students to prepare sincerely for the above exams. The preparation
time for these exams extends from three months to six months. On a
broad spectrum the ETS board the governing body for the exam evaluates
students on their knowledge in Math and English from grade eight to
degree level, but individual stress is given on basic writing skills
as far as Analytical writing is concerned.

Do’s and Don’t for Exam preparation.

The do’s
1. Be realistic in your expectations.
2. Do take the writing Analytical section seriously.
3. Take practice test with the sole aim of improving your endurance and timing.
4. Take mock test as far as possible it acts as a dress rehearsal.
5. Practice alone makes you perfect.

The Don’t
1. Don’t be too confident about your test taking abilities.
2. Don’t focus only on particular testing areas at the cost of other sections.
3. Don’t be obsessed about scores during practice.
4. Don’t burn the midnight oil without a proper back up plan.

Friday, July 4, 2008

How about a disposable mobile phone sold on your convenience store for emergency purpose? Sounds like a good idea right? Yea, you got me agreeing with that now. What you need is just a sim card and there you go, you got your self 4hours of battery life (to be specific, 4 hours of talk time; 150 hours of stand by) with Hop-On HOP1800 Disposable Cell Phone. The design is not that fancy, just plain and simple dotted dark blue skin, front is the usual number-asterisk- pound-accept-cancel interface, no display screen, yes, you read that right, there is no display screen, so do not expect more functionality, no camera, no mp3s, wallpapers and all that jazz.

The discreet usable phone is priced very reasonably at ten bucks and that’s one time. Good thing is that it uses standard GSM connection that works with over 40 domestic carriers in two dual-band versions 850/1900 and 900/1800 to select from. So what are you waiting for? Test it now and check what else you can do in time that your fancy phone fails you.

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Apple's iPod is a media player that is portable. Since then many generations of iPods have been hitting the shop shelves one after another taking the world by storm - classic, touch, shuffle, mini etc. The latest model stores media on an internal hard drive and like other music players can also provide for external data storage.

Apples iTunes transfers music to the devices. The iPod is a veritable music library. From a CD it can play, burn and rip music as well as transfer photos, games, videos and calendars. The best thing is that the gadget is extremely user friendly and can be operated by young and old. The technical excellence does not surface and complicate matters for the ordinary user. It is the best selling audio player in digital history.

Apple surprised the world of sight and sound with the iPod in 2001. It is a player with the fantastic storage power of 5 GN (gigabytes). After a few generations of iPods there came the one with 160 G.

Both Mac and Windows are operable in iPod, although the latter belongs to the Apple family. What is it that makes iPod peerless? Firstly is the light form - the iPod 80 GB classic is less than 1 inch in depth and feather light - 4.9 ounces. In comparison one of the others in the market are 1.06 inch and 12 ounces with 20GB. Secondly is the extremely sensitive click wheel, which the thumb can easily operate. There are not enough rooms for any buttons. The latest models are dispensing with the wheel and going for multi-touch sensory system.

Apart from the iTunes integration and auto sync, the click wheel and the slim figure, the iPod has other notable features. Up to 40,000 songs can be stored in some models. The song details like name and artist can be typed in the search function. The click wheel helps to locate the number. The songs can be listened to at various speeds - slow, fast and medium without causing distortion. Through a jack it can be connected to the home stereo. There is a preset device for diverse music styles.

The 80-GB can store 100 hours of video and double the number of hours in 160-GB. It can be connected to the home theatre TV to view with sound slides or video on a large screen. The model is able to hold a maximum number of 25,000 photographs. The iPod can operate as a portable hard drive carrying all types of computer files. There is calendar contact syncing and pre-loaded games also. It can be integrated to the car with slight rearrangements, which the car mechanic will not find difficult to handle. New cars support this integration so much so that the device is controlled through a headgear or the controls of the steering wheel.

The story of iPod will be incomplete without mentioning the accessories. This is often referred to as the iPod eco-system. These accessories add extra features like sound recorders, FM radio tuners and cables) that connect to the television. There are also wireless remote controls and earphones.

Despite expensive repairs and early battery deaths people are hooked to it like never before. The 2007 wonder iPod model is the classic marvel that is fitted with audio and video players, photo viewers as well as portable hard-drive. Thus is it is a complete handy media center. The customer can pick either the 80 GB or 160 GB models with colour LSD display. To know, see and hear about tomorrow pick up an iPod today.

Monday, June 30, 2008

India's first mission to moon -- Chandrayan-I -- is tentatively scheduled to be launched on September 19 this year, Indian Space Research Organisation Chairman Madhavan Nair told newsmen in Hyderabad on Friday.

He said that all the preparations have been nearly completed and the exact date of the launch will be decided within a month. He described September 19 as the 'earliest opportunity' for the historic launch.

The final stage of integration of instruments with the spacecraft was going on and test and evaluation was also in progress.

"The mission to moon, apart from other things, will help to map the moon," Nair said.

Nair was confident that Chandrayan I will expand the scientific knowledge about the moon and also upgrade the technological capability of India. "In the next four years, India will be among the most developed nations in space research and development," he said, pointing out that the launch of ten satellites simultaneously two months ago was a demonstration of this capability.

Friday, June 27, 2008

The Instrulab Institute of Aviation Technology (IIAT) opens admissions to become an Aircraft Maintenance Engineer.

AME course offered in

  • Avionics stream Instrument (IS)
  • Electrical (ES)
  • Radio / Navigation (RN)

Students with 70 per cent-85 per cent marks avail 8.33 per cent concession. Students with 85 per cent marks and above are eligible for 10 per cent concession

Duration: 3 years, including six months on-job training

Eligibility: 10+2 MPC with aggregate of 50 per cent and above or 3 years Diploma in Engineering in any branch with 50 per cent and above or any higher qualification.

Facilities: Well furnished class rooms with visual aids. Fully equipped instrument, electrical, radio navigation, computer- labs, general engineering workshop and library.

Faculty: Well qualified and experienced aircraft maintenance engineers retired from domestic and international airlines and ex-Air Force personnel.

Contact
For prospectus and application, send Rs 300/- through cash/ DD/ MO to:

Instrulab Institute of Aviation Technology
125, GST Road,
Chrompet,
Chennai 600 044.
Phone: (044) 2238 2345, 2238 1305
Website : www.iiat.net.in

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Nokia very recently launched the N78 3G smartphone as an alternative to the already existing N73 and N82. Nokia has positioned N78 very similar to the N73 which was launched in 2006. Now, one has to identify whether nokia N78 really replace N73.

The Nokia N78 runs on S60 3rd edition Symbian OS along with 76MB of usable storage ROM. This results in performance on par with the N82. Preinstalled along with the OS is the new Feature Pack 2, which is a first for an S60 smartphone. Visual enhancements such as extra GUI menu animations and customisable active stand-by screen layouts not only present an enormous amount of eye-candy but are also a treat, creating favourite applications shortcuts for easier navigation. You can customise menus with four view modes:

  • Standard mode 1
  • Standard mode 2
  • V-Shaped mode
  • Horseshoe mode

    Feature pack2 adds a new feature called Geo-Tracking which allows you to add geographical co-ordinates to photos. Overall, Feature pack 2 improves visuals and provides more fluid animations while ensuring performance does not take a hit.

    N78's music player supports a large number of audio formats such as MP3, AAC, eAAC+ and WMA and has five equaliser presets. Managing playlists and sorting songs is very easy with the N78 since there are a variety of options to choose from. The N78 will automatically update the music library whenever new files are transferred onto the phone via usb/ bluetooth/ wi-fi/ card-reader and it has wireless A2DP support.


    Some Additional features of the N78:
  • Has a powerful MBX graphic processor
  • Supports Internet Radio
  • Powerful sound recorder
  • RDS support for FM radio

    Current street price for an N78 is approximately Rs 19,900 while the N82 can be bought for a little over Rs 20,000 including taxes.. Read the review Here
  • Wednesday, June 25, 2008

    The Internet search giant Google joined an association that plans to build a next-generation wireless data network. Google is investing $500 million in the project, which is led by Sprint and Clearwire, and will be run by a new entity also called Clearwire.

    Google has pursued initiatives intended to promote greater Internet access — preferably “open” access, meaning that users can choose what applications and services they use. The bet is that if users are allowed to choose, they’ll pick Google’s services, and therefore, will see ads delivered by Google.

    Google deployed a free Wi-Fi network in Mountain View, Calif., where the company is based. It developed a failed plan to deploy a Wi-Fi network blanketing San Francisco. It also participated in a federal auction of wireless spectrum earlier this year. The company bid $4.6 billion for the spectrum, not because it wanted to win the licenses being auctioned, but because it wanted to trigger open access regulations mandated by the Federal Communications Commission for those airwaves. Verizon Wireless ended up winning the licenses.

    Google entered into a separate agreement with Sprint under which Google will become the default search and local search provider on existing and new Sprint phones as soon as this summer. On some devices, Sprint users will have one-click access to Google. Maps, YouTube video and location-based services will also be easily available to Sprint customers. All this is good for Google but not as good for Sprint’s current default search provider: Microsoft.

    Wednesday, June 18, 2008

    The Android OS for mobile phones was unveiled about 6 months ago by Google. Before Google unveiled their new open source mobile operating system, there had talk about Google creating a "gPhone". Instead of Google creating their own mobile phone they decided to create an open source operating system that could run on all phones. Android has its own SDK so users can create and edit all of Androids programs and utilities. Google has also hosted an Android Developers Challenge where developers who build apps for the Android platform can win up to $10 million. Google has done this to encourage developers and users alike to try out the new OS and to develope cool programs that will run smootly on Android phones.

    Recently Android has been seen on a touch screen prototype phone from HTC. The Welcome screen is what you would expect, it has all of your basic applications such as phone, messaging, IM, camera, maps, calendar, alarm clock, and a browser. The Android OS is highly integrated with services such as Google Docs and Google Calendar for obvious reasons, so users can access their documents and appointments from anywhere on the web. The HTC Android Dream Phone also ran very smoothly with Google Maps, Google Street View, and loaded very quickly since it can run on a 3G network. The HTC phone features a desktop like interface so users can place various icons on it. The phone also features a compass and an accelerometer that can be used to browse through Street View and Google Maps.

    Android based phones are set to be release sometime during the second half of this year. Many companies such as HTC, Samsung, and Nokia have promised Android based phones within a year. Since Android is open source users will also be able to install Android on their own mobile phones. So you may not want to buy that new iPhone just yet.

    Tuesday, June 17, 2008

    Mozilla's record-breaking attempt to massively release Firefox3.0, the latest version of the only Web Browser to compete with Microsoft's Internet Explorer, unfortunately broke some of its servers as well.

    Mozilla said, it aimed to set a world record with the official release out of beta Tuesday. The latest version offers additional features, faster speeds, and enhanced security.

    Mozilla encouraged users to host download parties, so it could set a Guinness World Record for the number of downloads in one day. Currently, Guinness does not hold recorded information on the number of downloads in a single day.

    Nevertheless, Mozilla has generated plenty of excitement about the launch, with nearly 2 million people saying they would download the latest version. In fact, so many people tried to access the site that the servers appeared to crash. Attempts to reach the site for the latest version of Firefox unsuccessful at least 20 minutes after the 1 p.m. Eastern time zone launch. Mozilla hopes to successfully complete 5 million downloads of the browser in 24 hours.

    Mozilla promises speeds that are twice as fast for Web applications like Gmail and Zoho Office, as well as more efficient memory use. Finally, user bookmarks, histories, cookies and preferences are backed up on a secure database prevent loss due to system crashes.

    Firefox 3.0 reportedly has thousands of improvements, including an Awesome Bar, which can locate Web sites with regular words, rather than a URL. The bar locates sites based on recent visit and user browsing patterns. The bar can be disabled. The latest version, under development for nearly three years, also warns users when sites they are about to visit have malware. Users can see who owns a Web site with one click and check to make sure their connections are protected from eavesdropping. Firefox automatically checks add-ons and plug-in versions, disabling older and insecure versions.

    The browsing experience will be more personal, with search results based on individual patterns, and Web-based protocol handlers allow users to access webmail more easily than from desktop applications.

    For developers, the enhanced platform improves color management, graphics and fonts, and offline support, Mozilla said. Source [IWEEK]

    Cisco has just issued a report that backs up claims by many Internet service providers that video viewing over the Web is gobbling up huge quantities of network capacity and the problem is only going to get worse. The Cisco Visual Networking Index that IP traffic will nearly double every two years to 2012. Released Monday, the 2007-2012 forecasr that IP traffic will grow at a combined annual rate of 46%.
    The growth is creating a new vocabulary of IP metrics of exabytes and zettabytes. One exabyte equals 1 billion GB, or 250 million DVDs. A zettabyte equals 1 trillion GB, or 1,000 exabytes or 250 billion DVDs.

    "The broad and increasing adoption of visual networking is having a significant impact on IP traffic growth for both consumer and business services markets worldwide," said Suraj Shetty, Cisco's VP of service provider marketing, in a statement. "Until just a few years ago, 'exabyte' was an unheard-of term. However, because of the massive growth we're seeing, by 2012 we will have to reorient our vocabulary once again, as the metric that we need then will be the zettabyte."

    Cisco didn't say so in its discussion of the report, but the explosive growth is likely to cause Internet service providers to push for Internet metering in an attempt to limit use of the Web by businesses and consumers who tend to be heavy video users. ISPs like Comcast and AOL Time Warner are experimenting with attempts to limit usage or to charge higher prices for some users who download quantities of video.

    Noting that its Visual Networking Index is part of its ongoing effort to forecast the growth of Web traffic, Cisco said the growth surge will be a result of video communications, entertainment, and social networking. The networking company said it expects Internet video traffic to grow to 400 times the amount of video traffic that was carried on the U.S. Internet backbone in 2000.

    Cisco said nearly 90% of all consumer IP traffic is expected to consist of video on demand, IP P2P, and Internet video in 2012.

    While most business IP traffic through 2012 will be concentrated in North America, the fastest growing Internet traffic region will be in Latin America, which is expected to have the highest growth rate through 2012, according to the report.
    Source : [IWEEK]

    Well, the Internet was fun while it lasted, but now three of the nation's largest service providers are going to shut it down and throw us all back to the dark ages of telephones and postage stamps. "Some people use the Internet simply to check e-mail and look up phone numbers. Others are online all day, downloading big video and music files. For years, both kinds of Web surfers have paid the same price for access. But now three of the country’s largest Internet service providers are threatening to clamp down on their most active subscribers by placing monthly limits on their online activity."

    "One of them, Time Warner Cable, began a trial of 'Internet metering' in one Texas city early this month, asking customers to select a monthly plan and pay surcharges when they exceed their bandwidth limit. The idea is that people who use the network more heavily should pay more, the way they do for water, electricity, or, in many cases, cellphone minutes.

    "That same week, Comcast said that it would expand on a strategy it uses to manage Internet traffic: slowing down the connections of the heaviest users, so-called bandwidth hogs, at peak times.

    "AT&T also said Thursday that limits on heavy use were inevitable and that it was considering pricing based on data volume. 'Based on current trends, total bandwidth in the AT&T network will increase by four times over the next three years,' the company said in a statement.

    "All three companies say that placing caps on broadband use will ensure fair access for all users. Internet metering is a throwback to the days of dial-up service, but at a time when video and interactive games are becoming popular, the experiments could have huge implications for the future of the Web [...]

    “'As soon as you put serious uncertainty as to cost on the table, people’s feeling of freedom to predict cost dries up and so does innovation and trying new applications,' Vint Cerf, the chief Internet evangelist for Google who is often called the 'father of the Internet,' said in an e-mail message.

    "But the companies imposing the caps say that their actions are only fair. People who use more network capacity should pay more, Time Warner argues. And Comcast says that people who use too much—like those who engage in file-sharing—should be forced to slow down."

    Source - [NYT]

    Unfortunately, we hoped for an even larger bundle of features in this round. Apple still leaves multimedia messaging out of the mix along with voice dialing and video recording.

    Still can't understand why Apple can't include these basic features, many found in even the cheapest and simplest cell phones. A landscape keyboard, the capability to cut and paste, Flash support for the Safari Web browser, expanded memory, and additional Bluetooth profiles are also missing.

    Apple, you left us hanging in a big way. It's also disappointing to hear that the dock is now sold separately for $49, suppose that helped cut the price. No, you don't need the dock, but it's nice to have. Even the power adapter and the SIM card removal tool that now come in the box won't make up for its loss.

    Should you buy it?

    If you're an iPhone fence-sitter, now's the time. The addition of 3G and GPS, the affordable price tag, and extra features from the iPhone 2.0 software update make the iPhone 3G a worthy prospect. iPhone 3G isn't perfect, but there's a lot to like here and we approach the device with much anticipation.

    Monday, June 16, 2008

    The Honda FCX Clarity is slated to be the first commercial hydrogen powered car. First road tests have the 2009 model hitting over 90 miles per hour, and the vehicle has a modest 134 horsepower. The Clarity's only emissions are steam, no harmful gases whatsoever.

    Honda's plans for the first three years of FCX Clarity's production is to get the vehicle into the hands of 200 lessees. The car will only be made available through a 3 year lease, no outright purchasing plans have been made available. The cities of Irvine, Torrance, and Santa Monica California will be the starting point for distribution as well as hydrogen fueling station availability.
    Vehicle Spcs:

    Base price: Three-year lease, $600/month


    Engine: Fuel cell and 288-volt lithium battery, 134 hp/189 lb-ft


    Transmission: Direct-drive electric motor, front-wheel drive


    Length x width x height: 190.3 x 72.7 x 57.8 in


    Wheelbase: 110.2 in


    Curb weight: 3582 lb


    Fuel economy (EPA city/hwy): 68 mpg combined EPA cycle (est.)


    Major standard features: Power windows/locks/mirrors; AM/FM/CD/XM/MP3 audio system with iPod input and steering wheel-mounted audio controls; dual-zone climate control; remote keyless entry; tilt/telescope steering wheel; alloy wheels; voice-operated navigation; active (radar-guided) cruise control


    Safety features: Anti-lock brakes, traction and stability control; dual front, side and curtain airbags; tire pressure monitors


    Warranty: All maintenance provided during three-year lease


    Information about the Honda company and the American Honda Motor Company can be found Here

    Sunday, June 15, 2008

    Yahoo has pissed off shareholders and a looming meeting - they can't ignore reality much longer. And reality says Yahoo's future is bleak. They continue to lose market share, they have serious brain drain and morale has never been lower.

    The Microsoft search deal seals their fate permanently, and I can understand why they didn't want to do it. This Google deal is their only alternative at this point. They can get out of it at any time, simply by not serving Google's ads. But as long as it's live they'll see their advertisers flow to Google instead of their own search platform, and they have to pay a hefty fine if they end up selling themselves to a third party.

    Microsoft may yet get their hands on Yahoo, or at least the parts of Yahoo they want, simply by default as shareholders continue their revolt and/or the government puts a stop to the madness. Or not, and Google gets a long term pass to transition Yahoo's remaining advertisers over to their own platform plus a hefty termination fee if Yahoo gets sold off at some point.

    Either way, Google wins. Or Microsoft wins.

    But Yahoo has lost.

    According to Wikipedia, this sleazy practice is described as 'mobile spamming, SMS spam or SpaSMS, but is most frequently referred to as m-spam.

    "It's actually far worse than regular e-mail spam, for three reasons. First, you generally can't delete it without opening it first".

    "Second, you have to pay for it. (And, of course, the senders pay nothing, since they can send text messages from a computer's e-mail program for nothing)".

    "Third, there's no way to stop it. You can't install an anti-SMS spam program on your cellphone".

    AT&T recently revealed the presence of an astonishing little-known cellular feature: you can block cellular spam. AT&T customers can get onto AT&T Web site and set their handset so that it receives no messages from the Internet, the origin of the vast majority of wireless spam. The beauty of this feature, of course, is that it blocks ONLY text messages from the Internet. Your friends, using cellphones, can still text you.

    As it turns out, Verizon Wireless offers these features, too. Sprint and T-Mobile don't go quite as far, but they do offer some text-spam filtering options. Here's how you find the controls for each company:

    AT&T: Log in at mymessages.wireless.att.com. Under Preferences, you'll see the text-blocking and alias options. Here's also where you can block messages from specific e-mail addresses or Web sites.

    Verizon Wireless: Log in at vtext.com. Under Text Messaging, click Preferences. Click Text Blocking. You're offered choices to block text messages from e-mail or from the Web. Here again, you can block specific addresses or Web sites. (Here's where you set up your aliases, too.)

    Sprint: No auto-blocking is available at all, but you can block specific phone numbers and addresses. To get started, log in at www.sprint.com. On the top navigation bar, click My Online Tools. Under Communication Tools, click Text Messaging. On the Compose a Text Message page, under Text Messaging Options, click Settings & Preferences. In the text box, you can enter a phone number, email address or domain (such as Comcast.net) that you want to block.

    T-Mobile: T-Mobile doesn't yet offer a "block text messages from the Internet" option. You can block all messages sent by e-mail, though, or permit only messages sent to your phone's e-mail address or alias, or create filters that block text messages containing certain phrases. It's all waiting when you log into www.t-mobile.com and click Communication Tools.

    Hope this Helps a Lot. Source : NYT Circuits

    Saturday, June 14, 2008

    The continuing rise in oil and gas prices has spurred a widespread interest in gasoline alternatives, primarily biofuels. Chief among these are ethanol and biodiesel, which can now be found in gas stations across the country as additives to fuel at the pump. But there is a fundamental problem with most of the ethanol and biodiesel produced today; the crops (and farming methods) that are used to produce these fuels require very high petroleum inputs, enough to make them unrealistic for anything but a fuel supplement. This is where algae comes into play.

    The interest in algae as a biofuel source is largely due to the recognition of this humble pond plant's amazing properties. Depending on the species and growing conditions, algae have an oil content ranging between 2% and 40% (though some estimates go higher). A number of other fuel crops such as canola, mustard, and palm have oil contents equal to or exceeding 40%, but what makes algae unique is that it requires almost no nutrient input and can be grown on non arable land. As long as it has water, air, and sunlight, algae will grow. In fact, a lack of nutrients increases the oil content in algae. But what makes algae truly amazing is that its primary nutrient source is carbon dioxide. Algae, as it turns out, sequesters more carbon than almost any other plant. Of course if it is used for biodiesel, some of the carbon dioxide will be re-released into the atmosphere when it is burned, but this presents a far more sustainable solution than other oil crops.

    When grown in a pond, algae can produce as many as 10,000 gallons per acre. Compare that to palm oil, which yields around 600 gallons per acre and you will start to why algae seems so promising. Because it requires so little, algae can be grown almost anywhere there is sunlight.

    While algae may seem like green gold, growing algae in open ponds has a few major downfalls. For one, it is highly susceptible to contamination by other species of algae. Contamination could potentially cause significant loss in oil yields. Weather can also play a major factor in reducing yields or even killing a crop.

    But two companies Valcent Products and Global Green Solutions have teamed up to find a solution to these issues. Together, the two companies have developed Vertigro, a closed loop system for growing algae. The system grows algae in a vertically contained bio-reactor which the companies claim will significantly reduce risk of contamination. Even if there is contamination, Vertigro's large vertical modules (similar in appearance to a wall of ziplock bags) make it possible to isolate contamination before it spreads throughout the whole system.

    The company also claims that it can yield upto 20,000 gallons per acre per year with the technology, double the capacity of open pond systems. According to Valcent CEO Glen Kurtz "if we took one tenth of the state of New Mexico and converted it into algae production, we could meet all of the energy demands of the United States." While this may be a lofty claim, it is hard to deny the lure of such promising technology. The real key to success now is to find investors who are willing to put their stakes in the technology.

    Friday, June 13, 2008

    What's the point of online 'friends'? Web buddies are useful for feel-good social recreation but their ultimate function is underdeveloped. If the core purpose of social networking is sociality, why do we continue to interact solely behind our computer screens and not in person? Perhaps it is the convenience of communal, yet independent, correspondence. That is, we like our ability to meet new and interesting people while still feeling safe. While this approach does work for information and trend discovery, the current, web-only technique could be improved for live social discovery.

    SOLUTION: Mobilize new and existing social networks so that they may develop real-world relationships in the real world. How and why? The 'how' is easy: start-ups such as www.whrrl.com and www.loopt.com have already taken the first step. They are promoting technologies that can connect 'real' and new friends to one another via cell phones and other portable devices. Simply according to your physical location, personal network, and (common) interests, their software computes hot spots to visit, events to see, meetings to be had, etc. Not only does it ease the task of coordination amongst your existing friends but it provides the ability to meet your virtual or third party friends, as well.

    Why is this critical to social networking's development? Currently social networking is just an online experience and can only reach as far as the virtual world extends. By imparting its usefulness unto the real world, social progress will blossom. And with the advent of globalization, social progress is a necessary step toward global maintenance. All in all, this new technology has mighty potential; I suggest giving it a look.

    Thursday, June 12, 2008

    The Final version of Firefox 3 will be released on June 17th. The Firefox committee have also made June 17th its "Download Day," in an attempt to set the Guinness World Record of most downloads of a single application in a span of 24 hours. Even more good news to the Firefox committee as it has been previously announced that the award winning browser will also be available to mobile users, with the announcement of its Mobile Edition.

    Users may find more details in spreadfirefox.com, the website lets users pledge their participation during the Firefox Download Day, a map is provided to enumerate how many users from each country have pledged their participation. Even countries as isolated as Myanmar and North Korea have users who pledged their participation. This serves as an indication of how diverse and far reaching Firefox has become on the virtual world.

    Firefox 3, the revision of Firefox 2, the award winning browser, will soon be available to over 180 million users of its previous versions. Firefox is just one of the many browser applications that have set out to improve the performance, aesthetics and overall usage of their browsers. Internet Explorer 8 is now on its beta phase, several users have been reported to be pleased with its performance. Safari 3 has released a public beta, though it apparantly still has many bugs to work out. Opera, another one of the browsers to have joined the releasing fray has released its latest version, version 9.5, on June 12, 2008.

    Millions upon millions of users worldwide eagerly await the new version of Firefox to grace their computers as to what they expect to be the Gran Paradiso that the community envisions. Will they break the world record? Will it once again be the best browser of the pack? We can only wait and see what lies ahead.

    Yahoo has hired Google to sell some online ads in hopes of boosting its profit. The Sunnyvale-based company announced the plans late Thursday after its stock plunged 10 percent on news that its efforts to revive takeover talks with Microsoft had hit a dead end.

    Yahoo Inc. is now counting on Google Inc.'s superior moneymaking system to appease its angry shareholders. By using Google's superior advertising technology, Yahoo believes it can boost its annual cash flow by $250 million to $450 million in the first year of the deal.

    The partnership could last up to 10 years if it can win antitrust approval.

    The world's fastest supercomputer, Roadrunner was unveiled on Monday. A $100 million machine that could perform 1000 trillion calculations per second, and mostly it could sustain its activity. The project was accomplished by engineers from Alamos National Labs and IBM corp.

    According to IBM, Roadrunner is twice as fast as IBM's Blue Gene System which itself is 3 times faster than any other super computers in the world. Since the computer is a speed demon, it could be used for nuclear weapons research. But officials said the computer also could have a wide range of other applications in civilian engineering, medicine and science, from developing biofuels and designing more fuel efficient cars to finding drug therapies and providing services to the financial industry.

    To put Roadrunner's speed in perspective, if every one of the 6 billion people on earth used a hand-held computer and worked 24 hours a day it would take them 46 years to do what the Roadrunner computer can do in a single day.

    The interconnecting system of Roadrunner occupies 6,000 square feet with 57 miles of fiber optics and weighs 500,000 pounds. Although made from commercial parts, the computer consists of 6,948 dual-core computer chips and 12,960 cell engines, and it has 80 terabytes of memory.

    The cost: $100 million.

    Tuesday, June 10, 2008

    Everybody is busy searching the internet for the latest cricket update of India Vs Pakistan Vs Bangladesh series. Struck with a cool cricket update widget. Thought of sharing it with some cricket lovers. You can copy the widget code from here and paste it on to your blog or website. The widget refreshes quickly and certainly proves better than the rediff or yahoo cricket score updates.

    Enjoy the Game.

    Monday, June 9, 2008

    The new iphone is about to release in a few weeks from now and everybody is excited to know about the new features included.

    I iphone 2.0 was unveiled today. The major surprise was that the new iphone 2.0 will cost less when compared (estimated $199). The iphone is thinner and runs on a faster network. The 3G iphone was referred as a great web-surfing device in an open Wifi. This version of iphone will run only on AT&T's network. The AT&T's 3G network is amazingly fast when equated with EDGE.


    The new 3G iphone comes with a built in GPS and amazingly long battery life. When watched on to its battery life -: five hours of talking, six hours of Web browsing, seven hours of video-watching or 24 hours of audio-listening!!!! Astonishing rt??

    Can't wait for its release...

    Apple prefaced their much awaited internet strategy "MobileMe" today. This web service is capable of synchronizing your contacts, mails, appointments, pictures and much more. Apple is now adding on services that can connect multiple device through the medium.

    MobileMe is an innovative concept for Apple. MobileMe will run you $99 a year for 20 GB which is quite a good deal. As a promotional offer, there will be a 60-day free trial launched alongside iPhone OS 2.0. MobileMe will connect all of your devices - push and pull information keeping everything up to date. More info


    The word spam is hated by billions of E mailers. It had created big issues in different stages of the internets life and still continues to do so. Here are 7 tips to block a major share of spam in your Mail Box.

    Tip 1: Manage Junk emails with Outlook 2003

    By default, the Junk E-mail Filter in Outlook is set to a low setting that is designed to catch the most obvious junk e-mail. Any message that is caught by the filter is moved to a special Junk E-mail folder, where you can retrieve or review it at a later time.

    Tip 2: Never reply to a Spam

    Never reply and type REMOVE in the subject line, this is a great way to let spammers know that yes, your e-mail address is up, running, and being used right now.

    Tip 3: Use a different Email while you post content

    You might post your e-mail address sometimes to a newsgroup, chat room, or bulletin board. But you don't have to post it correctly. You can use symbols like @,#,^ while posting them.

    Tip 4: Never use your primary Mail ID

    Create a "disposable" Web e-mail address that you can give when registering for free software or shareware, or even when ordering from a company online.

    Tip 5: Never post your Mail Id on your website

    Here you can again use the symbols if you wish to. Using symbols makes the spammer evade.

    Tip 6: Never Forward a chain E mail.

    Forwarding hoax mails are the most common mistakes made by E mailers. This has to be avoided regardless of any expense.

    Tip 7: Use the Laws against spam

    The CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 was approved by the Senate in November 2003 and by the House of Representatives in December 2003, and was signed into law by President Bush on December 16, 2003. Read More on the Laws.

    Sunday, June 8, 2008

    Semaine - A computer build on a sensitive artificial listener (SAL) that can interact with humans and react to their non-verbal gestures is being developed by a European team.

    The computer will be able to perceive user's facial expression, gaze, and voice and then engage with the user. When engaging with a human, the SAL will be able to adapt its own performance and pursue different actions, depending on the non-verbal behaviour of the user, reports ScienceDaily.

    SEMAINE is led by DFKI, the German centre for research on artificial intelligence and partnered by Imperial College London, Universities of Paris, Twente in Holland and Technical University of Munich.

    "SEMAINE and projects like it will change the way people interact with technology. They mean that you will be talking to your computer in 10 years time.

    Going on a cruise? Consider the Disney wonder cruise. Disney Cruise Line offers Caribbean adventures; kid, teen, family, and adult activities; and first-rate amenities—with the unparalleled imagination and quality that you expect from a Disney vacation.

    But this time they have more to offer.. Check it out

    Saturday, June 7, 2008

    People still have a habit of holding printed copies of their snapshots in their hands. While it had always been a difficult matter for them to get it printed. Finally, the matter is solved. Polaroid camera company recently introduced their pocket sized instant mobile printer.
    The micro printer which is capable of creating 2X3 inch photos in one minute was displayed in a consumer electronics show in Las Vegas last month. The device uses an inkless printing technology and can be linked up with USB or Bluetooth media. The printer is available at a price of $150.

    Instant Mobile Printer provides a new, innovative way to share digital photos directly from your camera cell phone or digital camera, instantly. The Polaroid Way.

    Friday, June 6, 2008

    It is believed that Apple's next generation iphone has a lot to offer. The phone could end up being the next huge "platform" for the computer users. The platform where the third party applications function. Though there are about 30+ "platforms:" in the international mobile phone venture, This might emerge to be the biggest of them.


    It had been an incredible growth for Apple in the recent years. They have dominated the portable mp3 player market with their stylish ipods and irings. Its also believed that apple will now have its go on the World Wide Web.

    Thursday, June 5, 2008

    Thursday, India and Malaysia raised gasoline prices. The two countries have been under the burden of fuel subsidies. The hike in price was announced on Wednesday. Indonesia and Taiwan had announced it a week ago. Indonesia raised the fuel prices by 30% where as Malaysia registered a 40% hike.


    This was the second time of the year when India went on to increase fuel prices. There was a hike of 11%. Not only petrol - diesel and cooking gas prices climbs up. The gasoline prices were being raised 5 rupees a liter and diesel prices 3 rupees a liter on Wednesday midnight. Now the current gasoline price in Delhi is 50 rupees and varies in other states depending on taxes.

    Take a look at my newly designed theme for Gmail by Gdesigns. Shoot me a comment incase anyone of you require this tweak. Click on the image for a larger image. I think it looks good. Some might agree to this. The start up screen also looks cool.



    My Funky Gmail screenshot

    Wednesday, June 4, 2008

    Yesterday my post was about hydrogen & electricity substituting Oil. But i found there is more to this topic.

    Today i went through an article which discussed about alternate fuels. The main focal point was the use of Ethanol as a substitute for Gas. Alcohol based ethanol is made from distilled starch crops such as sugarcane, corn, barley and wheat. Combined with gasoline, it makes E85, which can fuel vehicles.

    Ethanols benefits are that its source can be grown, making it renewable, and vehicles fueled by ethanol usually produce lower carbon dioxide emissions.

    But the biggest problem that occurs here is that, companies producing ethanol releases lots of volatile organic compounds and carbon monoxide into air during production. If they overcome this issue, there is a high chance for ethanol being the fuel of the Future.

    The article also mentions about propane (liquid petroleum gas) as a safer option. I shall post it sometime later.

    Tuesday, June 3, 2008

    The Oil prices going up day by day and people say that it might cease soon. What is the possible next move. Will Hydrogen replace petrol? Hydrogen cars are in the making and we currently have electric cars. I hardly see people using electric cars though it gives greater mileage and performance for value.

    The question which arises is - do we still pay the current oil price when a new technology is introduced? Can hydrogen give better efficiency? Is there enough electricity around to add in 100 million cars?

    Anybody to comment?

    It will be a big day at Madame Tussauds on june 9th when they unveil Adolf Hitler's wax statue among the prominent Germans. The statue is to be kept in their new museum. Sources say that, Adolf Hitler's will be the only statue which will be kept in a glass case so that people will not take photographs holding them.

    Germany still has the Nazi party and they might object to it. The presentation of the statue should be properly made to avoid any clash.

    Monday, June 2, 2008

    Used car sales are booming in each part of the country. We find a lot of used car showrooms in each nook of the city. There is one very close to my house and i could see almost 3-4 sales a day. Wow.. 3-4 sales mean a big sum as commission to middle man who owns the showroom. when inquired about the commission rates, i could find that a margin of 10%-20% went to the agent.

    The buyer might even get cheated if he is unaware of automobiles. To break away from this - i think there should be a website where a seller can post his vehicles information and cite how much he expects. Thus people logging into the website gets much more options than he gets in a used car showroom. Though we have some websites currently running on this format, i still find a lot of opportunity in the domain.

    Below, i add something to the existing.

    Once the vehicle is declared for sale on the website, it shall bear a logo or a sticker which makes the vehicle classifiable while its in public (The logo means - the car is for sale and is being now listed on the website). It might take some while for a common man to understand what the logo indicate. The Logo has to be marketed considerably (Mass mailing, placards, news paper advertising etc will surely help).

    To make this line of work function, there has to be a text messaging system incorporated. An interested buyer might spot the vehicle in public and may get curious to know its price. For this, there has to be a facility for the buyer to SMS the vehicles registration number to a particular code to get its info. By this way, the interested buyer and the seller can directly meet for the deal without outlaying huge bucks as commission.

    * I could find one UK based company which does this but in a slightly different manner- PARKERS.

    Sunday, June 1, 2008

    -I know its too early to do such a thing, but i am impatient. I wanted my blog to get some visits or i need somebody commenting on my posts. I searched a lot about blog branding in google.. to be serious, its not easy to brand your blog. My blog is not yet listed in the google search engine. Then how can i expect to get visits?

    i had to find answer to all these.. Finally i got some websites which could help me in doing this. I first had to submit my blog to google through Add URL . Likewise in google i could also submit my website to other search engines like Msn, Ask, Yahoo etc..

    Adding URL did not mean that your blog got added on the spot, It would take its time. As i went through many weblogs, i found that embedding a google search button and google adsense will help me a bit in getting some visibility on the web. I now have 3-4 adsense ads on my blog. Other than google, there was blog log and blog catalog which could help me in the process. For this i had to sign up with mybloglog and blog catalog. Technorati listing was an other major medium for the work.

    It took me sometime to understand the whole thing but finally at the end of the day, i submitted my blog to many search engines and linked it to different blog logs. I also embedded some widgets of these on my blog too. A visitor counter to track visitors is also included now. I shall wait for some more days and see what the result is like. Usually google takes about 4 - 5 months to index a fresh weblog.

    Though this post is dissimilar from the subject discussed, some bloggers might find it useful. Its about popularizing your blog links and improving the blog visibility within search engines.

    The new blogger comes with a "no follow" attribute which is not good for the bloggers. This attribute prevents the hyper links being indexed bu the search engines. Although blogger does this to prevent spammers, it might not help in the growth of the blog. Removing this " no follow" attribute will also help the search engines to crawl into the comments section and search the links inside them.

    Please backup your template before doing this as we are going to tamper the code.

    To remove the "no follow" attribute, log into your blogger account - Enter into the dash board, select your blog. Go to the LAYOUT section -> EDIT HTML tab -> tick the expand widget box -> search for inside the code

    a expr:href='data:comment.authorUrl' rel='nofollow'>

    Now delete the "nofollow" word. Preview the blog before saving. Make sure everything is okay and save it.

    Most people does not take interest to track what they eat and the calorie intake.People who follow an undisciplined diet now gets an opportunity to change their eating habits. Myfoodphone , a Canadian medical company asks their customers to send in pictures of the food they eat. The pictures are analyzed by the nutritionist and sends an instant feedback to the user.



    This would prove to be a major support in growing health issues and issues related to obesity.Use of most modern image recognition softwares and trained nutritionists are available round the clock thus making it very useful.

    *to use this facility, you'll need camera phones. Currently, this facility is available in Uk, US, Canada and Japan.

    Saturday, May 31, 2008

    Messages and quotes on clothing has been popular for a long time now. The words we wore took interaction to an other level. We got a lot of choice to make on the ones we wore.. but often thought if we could customize one fabric for the mood and occasion. Well, this regard is now made simpler by the group Reactee.



    The way it works is very simple. Log on to Reactee and customize your wear online. It will include a keyword for the uniqueness of your T-shirt. The Apparel costs you around 25 - 30 USD according to the required size.

    Now, Groups, choirs, organizations, clubs can all create a uniformity with this mode of facility available. We ship it today, but the day you get it locally is not too far away. Many big textile kings are trying to make this possible inside their showrooms now.

    Turkey's Pudracar has introduced the concept of dedicated car service for women. Even though taxi's for women exist, pudracar pours in additional concepts which makes it truly different.

    The cars used are the BMW 3 series and the interiors made to suite a feminine with custom colored seats, soft pink roof, camel fur etc.. The rental rates are also low when compared. Pudracar also has additional features like inbuilt DVD players, ipods, LCD screens and wireless internet access. The service comes with a female driver too.

    Will this be the next target of the luxury minded women? Lets wait and watch.

    Ever thought of getting your indoor walls filled with greenery. Well, now you can actually have it done. Decorating a room with potted plants can be a very easy job when compared to this. Only a skilled artisan can make your indoor walls beautiful.
    Indoor landscaping is one of the companies creating green walls for public spaces. This eco-friendly concept has opened up a big business opportunity for various interior designing agencies of UK and France. All commercial buildings of these locality is going green. Not only the walls, even the roof goes green. Green fortune is an other player in this domain.

    I don't think this will be applicable for the private home sections as the cost included in the process are on the very higher side. But for sterile office environments and malls this would be an attraction as it improves air quality and take less floor space for potted greenery.

    Friday, May 30, 2008

    Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNO) are roughly equivalent to the "switch less resellers" of the traditional landlines telephone market. MVNOs were originally considered to be Switch less resellers, buying minutes wholesale from the large long distance companies and retail them to their customers. However, most MVNOs today own their own switching equipment, and many may own spectrum in other frequencies or territories.

    Now, anyone can start their own MVNO with Sonopia which was recently launched. Here anybody gets the opportunity to kick off with their mobile network brand. This network created acts as a carrier medium and is also capable of snatching out 3% - 8% of the revenue of the network members. Well, this also helps in setting up calling plans and creating user groups.

    A slight bit of marketing is required to generate revenue from this. You will have to convince people to switch from their existing network to yours. The good part is that Sonopia does not charge for this set up service. So there is nothing stopping you from starting your own MVNO today!

    Tuesday, May 27, 2008

    To all those who read this

    Friends - I have no idea why i started off with a blog. I have no plans or no subject to talk about

    fundamentally i just wanted to know what the buzz is all about. Everybody blogging about something or the other.. Just cant understand.


    Well, i plan to blog about random things, principally about the bright promising business ideas in entertainment, media, publishing, retail, gaming, telecoms, mobile, transportation, tourism, fashion, beauty, food, lifestyle... fohh... thats a big list

    and also discuss about assorted news, internet and technology. Some might be effective while some : pointless. Let me see how much i can contribute and what strikes.

    Thats all for now...