Microsoft to release Office Live on November 15..

Microsoft has been beta-testing both Windows Live and Office Live ever since they were first announced last November. Now, a year later, Microsoft is saying that they will release the final version of Office Live on November 15.

Office Live is a bit of a misnomer—it is not a replacement for Office, but rather a set of web hosting tools provided by Microsoft for small businesses. It offers domain, e-mail, and web site hosting, as well as tools for document collaboration and customer relations management (CRM).

Office Live has been free for the duration of the beta period, but will cost $39.95 per month for the premium version following release. That gets you 2GB of online storage and 20 workspace users. There will also be a free, ad-supported, stripped-down version called Office Live Basics, and a lower-cost version called Office Live Essentials (10 workspace users and 1GB of storage) which will cost $19.95 per month. Many industry analysts look at Office and Windows Live as primarily a defence against Google, but a closer investigation shows Microsoft's goals to be slightly different than they first appear.

Office Live in particular is another step in Microsoft's efforts to establish a beachhead in the CRM industry, a market currently dominated by high-end product vendors such as Siebel and PeopleSoft (now part of Oracle). Microsoft's approach to this market has been to come in at the bottom end, selling services to companies that are not large enough to afford expensive CRM software. The strategy has worked for some markets (Microsoft's original Office software competed against word processors, spreadsheets, and databases that were more expensive when purchased separately) but not others (Microsoft's low-cost Publisher package never really displaced DTP stalwarts like PageMaker and Quark).

There are a few differences in Microsoft's methods this time around, however. Microsoft is also releasing Office Live adManager on the 15th, which will serve as a revenue generator for both the software company and its customers. The interesting thing about adManager is that it will allow customers to purchase ad campaigns on any platform, including Google's and Yahoo's services.

From reading reviews and customer testimonials of the beta Office Live service, it seems as if most customers are only interested in the web site builder and hosting services. Microsoft is hoping that if it gets people to start using Office Live to build a small company web site, they will start to use and appreciate the other features, such as web-based document collaboration. That will add to the value of Microsoft Office, and help Office Live live up to its name..

Google adsense for audio !!!

What a concept !! Google is planning to release google adsense for audio.. So, on the page, we might have an on-demand audio podcast as an advertisement.. and that too contextual.. So, if you are reading something about a bike, and google asks you if you want to listen Hero Honda audio advertisement !!!

Read more about this here..

Don't like to wake up when its still dark, WakeUp Light is to help you..

Americans [these days indian too...] don’t get enough sleep, period. This is because of a combination of an overwhelmingly Puritan work ethic coupled with really good late night talk shows. It’s endemic and must be stopped.

The Wake-up Light can help you, though. Instead of blaring Top 40 or Stern to shock your system into wakefulness, the light starts at a dim level, gradually increasing over half an hour, until it reaches a point that your body finds acceptable to wake to. This gentle way of removing you from REM makes you feel far more rested and refreshed, as interrupting a REM cycle can leave you feeling drained all day.

The Wake-up Light is made by Royal Philips and will be available early next year in Europe, but people in states will have to probably bare the Sharper Image. We’re hoping it’s got a snooze button of some sort, or else we’re screwed :-))

Microsoft Natural Wireless Laser Mouse 6000...

Just had a look at new design of mouse from Microsoft. The new Natural Wireless Laser Mouse 6000.... Aside from using a fancy new LAAAAZER BEAM engine, the mouse offers a new ergonomic design that is said to reduce wrist tension and increase comfort. I can see this as maybe being a valid option for basic users, but not so much for gamers and power users.

Almost everybody always needs a better mouse... And this looks nice too...

Read more about this nice mouse here

XBox update coming tomorrow !!

Good news for Xbox 360 owners, the new dashboard update will be available tomorrow, October 31. There are a number of changes coming, a few good ones to point out are 1080p support over VGA and component cables, Xbox 360 HD DVD player support, support for video playback from CD and DVD data discs and you will be able to stream music, video and pictures from your Zune! Personally, the Zune’s compatibility with Xbox 360 is extremely exciting, especially if in the future we will be able to get content we’ve download on the 360 onto the Zune. Now, if Microsoft could find a way to get Geometry Wars onto the Zune… Also, no more “Your Friend Is Now Online” notifications while you’re watching DVDs. It’s about time, it really sucks watching a serious movie and having a notification popping up on the screen telling you “PooInMouth Is Now Online.” With that being said, hit the jump for the complete list of changes coming to your Xbox 360.

New Features

1. HD 1080p video mode support over VGA and component cables.
2. Xbox 360 HD DVD Player support.
3. Stream WMV video from a Windows PC running Windows Media Player 11, Zune software, or Windows Media Connect.
4. Play video from storage devices such as USB flash drives, Xbox 360 Memory Units, etc.
5. Play video from CD or DVD data discs.
6. Xbox 360 Wireless Headset support, including battery level indicator in the Xbox Guide.
7. Video support for 50 Hz HDTV modes (DVD and HD DVD only).
8. Xbox 360 Wireless Racing Wheel support.
9. Set up automatic downloads of newly released Xbox Live Arcade trial games.
10. Support for upcoming release of XNA Game Studio Express (separate download and subscription required.)
11. Sream music, pictures and video from a Zune device.

Xbox Live Arcade

1. Lightning-fast enumeration and listing of all Xbox Live Arcade games on the console.
2. Find games quickly with two new sort options: Recently Played and By Category.
3. Have all new Xbox Live Arcade games at the ready with auto downloads. Auto downloads optionally adds newly released trial versions of games to active downloads when you enter Xbox Live Arcade.
4. View full achievement info in Xbox Live Arcade, including icons, achievement point details, and descriptions.
5. Friends leaderboard: Compare yourself with friends and view leaderboard details right from the Xbox dashboard.

1. Tell a friend: Send a message to a friend about your newest favorite Xbox Live Arcade game.

DVD Player

1. Optionally disable notifications from Xbox Live while watching DVD movies.
2. Improved support for audio streams on incorrectly authored DVDs.
3. Better handling of unreadable discs.
4. Updated count-down timer.
5. HD DVD player support.
6. Added zoom support for non-anamorphic content.

1. Added support to Family Settings to block Unrated Content.

Video Player

1. Improved support for extended all black scenes in WMV content.
2. Added support for Windows Media Video 9 Advanced profile video.
3. Screen saver now becomes active when videos are paused.
4. Now shares UI and player controls with DVD player.
5. Improved video playback while downloading from Xbox Live.
6. Added skip controls (forward approx. 30 seconds, back approx. 7 seconds).
7. Improved messaging around unplayable video content.
8. Added time elapsed and time remaining displays.
9. Improved playback of high bit-rate HD content on fragmented hard drives.
10. Improved visual quality of video playback.

1. Added selectable display modes: default and letterbox zoom.

Localization

1. New locale setting for China.
2. Improved German translations in console settings.
3. Improved German translations in memory area.
4. Improved Japanese translations in Family Settings.
5. Added localized text for all supported languages in pictures area.
6. Improved Spanish translations in camera effects.
7. Improved locale-specific decimal denominators.
8. Added localization support for title menu and main menu in the DVD player.

1. Added localization support for “Attempting to Read Media” system message.

Memory Area

1. Added support for Xbox 360 HD DVD Player content.

1. Added new page for viewing content size by category.

Other System Improvements

1. Updated support for new Daylight Savings changes coming in 2007.
2. Improved support for games to better handle host migration in multi-player matches.
3. Improved Xbox Live Vision camera support for changing room lighting while zooming.
4. Background downloaded videos appear in video area.
5. Improved Xbox Live Vision camera support while using VGA.
6. Playing photo slideshows from PC now maintains picture folder hierarchy.
7. Improved user experience when playing and deleting videos from the Games or Media areas.
8. Improved handling of invalid characters during Xbox Live signup.
9. Better handling of watermarks in gamer cards.
10. Improved text for Windows Media Connect.
11. Improved UI performance in Media Center Extender.
12. Improved connection support for Buffalo WZR-G108 wireless router when using Xbox 360 Wireless Adapter.
13. Redownload of deleted Arcade Games no longer re-enumerates all games on the Arcade page.
14. Improved visual display of text in themes.
15. Improved support for CD playback after signing up for Xbox Live and losing network connectivity.
16. Improved support for long names of items memory area.
17. Improved handling of gamer pictures downloaded from Xbox Live.
18. Improved background download notifications when downloading many small items from Xbox Live.
19. Improved support for custom backgrounds after returning to the Xbox Dashboard from the Account Management area.
20. Improved network reliability between Windows Media Center Extender on Windows Vista and Xbox 360 consoles using Xbox 360 Wireless Adapter.
21. Improved voice chat quality in Xbox Dashboard and in-game chats.
22. Improved messaging when failing to connect to Windows Media Center Extender.
23. Improved USB keyboard support when using a USB hub.
24. Improved consistency of user experience when deleting various types of content.
25. Improved handling of low storage space for background downloads.
26. Improved handling of Picture streaming from attached Digital Cameras over MTP protocol
27. Improved error messaging for optional iPod support download when storage devices are full.
28. Improved handling of multi-key repeating for USB keyboards.
29. Expanded Family Settings to include support for blocking unrated DVDs and videos.
30. Added ability to clear space from storage devices in download areas.
31. Added support for low-speed and full-speed USB keyboards.
32. Improved CapsLock behavior for USB keyboards.
33. Improved look and feel in Xbox Live Marketplace and Xbox Live Arcade areas.
34. Added redeem code option to Xbox Live signup.
35. Removed system message at the start of new downloads. Messages will be displayed for completed items.
36. Added support for CCV credit card validation field in Xbox Live Marketplace purchase areas.
37. Updated “More Information” instructions in the Xbox Dashboard for connecting an Xbox 360 console to a Windows PC to stream digital media content.
38. Added auto-scroll to long text descriptions in Xbox Dashboard UI.

39. Improved support for DVD insertion while playing a video file.

Microsoft announces MCA program..

Just attended brief seminar on MCA program (Microsoft Certified Architect)..

Brief about the program is as follows, directly from Microsoft..

The Microsoft Certified Architect Program validates top industry experts in Information Technology Architecture.

The Program is made up of Certified Architect professionals who hold the Microsoft Certified Architect credential. They have ten or more years of experience in Information Technology with at least three years of experience as practicing architects. They also have strong technical and leadership skills which help to form a distinguished community.

Unlike other Information Technology certifications, the Certified Architect professionals in the Microsoft Certified Architect Program were granted the Microsoft Certified Architect credential by recommendation of other previously certified industry architects. As candidates, the professionals were required to present their knowledge to the Review Board and then they were required to gain the approval of previously certified architects who examined their progress as they moved through the rigorous Review Board process.

The certification that they hold serves as a target for other practicing solutions architects and infrastructure architects who have successfully applied frameworks and methodologies to create an architecture that serves the whole IT life cycle. These architects during candidacy can demonstrate how they've used multiple technologies to solve business problems and provide business metrics and measurements to describe the success or failure of the projects that they drive during the process.

Some facts

1. Currently there are only 70 architects all over the world.
2. Person who wishes to become architect, have to pay fees of around $10,000 (4,50,000 indian rupees) !!!
3. If person is rejected / fails, he would be returned the money he paid.
4. The certification will involve PHD like presentation to be given, he will be giving rounds of interviews through other architects (from or outside Microsoft) and most important thing is it would be face to face.. (not telephonic or like that..)
5. Microsoft wishes only few architects all over the world so, the process is very hard.
6. Once you are an architect, you will have direct access to Microsoft internal architect level people (you can directly talk to them / email them.. - They will respond even !!!)

So, what are you waiting for !! Start preparing..

Read more information about this here..

Anonymous emails on the way !! VaporStream says..

We've all sent electronic messages we wish we hadn't. No matter how many reminders we get that e-mail lasts forever—and that Big Brother in one form or another is reading our dispatches.. we're somehow unable to resist the urge to dash off ill-considered missives. And as underscored by recent scandals surrounding public officials, sometimes electronic correspondence can come back to haunt you.

A company called Void Communications has come up with a way to minimize the damage that can be caused by those better-left-unsent e-mails. Unveiled in September, VaporStream is a Web-based tool that lets users communicate privately, ensuring that messages can't be found or traced. And at $40 a year, it's well worth considering for anyone afflicted by foot-in-outbox disease.

Invisible Ink

Here's a brief description of how it works. VaporStream feels like a cross between e-mail and instant messaging—sprinkled with some cool 007-like features. Messages are sent and received through the secure VaporStream Web site and set up in such a way that neither the sender's nor the recipient's names ever show up at the same time as the message.

Enter a recipient's e-mail address and it disappears before you even start typing the "stream," or body, of the message. Then, when the recipient calls up the message by clicking on a sender in the "Intray," the name and e-mail address vanish before the body appears, ensuring that they can never be linked to each other. And a message can only be viewed once. The company says no record of the message remains on either computer or on the server.

Using VaporStream is fun. It has a crisp, easy, Web-based interface and I liked sending mock-cryptic messages ("The rooster crows at dawn."). The makers say VaporStream is aimed mainly at the corporate market, designed so "an employee can communicate openly and freely without putting the company or himself at risk." Void Communications says discussions on delicate issues such as human resources, medical matters, and intellectual property are well suited to the program.

Keeping It in the Closet

But many users may find its cloak-and-dagger features a little too restrictive. A message cannot be copied, pasted, forwarded, or edited. VaporStream, it should be noted, is not a substitute for e-mail. Indeed, it has to be checked from time to time or left open to see if new messages have arrived. You won't get a separate e-mail message when a VaporStream pops up—that would leave a trail.

The company describes VaporStream as a way to bring the candor of conversations or phone calls online. To me it seems more like the candor of a secret meeting in a closet—telephones leave records, too.

The folks at Void Communications think they're onto something. In the coming months VaporStream will become available for Research In Motion's (RIMM) BlackBerry and Microsoft's (MSFT) Windows Mobile for swapping secrets on the go. Still, many will find that discretion—not VaporStream—is still the better part of valor.

Plaxo now in mobile phones !!

The pain of entering phone numbers into your cell phone may soon become a thing of the past, thanks to a new application being offered by Plaxo, my favorite contact management software !!!. The service will allow users of the address book network to have their information for contacts automatically updated.

Plaxo Mobile Plus will be initially offered through Verizon Wireless on 30 BREW-capable phones. The service will be expanded to additional models and two additional carriers, Alltel and US Cellular, over the coming weeks.

"Today's consumer is demanding easier ways to stay in touch with their friends, colleagues, and customers," Plaxo president and CEO Ben Golub said. "Our smart address book is the solution that consumers are looking for to increase their productivity and personal connectedness."

The service claims some 15 million users worldwide, and offers methods to automatically update the address book of a users desktop e-mail client. Plaxo says this new service expands that convenience to the mobile phone.

In addition, Plaxo Mobile Plus also will act as a way to backup contacts in cases of data or phone loss. In addition, users will be able to use interactive map features and pictures of contacts through the service. Users will be able to select which contacts they would like to synchronize.

Verizon Wireless is the second largest US carrier with over 56 million customers.

Good going plaxo !! Keep it up...

WordPress 2.0.5 released !!

WordPress version 2.0.5 codename ‘Ronan’ has just hit the servers. This version is a highly recommended upgrade for WordPress 2.0 users as it includes numerous security fixes, bug fixes and a performance increase. Download it now. Akismet is also updated in this release. Don’t forget to backup your server files and database before proceeding with the installation.

Microsoft releases Packaging details for Vista and Office..

Click on the images to see big preview... 

Whats on google's list now? Jotspot.. Google acquires Jotspot !!!

Google’s office strategy just got a whole lot richer with the announced acquisition of the wiki based company Jotspot. A business oriented service that plugs a long list of different applications like calendars and photo sharing into a wiki framework, Jotspot is recognized as, “the best business-facing hosted wiki available” when its newest iteration was reviewed this summer. Rumors were also reported about yahoo acquiring Jogspot..

Other than a wiki, most of Jotspot’s plug and play applications are things that Google already has its own versions of. The acquisition may have been largely motivated by the desire to bring on board an agile team able to quickly ramp up lightweight hosted business applications for collaboration. Google may push Jotspot primarily as a project management application, one of the most important missing pieces of the company’s office platform. In fact, far more than a wiki, I’m going to guess that when Google reopens Jotspot to new users it will be as a wiki based project management service.

The Palo Alto company reports having more than 2000 customers who subscribe to services costing $5 and $200 per month. An intro page and screencast about Jotspot is still online but may not be for much longer. As of today all existing customers are no longer being charged and new account registration is closed while Jotspot is integrated with the rest of Google’s services.

Founders Joe Kraus and Graham Spencer are also founders of early web portal Excite, now an IAC property. Excite was once considered a darling of the early web but was first acquired for less than $10 million.

Jotspot raised one round of funding in 2004 for $5.2 million from Redpoint Ventures and Mayfield Funds. Joe Krause frequently points out that it cost only $100,000 to get Jotspot to market.

Jotspot has often been discussed as one of the most successful and established enterprise 2.0 companies and I imagine the selling price was a good one for the small startup. Details haven’t been disclosed but Jotspot is a strong company, the deal has officially closed and Google said in its last earnings call that YouTube’s all stock acquisition was unusual. Google probably paid a substantial amount of cash for Jotspot.

If Jotspot can be integrated as smoothly as so many other Google web applications have been, it will go a long ways towards strengthening Google for the upcoming web collaboration wars. How much longer until a web conferencing company is acquired? .. Lets wait and watch !!

ગુજરાતીઓ... All about Gujaratis..

G :- ગજબ
U :- યાદ રહીજાય તેવા
J  :- જક્કાસ
A :- અલ્ટિમેટ
R :- રાપ્ચિક
A :- એડવાન્સ
T :- ટકાટક
I :- ઈન્ટેલીજન્ટ

હવે ગુજરાતીમાં સાંભળ,
ગુ :- ગુચવી નાખે તેવા
જ :- જબ્બર માઈન્ડ વાળા
રા :- રાજ કરે એવા(બધાના દિલો પર)
તી :- તીર જેવા ધારદાર.

આ બધી જ વસ્તુઓ માત્ર એકજ કાષ્ટમાં જોવા મળે છે આને કહેવાય original ગુજરાતીઓ. .............................

Live the life !!

Don't go the way life takes you,
take life the way you want to go...

And remember you are born to live life,
Not living because you are born !!

 

I liked the picture too much.. couldn't resist myself from blogging it..

No option to hard work..

I strongly believe this.. what about you? 

Microsoft offers free accounting suite, Accounting Express 2007 !!

Upping the ante against Intuit, Microsoft on Monday released a new accounting software package for small and home businesses. The most alluring feature of the offering may not be its Outlook-like interface and Office integration, but rather its price: free.

Office Accounting Express 2007 is largely a basic accounting suite aimed at those who currently use pen and paper or a spreadsheet to manage their finances. Startups and eBay sellers are among the intended audience, Microsoft says.

Businesses can use the software to sell products online, create and send invoices, track expenses, automate bank account and customer payments, store contact information, and access more than 20 predefined reports. Support for eBay and PayPal is built directly into Accounting Express.

To simplify setup, Microsoft has included a startup wizard, and the software can important data from Intuit QuickBooks, Microsoft Money, and Microsoft Office Excel.

Although the product itself is a free download, Microsoft has bundled seven third party services, some of which are available for additional fees. These include processing payroll through ADP, accessing reports from Equifax, and sharing of books with an accountant via Office Live.

For businesses needing more functionality, Microsoft will launch Office Accounting Professional 2007 early next year at a cost of $149 USD. Inventory management, multicurrency invoicing, multiuser access and fixed asset management are among those featured added to the Professional version.

Microsoft Office Accounting Express 2007 is available for download here.

Windows Media Player 11 released !!

After a brief delay, Microsoft on Monday made available Windows Media Player version 11. The update includes several enhancements, including a new user interface, improved syncing, and integration with the URGE music service.

Windows Media Player 11 has been publicly available as a beta download since May of this year. However, issues with the quality of the release caused Microsoft to delay the final product while last minute bugs are ironed out. WMP11, works on Windows XP is available for download in both 32-bit and 64-bit variants.

Download the player here

Reminds me of something !!!

શાંત ઝરુખે વાટ નિરતી રૂપની રાણી જોઇ હતી,
મે એક શહેજાદી જોઇ હતી,
એના હાથની મહેદી હસતી હતી, એના આંખનુ કાજલ હસતુ હતુ,
એક નાનું અમથું ઉપવન જાને મોસમ જોઈ વિરતુ હતું,
એના સ્મિત મા 100 ગીત હતા એને ચુપતી પણ સંગીત હતું.
એને પડછાયા ની હતી લગ્ન એને પગરવ સાથે પ્રીત હતી,
એને આંખના અસોપલવથી એક સપનમહેલ શણગાર્યો તો,
જરા નજર ને નીચી રાખને એને સમય ને રોકી રાખ્યો તો,
એ મોજા જેમ ઉછળતી હતી, ને પવનની જેમ લહેરાતી હતી,
કોઈ હસીને સામે જોવે તો બહુ પ્યાર ભયુઁ શરમાતી હતી,
વર્ષો બાદ ફરીથી આજે ઈ ઝરુખે જોયો હતો,
ત્યાં ગીત નથી,સંગીત નથી, પગરવ સાથે પ્રીત નથી,
ત્યાં સપના ના મહેલ નથી ને ઉમિઁના ખેલ નથી,
બહુ સુનું સુનું લાગે છે,બહુ વસમું વસમું લાગે છે,
એ નહોતી મારી પ્રેમિકા, એ નહોતી મારી દુલ્હન,
મે તો એને માત્ર ઝરુખે વાટ નિખતિ જોઇ હતી,
કોણ હતું એ નામ્, હતું શું ઈ પણ હું ક્યાં જાણું છું,
તેમ છ્તા દિલને આજે સુનું સુનું લાગે છે..

Will put listening link for this song.. as soon as I get some time..

No Blogs tomorrow.. !!

Friends, I would not be able to blog tomorrow as I am out of town. Basically visiting mysore with my brother. As per my travel agent, we will be visiting,

1. Srirangapatna
2. Daria Daulat
3. Gumbaz
4. Ranganatha Swamy Temple
5. Mysore Palace
6. St. Philomina's Church
7. Chamundi Hills
8. Zoo
9. Art Gallery
10. Cauvery Handicrafts Emporium
11. Brindavan Gardens

All these things in just one day (morning 7:00 to 12:00 night).. I dont know how are we going to manage all these things but, lets hope positive :-)

What is adSense and how it works...

I was just surfing at good 4:00 in the morning and found one article having material about Google AdSense.. basically it was copied from Wikipedia (Free online encyclopedia..), but if I double-checked, the current version of Wikipedia page, it does not reflect with all the information which is mentioned here.. so, thought its good to present those information to my readers..

What is adsense??

AdSense is an ad serving program run by Google. Website owners can enroll in this program to enable text, image and, more recently, video advertisements on their sites. These ads are administered by Google and generate revenue on either a per-click or per-thousand-impressions basis. Google is also currently beta-testing a cost-per-action based service.

Google utilizes its search technology to serve ads based on website content, the user's geographical location, and other factors. Those wanting to advertise with Google's targeted ad system may sign up through AdWords. AdSense has become a popular method of placing advertising on a website because the ads are less intrusive than most banners, and the content of the ads is often relevant to the website.

It currently uses JavaScript code to incorporate the advertisements into a participating site. If it is included on a site which has not yet been crawled by the Mediabot, it will temporarily display advertisements for charitable causes known as public service announcements (PSAs). (Note that the Mediabot is a separate crawler from the Googlebot that maintains Google's search index.)

Many sites use AdSense to monetize their content and some webmasters work hard to maximize their own AdSense income. They do this in three ways:

1. They use a wide range of traffic generating techniques including but not limited to online advertising.
2. They build valuable content on their sites; content which attracts AdSense ads and which pay out the most when they get clicked.
3. They use copy on their websites that encourage clicks on ads. Note that Google prohibits people from using phrases like "Click on my AdSense ads" to increase click rates. Phrases accepted are "Sponsored Links" and "Advertisements".

The source of all AdSense income is the AdWords program which in turn has a complex pricing model based on a Vickrey second price auction, in that it commands an advertiser to submit a sealed bid (not observable by competitors). Additionally, for any given click received, advertisers only pay one bid increment above the second-highest bid.

How AdSense works??

Each time a visitor visits a page with an AdSense tag, a piece of JavaScript writes an iframe tag, whose src attribute includes the URL of the page. Google's servers use a cache of the page for the URL or the keywords in the URL itself to determine a set of high-value keywords. (Some of the details are described in the AdSense patent.) If keywords have been cached already, ads are served for those keywords based on the AdWords bidding system.

Following three paragraphs seemed very important to me and I have never read anything like this about ad-sense.. Smart people would be able to calculate the money Google makes everyday through ad-sense because its said that google pays only half the money it earns from AdWords to the publisher.. Progress like this would make google a super-power one day.. I am sure about that..

The storage requirements of an AdSense system are stunningly modest. If each URL has just 8 "high-value" keywords, each represented by a single 32-bit number, then the keywords for each URL could be represented with just 32 bytes. The high value keywords of 4 billion URLs could be stored in 128GB, which would cost only $100 (circa 2006). 400 billion URLs or 100 drives (for a redundancy of 100) would require only $10,000 in storage costs.

AdSense serves a very large number of pages each day. If each day around 1B people saw 10 AdSense impressions (or 100M people saw 100 AdSense impressions), then AdSense would serve around 10B requests/day, or 115,741 requests/sec. If one machine can serve 20 reqs/second (seek times to read a random 4096-byte location on a drive allow for bursts of well over 100 reqs/second), then Google would require 5,787 servers to serve these 10B reqs/day. If each of these servers were hosted at a cost of $100/month, then it would cost $579K/month to run the adservers needed.

Suppose these 10B impressions/day generated clicks at a clickthrough rate of .3% and an average CPC of $.10. Then each day Google would receive 30M clicks/day (347 clicks/sec), generating $3M/day ($34.77/sec), or 900M clicks/month, generating $90M/month.

Whats new at Google AdSense??

1. AdSense for feeds

In May 2005, Google unveiled AdSense for feeds, a version of AdSense that runs on RSS and Atom feeds that have more than 100 active subscribers. According to the Blog, "advertisers have their ads placed in the most appropriate feed articles; publishers are paid for their original content; readers see relevant advertising — and in the long run, more quality feeds to choose from".

AdSense for feeds works by inserting images into a feed. When the image is displayed by the reader/browser, Google writes the ad content into the image that it returns. The ad content is chosen based on the content of the feed surrounding the image. When the user clicks the image, he or she is redirected to the advertiser's site in the same way as regular AdSense ads.

1. AdSense for search

A companion to the regular AdSense program, AdSense for search lets website owners place Google search boxes on their pages. When a user searches the web or the site with the search box, Google shares any ad revenue it makes from those searches with the site owner. However, only if the ads on the page are clicked, the publisher is paid. Adsense does not pay publishers for mere searches.

Now, readers can donate me for Blogging service !!

This week-end, apart from going for outing to mysore [with my brother who accompanied me whole diwali here at bangalore], my target is to get in-touch with PayPal and have some inside touch of the technology that e-bay has employed in this..

So, while doing some more research, came across "Donate" feature, and just thought, my readers could also donate me for the blogging service I provide (though while starting blogging, my only intention was to share knowledge and information) but why don't accept donations if somebody can do !! (Even, was wondering if BillG could come to my blog and could donate some million dollars out of his treasure !!! ....... Just kidding.. !!!)

Anyways, now, Donate button is functioning at the blog.. You could see the Donate button just below the "about me" section. So, what are you waiting for?? Use it... :-)

Reach PayPal in Five Keystrokes or Fewer !!!

"How many licks does it take to get the center of a Tootsie Roll Tootsie Pop? One, Two, Three?" The world may never know, but it takes exactly five keystrokes to get to http://www.paypal.com. But how can this be? There are 10 keystrokes in paypal.com (not including the Enter key), not 5!

The clues leading to the answer can be found only by examining the history of PayPal. PayPal was not always named PayPal. It was founded in January 1999 under then name FieldLink and renamed Confinity later that same year. In May 2000, Confinity merged with another company and the combined entities renamed themselves PayPal.

Can you name the company that merged with Confinity? The answer is the third-to-last letter in the alphabet: X.com, to be exact. X.com and Confinity were competitors who merged to form PayPal. The URL http://www.x.com now points to http://www.paypal.com. So, if you're in a real hurry, just type x.com and you'll get to PayPal (paypal.com) in half the keystrokes!

Internet Explorer users can get to PayPal even quicker by typing x into the address bar, then pressing Ctrl-Enter.

Future of Microsoft.com home page !!

Just got to reach to AJAX enabled Microsoft.com home page which is still in Microsoft Labs being developed and tested !!!

Access the site at,
http://labs.microsoft.com/en/us/

After visiting this, I dont think down the line, there will be any difference between desktop application and web-sites because with AJAX, it's become just like a desktop software.. Just click on the link and without refreshing the page, just content is loaded n refreshed !!

Good going AJAX !!

Microsoft sold 6 million XBox 360...

As part of its quarterly earnings report issued late Thursday, Microsoft disclosed that it has sold a total of 6 million Xbox 360 video game consoles since the product debuted nearly one year ago. Losses in the Xbox division were also lowered to $96 million from $173 million a year ago.

As of July, Microsoft had sold a total of 5 million Xbox 360s. Still, the Redmond company expects to sell a total of 10 million consoles by the end of this year. This figure has remained firm, even with increased competition this holiday season from Sony's PlayStation 3 and the Nintendo Wii, both due out next month.

BitTorrent admin sentensed for 5 months !!

The first conviction related to the BitTorrent file-sharing network has been handed down, with a 23-year-old Virginia man sentenced to five months in prison plus five months home detention for his involvement in a BitTorrent node.

Grant Stanley of Wise, Va. was also fined $3,000 and would have three years of supervised release. He had earlier pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit copyright infringement and copyright infringement charges under the Family Entertainment Copyright Act.

Stanley had run the BitTorrent node known as Elite Torrents with two other individuals. The service had more than 133,000 members and was estimated to have distributed some 2 million movie files, according to a government statement.

"We hope this case sends the message that cyberspace will not provide a shield of anonymity for those who choose to break our copyright laws," United States Attorney John Brownlee said.

The creator of BitTorrent, Bram Cohen, has worked to distance himself from those who have chosen to use the technology for illicit purposes. In November of last year, he signed a deal with the MPAA to shield himself from legal action by the group.

"BitTorrent Inc. discourages the use of its technology for distributing films without a license to do so," Cohen said in a statement at the time.

However, Cohen's agreement appears for the most part to be meaningless; many people searches on various BitTorrent sites turned up pirated software, music, movies, and television shows, indicating it is still easy to obtain copyrighted material through the service.

Windows Vista will include Sonic CD-DVD burning package !!

Sonic Solutions on Thursday said its technology to burn music and video to CDs and DVDs, respectively, would be included in Windows Vista, set to ship to consumers in January.

Sonic, based in Novato, Calif., said it is also working with Microsoft in developing a Vista-certified version of its products, including its flagship Roxio Easy Media Creator 9. The software suite is for CD and DVD authoring and burning.

Under a multi-year licensing deal, Microsoft is embedding Sonic's AuthorScript engine for formatting and burning video and slideshows to DVD, and burning data and audio to CD. Financial details were not disclosed.

Toshiba to launch HD DVD..

Toshiba is considering holding off the launch of its HD DVD line-up until next year, according to reports from the company's Tokyo HQ. Toshiba originally planned for the technology to be widely available by the end of the year but, following talks with Hollywood studios to best determine the best possible release date, a delay is likely to occur.

So far Toshiba is the only company to publicly mention the slip, with other firms backing the format still looking at a 2005 release. However, since Toshiba is pioneering the technology the delay is likely to have a knock-on effect to everyone involved.

Micorosft preparing to launch bots for Windows Live Messenger

Microsoft is preparing to launch bots for Windows Live Messenger called Agents, with which users can interact and retrieve information. The service stems from an acquisition of Colloquis that the Redmond company announced Thursday.

Colloquis provides automated support to businesses that uses natural language processing to respond to customer requests. The company's Automated Service Agent service is currently employed by Cingular, Comcast, Cox, Time Warner and a number of other companies.

Microsoft will re-brand that Colloquis offering as Windows Live Service Agents, which will function as a Web-based application and augment the company's Microsoft Customer Care Framework. Xbox will be the first group at Microsoft to utilize Windows Live Service Agents as a support offering for gamers.

“Colloquis provides Microsoft with the tools and platform to build conversational capabilities into a wide array of applications that enable businesses to facilitate a simple and rewarding online experience for their end users," remarked Steve Berkowitz, senior vice president of the Online Services Group at Microsoft.

Meanwhile, Windows Live Agents for Messenger will offer a new avenue for interacting with the company's instant messaging users. The technology can be used for entertainment, searching and even advertising, Microsoft said. The company did not say when these Messenger bots would launch.

Google grabbing one more in its home !! AOL lead developer leaves AOL for Google..

Justin Uberti, lead developer of AOL Instant Messenger who worked on the product for almost nine years, last week left the company and joined the ranks of Google. Uberti played an integral role in the launch of AIM Triton and the Open AIM initiative.

Google has long been hiring top talent from rivals such as Microsoft and Yahoo, and Uberti's departure from AOL may indicate the search giant wishes to grow its fledgling Google Talk client. As part of Google's $1 billion investment in AOL, the companies already plan to link up their IM networks and Uberti could play a role in making that a reality..

Egg shaped speakers from Axxen !!

Axxen’s digital audio player speakers feature compatibility with any DAP (hooray for non-iPod users), an SD slot and a USB port, allowing connectivity to a PC or Mac. The design is pretty innovative, the two little speakers connect to each other to form one futuristic-looking egg. In the center of the egg you will find a control center with the normal pause/play/fast-forward/rewind buttons. You probably won’t ever use these with a desktop, but they’d make for easy-to-carry portable speakers.

No pricing announced yet friends, keep reading !!

Microsoft performs better than expectation in terms of earning..

The software giant said that it earned $3.48 billion, or 35 cents a share, on revenue of $10.81 billion, for the three months ended Sept. 30. That compares with earnings of $3.14 billion, or 29 cents a share, on revenue of $9.74 billion for the same quarter a year ago. The year-ago earnings figure included legal expenses that amounted to 2 cents a share.

Microsoft said in June to expect revenue in the range of $10.6 billion to $10.8 billion, with per-share earnings between 30 cents and 32 cents.

"The solid revenue results for the quarter were at the top end of our expectations," Chief Financial Officer Chris Liddell said in a statement.

For the current quarter, Microsoft said to expect revenue of $11.8 billion to $12.4 billion and per share earnings of 22 cents to 24 cents. The outlook is affected by the fact Microsoft expects to defer $1.5 billion in revenue to account for a coupon program in which buyers of Office and Windows this holiday season will be able to upgrade to Office 2007 and Windows Vista when those products are released early next year. Microsoft said the revenue deferral will affect earnings in the quarter by about 11 cents a share.

Microsoft said earnings and sales were boosted by strong responses to the products that Microsoft has launched in recent months, including the Xbox 360 and SQL Server.

"We've had a really nice start to fiscal year 2007," Colleen Healy, Microsoft's general manager of investor relations, said in an interview. "Our businesses that had big product launches over the past 12 months were really the driver."

Happy birthday Windows XP !! Its 5 today..

Just remembered what day it is today! Happy Birthday Windows XP !!!

Windows XP is 5 years old today ! It was really great spending five years with you :-)  I remember, when it was released, I heard a lot about Windows XP and was eager to see it and saw it installed on one of my friend's machine.. and I could not stop getting that on my own machine too !!

Some bugs delays Vista RTM by two weeks..

At least two news outlets are citing sources claiming the final version of Windows Vista has been delayed at least a week due to a bug which could crash a system that was upgraded from Windows XP. The bug was found in build 5824, said to be the "release to manufacturing" build.

Taiwan-based DigiTimes cited sources saying Microsoft had been successful in cutting the 1,400 known bugs in Vista RC2 by a third. However, the bug caused the company to adjust its timeline on an RTM release from the fourth week of October to the second week of November.

In a subsequent IDG story, Ethan Allen of thehotfix.net was quoted as saying, "the bug totally crashed the computer requiring a full reinstallation. With such a severe flaw, November 8 was now the new target date for completing Vista, meaning the business version will come very close to missing its November deadline."

The bug has been fixed in build 5840, which is likely undergoing testing as of the writing of this article. It is unclear, however, if this build would be released to testers to ensure no future problems could delay Vista's RTM even further.

Microsoft representative said, "Microsoft has not publicly confirmed a date for Windows Vista RTM. The company has internal target dates, but we do not provide specific dates for milestones. We are in the final stages of development and we are on track for Windows Vista business availability in November and general availability in January 2007."

Earlier this month, JupiterResearch analyst Joe Wilcox said the only thing stopping Microsoft from meeting its deadline would be a major issue. "If developers find a showstopper bug, Microsoft might need time for additional testing--and there is still plenty of time for that," he said. "I don't think Microsoft would let any bugs create another delay."

Cisco acquires Orative, a Unified Communications company for $31 million..

Cisco said Thursday it had acquired Orative in a move designed to extend its Unified Communications offering to cell and smart phones. The San Jose, Calif. based company produces an application that allows Cisco customers to use the platform on these devices. With the software, users can access the Cisco Unified CallManager, Cisco MeetingPlace collaboration application and Cisco Unity voicemail products.

Subject to regulatory approval, the acquisition is expected close in Cisco's second fiscal quarter. "The Orative acquisition will allow Cisco to further deliver on its promise of extending the Unified Communications experience from the network services to mobile devices," Cisco voice technology senior vice president Don Proctor said in the announcement.

Broadband, the most important service we can not live without..

Broadband is not just a luxury, it's a necessity, according to a new report by In-Stat. Users from six different "lifestyle" groups in both the US and Canada were surveyed, and all six segments rated broadband "the communication service they can least live without."

The survey, which was conducted of 1,000 multi-person households split between the US and Canada, found that there is great diversity among homes with broadband in North America—much more than typically thought, according to In-Stat analyst Keith Nissen. "Interests, activities, adoption of new technology and decision making behavior are very different" between households, he told, but they all influenced the decision to use broadband at home. While it may be easy to assume that broadband is preferred most among a younger, more tech-savvy generation, older adults have unique interests and more disposable income than young households. My grandmother may not need to research the latest graphics card, but she reports that she absolutely requires broadband in order to play bridge with her friends online. Nissen says that the fact that broadband is the most valued home service among a diverse population proves that "technology adoption and attitudes can change rather rapidly, and are independent of age, income, education."

Additionally, the survey found that a great majority of broadband households in North America—72 percent—already had some sort of cable service. "Leading edge adopters of technology are rapidly becoming cable triple play customers" said Nissen, adding that those customers are going to be difficult to entice away by telcos and IPTV adoption will be slow as a result—that is, until telecoms convince customers that their broadband service is the best. Even more of those surveyed—85 percent—reportedly favor "quadruple play" service, which would provide television, voice, broadband, and wireless phone service to households. With broadband being considered an absolute necessity and over three-quarters of respondents indicating that they want to subscribe to quadruple play service, providers who are already clamoring to add triple play customers wouldn't mind throwing in another money-maker to the collection. "[Broadband] is the key to success in next-generation telecom markets," Nissen said.

To almost anyone, these findings are probably obvious. For many consumers, broadband is quickly becoming a utility, not a luxury. When moving into my most recent apartment, I had broadband days before I could take a warm shower.

What would happen if broadband was actually considered a utility by the government, though? Would it become regulated, and how would that affect customers? On one hand, most utilities such as water, gas, and electricity are services that are required for people's day-to-day living, and while some of us may try to argue otherwise, we can live without broadband. However, another service that we don't necessarily need to live is the telephone. Telephone service was once considered a utility that is still subject to government regulation in most states. If phone service was so ubiquitous that it fell under government regulation as a utility, couldn't broadband eventually get to that point as well?

Proponents of broadband regulation argue that broadband as a utility would mean the government would work to ensure that access reaches everywhere, including rural areas that would otherwise not get broadband access due to the low ROI in implementing it there. Opponents to broadband regulation fear that the costs of installing it in these sparsely-populated areas will just be passed onto customers in metropolitan areas in the form of hidden fees—"However they can legally recoup it, they will," one broadband user said.

Adobe introduces SoundBooth, an audio editing tool !!

Adobe introduced a beta version of "Soundbooth" on Thursday, intended for the average consumer who may not need the power and capabilities of its professional audio editing product, Audition. Eventually, the application will make its way into the Creative Suite product.

"Adobe Soundbooth is a completely new, highly intuitive audio creation and editing toolset designed to accelerate the integration of sound into video and Flash workflows," Adobe Dynamic Media vice president and general manager Jim Guerard said.

Soundbooth will allow users to fix and edit audio files using visual tools. Without training in sound production, users will be able to record, edit and create audio easily, the company said. The program is integrated with Flash and Premiere Pro to allow audio files to be used in those projects.

Audition will be marketed to professional environments going forward, such as broadcast radio. Soundbooth will replace Audition in Adobe Production Studio, it said. Additionally, due to demand, Soundbooth will be made available in both Macintosh and Windows versions.

A beta of Soundbooth for either operating system can be downloaded from the Adobe Labs Web site.

Google's Plans leaked..

A company paper* Google published internally earlier this year and which I got hold of outlined some of Google’s big goals and directions for 2006. The list included several items, for example:

• Google wants to have an improved infrastructure to make their engineers more productive. This includes allowing employees to have a universal search tool “containing all public Google information searched on all Google searches.” Google also wants to build 10MW of green power to be on track to be carbon neutral. (They also want to reduce “Borg disk waste” by 50%... hmmm, Borg?)
• Google wants to be the best in search – no surprise here. To reach that goal, Google wants to have the world’s top AI research laboratory. They are also focusing on getting rid of spam in the top 20 user languages, and increasing the accuracy of information they collect (through measures such as annotation). Another part of improving search is to always launch crucial user interface updates “that people love.”
• Google wants to push their ad system. E.g. in 2006, one of their aims was to sell $1B of new inventory. Google feels that if they make the world’s inventory available “marketers will come.”
• Google also wants to push their communities and content. According to the papers Google published, Google Video has 50% of the world’s “online video attention” (a number that’s hard to believe, and especially interesting because Google still ended up buying YouTube). Google also emphasized that a fifth of all communication bandwidth – on Google-owned properties, I suppose – is read through Gmail.
• Google tries to make sure their tools are running everywhere. In around mid-2006, according to their internal numbers 60 Million Google Packs had been installed, but they still want to increase the deployment... especially for “novice users.”
• Google is always focusing on innovation. One of their top goals in 2006 thus was to “increase the scale of innovation,” even as the internal headcount grows (a growth which dozens of engineering scouts located around the world ensure).

One more specific objective Google outlined as company goal earlier this year in another paper** available to me was to internally test a Google News prototype during the fourth quarter. This “radically improved” prototype should allow “other news sources, and organizations and individuals mentioned in news stories to debate specific points.” I wonder what that means... anyone? I’m as puzzled about this as I am about the “Onebox @ 100% via SETI” mentioned elsewhere in the document (though unless Google is looking for extra-terrestrials, SETI is probably the code name for some internal infrastructure)... or the abbreviations “FIGSCJKR spam,” and “EFIGSCJKR” (the latter being something where Google wants to beat Yahoo).

In the meantime, Marissa Mayer was responsible to ensure that any site with over 10 million page views (per day? month?) renders in a second or less 95% of the time. Other teams saw their goals outlined by terminology such as “70% user happiness” (Gmail 2.0), “host XXM photos, up from XM” (Picasa Web), “an additional XXk machines for production indexing” (index freshness), “reduce bad landing page impressions by 20%” (ads), or “Playbacks: XXM/day” (Google Video). If Google’s “release frenzy” often appears chaotic from the outside, their internal goals do look very precise and organized... and almost every goal has a number attached to it, even when it’s a seemingly fuzzy area like user happiness.

Another interesting feature foreshadowed in the Google papers was to grab relevant locations & dates from web pages allowing users to “view results on a timeline of map.” Keep in mind the papers are older by now so this might be what has already been released as Google News Archive search last month, or the Google Trends site.

While the documents do not mention the goal of trying to decrease Google self-censorship in China, there was mention of a Chinese “Knowledge Search Beta.”

All in all, Google is trying to improve existing products and launch new ones – but not too many in order to not become disorganized, as they publicly stated, too (the document contains the simple directive “Count total number of Google products and reduce by 20%”). They also always focus on leading in search through a variety of features like index freshness & quality, as well as onebox results like Google Base or Google Co-op... and possibly, some day, paid results as well, according to one of their objectives (my emphasis – and again note the last bit may refer to Google’s already released News Archive search)..

*The document is titled “Big Goals and Directions - 2006”.

**The second document is titled “Objectives and Key Results - Q3 2006 Company OKRs”.

Windows Defender stastics released...

On February 13, 2006, Microsoft unveiled Windows Defender Beta 2. Yesterday, the company publicly released the final build of the antispyware tool, which I have personally touted as a fantastic piece of software. But how good is it?

Microsoft has decided to release the numbers to show just how successful Windows Defender has been in removing spyware from infected PCs. Basing their statistics on the first three months of Windows Defender Beta 2's lifetime, Microsoft found that the software discovered 22 million pieces of spyware and successfully removed 14 million of them. Windows Defender also uncovered 2,849 unique groups of spyware. The most frequent offenders that the product removed were ABetterInternet.DrPMon, TV Media Display, Twain Tech's IE add-on, SaveNow, SearchAssistant, Kazaa, and BearShare.

Great numbers, isnt it?

Microsoft delays final release of Windows Media Player 11

Microsoft had initially said that the release version of their latest incarnation of Media Player, version 11, would be available for Windows XP SP2 users to download on Tuesday. But yesterday, the company admitted that the media player still had some bugs to work out and the final release would be set back for "a few additional days."

The player, which is available as a separate download for Windows XP SP2 and is bundled with Windows Vista, has many new features such as the integration with the MTV URGE music download service. Beta versions were first made available to the public back in May.

Personally, I think it's better to wait a bit longer before releasing WMP 11. The version I tried that came with Windows Vista RC1 had some annoying bugs, like video got hung in between and processor usage was around 100%.

Google Video on Mobile devices but not from Google !!!

There's a Google Video for mobile devices, but not from Google. Independent developer Scott Robbin has created the unofficial version of Google Video for mobile phones. It lets people search, download and view content off Google Video directly from their mobile phones. All you need is a phone that has an XHTML-compliant browser and enough storage to hold large video files. It helps if the Internet connection is fast and if the phone has an application capable of playing AVI or MP4 files.

Robbin has also posted a video demonstration on YouTube. "I've got it running on my Motorola Q,a nd it works great," he wrote in an e-mail. "While it may not be the real deal, until Google offers us something better, or Adobe creates a mobile Flash player, capable of playing flash video, it's all we've got." No word from Google on this unofficial release.

The video demonstration is as follows..

Ballmer says, work is going on for Multicore Processors !!

In an interview with CNET News.com's Ina Fried, Chief Executive Steve Ballmer talks about changes required by multicore processors and expanding customer needs.

Access the video here...

Yahoo Messenger new version 8.1.0.195 released..

Yahoo! released new version of its IM software. I have still not come across any new features in yahoo messenger but will post them as soon as I come across any.

If you dont want to download the messenger starter 800KB file and directly want to download whole software, use this link.

The changes in this version are as follows,

• The title of the application is changed to "Yahoo Messenger" instead of that long name "Yahoo Messenger for Voice blah blah.." So, no wider notification window for presence information.. looks cute.. [for people having dim light, whenever any contact goes offline/comes online, we see notification window, that used to be very wider in previous version but now, in this, we have cute smaller window because they have changed the title of the application.]
• In idle mode (means, i dont do any activity.. just being online..), I see 40 MB memory occupied by Yahoo Messenger !!! (Thank god, I have 1GB RAM installed...)
• In idle mode, I see around 30-33 threads in an application. This is too much I think..
• [27-Oct] Its just crap.. I have been using this new messenger from last two days.. but its been crashed for atleast 12 times... how can company like Yahoo! release such buggy product !! I am totally disappointed..

Microsoft says, Backdoor Trojans are the Biggest Windows Threat..

Zombies continue to be the biggest threat to Windows security, Microsoft said Monday. During the six months from January to June 2006, over 43,000 new variants of so-called "backdoor Trojans" were discovered.

Additionally, the company said at least 50 percent of the computers it cleaned during the period with the Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool contained at least one backdoor Trojan. While this may seem quite high, it was a decrease from last year's 68 percent figure.

Behind the backdoor Trojan, the second biggest threat was the keylogger, with 27,154 variants discovered. This was followed by the downloader with 13,039 variants, the regular Trojan with 4,497 variants, and the mass mailer with 3,426.

"Backdoor Trojans and bots continue to comprise a significant percentage of the malicious software detected by Microsoft anti malware offerings and therefore serve as a top threat to consumers and businesses alike," Microsoft said in the report.

Although rookits have received a lot of attention in recent times due to Sony's use of the malware to protect its music CDs from illicit copying, their usage continues to be rare. In fact, attacks decreased 50 percent during the period and were ninth overall in rate of occurrence.

Yahoo enhances bookmark service !!

Yahoo made significant changes to its online bookmarking application, bringing it more in line with a similar offering from Microsoft in Windows Live Bookmarks. Whereas the company's del.icio.us product covers social bookmarking, Yahoo says the new Bookmarks product is intended for strictly personal use.

The bookmarking feature would also be more tightly integrated into Yahoo's toolbar product with a more prominent button advertising that feature. According to the company, nearly 20 million people use Yahoo Bookmarks, the most of any online service.

Among the changes are a redesigned user interface, thumbnails to allow for easy organization and access of saved bookmarks, advanced search functionality, "drag-and-drop" functionality, and the ability to save bookmarks through the Yahoo Messenger service.

Users of Yahoo's MyWeb product would be able to migrate to either Yahoo Bookmarks or del.icio.us depending on their needs.

"By focusing on the Yahoo! Bookmarks and del.icio.us brands we are able to deliver to consumers market-leading products for both personal and social bookmarking," said one of the Yahoo Official.

Microsoft says, 3 million downloads of IE7 in first 4 days.

Microsoft is heralding the launch of Internet Explorer 7 as a success, announcing that the new browser has been downloaded three million times in the first four days. Early next month, customers will begin receiving IE7 automatically, at which time adoption numbers will likely skyrocket.

To promote the launch of IE7, Microsoft has bought up radio spots and employed mobile billboards in 10 cities across the United States. The new browser brings added security, tabbed browsing and built-in RSS support, and is currently available for Windows XP SP2. "Of course, we’re not done with IE7 yet. Next up are the localized versions of IE7 for Windows XP and, of course, IE7 in Windows Vista," said Tony Chor, IE7 group program manager.

Want to build your own search engine? Google helps you there !!!

Today, google launched Google Custom Search Engine, where in a matter of minutes you can create a search engine that reflects your knowledge and interests; looks and feels like your own; and, if you choose, you can make money from the traffic you receive through Google's AdSense program. You can even invite your friends and trusted community members to add to and help build your search engine.

Really, its never been so easy to find particular information that you are interested in.

So, what are you waiting for? Give a try !!

Access my own search engine here

Read here more

What kind of applications you are going to see on Vista ?

Awsome, isnt it? They are already developed application snapshot from my Vista RC1 box. One accesses flickr and another works with netflix.

Bush says I ALSO use google !!!

In one interview US President Bush was asked....

HOST: I’m curious, have you ever googled anybody? Do you use Google?

BUSH: Occasionally. One of the things I’ve used on the Google is to pull up maps. It’s very interesting to see — I’ve forgot the name of the program — but you get the satellite, and you can — like, I kinda like to look at the ranch. It reminds me of where I wanna be sometimes.

Can we say vice versa ??

Microsoft says, purchase PC now, upgrade to Vista later !!

Accoding to the official Windows Vista blog, Microsoft is launching their upgrade program for Windows users who wish to purchase a new PC now, but want the security of being able to upgrade to Windows Vista when it is launched.
New PCs loaded with Windows XP or pre-installed with Microsoft Office 2003 software can be upgraded via the Express Upgrade to Windows Vista and Microsoft Office Technology Guarantee program. Express Upgrade will be available to consumers and small businesses from 26 Oct 2006 through 15 March 2007.

Windows Vista upgrades may be offered for free or at a discounted price (shipping and handling charges may also apply), so it pays to check with the particular PC manufacturer for details specific to their offer.

The company recomments looking for "Windows Vista Capable" PCs designated as "Premium Ready," as these PCs are designed to deliver the core Windows Vista experience. PCs carrying only the "Windows Vista Capable" logo may be eligible for the program, but the offer may vary from manufacturer to manufacturer.

In the US, the upgrade path includes the following:

• Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 --> Windows Vista Home Premium (nominal fee)
• Windows XP Professional --> Windows Vista Business (nominal fee)
• Windows XP Tablet PC Edition --> Windows Vista Business (nominal fee)
• Windows XP Professional x64 Edition --> Windows Vista Business 64 (nominal fee)
  Other upgrades are available at 50% discount from the boxed product upgrade price, plus shipping and handling:
• Windows XP Home Edition --> Windows Vista Home Basic
• Windows XP Home Edition --> Windows Vista Home Premium
  You can upgrade to the comparable edition of 2007 Microsoft Office when you purchase a PC pre-installed with qualifying Microsoft Office 2003 software. More details are at the Express Upgrade site.

Similar programs are available region-by-region for upgrading both Microsoft Office 2003 and Windows XP FPP to Windows Vista and 2007 Microsoft Office. Consumers have to query their local retailers for the particulars.

HP gives 16x DVD burner..

Lite-on has announced that HP has licensed its 18x DVD burner. The drive supports LightScribe label etching and will be HP’s new standard drive. It will be called the HPdvd940i and will be available in November. No word on pricing, but expect it to cost more than the $64 you can get the Lite-on for OEM.

Who needs to innovate when you can just brand someone else’s innovations? ;)

Cingular 8525 smartphone on the release belt..

Looks like Cingular’s going to be releasing their 8525 quite soon now - we’re looking at the first week of November - much to the delight of smartphone lovers everywhere (on Cingular).

In case you didn’t know, the Cingular 8525 is the successor to the Cingular 8125, with tri-band UMTS/HSDPA, quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE, 400MHz processor, Windows Mobile 5, 64MB SDRAM, slide-out QWERTY keyboard, 2.8-inch QVGA screen, and a 2-megapixel camera that’s optional. Cingular’s continuing their policy of offering two phone models, one with and one without camera for business who don’t want employees taking pictures of sensitive documents.

Delphi to release media player soon..

It looks like you’re going to get a chance to put your card in Delphi’s slot pretty soon, as they’ve just announced the XM-capable PMP is due out December 1. The small-ish player will support recording 10 hours of XM content, 30 minutes of live rewind, and 8 hours of live XM radio listening. If you use the rechargeable battery packs, you get either 90 minutes or up to 7 hours of XM radio and 40 hours of stored content, depending on which one you get.

The player can also play back MP3/WMA/WAV files, so don’t think your’e stuck just listening to whatever’s on XM that day. The price will be $229 and depending on which retailer you buy this at, they may be giving away the Live Wearable Kit ($49) for free. Not too bad for a device that’s 65% smaller than previous SkyFi models.

Olympus shows off slim camera with 7MP, 3x optical zoom !!

Olympus, Korea showed off yesterday its new Mju-730 model. The new slim camera boasts a 7MP lens, 3x Optical Zoom, “One Touch Perfect Fix” function, and a Simple Mode for novice users.

What Olympus didn’t announce was price or availability. Add in that nice-looking, large LCD screen and this camera could be a pretty big hit with people that want a cool-looking, effective slim camera.

Read more here

Want to buy notebook / desktop? Good time to go ahead..

Advanced Micro Devices earlier this week lowered prices on notebook processors and a few desktop units, mostly to make way for new products.

The TL-60, a dual-core Turion chip for thin notebooks that runs at 2GHz, dropped 26 percent, from $354 to $263. The TL-56, which is a similar chip that runs at 1.8GHz, dropped from $263 to $220. The TL-52, which runs at 1.6GHz, waterfalled from $220 to $184.

On desktops, the Athlon 64 FX-62, a 2.8GHz monster chip for gamers, declined from $827 to $713. AMD posts more of its updated prices here, but it does not list the previous prices.

So, good time to go ahead and do some diwali shopping (after diwali :-)

This is how Microsoft celebrated IE release !!

Cool, isnt it ?? And yummy too, hmmmm !!

Microsoft releases Windows Defender final version !!

After nearly two years in beta testing, Microsoft has at long last released the final version of Windows Defender, its free anti-spyware software. The tool is available now for Windows XP, and will ship as part of Windows Vista.

Originally named Windows AntiSpyware, Defender came from Microsoft's acquisition of GIANT Software. The company bulked up the detection engine and added protection for pop-ups and other malware that affects PC performance. By offering Windows Defender without cost, however, Microsoft has irked some security vendors.

The final Windows Defender release -- build number 1592 -- brings a number of minor improvements to the software including IE7 integration and interface tweaks. Beta 2 previously introduced a new "Real Time Protection" engine that monitors critical areas of the operating system for any changes, as well as accessibility enhancements.

Microsoft has also added support for 64-bit versions of Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. But support for Windows 2000 has been dropped, as the operating system is now out of mainstream support. The Redmond company is offering customers two free support incidents for the software.

Windows Defender is available for download for both 32-bit versions of Windows and x64 editions. The software requires Windows Genuine Advantage verification to use.

Download it here

Adobe starts testing its new Document Reader !!

[My document reader looks like this.. cool !!!, Its light weight too.. just 2.5 MB download..]

Adobe on Tuesday released a beta version of Digital Editions, a Web application built in Flash that is designed to make reading electronic documents easier. The tool acts like a slimmed down version of Adobe Reader, and can even display PDF files.

Digital Editions, unveiled at Adobe's MAX 2006 conference in Las Vegas, is only 2.5MB in size. It's not intended to replace the bulky Reader, but rather to extend its feature set. It utilizes the same e-book capabilities Adobe built into Reader, and adds Flash to make digital publications interactive.

The application integrates with both Adobe Acrobat 8 and Reader 8, which can launch Digital Editions from within their respective user interfaces.

Along with displaying PDF, Digital Editions supports a new XHTML-based reflow-centric publication format that can adjust content depending on screen size. For example, a single-column page can be displayed across three columns on a widescreen display.

Although e-books have largely failed to take off following their introduction in the 1990s, companies are once again pushing the technology. This time, however, the focus is now on the digital publication, such as magazines or newspapers. The idea is to build software that makes them easier to navigate and view online.

"By creating a specialized, consumer-friendly application like Digital Editions, Adobe is ensuring publishers can securely deliver high-impact content to the widest possible audience, across hardware platforms, operating systems and devices," remarked Adobe president Shantanu Narayen.

The software fully supports Adobe's digital rights management for documents, enabling publishers to control who can view content and employ a number of business models including subscriptions and advertising. Like with music DRM, the technology utilizes an ID based system that requires end users to authenticate themselves.

Digital Editions is available free of charge, with a beta release currently offered for Windows. A version for Mac OS X is expected to follow later this year, with a Linux version planned next year following the release of Adobe Player 9 for the platform.

T-Mobile rolls out UMA in Seattle

T-Mobile quietly rolled out its planned combination of Wi-Fi and cellular phone service, called Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA). As expected, the service has initially rolled out in the Seattle market, with eventual plans to roll out the service across the country.

Called HotSpot@Home, the service would cost $19.99 USD per month, and requires the purchase of a router that would be free after rebate. The customer would need to sign up for a $39.99 USD per month or higher rate plan in order to qualify.

When either of two phones are in range of the router, which retail for $49.99 USD with a two-year contract, they would use the broadband connection and VOIP over T-Mobile's GSM network. The phones would also work at any T-Mobile owned Wi-Fi hotspot.

The service would also potentially help T-Mobile deal with what has historically been a problem for it: limited spectrum. However, any benefit -- at least early on -- would be minimal. Coverage in houses and buildings would potentially improve, traditionally a problem with GSM.

Analysts say that T-Mobile's UMA service is likely to appeal mostly to younger consumers, the majority of which do not own a landline phone, yet have broadband and wireless accounts.

Those interested in the service can learn more about the offering and register at theonlyphoneyouneed.com, even if they are not located in the Seattle area. The company would alert registrants when the UMA service is available in their area.

Fedora core 6 released...

Released this morning, Fedora Core 6 (FC6) includes many new features and performance enhancements that could potentially improve the desktop computing experience and simplify system management and administration. FC6 ships with GNOME 2.16 and KDE 3.5.4, X.org 7.1, and the 2.6.18 kernel.

The inclusion of X.org 7.1 is particularly exciting, since it provides complete support for accelerated indirect GLX (AIGLX) right out of the box. The Compiz window manager, which brings unique and innovative visual effects to the Linux desktop, is installed by default in FC6, but will have to be manually enabled. For this release, Metacity and KWin are still the default window managers. FC6 also introduces the Fedora Artwork Project's new "DNA" theme for GRUB, Anaconda, RHGB, GDM, and the GNOME splash screen.

FC6's improved package management features continue to narrow the gap between Yum and APT. Anaconda now supports installation from third party repositories over a network or the Internet, facilitating tighter integration of the Fedora "extras" repository. FC6 also supports automated update notification and integration of the Pirut graphical package management tool. With a new metadata parser written in C, Yum is now faster and more efficient. For system administrators, FC6 now includes a graphical virtualization manager for Xen that includes a built-in VNC client. A graphical tool has also been added for working with SELinux.

Due to the massive amount of traffic generated by a Fedora release, the FC6 release notes and other content at fedora.redhat.com have only been available intermittently. Users that wish to download FC6 now will probably have better luck using the official torrents, given the currently unreliable state of Fedora's servers.

[Update]
And I just received the news,

If you're curious what the appetite is for Fedora Core 6, Red Hat's newest version of Linux for hobbyists, the company has an answer is : 10,000 downloads in five hours.

Doing the math, that works out to one download every 1.8 seconds. And considering that the minimum size of Fedora Core 6 is 3.4GB, it's no surprise Red Hat's servers fell to their knees after the release Tuesday.

Although not all the downloads taxed the servers. The 10,000 statistic includes downloads through Bittorrent, a peer-to-peer file-sharing service that doesn't tax central download servers as much as direct downloads.

But still great number right?

JayPrakash birthday celebrated

Last friday (20th Oct.) we celebrated JayPrakash (JP)'s birthday.. Snaps can be viewed at,

JayPrakash (JP) Birthday

My visit to Forum Shopping mall..

Last weekend I got a chance to visit forum shopping mall.. Its awsome.. View the photo album !!! Me and my brother (pratik) visited the place..

Forum Visit

Magicbit Audio Converter.. Convert from any format to any other audio format !!

Magicbit Audio Converter is a powerful MP3/MP4/WAV Converter. It can convert between many popular audio formats, such as MP3, WAV, WMA, MP4, M4A, MP2, VQF, APE, OGG, AAC and FLAC etc. One of featured function is that Magicbit Audio Converter supports converting m4a to mp3, mp4 to mp3. In addition, you can also use it to convert video formats including AVI, MPEG, WMV, ASF to all popular audio files. All conversion processes are very easy and fast. 1. With Magicbit Audio Converter, you can make batch conversion; 2. you can copy ID3 tag between audio formats (reserve ID3 tag during conversion); 3. You can select the compression method, sample rate, bitrate, stereo or mono when converting your files; 4. you can select whether delete or keep the original files; 5. And when converting to MP3, bitrate, VBR or CBR, stereo or mono are selectable etc. In conclusion, with powerful functions, fast ripping and converting speed, excellent output quality, Magicbit Audio Converter is recommended as a perfect product worthy of trying. And with our prompt and effectual support service, you can be unhesitating to let us know if you have any questions about us and our products. Just download and enjoy this excellent product right now!

Google eating its own dogfood?

The official Blogger blog, Blogger Buzz, gives us a talk about eating our own dogfood — I admit, it is nice to see Google does use their own product, but it's hard to feel comfortable when hackers can find ways to post items on your blog (which is now apparently fixed), and when the service has bad months from time to time causing outages and frustrated users.

"The issues they raise (like the fake Google Blog post, which involved an API bug) typically get fixed and pushed live within hours of their discovery. The Google Blog deletion that Michael mentions was the result of an automated anti-blogspam process and a double-corner case involving a feature of Blogger we discontinued many years ago — no actual users were affected. Andrea's accidental post on Blogger Buzz was simple human error." –Eric, Blogger Buzz

With that said, I agree with Eric that the product becomes more powerful, secure, sophisticated and easy to use as time goes on — it's just unfortunate that so much happened in such a short period.  What do you think?  Has it become difficult for you to trust Blogger?

JAM SmartSerial Mail v3.4.0.1

SmartSerialMail allows you to send e-mails automatically to a large number of recipients. E-mails can be sent using up to 64 connections simultaneously, which allows an optimal usage of your internet connection. Each mail is send individually to its recipient, so that only his name appears in the To: section of the mail header.
Import your recipients lists from Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Excel or ASCII Files. SmartSerialMail can directly connect to almost all kinds of databases.

SmartSerialMail supports plain text and html email. All mail and recipient groups can be saved in the SmartSerialMail database, which allows easy and effective working with a large number of recipients. The new user interface is easy to use and assists you in the necessary steps in sending serial mails. The program works with Windows 9x/NT/2000/XP.

Really cool for sending newsletters, resumes !!!

ORACLE announces Database 11g beta !!

Database 11g beta includes 182 new features designed to address a range of database issues, from the need to retain more information to data compression to the handling of parallel upgrades, said Chuck Rozwat, executive vice president of Oracle server technologies, during his keynote speech at the Oracle OpenWorld conference.

"11g has a lot of features for scalability," Rozwat said, highlighting that as one of several main issues challenging the database industry.

The rapid rate at which information is being generated and retained is fed by factors such as the popularity of videos online and instant messaging, Rozwat noted. Compounding the problem are regulatory changes that require companies to retain e-mails, documents and other forms of communications for a longer period of time.

The beta also includes "flashback" technology for recovering information, and allows application upgrades online, even during a scheduled system outage.

Oracle, which faces competition from open-source database technologies, has been dabbling in them itself. Earlier this year, the company acquired Sleepycat Software, which gave Oracle access to Sleepycat's open-source Berkeley DB database. Oracle aims to embed Berkeley DB in applications.

And last year, the company acquired Innobase Oy, which developed its InnoDB database "engine" to store data in the MySQL database. The engine is distributed through an open-source general public license via the MySQL database.

Skype Recorder !!

Do you use Skype for calling to another computer? Yes? Then, how many times have you felt need to record the conversation? Many times (at least I found it as a cool feature !!)

So, here is presented software tool for recording skype calls automatically.

Skype Recorder conversation It has the follow advantages works in automatic mode, you don't need to press record or stop automatic compress in mp3 format ( from 8 till 320 kbits) using Lame MP3 Encoder can record conversations either in mono or in stereo mode (one channel for input, other for output) can work in spy mode (user who uses Skype won't guess that all conversations will be recorded).

 

Download it here..

Microsoft to get into chip designing business..

John Markoff, New York Times scored a great scoop with his story on Microsoft's new in-house chip design team, tentatively called the Computer Architecture Group. Microsoft has always had plenty of internal hardware expertise, but a dedicated chip design group takes things up a notch. Markoff mentions that the team will be thinking about the sequel to the Xbox 360, and they'll also be looking at other consumer electronics devices in Microsoft's ever-expanding portfolio of gadgets.

So does this mean that Microsoft will eventually compete directly with Intel, or even that they'll be less dependent on Intel processors now that they can design their own chips? Not necessarily.

As parts of the article suggest, this move is more about the industry's shift to multicore than it is about any kind of brewing Microsoft vs. Intel friction. It's also probably almost as much about Microsoft's high-end server plans as it is about their consumer electronics business. Furthermore, what all three of these elements—the multicore shift, game consoles, and high end servers—have in common is that they're all connected to a larger, cyclical phenomenon in the computing industry: the return of the "whole widget" maker.

Microsoft to focus on Windows Smartphones, targets to double sales this year...

Microsoft hopes to double the number of Windows smartphones being sold this year, from 6 million at the end of 2005 to nearly 12 million phones by the end of this year. Additionally, Microsoft hopes to keep up with this rate of growth in coming years.

Microsoft's Mobile and Embedded Devices division head Peter Knook said that the number of devices operating on Windows Mobile doubled to 6 million last year, adding that they'd like to shoot for another 100 percent increase this time around. While goals of continually doubling numbers seem lofty, analyst firm Gartner said that the smartphone and PDA market expanded by 57 percent worldwide in the first half of this year, with an expected increase of 66 percent for smartphones over the entire year. Both Microsoft and RIM—who have about 6 million users each—are competing against Nokia, which currently comprises about half of the global smartphone market.

It's possible that Microsoft could come close to doubling its numbers again this year just by the mere increase in overall smartphone sales, but in order to make strides against its competitors, Microsoft will have to start offering more incentive for users to switch over to a Windows Mobile phone. One option, according to Knook, is for Windows Mobile smartphones to connect to Microsoft's Xbox Live service, Live Anywhere, allowing users to message friends on their friends lists and download mobile gaming content.

Push e-mail, as RIM has learned, has turned into big business, making smartphones into the pager of the 21st century. Microsoft has just gotten into the game, but has some ideas for ways to make Windows Mobile appeal to smartphone users—tight software integration. Microsoft, unlike some of its competitors, is gearing up to make money on all sides of the smartphone experience—Vista's built-in Mobile Sync Center syncing data from the phone with Microsoft Exchange being one of them. There is even potential for the Zune to start syncing game data from the Xbox 360 and Vista, which would then sync with a Windows Mobile smartphone. There is a lot of money tied into smartphone sales for Microsoft, and they're just dying to see how many of their products can be integrated into the smartphone user experience.

Microsoft opens-up e-mail technology to fight spammers !!

When the predecessor to the Internet, the ARPAanet, was being demonstrated to the public in 1972, it was considered to be a tool of interest mostly to scientists and researchers who wanted to collaborate on data. Only a year later, ARPA staff discovered that over three-quarters of network traffic was taken up by e-mail messages, an application that was not even thought of when the network was originally designed. E-mail quickly became the killer app of the Internet, and it didn't take long after that before spam became the number one aggravation of using e-mail. Now, Microsoft is proposing to help clean up the morass that e-mail has become, by announcing that they are opening up their specifications for their Sender ID e-mail framework under the Open Specification Promise (OSP). The move will make it possible for anyone to build e-mail systems that use Sender ID without a license, with an irrevocable promise under the OSP that Microsoft will not sue the implementer for any patent violations.

Sender ID has had a long and relatively inglorious history. In 2004, Bill Gates famously predicted that, thanks to Sender ID, spam would be "wiped out" by 2006. Of course, this miracle failed to happen, not just because the technology wasn't perfect (it wasn't) but because the vast bulk of companies managing the Internet backbone refused to adopt the technology due to concerns over patent licensing. Without such support, Sender ID died on the vine, and wasn't heard from again until two years later. Microsoft claimed that the technology had proven itself in helping curb spam on their Hotmail service, and that adoption among Fortune 500 companies had tripled over the last year.

So what does Sender ID do exactly? Put simply, it attempts to authenticate the sender's message as originating from the same address it is pretending to come from. It checks the claimed domain name (such as bankofamerica.com) with a list of IP addresses from high-level domain name servers. If the IP address from the e-mail does not match, it is rejected as spam. Sender ID is not the only such method available for authentication—open-source solutions such as Sender Policy Framework (SPF) and Certified Server Validation (CSV) perform similar tasks—but Microsoft claims that its technology is better at capturing spam and especially good at defeating phishing scams.

Will the release of Sender ID under the OSP help its adoption in an open-source world that tends to distrust Microsoft technologies? It might. Companies such as Red Hat have already lauded Microsoft for releasing other protocols, such as the Virtual PC Hard Disk (VHD) format, under the OSP umbrella. However, with alternative solutions such as SPF and CSV already in use by many Internet companies, there may not be a rush to implement Sender ID.

Even if Sender ID does become common, it will not eliminate spam from the Internet. Many spam senders have already figured out how to beat earlier spam-blocking technologies, such as heuristic filters (if you want to know why you are receiving e-mails with nonsensical but grammatically correct prose in them, this is why). Blacklists of spam senders cannot keep up with the daily influx of new spam-sending machines, including vast armies of infected computers working as botnets. Overzealous antispammers often block entire domains by accident in a vain attempt to stop spammers—once, for a whole week, I could not send any mail to any domain in arstechnica.com from any Shaw address. In the war of spammers versus antispammers, users often get caught in the crossfire.

Microsoft has suggested alternative methods for cutting down on spam—such as charging users a tiny amount for each e-mail sent—but such solutions seem dead in the water (who would want to pay to send e-mail messages when you know the spammers will only find ways around doing so?) Some people are of the opinion that e-mail is irrevocably broken and it is time to look for its replacement. Many people are doing just that—studies have shown that younger Internet users view e-mail as something their parents do, but all their personal communication is over instant messaging or texting on their mobile phones. One day, e-mail may even be seen as a quaint historical relic, like the old file searching utility gopher is today.