More in Technology
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Google Wave is now for EVERYONE!
GoogleWave is now available to everyone. It was earlier rolled out by Google by invites but as of May 18, it was freely available.
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E-readers options for the users
We all know that iPad is the killer for most e-readers, like Kindle. But the market has lot more e-readers than just the Kindle. Here is a list of most of the e-readers.
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Trust MSFT to run ANY Online business into the ground!
Microsoft has bungled its internet business like no other company. I personally feel that there should be a federal edict to dis allow Microsoft from doing ANY business online.
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Mobile market battles amongst market disruption
WIth non-traditional companies like Google and Apple becoming big as mobile providers – the traditional companies like Samsung, Nokia, and LG are becoming nervous.
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What are the CIOs planning in 2010?
According to a Gartner report, as the economy improves, the IT’s functions are going through a change.
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Story of Internet III: The “X factor” of the New Web!
A world where all contributed was conceived as more dynamic than where one held the key and others were just onlookers. This required a radically new architecture as well.
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The Story of the Internet – Part I
Dot Com Bust: End of an Era
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Questions on iPad you want answered
There are many questions in people’s minds.. so here are some answers:
1. When will it be available?
It starts to ship End of March.
What will be the price?
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iPad is here!
Apple has unveiled its iPAD. Its a tablet PC with a lot of storage and real thin. Of course, it has the iPhone/iPod interface.
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Social Networks and Happiness
As the world grows more commercial and “modern” one thing that gets hit is one’s connections.
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Woohoo I Got Google Wave? NOW WHAT??
I had gotten the Google Wave invite quite a few weeks ago. And I gave it to many others as well via facebook. I know many on my facebook network had asked me to review the service. BUT ..
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Grappling with a Wireless Router and Support Robbery
For last two days, our Internet has not been working well. I thought it was because there might be an issue with the Broadband service from Comcast, which does happen sometime.
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Wikipedia and its growth
Wikipedia is an interesting human experiment. Multitudes of people, totally unrelated, came to gether in an ad-hoc way to create content. Such content that it became the number one encyclopedia.
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SAP Professionals Network @ SAPprofessionals.org is redesigned and powerful
Dear SAP Professional:
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Spice up your Google Interface for Gmail, Calendar and Reader in Firefox
You find the Google interface completely staid and boring?
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Money is gone.
Do you know what Microsoft is upto?
It started bing – as the new search thing.. which I wonder if anyone is using? i am not. I still prefer Google. Its still simpler and much easier on the eye.
It recently dumped Encarta – probably killed by the growing Wikipedia. And now its dumping Money. MS Money, the legendary money and personal finance management software will no longer be brought out or updated. Ostensibly, Quicken and Mint (the new upstart) have killed MS Money. Mint is really simple and quite effective. I like it a lot because it is interactive and online. Quicken is both.
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WordPress Offerings coming together
Wordpress is also undergoing changes and progressing by leaps and bounds. It all started with Wordpress and then came bbPress, and then Wordpress MU (the multi-user) version.. and finally the BuddyPress – which are a bunch of WordPress MU plug-ins that make it a very powerful social network and community platform.
Now, Wordpress has annonced that they are bringing “all together”. Not as in one platform.. but more like all the tools on the same website.. on the Wordpress MU site.
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Free TV channels from around the world via Internet
Do you want to watch TV channels on the internet? Here is a link to the site where you can check out a lot of channels conveniently categorized under News, Music, Religion, Movies, etc. I was watching the Dawn News, which was pretty good. Although the B4U was not so fast.
If you have the HDMI cable and a compatible TV then you could see all that on your TV itself. Try the channels and let us know what you think about them.
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How to change WordPress admin password through Cpanel
I have a web site on Wordpress whose login/password I had forgotten. Even the email that had been configured in the account wasn’t the correct one. So, I was stuck!!! All that I had was the access to the cpanel. The BIG question: How do you change the password via your cpanel?
I looked around and finally found the answer which was easy and very elegant! No un-necessary coding nothing required.. its actually very simple and it worked like a charm. Here is the link for its tutorial. If you need it, you can use it – it worked perfectly for me.
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Twitter Adds Search
Twitter is a world-wide giant IM if you use the right tools – say TweetDeck. The one thing that it was lacking was search.. although they had it at a special search page.I feel if Google acquired it then Twitter would add a search power which will provide real time content. What do you think of Twitter? Many people have different viewpoints although many are jumping on it after Ashton and Oprah did.
This search functionality came via Twitter’s acquisition of Summize last July – which had created the search functionality for Twitter. Twitter also has a “trending topics” sidebar which provides a snapshot of the most popular words or tags being discussed on Twitter.
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Geocities to shut down
Do you remember Geocities?
It was looong time back! During the 1990s and the DotCom era, geocities was the first tool that people used to create their first websites. Most of the souls who are on blogs and social networks right now, tries their hand at creating websites using Geociies. It was so popular that Yahoo had bought it for $3 billion.
Now, its time has come and it will pass into history very soon. Yahoo has finally announced it formally that its going to shut the service down. It is no longer accepting new accounts and will contact the users soon on how to migrate.
It came out with this message on the site for the information:
After careful consideration, Yahoo! has decided to close GeoCities later this year.
You can continue enjoying your GeoCities service until then — we just wanted you to let you know about the closure as soon as possible. We’ll share more details this summer.
I don’t remember my first page on Geocities but I do remember creating one. Do you remember yours? I am sure everyone has some memory of when they first saw their web creation on the internet for everyone to see. It was certainly a thrill. The feeling of creativity that one felt in adding a counter here and a scroll there using basic HTML, in those initial days was certainly amazing.
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Open Source Apps to install on a new PC
Yesterday, I bought a new laptop as my old one had become really slow given that I had a lot of applications on it. I really want to test out some business applications in the coming days and so (i) I needed larger memory and (ii) better speeds. So, I went for an HP Pavilion dv6-1030us with 4GB memory and 320 GB storage.
Now what really consumes all the time is the configuration of the new laptop/computer. You have been used to all the programs and you need to install them again… but the reckless loading of old programs was not a good strategy to begin with. So, which ones do you install. Plus, I am lover of Open Source. So here is my list of Open Source Programs that I loaded onto my laptop.
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What do teens want in a News Portal/Site
All us bloggers are really in the business of news. So, one study of the teens done Conducted for the NAA by Northwestern University’s Media Management Center. The findings are interesting and very intuitive. Its not that the teens do not want news. They do. But some interesting things have emerged:
- First and foremost, FREE is good! Teens think News should be a free commodity.
- They seem to prefer news from aggregating sites – like Yahoo, AOL, Google etc
- They do not like clutter. They like pictures, but not at the cost of news. Pictures should be there but as illustrations
- Basically the site should provide “an adequate sense of the news” on its own”.
Ok, if the teens like the aggregating sites for news then what are the basic requirements?- The site should help them become interested in news by focusing their attention on a few items, illustrated with photos, explaining that is going on and why it matters.
- The home page should provide a general sense of the news and a seductive pitch for each story in as simple and visually enticing a manner as possible.
- Story-level pages should richly supplement the news with basic information, background material and other insights, all displayed in manageable chunks with multiple entry points and plenty of visuals.
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Chinese Mobile Handsets are a Security Risk – DON’T USE THEM!
Chinese phones have flooded the Indian market in the recent past. But they are a security risk! Around 250 lakh handsets will stop working by April 15.
These phones do not have IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) numbers. This IMEI number gets reflected at cell phone towers with which, if required, the location of a mobile phone user can be tracked. The Chinese handsets do not have any IMEI number and sometimes multiple sets share one IMEI number. A proper and legal IMEI #s are 15-17 digits long and are unique in nature, but the Chinese phones either show up as a string of Zeros or cloned IMEI numbers. It is because these phones are cloned during manufacturing at the unbranded Chinese mobile phone makers.
Do you want to see your IMEI #? Press *#06# on your mobile and it shows up on your screen.
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Grannies on Facebook using Flip and listening to iPods
What demographic group do you think would be the fastest growing amongst users of Facebook in the last 6 months? Any guesses?
Well, its the one you would least expect! Women between the age of 55 to 65 year old. They are using it to play Scramble and Twist. And that is not all, these ladies are up on the latest technical stuff as well. I had, for example, no idea about Flip – the camcorder that is used for recording videos with your computer and upload to Youtube etc. Well, in a survey by Virantbation.com, 28% said they used Flip or such minicams for uploading videos to Youtube etc. Huh!! (to check out which HD camcorder is good for your needs.. check out this review comparison between Aiptek Action and Flip HD.[2])
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Is Twitter the Next Google Acquisition?
If you don’t look at Twitter from its communications standpoint and just evaluate it from its website, you will miss the entire drama it unfolds! Downlaod Tweetdeck and a complete new world comes out! You can see a real time global conversation… its like a GIANT GLOBAL IM – between people who have at least some similarity amongst them. They could listen into a lot of new information come in.
Now look at it – if there was a real time search on it. Blogs and web sites pages are not real time. They are done somewhat asynchronously. But Twitter discussion is as synchronous as any could possibly be. If Google can map the trends in the world (like the flu trends) using the web pages, then creating trends out of the millions of twitter conversations would completely revolutionize the value of those trends. In fact, Twitter could be a great “Value Added” search engine. To check the world trends in the conversations here is a useful tool… as they happen!!
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Cricketers ka Sauda by Desh
It just struck to me that there was an interesting parallel between the trading of the cricketers from around the world, and the little trading that we used to do in our childhood of the cricketers then. Times have changed.. but the destiny of the players is still that of a commodity. The thought was intriguing!
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Tweet Etiquette
This is an excerpt from the book Twitter Power: How to Dominate Your Market One Tweet at a Time by Joel Comm with Ken Burge, brought to you specially by Drishtikone.com
Every conversation has rules. We know not to interrupt someone when they’re talking. We know not to use bad language when we talk. We know not to talk too loudly.
And we know too how and when to break all of the rules.
Exactly the same is true for a Twitter conversation. The site hasn’t been around for long, but Twitterers have already tried to figure out something like a Twittering etiquette.
Some of those etiquette rules are smart, sensible, and should always be followed. Others are smart, sensible, and should usually be followed.
While it’s important to know the rules, it’s just as important then to know when to break them — and what happens when you do.
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5 Great ways to Store and Share large files online
Storing and sharing documents is a major issue.. isn’t it? Specially when you have large document or files (audio) that you would love to share with your friends but cannot. I wanted to list some suggestions that I feel are effective and cost effective.
Yahoo Messenger: Yahoo messenger is by far the best way to share large documents easily with friends. It allows sharing of 2 GB! Now, that is huge. Instead of sending a file on emails – and no one really allows that much of file sharing, Yahoo Messenger could be useful. Of course, in this case, you cannot store the files – just share them on the fly. Caveat: You and the person you are sharing the file with should have the same Yahoo messenger version.
Bluehost site: Now many people want to host files or backup their files. No one really provides “Unlimited Storage”. But here is a site host that provides it for very cheap – Bluehost. If you want to host a site then this is a great place, since it not only cheap ($6.95/month) but it also offers one of the best hosting features. For example:
1. Simplescripts: This is available via cpanel. Using Simplescripts you can install a lot of blogging/CMS/Calendar/Ecommerce etc Open Source packages for free. And even better than a competing service – Fantastico (also available through cpanel at bluehost) you can choose the version of your software. For example, Drupal – the underlying CMS that I use for Drishtikone is now in its version 6.x. However, most of the modules and themes are still for 5.x. It will take time for the development of the modules for 6.x to catch up. I don’t have the time if I am creating a new site. So, I just choose the latest stable 5.x version and go with it. Fantastico, on the other hand, just installs the latest version (6.x in this case).
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25 Most Useful Twitter Applications
Twitter, as we discussed earlier is a great tool out there and its popularity seems to keep growing all the time. I have found this 25 apps, that I found most useful. I have used some and find them great (Trackthis and Xpenser are two of the best for their use!). If you have used any other apps that you have found to be really useful, please do share it with us as well!
Enjoy and manage your life with a bit of brevity as you go along.
- Twitter search – This is the only search function actually hosted by Twitter. It’s extremely easy to use and offers comprehensive results.
- Twellow – An application similar to Twitter search except that you can search by categories (which makes results more targeted).
- TwitDir – I like TwitDir because it offers a search function and breaks Twitter users into categories like the top 100 people followed and top 100 updaters.
- TwitterMail: It offers basic email interface and a post to the future feature.
- MessageDance: integrates your Twitter mail into your MySpace, FaceBook and other social networking accounts
- InnerTwitter: Reminds you to stop and listen to chime to take your mind off the work and be closer to meditation.
- TweetStats: Graph your Twitter stats and keep in touch
- TweetScan: Sifts through the thousands of Tweets for search words.
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Interesting Twitter Applications
Here is a slideshow of some interesting applications built on Twitter that I found today. Go ahead and try some.
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Utility of e-groups and How to manage messages from cluttering your Inbox
Yahoo groups started a great mechanism to bring people together. Google groups also followed. These egroups are very easy ways to link people in a way such that every one can interact through the ubiquitous emails. Sadly the social networking sites have even as yet not evolved to a point where they could provide such service.
I know that I am a member of my high school and MBA school yahoo groups and have been very happy at being linked with all those old friends again. Have gained tremendously from so many. Sometimes the groups subscribed to can be a lot and it becomes difficult to manage them.
Now, there is a new way (site) to combine all the Yahoo and Google groups together – Grouply. You can now get a digest of all your messages daily consolidated in one email. This way you know which all groups you are part of and can manage your interaction better – instead of having an inbox cluttered with emails from all sorts of groups that you are part of! That’s a lot of savings on time and email space! It was precisely because of this that I had turned many of my groups messaging to “Web Only”! This is a good way to get back in touch with them and also get subscribed to lots of good groups that I did not want to join for the fear of cluttering my inbox more!
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Laptops outsell Desktops for the first time
Laptop has become the way to do computing for most people now. Specifically with its mobility factor and the, now, ubiquitous wi-fi + broadband facilities in almost every house (most of the homes I visited in India have wi-fi + broadband – in fact MTNL’s broadband router also has a wireless router built-in), laptops are becoming more visible. Last quarter the notebook shipments rose by 40%.
In fact this is the first time when the Laptop sales have outstripped Desktop sales – 38.6 million to 38.5 million. HP has the highest laptop sales with 18.8% share and Dell has 13.9% share with Acer at the 3rd position at 12.2.[1]
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Growth of Internet in India and its effects
I have always believed that if the correct infrastructure is brought to the ground, the growth in the technical areas will go up exponentially in India. India is, for example, a great ground for Internet and web.
Now, it is growing even further. 74% of all internet connections now in India are broad-band.
By 3rd quarter of 2008, 5% of all connections were over 2 MB per second. And this rate is increasing. Recently, the state-owned Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd. a mobile services provider launched 3G services… an area that will also grow tremendously!