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.