Niche Technologies, Trends & Gadgets

Everything that would keep your online business running

2008-07-22T11:14:00.003+05:30

As this title says, you must be wondering what am I gonna talk about “everything that your online business needs…”? Trust me; I had the same question when I first read this wonderful article on Aplus.net blog. It instantly took me by surprise and delight! It is one of those tidy and neat blogs who keep their reader hooked onto. It presents the latest happenings in the online supermarket – everything that one should know in order to expand one’s online footprint – starting from latest buzz on domains and latest applications launches to tips to choose right domain name to latest mergers and acquisitions. Phew!

The recent news – ICANN opens up new TLD’s – instantly hooked me onto exploring it further. On my exploration, I found that this site has content neatly organized in various sections with a neat look-and-feel and intuitive navigation. One can directly go to categories of one’s interest and can also avail some of the fantastic services offered by Aplus.net – like web hosting (many options like business hosting, dedicated hosting are available), professional web design, etc. Oh boy, you will agree with me that this is like one-stop-shop for all the handy tips that your online existence (not only business) will need to survive. Check it for yourself…

Now your Maid will obey all your orders and will serve you all the time

2008-07-18T07:42:00.000+05:30

Those who have watched The Jetsons cartoon show might remember Rosie, the robotic kitchen maid. Now, scientists are working towards making her a reality

In a new project, German scientists are providing a glimpse into the kitchen of the future; complete with a new robot that can keep track of the contents of the larder, and learn simple tasks. Their automaton, they say, could soon be making your dinner while you relax! According to the researchers at the Technical University of Munich, who are involved in the ‘Assistive Kitchen’ project, the B21 robot exploits the use of radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags on dishes and utensils to avoid some of the object-recognition difficulties that have plagued previous household robots.

“If you want to interpret and understand everyday activities using vision data, it’s very complicated, error-prone, and resource intensive. But if you do the same with RFID tags, there is very little sensor information, but it’s highly correlated with the activities you are performing,” lead researcher Michael Beetz said.

The researchers say that not only does their robot know where everything is, but it can also learn simple tasks simply by observing the movements of the objects. Setting the table is very easily recognised from cups and plates disappearing from the cupboard and appearing on the table – and cleaning up later is characterised by the same objects disappearing from the table and appearing in the dishwasher. Robots would even search Web sites and use language software that convert natural language into robot-friendly instructions.

Brazilian company develops software to Unlock the new iPhone 3G

2008-07-16T19:29:00.001+05:30

A Brazilian company is claiming to be the first to have found a way to unlock Apple’s new iPhone 3G, getting around restrictions that require users to sign up for calling plans with exclusive carriers, reports said on Tuesday.

The Web site of Brazilian newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo and other sites such as Digg.com and Gizmodo.com said the firm, DesbloqueioBr, hacked the phone by altering its firmware and by adding a special card add-on to the SIM chip. The results allow iPhone users to connect to any carrier, not just the one that has an exclusive arrangement with Apple in each country where it is sold.

It's an expensive affair!

But the Brazilian hack doesn’t come cheap. DesbloqueioBr plans to charge between $250-375 to unlock an iPhone, which itself costs around $200 in its basic 8GB version in the US. However, there are some problems with the Brazilian fix, such as a drop in the quality of connection, and Apple’s ability to wipe out the hack with a software update.But one of the company’s partners, Breno MacMasi, said there would always be ways to circumvent the locks.“ Apple has made some big mistakes, so we will be able to come up with another hack. It’s going to be a game of cat-and-mouse,” he said.

Further reading:

Do It Yourself - Step-by-step guide to crack open iPhone 3G

Google Page Rank - How is it calculated???

2008-07-10T10:33:00.005+05:30

The secret of Google Page Rank (PR) is finally out...

And I feel proud to bring the original version, directly from the horse's mouth (i.e. from Amit Singhal, Google Fellow in charge of the ranking team at Google)!!

Google ranking is a collection of algorithms used to find the most relevant documents for a user query. We do this for hundreds of millions of queries a day, from a collection of billions and billions of pages. These algorithms are run for every query entered into most of Google's search services. While our web search is the most used Google search service and the most widely known, the same ranking algorithms are also used - with some modifications - for other Google search services, including Images, News, YouTube, Maps, Product Search, Book Search, and more.

There are basically 3 main philosophies behind Google PR:

Best locally relevant results served globally.
Keep it simple.
No manual intervention.

No discussion of Google's ranking would be complete without asking the common - but misguided question: "Does Google manually edit its results?" Let me just answer that with our third philosophy: no manual intervention. Isn't that a good news guys??!!!

Visit the original post on Introduction to Google Ranking to know more... SPREAD the word.

New software allows blind people surf the Internet from any PC

2008-06-28T23:29:00.007+05:30

US scientists say they have written new software that enables the blind to surf the Internet at any place.

Richard Ladner, a professor of computer science at the University of Washington (UW), revealed that the software – dubbed WebAnywhere – can read aloud Web text on any computer with speakers or headphones. “This is for situations where someone who’s blind can’t use their own computer, but still wants access to the Internet: At a cyber caf, a school, at a friend’s house, etc,” said Ladner. Doctoral student Jeffrey Bigham developed WebAnywhere under Ladner’s supervision. Unlike current screen-reading software, WebAnywhere is the first accessibility tool to be hosted on the Web – meaning it doesn’t have to be downloaded onto a computer.It processes the text on an external server located in UW, and then sends the audio file to play in the user’s Web browser.“You don’t have to install new software.

So even if you go to a heavily locked-down computer, say at a library, you can still use it,” Bigham said.While testing, the researchers asked a few visually impaired people to use it to do three things – check email, look up a bus time table and search for a restaurant’s phone number. People using WebAnywhere – which, so far, works only in English – were able to successfully complete all three tasks, using a variety of machines and Internet connections. The free program and audio-visual demonstrations are available online at http://webanywhere.cs.washington.edu/.

Finally, a car that runs on ..... WATER!

2008-06-20T14:08:00.001+05:30

Skyrocketting fuel prices, adulterated fuel, long queues at petrol stations, often unscrupulous attendants out to fleece you - your cup of woes spills over everytime you need to fill the tank of of your car.

But all this could be history if Genepax - a Japanese company -- is successful in commercialising its latest innovation: the 'water car.'

Genepax unveiled the car in Osaka, Japan on June 12, saying that a litre of any kind of water would get the engine going for about an hour at a speed of 80 kmph, or 50 mph.

Genepax president Kiyoshi Hirasawa, in a mission statement published on the company's official web site, said, "Our mission is to develop technology and products for efficient production and use of energy. By 'efficient,' we mean ecologically and economically efficient. Ecological and economical energy is our business. Our goal is to create energy that is not taxing on our natural environment."

The water needed to run the car could be tap, rain or sea water, the company clarified. Once the tank (which is at the rear) of the Genepax car is filled with water, a generator would extract hydrogen from the water using, what the comapny calls, its Water Energy System, or WES, to produce electricity that the car runs on. As opposed to the hybrid cars which emit water, Genepax's invention consumes water.

Whether the car is a commercial success or not remains to be seen, but Genepax said it had applied for a patent and is planning to collaborate with Japanese auto manufacturers. "Energy made from water," as Hirasawa says, "is not a dream story anymore We hope many people will join us in our challenge to promote the use of our WES, for the better future of the earth," he added in a statement.

We've seen plenty of promises about water-powered cars (among other things), but it looks like Japan's Genepax has now made some real progress on that front, with it recently taking the wraps off its Water Energy System fuel cell prototype. The key to that system, it seems, is its membrane electrode assembly (or MEA), which contains a material that's capable of breaking down water into hydrogen and oxygen through a chemical reaction. Not surprisingly, the company isn't getting much more specific than that, with it only saying that it's adopted a "well-known process to produce hydrogen from water to the MEA." Currently, that system costs on the order of ¥2,000,000 (or about $18,700 -- not including the car), but company says that if it can get it into mass production that could be cut to ¥500,000 or less (or just under $5,000). Head on past the break for a video of car in action courtesy of Reuters.

Creating diamonds from............. Tequila!!

2008-06-15T12:54:00.001+05:30

Mexican researchers at the University of Nueva Leon have discovered a new way to make a type of synthetic diamond using ............. tequila!!!

The scientists found that when the potent Mexican spirit is heated under pressure, it produces diamond structures, which are able to conduct electricity. The crystals used to make diamond film have previously been made from a number of different chemicals, often including nitrogen. However, the experiment is believed to be the first time that researchers have proved that any type of alcohol can be used to produce synthetic diamond. Diamond film is tougher than silicon, so it could be useful for devices that must operate at high temperatures or under other harsh conditions. However, diamond films are expensive and difficult to make. Now, researchers from Mexico have shown that the crystals can be created by heating the country’s national drink.

For the experiment, the boffins heated 80 per cent proof ‘tequila blanco’ which has a short aging process and is bottled soon after distillation in a low-pressure chamber. The drink formed into crystals which tests later confirmed had a diamond structure and were able to conduct electricity. “Some kinds of tequila seem naturally to have the right mix of atoms (to create diamond),” lead author Javier Morales said. Experts think that the use of alcohol to create diamond could have potential. “The result is certainly funny, but the process seems reasonable. I don’t know of any previous attempts to make diamonds from drinks,” said Rudolf Pfeiffer, professor of Physics from the University of Vienna in Austria.

New Firefox 3 browser set for release on June 17

2008-06-08T11:24:00.002+05:30

A new version of the open-source Mozilla Firefox Web browser is scheduled for release on Tuesday, June 17, with improvements in security, speed and design. Many of the enhancements in Firefox 3 involve bookmarks. The new version lets Web surfers add keywords, or tags, to sort bookmarks by topic. A new “Places” feature lets users quickly access sites they recently bookmarked or tagged, and pages they visit frequently.

There’s also a new star button for easily adding sites to your bookmark list – similar to what’s already available on Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 7 browser. Other new features include the ability to resume downloads midway if the connection is interrupted and an updated password manager.

In a nod to the growing use of Web-based email, the browser can be set to launch Yahoo’s service when clicking a “mailto” link in a Web page. Previously such links could only open a standalone, desktop email program. Firefox will also block rather than simply warn about sites known to engage in “phishing” scams that trick users into revealing passwords and other sensitive information.

Microsoft is currently testing Internet Explorer 8, while Opera Software ASA recently released Opera 9.5.

Niche techniques in SEO marketing

2008-06-01T04:22:00.000+05:30

SEO Marketing is a technique used by professional who want to get your web page ranked high on the search engines. When you choose to implement to your web page with the proper SEO Marketing techniques, you will quickly see the improvements to your customer base and your business. Follow the step by step guide that many SEO Marketing teams supply you and soon you will find that you have the high ranking web page that brings you the business that you want. Professional SEO Marketing Choosing to upgrade your web page to a highly optimized advertising machine is something that many business owners strive for. In order to do this, you should always get the best advice possible. By working with the professional SEO Marketing team you find here, you will be able to gain the level of web presence that you need for optimal results.

SEO Marketing works on a number of different levels. Educating yourself about some SEO Marketing will help you when it comes time to ask questions. Asking the right ones will allow you to be more involved in the process and getting the right SEO plan for you. SEO Marketing Get the SEO marketing that you need when you sign up with a marketing firm that brings you the right information and the end product that you want right on time, every time. When you are ready to build your client base and raise your level of visibility on the search engines, you can do so by getting the right SEO Marketing firm to back you. Check out the information that you see before you right here.

Technology To Make Love Life Simple & Hasslefree

2008-05-31T22:41:00.001+05:30

Dating is easy when you sign up for a membership in a dating site. With technology as fast and easy as it is, you can find the love or your life, or at least a solid friend, when you allow yourself to meet new people. Dating has never been easier and when you check out the services that are provided to you on this site, you will be able to increase your chances of meeting that special someone now.

Dating sites have changed Dating sites have changed. Now, more than ever, you can option to sign up without having to commit to a relationship. Many people are simply looking to meet someone that they can connect with, be it a romantic level or platonic. Get the information that you want when you are seeking the right person for you. On this dating site, you will gain the information that you need. Safety, efficiency, and privacy are all important when seeking the right kind of mate.

Dating online Increase your chances of meeting that special someone right now. Dating has never been easier and when you check out the services that are provided to you on this site, you will find that you are more than satisfied with the outcome. Get the information that will protect you and give you opportunities to date the right type of people for you. Get started today.

Technology Transfer Services Immortalized

2008-05-29T20:57:00.004+05:30

In recent times, the world's leading technology universities are opting in for a different business model, for the sole need of survival. Earlier they were involved only in research & development, and were least focused on the business front. The things started changing when investors in these institutions reduced their investments and hence these R&D centers started looking concentrating on business as well. That's why you'll see many R&D institutes going out in the market selling their research. Many leading technology institutes are in this league. However, in my opinion, Yissum - the technology transfer services company of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem - is in the lead position through its highly appreciated university technology transfer programs. It is responsible for marketing the inventions and know-how generated by the University's renowned researchers and students.

It has expertise in diverse domain from nanotechnology to medicine and pharmaceuticals, agriculture and nutrition, water and environmental technologies to computer science to homeland security. Speaking in terms of numbers, Yissum has granted 400+ technology licenses and is responsible for commercializing products of over $1 billion in worldwide sales every year. Over the past 40 years, Yissum has churned out many popular products like Exelon, Doxil, Superior ceramic ink, UV pearls, Sumo - louse repellent, and Ram onion. There are many successful companies that are born at Yissum including Algen Biopharmaceuticals, Avian Tech, Ester Neurosciences, HumanEyes Technologies, and many more.

Yissum has won many patents (and many more are pending) on various technologies namely Single Image Dehazing, Prevention of Age-Related Retinal Deterioration, New Biosensor for Nerve Gases, Drought-Tolerant Trees, and Process for Producing Organic Ultra Thin Films. I am mesmerized by the wide array of their research in technology field - Improved Cache Performance with Reduced Energy Consumption; Compiler Aided Ticket Scheduling; Markov Model Application for DNA-Arrays and Gene Identification just to name a few. If you want to involve yourself in the world's leading technology institution and contribute to the award winning technologies / products, I recommend Yissum - a true technology transfer company.

Now Robots Can Walk... Howz That?

2008-05-25T10:40:00.003+05:30

In a world first, researcher builds a robot that moves like a human; may help create rehabilitation techniques for those who can’t walk.

In the world of science fiction movies, robots move around with ease as they walk, run and jump, just like humans. However, in reality, getting an automaton to emulate man’s gait is a very complex activity.

Now, researcher Daan Hobbelen of Netherland-based Delft University of Technology (TU DelfT) has developed a new, highly-advanced walking robot: Flame. This type of research, for which Hobbelen will receive his PhD, is important as it provides insight into how people walk. “This research could help people with walking difficulties through improved diagnoses, training and rehabilitation equipment,” Hobbelen notes in his study.

Energy Efficient & Stable

If you try to teach a robot to walk, you will discover just how complex an activity it is, the researcher says. While walking robots have been around since the 1970s, there are two strategies applied for them. The first derives from the world of industrial robots, in which everything is fixed in routines, as is the case with factory robots. Although this approach can produce excellent results, there are major restrictions with regard to cost, energy consumption and flexibility.

The other method for constructing walking robots – which Hobbelen used – examines the way humans walk. This is really very similar to falling forward in a controlled fashion. Adopting this method replaces the cautious, rigid way in which robots walk with the more fluid, energy-efficient movement used by humans.

What makes Hobbelen’s research unique is that this is the first time a robot has been demonstrated to be both energy-efficient and highly stable. Hobbelen’s breakthrough came in inventing a suitable method for measuring the stability of the way people walk. This is a remarkable feat, as ‘falling forward’ is traditionally viewed as an unstable movement.

Next, he built a robot with which could demonstrate the improved performance: Flame.

Flame contains seven motors, an organ of balance and various algorithms which ensure its high level of stability. For instance, the robot can apply the information provided by its organ of balance to place its feet slightly further apart, in order to prevent a potential fall. “Flame is the most advanced walking robot in the world, at least in the category of robots which apply the human method of walking as a starting principle,” Hobbelen says.

It's Out Now - Video games may improve creativity of pupils

2008-05-20T10:06:00.001+05:30

Washington: A US researcher has found that video games – with the power to energise players and induce a positive mood – may help increase a person’s creativity.

S Shyam Sundar, a professor of Film, Video and Media Studies at Penn State University undertook the study with a graduate student named Elizabeth Hutton with a view to understanding the value of video games as a vehicle for sparking positive social traits, such as creativity.

During the study, 98 college students were asked to play a popular video game known as ‘Dance Dance Revolution’, at various levels of complexity. The students took a standard creativity test after playing, and the researchers also asked them whether they were feeling either positive or negative after the game.

Upon a statistical analysis of the two emotional variables and the students’ creativity scores, the researchers found two totally different groups with high scores. The researchers noted that players with a high degree of arousal and positive mood were most likely to have new ideas for problem solving.

They also observed that creativity scores were highest for players with low arousal and a negative mood.

According to the researchers, their findings appear to show that either high or low arousal is key to creativity, and that medium amounts of arousal are not conducive to “thinking out of the box”. “When you are highly aroused, the energy itself acts as a catalyst, and the happy mood acts as an encouragement. It is like being in a zone where you cannot be thrown off your game,” said Sundar, who is also a founder of the Penn State Media Effects Research Laboratory.

He says that a negative mood, especially when there is low arousal, brings a different kind of energy that makes a person more analytical, which is also crucial to creativity. Sundar also said that video games can be used in classrooms to energise students and improve their creativity, and in companies to improve corporate decision-making.

Now we have a biochip that can detect cancer before symptoms develop

2008-05-11T10:08:00.003+05:30

Researchers at the US Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory have developed a chip that can save lives by diagnosing certain cancers even before patients become symptomatic. A tumour – even in its earliest asymptomatic phases – can affect proteins that find their way into a patient’s circulatory system. These proteins trigger the immune system to kick into gear, producing antibodies that regulate which proteins belong, and which do not.

-- Picture: Argonne biologist Daniel Schabacker prepares to load a biochip onto a scanner. The biochip (below) contains grids of small wells or ‘dots’, each of which contains a protein, antibody or nucleic acid, which helps detect cancer. --

The new technology, known as a biochip, consists of a 1x1 cm array that comprises anywhere between several dozen and several hundred ‘dots’, or small drops. Each of these drops contains a unique chemical that will attach itself to particular proteins that could be cancer tell-tales. “Antibodies are the guardians of what goes on in the body,” said Tim Barder, president of US-based Eprogen, Inc, which has licensed Argonne’s biochip technology. “If a cancer cell produces aberrant proteins, then it’s likely that the patient will have an antibody profile that differs from that of a healthy person,” he added.

In their hunt for cancer indicators, Eprogen uses a process, which sorts thousands of different proteins from cancer cells by both their electrical charge and their hydrophobicity or “stickiness.” The process creates 960 separate protein fractions, which are then arranged in a single biochip containing 96-well grids. Scientists then probe the microarrays with known serum or plasma “auto-antibodies” produced by the immune systems of cancer patients.

By using cancer patients’ own auto-antibodies as a diagnostic tool, doctors could potentially tailor treatments based on their personal auto-antibody profile. What makes this technique unique is that scientists can use the actual expression of the patient’s disease as a means of obtaining new and better diagnostic information that doctors could use to understand and fight cancer better. Biochips have already shown promise in diagnostic medicine and are useful in rapidly and accurately detecting other diseases, said Argonne biologist Daniel Schabacker, who developed the technology.

Next Generation of War: Flying saucers and tiny helicopters

2008-05-05T17:55:00.001+05:30

Emotion-detecting robot cars will face off against eavesdropping flying saucers in the English countryside later this year, as scientists and school children compete with their designs for the next generation of military equipment. It’s the British Ministry of Defence’s first ever “Grand Challenge’’, aimed at encouraging scientists, inventors and academics to turn ideas into machines for army use in urban environments.

It gave six finalists funding to build machine prototypes, such as mini-helicopters and disc-shaped flying robots fitted with heat and motion sensors that can be controlled remotely from a bunker. And the finalists, who each received 3,00,000 pounds (Rs 2.4 crore), came to London last week to display their models.

“This project has really allowed us to broaden our vision and look at what other work is being done out there in our field,’’ said Norman Gregory, business manager for the Silicon Valley Group PLC, a small research company in southeast Britain. His company teamed up with the Bruton School for Girls in Somerset to build an unmanned buggy that can analyse gunmen’s movements to determine whether they are angry or nervous. “We are a small company and would not have been able to put together a consortium to develop such a sophisticated system without this competition. The government made it clear it wanted consortiums to get schools involved, and since the Bruton school already ran its own robot design competitions, we asked them if they wanted to have a look at our research,’’ Gregory said.

Another group, Swarm Systems Ltd, has built a set of tiny helicopters that fly in formation into a village, recording images and audio tracks to beam back to headquarters. Finalists will take part in a mock battle in August in Copehill Down, a village that was modelled on an East German one when it was built for military training during the Cold War. Copehill Down is near Stonehenge, about 150 kms from London. The contestants will have their machines search for pretend gunmen and mock bombs, earning points for each find and losing points for hitting civilians or transmitting data too slowly. The winner gets a trophy made from the recycled metal recovered from a WWII fighter jet. The best designs will also get financial backing from Britain’s defence ministry.

Open source BI stands to gain ground even in a tight economy

2008-04-29T10:41:00.001+05:30

The economy is headed into recession, if it isn't there already, and IT budgets are feeling the pinch. But that doesn't mean companies are putting their business intelligence (BI) plans on hold, especially if those plans involve open source software. Just last month, open source BI vendor JasperSoft Corp. recorded its 80,000^th deployment, making it the world's most widely used BI software, according to the company. Nearly 20,000 developers have accessed BIRT Exchange, the open source BI community site sponsored by Actuate Corp. And Pentaho Corp. recently raised $12 million in funding, indicative of investors' confidence in open source BI.

With the cost of a typical commercial BI software deployment reaching well into six figures, open source BI software is an attractive option for many cash-strapped businesses and offers them a less expensive way to tap into the power of their data. And with a community of developers regularly adding code, new and customizable open source features emerge more frequently than do those of their commercial counterparts.

But open source doesn't mean free, and companies considering it still need to set aside budget dollars to cover maintenance and support fees.

"Open source is coming on," said an analyst. "There's interest in it and companies are growing more comfortable with it. In fact, research we did last year showed that people didn't have any [reservations] with open source business intelligence."

Open source in a tight economy

An economic downturn, in fact, may actually prove to be a boon for open source BI vendors. CIOs regularly highlight BI as a top priority, but with fewer resources, buying expensive software from commercial vendors like Business Objects and Cognos is difficult to justify. Investing in open source BI software, meanwhile, is a much easier sell.

But the benefits extend beyond a lower price tag.

Downloading and installing open source BI software, for one, is usually a quick proposition. Actuate's iServer Express, an open source report server for its BIRT Eclipse reporting tool, can be deployed in under an hour, according to Vijay Ramakrishnan, marketing director for the San Mateo, Califoernia-based software maker's Java group. Just try that with a commercial BI offering. A large and active community of developers, both outside and within the vendors themselves, also means the upgrade cycle for open source BI software is significantly shorter than it is for commercial offerings, which sometimes last for years.

And the open source model makes customization easier. A company can deploy an open source BI system, gauge user reaction, then work with its own developers and the developer community at large to reshape the software to satisfy its particular needs. Commercial software can also be tailored, but the process is usually more cumbersome, as the code needed to make changes is not open to outside developers and can only be customized by the vendors themselves.

Take Your Office at Home with Revolutionary GoToMyPC

2008-04-25T14:07:00.004+05:30

At home your family’s waiting… At work, your boss is frowning as usual… But you have not yet finished working on the file in your desktop.

This is a quite a familiar scenario with most of the working people. How often have we heard them wish, ‘if only we could complete this at home’… Accessing from home the files which are saved in your office computer was just a dream till now. However, it is now possible to access files saved in any computer from any other computer!!!

GoToMyPC allows you to remotely access your computer (assuming it is connected to the Internet) from any other computer (connected to the Interner) in the world. This means that one can seamlessly access / send e-mails, work on projects, documents, or network resources, without physically present in that location! This site offers simple yet powerful software that has to be installed in both the computer you wish to access and the computer you would be accessing it from. The process of registration is quite simple and post-registration, you can choose from the personal, premium and corporate options. While the personal option allows you to access two remote computers, the premium enables access to five computers and you can access the whole office if you subscribe for the corporate plan.

The corporate account is a conscious effort by the company to help its employees access their office work from a remote computer. Don’t worry about the security! This software is quite secured and can be used with the existing firewall setup without disturbing its integrity. An access code resides on the host computer and is never saved onto the website’s servers, so no more leaks. You’d also get notified if someone is trying to break in. There is a built-in lockout protection where you can even disable the keyboard and screen in such cases. This is just like virtual private network (VPN) that has been in use in many companies. However GoToMyPC is the first third party VPN service that’s being used. It is a convenience tool that many software companies are using so their employees can look at their files from home.

Try GoToMyPC now!!!

Design principles for building efficient network architectures

2008-04-22T13:12:00.004+05:30

Green networking = Efficient networking.

Efficient network design combines improvements in consumption and consolidation for increased manageability and lower lifecycle cost. Here you’d learn more about the specifics of efficient network design you can implement to keep your network green, as well as avoiding wastes of bandwidth, power and budget.

In recent years, the call for "green" has grown louder. We hear it in the news and see it on billboards and in magazines - and, unfortunately, feel it in our pocketbooks (it cost $65 to fill up today). Regardless of your political affiliation or environmental beliefs, it's impossible to deny this fact: The cost of energy is increasing. As consumers, we feel the results of our inefficiencies in our daily budgets. As individuals responsible for designing network architectures, our employers feel those inefficiencies in their operating costs.

Why is that important?

In the late 1990s, when the Internet bubble burst, the companies that survived were those that found a way to become efficient. These same businesses are now looking at ways to further increase their efficiencies without cutting their workforce -- and that includes every aspect of how they think and operate. In this article, I'm going to outline some elements contributing to this "green wave" as it relates to network design.

The "green" factor
What does it mean to be green?

It depends on who you ask! Efficiency is a broad term, especially in network architectures, but there are several key elements:

Each of these elements is related, and their synergies create the semblance of a "total system." The purpose is to show that there are in fact different shades of green, and though it may be possible to create a design that encompasses all of these factors, benefits can result from focusing on just one.

From a design perspective, there are really two elements that can be thought of as inputs to network design:

Consumption
Consolidation

"Consumption" is the broadest of terms used most often to describe the power and space usage of network elements such as servers, routers, switches, firewalls and SANs. There are, however, other points that can be related to this term, but they aren't as easy to differentiate.
Consolidation is a distinct design option that can mitigate your consumption issues and provide an avenue for increased manageability - and subsequently decrease your cost of support. Here are a couple of technologies that consolidate infrastructure:
Virtualization (includes server, firewall, SAN, routers, switches, desktops)
Chassis-based installation (FWSM, WSM, RSM, VPNSM, etc.)

The true trick to "getting green" is applying the principles without sacrificing these factors, or you risk losing the gains forged within the design itself.

Results

Lower consumption through consolidation results in increased manageability and lower lifecycle cost - or a "green(er)" infrastructure! The desired result of instilling some of these principles into the minds of engineers is that organizations can start taking advantage of savings gained through efficiencies.

Sexy sells, does RFID?

2008-04-19T16:30:00.001+05:30

American Apparel makes RFID sexy...

Retailer American Apparel Inc., known for its risqué ads and "Made in Downtown LA" label, is putting radio frequency identification tags (RFID) on every Boy Beater tank, Baby Rib brief, Cross-Back bra and Sleeve Ringer T-Shirt in its 17 New York metropolitan area stores. That's 40,000 items per store, each tagged with a high-tech chip, starting with the Columbia University location in Manhattan. The company is using Vue Technology's TrueVue software to manage the RFID data, Motorola Inc. RFID readers and antennae to capture the data and Avery Dennison Corp. tags to locate and store that data at the item level. Los Angeles-based American Apparel is on an aggressive timetable to roll out the sophisticated inventory tracking system to an additional 120 stores in North America.

The question is why. RFID tagging on crates -- never mind individual pieces -- is currently on the radar for only a handful of retailers, mainly behemoths like Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and its legions of suppliers now under orders to adopt transponder tags or else.

RFID is tricky, said John Fontanella, an analyst at AMR Research Inc. in Boston. "The use cases for RFID are not as obvious as some proponents would have you believe," he said. Automating a process like taking inventory changes the way people work, and that "requires a significant amount of re-engineering," Fontanella said, and up-front labor. There's little doubt of that, said Zander Livingston, RFID technology director at American Apparel. The manual tagging for a single store alone required multiple employees working three full days. But for American Apparel, with its numerous, nearly identical styles in a rainbow of colors, the technology makes a lot of sense.

"The No. 1 reason is inventory accuracy," Livingston said.

American Apparel differs from a lot of other apparel companies, Livingston said, in that it displays one -- and one only -- of each size, style and color of a particular item on its sales floor. Each item in each of its color and size variations has a place on the salesroom floor, but the company does not load up the racks with multiples of the same kind. "So basically, as soon as an item has been taken off the rack to be tried on, or purchased or just carried around the store as the customer is browsing, the item is no longer available. We also have a lot of items that look similar to each other, and because of that a lot of items get misplaced," Livingston said. The high sales volume often means that more than 1,000 items a day are moving back and forth between stockrooms and salesrooms.

"We'd have 10% of the items lost in the stock room that needed to be on the sales floor. Part of my goal was to make sure that we had a perfectly fitted sales floor, at 100% capacity," said Livingston, an old classmate of American Apparel CEO Dov Charney from their prep school days at the elite Choate Rosemary Hall, who was recruited by Charney to put RFID to work. Accuracy was a big problem. Taking manual count of 10,000 items on the sales floor and the 30,000 stocked in the basement means having to ask employees to come early or stay late. Fatigued employees might glance at the tag in the collar, but because of the similarity in styles, misidentify the item. RFID accuracy is 100%.

Tom Racette, director of RFID market development for Mortorola's Enterprise Mobility Division, said RFID is becoming easier to implement. "A couple of years ago, this was all about the big challenging implementation, putting RFID across the supply chain. We are seeing more and more retailers, and businesses of all kinds, who are finding creative ways of implementing RFID in ways that are providing value," Racette said. Dr. Bill Hardgrave, professor of information systems and executive director of the Information Technology Research Institute at the University of Arkansas, said in a statement, "We've noticed an increasing trend among retailers that are implementing RFID at the item level, and American Apparel is a prime example of a retailer on the forefront of this trend."

By deploying the technology in additional stores, American Apparel expects to increase sales and customer service by having real-time visibility into products at nearby stores, enhancing the intrastore transfer process to balance stock, Racette said. Furthermore, the retailer will be able to respond more efficiently to market behavior by using RFID to record and report on purchases, not only within one location, but also across a region of stores.

For CIOs, they are looking at RFID and seeing that inventory accuracy is going from 80% to 99%, as it did in the American Apparel pilot, and that RFID is reducing the cost of managing inventory substantially, said Chris Schaeffer, director of RFID product marketing at Motorola. "CIOs are tasked with figuring out how to utilize the IT infrastucture to bring business value, and this can improve processes and efficiencies. It's good for a CIO to be able to say, 'See how this technology investment helped me do that,'" Schaeffer said.

Livingston did not give out a dollar figure for the investment, except to say the cost was about equivalent to the salaries of two full-time sales employees per store. The project is not without challenges, he cautioned. The deployment takes a "little more human interaction" than perhaps initially anticipated to verify everything being transported from the stockroom to the sales floor. He had to re-evaluate certain work movements so RFID readers were not blocked. It can be difficult to read tags around metal, for example. Down the road, he wants to design portals to capture theft -- people walking out the door with stuff -- but the "gates" have to be "aesthetically pleasing" so they are not in odds with American Apparel's meticulous stores. Livingston said the next step is to cut down on the manual labor by tagging items at the manufacturing plant. "I'm not going to tag another item in New York until there is source-level tagging."

Source: SearchCIO article

Google as a disruptive technology - Will the Google revolution engulf IT departments?

2008-04-15T17:37:00.004+05:30

Gartner has embarked on a wide-reaching new study of Google and its potential impact on IT, enterprise businesses, and society in general in the coming years. On April 10 at the Gartner Symposium ITxpo 2008 in Las Vegas, Gartner Vice President Richard Hunter revealed some of the first data points from this study.

The two most interesting points were:

1.) The best way to think of Google is as a disruptive technology.

2.) Disruptive technologies create big losers and big winners, and one of the biggest losers in the Google disruption could be traditional IT departments.

Google’s “Data Layer” includes both internally stored and externally accessed sources (Source: SRS, Google Analysis by Gartner)

· ..- Google knows (almost) everything that is connected to the Web

· ..- Google knows 67% of all Web searches

· ..- Google knows 1% of what is sold on the Web

· ..- Google knows the traffic to over 1.5 million Web sites

· ..- Google knows the physical locations of many things

· ..- Google knows the status of your machine if you install Google apps

· ..- Google knows the behavior patterns of Google registered users

· ..- Google is trying to know the physical location of any cell phone user who has installed Google apps or accesses Google services from the phone

Google as a disruptive technology

This new study is being conducted by a team of 15 Gartner researchers, led by Hunter, and the full report will be published in mid-2008. The title of Hunter’s presentation at ITxpo was “What Does Google Know?” The answer to that question was even more sobering than I expected, as the slide below demonstrates.

Hunter added that Google will know a lot more about what’s sold on the Web if Google Checkout takes off, and could soon know a lot about medicine and health patterns if Google Health Records gets adopted.

The Gartner researchers have estimated that Google technology can address 100 exabytes of data (an exabyte is equal to a billion gigabytes). “Their infrastructure has unprecedented scale,” said Hunter, “and what is even more impressive is their ability to connect vast quantities of information… Google is sitting on the biggest pile of information that has ever been collected in the world.”

The reason why Gartner chose to characterize Google as a disruptive technology - rather than just an Internet search engine company - is due to the ambitions that Google has for all of that data and the potential impact that those ambitions could have on the technology industry.

“Where the previous [computing] paradigm has been about my computer, my technology, my stuff … Google is trying to deliver any information, anywhere, to anyone in the world, on any device,” said Hunter.

“Google’s paradigm is a different paradigm. It’s an open source paradigm… We’re about to see a war of paradigms.” Clearly, the leader of the “previous paradigm” and the counter-movement to Google is Microsoft.

However, we also can’t forget that the Google paradigm includes massive privacy concerns. Hunter noted that Google continues to struggle to find the right balance between privacy, security, and its legitimate business interests. The more data Google collects, the bigger and more valuable target it becomes for electronic criminals. That will also make it a bigger target for governments, politicians, and citizen groups.

Hunter stated, “We believe Google’s information security will be a political issue worldwide by the end of the year in 2010.”

Here are few other interesting quotes from Hunter’s presentation, based on the study:

“Google transcends the limits of the traditional OSI stack.”
“We don’t know how good Google’s information security is.”
“Google doesn’t worry about resources. Google’s always got more resources.”
“Ask not what Google will do to you. Ask what you can do with Google … Ask how much of your business you want to expose to Google.”
“Above all, move fast, because Google is moving fast.”

Google’s disruption to IT

“Google is disruptive and disruptive technologies produce big winners and big losers,” Hunter said, “One of the big losers is potentially traditional IT departments.”

As part of his presentation, Hunter specifically noted a number of ways in which the Google revolution would disrupt the IT industry in general:

Traditional database management vendors would be marginalized into handling only high value transactions
Enterprises will co-opt Google’s approach to data management and Google could host the data
Proprietary applications such as Microsoft Office would be “deeply threatened”
Many application builders could start developing on top of the Google platform
Collaboration services will take a big leap and Google could provide the platform
Companies will take major parts of the IT infrastructure (e.g. e-mail, storage, and business intelligence) and source it to Google.

However, after the presentation I followed up with Richard to get further clarification on how IT departments could be significant losers in the Google disruption. Here was his response:

“Google has the potential to be the first-choice provider of many services that are now handled by internal IT organizations, starting with non-competitively-differentiating services such as email (which Google already provides to a number of enterprises), and ultimately including high-value-added functions and services such as business intelligence, mobile sales support, and others. Some IT organizations might consider it a boon to pass these functions on to Google so that the IT department can concentrate on very enterprise-specific competitively differentiating applications. IT organizations that measure their worth in terms of how much of the company’s IT needs they supply themselves will be less happy to see Google move in on their turf-and I do mean specifically that in many cases it will be an argument about turf, not enterprise value.

“An important question is: can Google provide the quality (e.g. reliability, availability, security, etc.) that enterprises-a more demanding market compared to individual consumers-require from their suppliers? Consumers are satisfied when the potential provider says ‘Of course!’ Smart enterprises demand certification from someone besides the provider. Providing that certification will be something new for Google. On the other hand, many IT organizations aren’t mature enough to provide proof of their own capabilities in terms of value for money, and so will have a difficult time proving superiority over any external provider, whether or not it’s Google”.

Bottom line for IT leaders

What Gartner is arguing is that Google’s database and data center magic is creating a massive cultural movement and a competitive advantage that is going to sweep away businesses and industries and transform the technology world. In fact, Gartner sees Google becoming so large and powerful from a data storage and access standpoint that it is going to attract scrutiny - and potential regulations - from governments.

While these predictions have legs, several of the trends are larger than Google. As far as IT departments go, there are two related trends that will transform IT over the next decade: utility computing and managed services. The utility computing model will allow IT departments to deploy only the computing capacity that is needed and to track it and charge it to the appropriate business unit, department, or project. That will allow IT to tie the value of technology much more closely to business decisions.

Some businesses won’t want to handle that type of IT internally and so they will outsource it to providers like IBM, Hewlett-Packard, EDS, and Verizon Business. It’s unclear whether Google will want to get into the managed services business, but it might make sense for them partner with vendors like the four mentioned in order to offer services such as e-mail, storage, and business intelligence.

In terms of Google’s technical advantage - part of which is tied to its sheer data center capacity - let’s not forget that the other two big data center builders, Microsoft and Yahoo, could tie the knot soon and became a much more potent threat to Google’s vision. That could especially be the case if Microsoft allows its new technology leader, Ray Ozzie, to drive Microsoft in a much more Google-like direction centered around cloud computing. It’s also not a given that what Google has created in the world’s largest and most effective database isn’t something that Microsoft will eventually catch up to and co-opt.

Nevertheless, Google is obviously on the leading edge many of the trends that are powering the next breaking waves in the technology industry, and the effects of these trends will fundamentally change the way corporate IT departments are organized, operated, and financed over the next decade.

Buying business intelligence software: Top 11 considerations

2008-04-14T12:32:00.003+05:30

Buying business intelligence (BI) software can be a frustrating, difficult process. Expert Mark Whitehorn offers up the top 11 things BI buyers should -- and shouldn't -- consider.

Buying business intelligence (BI) software can be hard -- with technical evaluations, prioritizing requirements, getting the funding you need and avoiding political landmines, there's a lot to consider. But in my experience, these are the most important considerations for business intelligence software buyers. OK, so eleven is an odd number -- but in addition to the eight things you should consider, I wanted to cover three things you should not consider. In my experience, some people give far too much weight to certain issues that have little or no relevance when choosing a BI system, so it seemed valuable to list these as well.

1. Return on investment (ROI)

ROI is king. It's top of the list because it's the bottom line (if you see what I mean). We don't implement BI systems because they are trendy; we don't do it because the technology is fascinating. We invest the company's money in a BI system because we expect to get more money back, in terms of income or savings, than we invest. Of course, calculating the income/saving is often a major challenge, but it must not be ignored. All the remaining points essentially follow on from ROI.

2. User requirements

This could arguably be at the top of the list, but ROI got in first. There's no point building a BI system unless it delivers exactly what users are requesting/demanding -- so take the time to go through the requirements-gathering process with your business users, however painful it may be. Make sure you can deliver what people want, or just don't start -- a failed project helps no one (and certainly not your career path).

3. Ease of use

Traditionally, BI systems have been difficult to implement, set up, understand, drive – everything about them has been hard. The good news is that the situation is improving, so buy one that is easy to drive. Give serious consideration to ease of use for the end user, but also consider that the easier it is for your technical staff to build and deploy a BI system, the cheaper it will be to implement. The systems that are currently available vary hugely in ease of use -- so make ease of use a priority in all areas.

4. Existing expertise within the organization

Suppose your enterprise has a policy of using just one database engine and has developed a very experienced technical team on-site. If you buy your BI solution from the same vendor, you get double benefits. Almost certainly your staff will find the new tools easier to use, because of the family similarity that runs through products, and secondly, the staff will be happier. If you force them to use a product from a manufacturer they don't respect, they'll hate it on principle and blame it (and/or you) for everything that goes wrong. And they will make sure it does go wrong.

5. Compatible technologies

Notwithstanding the point made above, few vendors currently supply complete end-to-end BI systems. So, depending on your needs, you might not be able to source everything from one supplier. If that is the case, before buying any of the components, ask searching questions to ensure maximum compatibility with your existing infrastructure. All too often, individuals within the enterprise lobby for the purchase of a BI component without taking this into account. (I'm thinking here of, say, the finance officer who insists upon a particular analytical tool.) Compatibility lowers the cost of producing an integrated system (something that finance officer might appreciate, once you explain it).

6. Killer functionality

It may be that one BI software product alone offers a single piece of functionality that outweighs virtually every other consideration except ROI. I have no idea what that might be for your particular enterprise, but you'll know it when you see it (or your IT team will tell you about it, long and loud). It might be support for spatial data types, for example, allowing you to incorporate GPS data for tracking deliveries, or perhaps decomposition trees for innovative data visualizations. But sometimes, that one killer feature makes the whole investment worthwhile, as opposed to trying to get another product to do something that it really wasn't designed to do.

7. Data volume

How much data do you have -- and how much will you have in the future? If you're a large retail chain collecting point-of-sale data, you have lots of data. If you're a telecom company, you have lots of data. If you're NASA … and so on. Certain BI technologies do not scale well. In-memory querying is a case in point: It can be very effective with surprisingly large data volumes, but there are limits to what it can handle. Some software products (particular data mining algorithms, for example) scale badly. They may work well with a million rows, but with 10 million, they may run like a (slow) dog. Try to gauge data volume accurately and match it to software/hardware capabilities. Then make the vendor really prove to you that the software can handle it.

8. Hardware

The hardware available for BI covers a huge range:

Commodity standalone boxes.
Commodity boxes bolted together to form Massively Parallel Processing (MPP) arrays.
Dedicated MPP machines.

Costs vary accordingly. If you under-specify the hardware or try to use the wrong hardware for your new BI software, your system will never perform optimally and the ROI will fail to appear.

The business intelligence software buying points that you should not consider:

9. Cost

Cost isn't important; it's return on investment that counts. It's better to invest $5 million and reap $30 million than to invest $2 million and reap nothing. (Best of all is to invest $2 million and reap $30 million, of course.) With the right calculations and a convincing business case, you should be able to prove this to the money people at your company.

10. Current source systems

Existing operational systems such as the finance, CRM and human resources systems are typically underpinned by a database engine. Just because you're using Engine X for transaction processing does not mean you have to use it for the new BI project, for the simple reason that the Extract, Transform and Load (ETL) tool essentially sits as a buffer between them. Any good tool will be perfectly capable of extracting data from any number of different source systems and transforming it into any flavor you like. This doesn't mean you should ignore the existing expertise in your company – see above – but, in terms of functionality, there is little need to consider the existing engine.

11. The sales pitch

I don't know how to break this to you -- but some salespeople make things up. They exaggerate, omit pertinent information and even lie. This is sad, but inescapable. At best, they often lack a technical grasp of the capabilities of the systems they are offering. It is essential to talk to technically competent people and get them together with your technically competent staff. In my experience, technical people are less likely to stretch the truth. This is not a hard-and-fast rule, simply an observation based on experience. I have, however, heard a technical guy say: "Don't use our Component Y – it's rubbish." I've yet to hear the same words from a salesperson.

Source: TechTarget report

Strategies for Successful Multienterprise SaaS (Software-as-a-service): Gartner

2008-04-07T19:54:00.001+05:30

Source: Gartner report, 2008

Software-as-a-service (SaaS) customers increasingly need to integrate their internal applications directly with the software functionality available from SaaS providers.

Vendors should implement a portfolio approach to their multienterprise integration strategy to best meet the diverse needs of their target market.

Key Findings:

Multienterprise integration is complex and resource-intensive.
SaaS customers need to deal with SaaS integration just as they do for multienterprise integration with other external business partners.
SaaS vendors that choose a one-size-fits-all approach to multienterprise SaaS integration are more likely to fail to meet the diverse requirements of SaaS customers.
SaaS vendors can build or outsource their business-to-business (B2B) infrastructure.

Recommendations:

SaaS customers should evaluate multienterprise SaaS integration from SaaS vendors the same way they evaluate multienterprise integration solutions from other vendors.
SaaS customers should ask SaaS providers for details about multienterprise SaaS strategy and pricing, and whether their preferred method of integration is supported.
SaaS vendors should offer a portfolio approach to multienterprise SaaS integration; those that can't do this unilaterally should partner to accomplish this approach.
When doing integration with multiple business partners, including a SaaS vendor, SaaS customers should implement a portfolio approach to multienterprise integration.

The Multienterprise SaaS Integration Problem:

Although some SaaS-based software functionality can be delivered via the ubiquitous Web browser, in many cases, direct application integration between the software functionality of the SaaS provider and its customer's internal applications and systems are required. We refer to this scenario as "multienterprise SaaS integration." As is the case for internal application integration, the particular type of integration problem you are solving for multienterprise SaaS integration can vary.

For example, the problem you may be solving may be data synchronization, process integration or composite application integration (see "Three Forms of Interapplication Integration in Healthcare"). Regardless of which three integration problems you are solving for multienterprise SaaS integration, the approach can vary widely: for example, batch vs. real-time interaction; or flat files vs. electronic data interchange (EDI), XML or Web services. In addition to achieving basic multienterprise integration, SaaS vendors also need to support multienterprise process visibility (for example, a view of the business process spanning the SaaS provider's and SaaS customer's applications) and compliance (for example, monitoring and enforcing security and service-level agreements).

Alternative SaaS Vendor Strategies for Multienterprise Integration:

Whether large or small, SaaS vendors will ultimately choose one of three strategies for multienterprise SaaS integration:

One size fits all
Any way you want it
Portfolio approach

Analyst Report: IT Services Market in Asia Pacific to Grow to US$55.9 Billion by 2011

2008-03-25T14:57:00.003+05:30

India to remain the fastest growing IT Services country in the region, while Greater China will represent the largest regional opportunity by 2011…

The IT Services market in Asia Pacific (excluding Japan) will grow from US$37.5B in 2007 to US$55.9B in 2011, representing a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.5% from 2006 to 2011, according to the ‘Asia Pacific IT Services Market and Forecast, 2006-2011’ report by Springboard Research, a leading innovator in the IT Market Research industry. According to the report, the Indian IT Services market with a CAGR of 18.6% will remain the fastest growing in the region, although as a region Greater China will offer the largest market opportunity in dollar terms at the end of the forecast period.

“The Asia Pacific IT Services market is arguably the global leader in terms of growth, supplemented with a mix of mature and emerging markets,” said Phil Hassey, Vice President – Services Research at Springboard Research. “The markets of interest are not just the top four – China, India, Australia and Korea – but the emerging ones like Indonesia and Vietnam, which will register significant growth going forward,” Mr. Hassey added. The report uses Springboard’s Market Attractiveness Index to rank countries and individual IT Services markets on the basis of growth opportunities. According to the Market Attractiveness Index, the top ten countries in the region are:

1. People’s Republic of China

2. India

3. Australia

4. Korea

5. Indonesia

6. Vietnam

7. Malaysia

8. Rest of ASEAN

9. Singapore

10. Philippines

“For India and China, local capabilities, offerings and presence is just the start of a list of essential requirements for success. On the other hand, existing relationships, marquee clients and strong partnerships can provide capabilities for expansion in markets such as Hong Kong and New Zealand with relatively limited opportunities,” Mr. Hassey added. According to the report, Application Hosting with a CAGR of 19.5% between 2007 and 2011, will register the fastest growth during the forecast period, although Enterprise Application Integration at US$ 7.8billion will continue to be the largest component of the market by 2011. While Enterprise IT Outsourcing is the largest market in 2007, the reluctance of PRC firms to use the Enterprise IT Outsourcing model will reduce its relative size and weighting in the market by 2011.

As part of the report’s overall assessment of the APEJ IT Services market, Springboard Research has several key outcomes and predictions for the industry in 2008. The report predicts that challenges in accessing and retaining IT Skills will accelerate the shift to external services providers, as enterprises will struggle to retain in-house key individuals and skill sets. Also, China will not challenge India as the home of offshore service delivery especially for English language requirements – as skill levels, quality, culture and governance are all more suited to India being a hub of global delivery against the PRC.

About this report

Springboard Research ‘Asia Pacific IT Services Market and Forecast 2006-2011’ report offers an extensive and insightful perspective on IT Services market across Asia Pacific (excluding Japan) region. It outlines 15 individual IT Services markets – including Infrastructure Support, Desktop Management, Enterprise Application Integration and IT Outsourcing - and 15 countries with respect to market size, key players and growth dynamics and forecasts demand and growth for each of them. The report also contains predictions for the IT Services industry for 2008.

About Springboard Research

Springboard Research is a next-generation IT market research and advisory firm. Springboard leverages its pioneering research model to deliver greater agility and flexibility in IT market research and helps its clients lead rather than follow market trends. Springboard works with the leading IT companies in the world in the software, services, telecommunications and hardware sectors. Founded in 2004, Springboard has a worldwide presence with offices in the United States, Australia, Singapore and Japan, as well as global research centers in India, Pakistan, and Morocco. Springboard has been acknowledged as an emerging leader and was recently named ‘Rising Star’ in the global IT market research industry by Outsell, the leading research and advisory firm for the information industry. For more information, please visit www.springboardresearch.com

Look who wants to read your emails - the Indian government!

2008-03-18T13:26:00.004+05:30

When Canadian company Research In Motion (RIM) launched BlackBerry in 1999, within no time the revolutionary mobile device that enabled users to browse the Net, read emails in real-time and send fax documents earned the nickname, CrackBerry, an allusion to its notoriously addictive features. Like all secure internet services, RIM uses an encryption code that scrambles the email messages sent out from a BlackBerry device and then unscrambles it again when the message reaches its target. Only, Blackberry uses a highly complex algorithm for the purpose — a 256-bit advanced encryption standard process. The Intelligence Bureau (IB) of The Government of India allegedly can decode messages with an encryption level of up to 40 bits. (According to cyber security experts, there’s a rigid decryption technology hierarchy in the world: The US has the most advanced software, Europe gets tech that’s one generation behind and countries like India have even older decoders.)

So, if intelligence agencies cannot crack BlackBerry’s email code, they can still do one of two things — get the government to force RIM to scale down its encryption code to 40 bits, or better still, ask for the “keys” that will unlock the code. The Section 69 of the IT Act, 2000 does give the government the power to intercept electronic information, but such sweeping surveillance is clearly stretching the law. And, what impact will it have on ecommerce? People will be extremely concerned about sending business details through the Net. For instance, the licensing norms for ISPs in India were created in 1998-99. Accordingly, licenses issued to ISPs forbid encryption above 40 bits. Today, a 40-bit code can be cracked in no time. A browser like Internet Explorer 7 has a 128-bit code. So, any web provider using an encryption of over 40 bits has to provide the keys to the government. This means that the government has the means to track transactions and correspondences in these websites — an access it doesn’t have in the BlackBerry platform since the ISPs providing these services were, for some reason, never asked to hand over the encoding key.

Terror organizations are constantly changing their footprint and upgrading their technology. Today if we have tracked say, 555 web-pages linked to the terror network, tomorrow they may all disappear and return modified. It’s a nightmarish scenario for security agencies. However, the powers of surveillance can be misused. That’s a devil you have to live with. Unfortunately, the legal and political framework needed to check misuse of cyber-snooping by our politicians is lacking in the country. That’s a point many cyber experts are making. Can the intelligence agencies ensure fairplay? People may be willing to give up some of their civil liberties for dealing with the security threat to the country. But there should be a clear-cut policy framework and laws on what kind of invasion is lawful and what’s not. Clearly, there’s room for legislative action and transparency in cyberspace.

SHORT CUT TO ENCRYPTION

What? – In IT, encryption is a software that uses advanced algorithms to scramble a message being sent out in cyberspace. The message is unscrambled when it reaches the recipient.
Why? – It’s a security measure to prevent internet data being read by unintended persons.
Who Uses It? – All web browsers, e-commerce, banking sites and email service providers use encryption software to ensure secure transactions and confidentiality.
Does It Change? – Yes, encryption technology is constantly evolving. A few years back, codes that were 40 bits long were considered safe. Now, 128-bit codes are default in most sites. BlackBerry uses a more advanced 256-bit algorithm.
Can It Be Cracked? – Software can be developed to crack encryption codes. Security agencies use these to monitor data flow in cyberspace. Obviously, longer codes are harder to crack.
What Is A Key? – This is the sequence of bits used by an encryption algorithm to scramble a message and put it back again. It unlocks the code.

Source: Sunday Times, March 16, 2008

Local System Integrators Push SOA Penetration in Major Asian Markets - Springboard Research

2008-03-11T11:14:00.001+05:30

China leads the pack with SOA integration dominated by local players…

Singapore, March 11, 2008: Springboard Research, a leading innovator in the IT Market Research industry, today reported that local System Integrators (SIs) and Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) are playing a significant role in SOA vendors’ ability to penetrate four major domestic markets in Asia. This is especially evident in the Chinese market that is dominated by local players. These are the findings of Springboard’s latest research covering Asia’s Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) market, based on a survey of 354 CIOs and IT managers of large and mid-market enterprises in China, India, Singapore, and Australia.

“Local SIs and ISVs form an important part of the SOA ecosystem by integrating systems well, and by building customized applications on vendor platforms,” said Balaka Baruah Aggarwal, Senior Manager for Emerging Software for Springboard Research. “While international software vendors also offer integration and consulting services directly, ISV/SI partners are key providers of these services,” added Ms. Aggarwal.

The local ISV/SI partner landscape is very unique throughout most of Asia because up until now, many multinational vendors worked in the region with their top tier global integration partners. However, the Indian market is a notable exception where global IT companies such as IBM, HP and Microsoft dominate mindshare as SOA players, despite the presence of home-grown IT giants like TCS, Infosys, Wipro, HCL and Satyam.

“The Indian players are now beginning to expand both in the domestic market and neighbouring markets in the region. The case for Chinese integrators is just the opposite, as they have established their hold on the domestic market and are now on the prowl to expand their regional and global presence,” added Ms. Aggarwal.

Springboard has scanned the SOA partner landscape and identified some key vendors who are prominent in Asia. These SOA local leaders include:

Kaz Group- Australia
Kingdee- China
TongTech- China
Patni Systems- India
Satyam Computers- India
TCS- India
Wipro- India
TmaxSoft- Korea
Samsung SDS- Korea
NCS- Singapore

“Integration skills of partners have a critical role in successful SOA projects as SOA involves bringing together disparate IT systems,” Ms Aggarwal explained. “The battle for SOA has extended from simply marketing SOA solutions to seeking out partners who have good integration skills and reach in the local markets. Ultimately it is good partners who will make the difference in vendors’ ability to woo customers,” she added.

The study also found that price is not the number one reason for vendor selection. Important reasons for vendor selection are proven products and solutions, clearly defined roadmaps for deployment and vendor reputation. On the other hand, the perception of SOA being expensive emerged as the top inhibitor for SOA deployment.

“As SOA is a strategic initiative, the process requires investment and a long-term organizational commitment. Further, since business managers typically control the budget in an organization, particularly for extended strategic projects, vendors need to target business managers along with technology managers,” said Ms. Aggarwal.

About This Study

Service-oriented architecture (SOA) has been one of the IT industry’s hottest buzzwords over the past several years. IT vendors are evangelizing SOA and many organizations are looking at SOA to help them better integrate and leverage their existing and future software applications and infrastructures. SOA’s popularity lies in its promise to help organizations improve operations, cut costs, and boost efficiencies, while IT vendors see the technology as a way to tap into new revenue streams and acquire larger enterprise accounts. Springboard Research’s SOA Market Canvas is an ongoing research service that provides extensive SOA market coverage for the Asia Pacific region. The SOA Market Canvas examines key trends in the Asia Pacific SOA market and offers an array of SOA market data on an ongoing basis. Springboard’s Market Canvas service delivers a deeper level of research than other reports of its kind and assesses data from a granular level to help IT vendors formulate better SOA go-to-market plans.

About Springboard Research

Springboard Research is a next-generation IT market research and advisory firm. Springboard leverages its pioneering research model to deliver greater agility and flexibility in IT market research and helps its clients lead rather than follow market trends. Springboard works with the leading IT companies in the world in the software, services, and telecommunications & hardware sectors. Founded in 2004, Springboard has a worldwide presence with offices in the United States, Australia, Singapore and Japan, as well as global research centers in India, Pakistan, and Morocco. Springboard has been acknowledged as an emerging leader and was recently named ‘Rising Star’ in the global IT market research industry by Outsell, the leading research and advisory firm for the information industry. For more information, please visit http://www.springboardresearch.com/.

Recent study confirms that e-mails 'are the office timewaster'

2008-03-10T10:48:00.001+05:30

LONDON: E-mails have joined the cigarette and the humble coffee runs as the latest threat to workplace productivity.

Researchers have carried out a study and found that e-mails have gone from being a useful office tool to a curse that actually takes up huge amounts of work time, 'The Daily Telegraph' reported on Monday. According to the researchers, the average employee now spends an estimated 90 minutes to two hours a day wading through hundreds of messages, much of which is basically spam and junk mail.

The study by the Radicati Group has found that worldwide email traffic has hit 196 billion messages a day. It is predicted to reach 374 billion per day by 2011.

"Employees're now so deluged with messages that emails have become a broken business tool in urgent need of fixing. There's been no innovation to separate the junk letters from the real ones," Jason Preston of the Parnassus Group, a social media consultancy, was quoted as saying.

A related study by another research firm Telewest Business recently found that emails and telephone habits could reduce productivity rather than increase it and "men are the biggest timewasters at work". According to the research, the misuse of telephones and emails at work was hindering office workers from doing their jobs, increasing bad habits at work and lengthening the working day.

Out Of 1,468 people questioned, the average time spent each day waiting for or chasing responses to urgent emails and on unnecessary emails was 42 minutes. An average of 27 minutes was wasted responding to voicemails or managing phone calls and 12 minutes was lost trying to locate colleagues, the study found.

Source: PTI. Monday, March 10, 2008

Toshiba M700 tablet PC

2008-03-05T21:11:00.001+05:30

Fair hostess Kerstin Koch-Weger displays a Toshiba M700 tablet PC at the CeBIT 2008 trade fair in Hanover on Monday. Depending on the model, the M700 series of laptops come equipped with a 2.2GHz Intel Core2Duo processor, 1-4GB of RAM, an Intel X3100 graphics accelerator, an 80-160GB hard drive, and a DVD-RW drive. Supporting USB 2.0, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, the devices boast of security features such as fingerprint reader, multi-level password security and hotkey security. The M700 series retails at $1,449 (Rs 59,000) and upwards.

Now we have the car that CAN NOT BE crashed!!!

2008-02-28T14:48:00.001+05:30

London: German automobile manufacturer BMW has installed the Active Cruise Control system in its 5 and 6 Series cars, which automatically stops the vehicle to avert an accident without having to use the breaks.

The system uses a radar beam to constantly measure the distance to the vehicles in front of it. A driver can set the desired speed and distance to be maintained from the car in front, and then sit back and do next to nothing. Once activated, the system enables the car to drive on its own, with the only exception that the driver needs to control the steering. It can slow the vehicle a complete stop when necessary, and later scoot back up to the set speed as soon as traffic allows.

The system breaks the car even when someone veers across three lanes to cut you off.A camera hidden behind the rear-vision mirror reads white or yellow lines on the road. Just in case the system senses that the driver is veering out of his lane, it vibrates the steering wheel to alert him about the same. The only time when the driver will have to break is when there is no car in front of the vehicle. To get going again, all the driver is required to do is to hit the “resume” button.

BMW spokesman Toni Andreevski believes that even cheaper cars will start coming with Active Cruise systems over time. “What’s novel about it today will be quite normal in a couple of years’ time. As a result, drivers will be less tired, less stressed and more able to react to dangers on the road,’’ he said.

Candy that fights tooth decay??? I must be joking!!

2008-02-21T12:20:00.003+05:30

Researchers create an innovative treat; appeasing a sweet tooth while attacking bacteria that cause dental decay

Researchers at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) hope that they have created a tooth-friendly lollipop just as appealing as any other. Dentistry professor and microbiologist Wenyuan Shi discovered an ingredient from licorice roots that combats a main bacterium that causes tooth decay; and this ingredient is now infused and available in a sugar-free, orange-flavoured, bacteria-killing lollipop.

The licorice root extract in his lollipop can effectively kill Streptococcus mutans, a common bacterium that could release harmful cavity-causing acids. “Only 15 milligrams of licorice powder per lollipop eliminates 99.9 per cent of this bacteria in the mouth within five to 10 minutes,” Shi said.

Before the growth of cavities, harmful bacteria in the mouth produce acids that create holes in the outermost layer of the teeth. “Streptococcus mutans is one of the more virulent cavity-causing bacteria, and the licorice root extract specifically kills only the harmful bacteria in the mouth, not other beneficial bacteria,” said Aria Eshraghi, a microbiology graduate student who worked with Shi in the past. Since the inception of the project, it has not been easy for Shi and his researchers to meet the stringent expectations of this project, wherein they have tried to use medical rather than surgical approaches to combat tooth decay.

The lollipops had to not only please consumers, but also garner positive feedback from many other groups such as clinical trials and research staff, Shi said. There are reasons why the special licorice root is extracted and pulverised into a lollipop. The lollipop form gives fewer chances for consumers to choke, so it is better than a candy or gum form. Also, for candy or gum, the ingredient could only be released briefly, making them less effective than the longer-lasting lollipop, Shi said.

“One thing I definitely find interesting is the approach they are taking to treat cavities. Instead of putting the drug into a pill or a treatment from the dentist, they put it into a lollipop, which makes it appealing to children and adults,” Eshraghi said. Shi’s lollipop was originally targeted to special needs people who have trouble brushing their teeth, said Dr Maxwell Anderson, president and CEO of C3 Jian, the company that sells the lollipop online.But clinical trials revealed positive testing results from schoolchildren and the elderly.According to data from US’ Centres for Disease Control and the National Institutes of Health, young children and the elderly are the most susceptible to cavities, Anderson said.

“I think the technology is simply awesome. It is also very nice to see that (companies) have taken an interest,” Eshraghi said. The gradual public attention he and his research have been receiving is only the start, Shi believes.He sees his lollipop as part of a trend toward medicined dentistry, which means less surgical approaches to dental problems, he said.The lollipop is now available online for anyone to buy at C3 Jian’s Web site: www.c3-jian.com.Within the next year, Shi thinks that they could be in medical stores. “We do find it is a very rewarding experience; it can actually benefit society,” Shi said. “The project is a rewarding experience in terms of working in a big industry.”

Smart pill box that reminds patients to take medication!

2008-02-17T14:35:00.001+05:30

Researchers invent a smart pill box that reminds patients it’s time to take their medication; technology also ensures that adequate aid reaches the afflicted in India’s rural areas…

Tuberculosis has long been eradicated from the world’s industrialised nations but continues to take a terrible toll in a few poor, rural regions of Asia and Africa. Every year, 10 million new cases are diagnosed and two million people die of the disease.It’s not that new treatments are needed - medical science long ago figured out how to cure tuberculosis using a cocktail of antibiotics. The problem is getting the medicine to the people who need it and, most difficult, making sure they follow the six-month regimen of daily doses.

Failure to follow the regimen not only leads to likely death of that patient, but fosters the development of antibiotic-resistant strains of the disease. “The problem is, how do you get people to take this complex regimen,” says Manish Bhardwaj, a doctoral student in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science who works at MIT’s (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) Microsystems Technology Laboratories. After a year of hard work, Bhardwaj and a team of collaborators think they may have found the answer. It’s a high-tech solution in a simple, inexpensive and easy-to-use -package.

Coaxing patients to take their pills

The first part of the two-component system is a “smart” pillbox, called the uBox. It has 14 chambers that can each be loaded with several pills, which it dispenses from one chamber per day.To alert the patient that it’s time to take the medicine, the box flashes its lights and sounds a buzzer. When the compartment is opened, the uBox records the exact time and prevents double-dosing by refusing to open again until the next treatment is due.After two weeks, a health care worker reloads the box and digitally records and transmits the information stored in it.

Doctors and public health services can then get complete data on compliance, patient by patient, in almost real time, instead of having to wait until the end of the six-month treatment.“How do you know if pills are getting to the patients or if patients are taking them? Today, there’s no good way of doing this,” Bhardwaj says. “If people fail to take all their pills, it can lead to the development of resistant strains, which can then be spread by that noncompliant patient. The people they infect have no chance.”

Ensuring pills reach those in need

Typical treatment trials have compliance rates as low as 50 per cent, according to World Health Organisation statistics. Another reason for low compliance is the fact that many times health workers do not visit afflicted patients as much as they need to.“We want to make sure the worker is motivated,” Bhardwaj says, and at present there’s no way to tell which workers are diligent about making the calls and which ones may skip some of their appointed visits.

Accordingly, the uBox has an additional feature: A receptacle for a tiny key, like a headphone plug, which is carried by the visiting health care worker. At each visit the worker inserts the key, thus recording the fact that the patient really has been visited – another important gauge of compliance.The second part of the group’s new system is a cell phone, called the uPhone. By using special software, health care workers can record a patient’s temperature, weight, and answers to a list of questions related to symptoms, which adds to the set of detailed patient data analysed by doctors monitoring the study.Bhardwaj has been working with MIT alumni Goutam Reddy and Sara Cinnamon on the engineering and electronics of the pillbox, and with doctoral student Bill Thies and alumnus Pallavi Kaushik on the uPhone software.

Bhardwaj and Thiess visited Bihar this January to begin their first field test of the product, conducting a training session for 22 workers who will, in turn, train the field workers to distribute the pillboxes in the field. In March, they will return to India to begin the first actual field test with 100 of the boxes and 10 cell phones. If all goes well, a second round of testing, using 1,000 uBoxes, is set to begin. While Bhardwaj is proud of the product his team developed, he is not proprietary about it. “We hope to make the uBox and the uPhone the standard of treatment. We worked very hard to make something very simple and elegant,” he says. “But we’d be delighted if someone beats us to it and builds a cheaper uBox. We hope other people will copy us,” he adds.

Tradional sticky notes turn digital with RFID tags

2008-02-11T13:15:00.000+05:30

Indian inventor creates sticky notes with RFID tags that can not only SMS you your reminders, but can also help you locate books and key-chains from around your home!!!

Imagine you scribbled a sticky note about an upcoming doctor’s appointment. You place the note on your home desktop computer, only to forget about the appointment. But guess what? The note reminds you about your appointment via a friendly text message on your mobile phone.

Indeed, such technology will soon be possible, thanks to Pranav Mistry, an alumnus of IIT-Bombay.

Sticky notes are one of the most ubiquitous and convenient items in our daily lives. By simply scribbling and sticking them on a surface, they help us manage our ‘to-do’ lists and capture short reminders or information that we may need in the near future. But with our lives going digital, pen and paper are fast losing their place of importance.

“I love sticky notes,” says Mistry, a graduate student at the US-based Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Media Lab. “They are handy and quick. But I wanted them to be active, remind me of my appointments, and help me manage my world better; so I just made them a little smart.” Mistry, who hails from Palanpur in Gujarat, is the inventor of ‘Quickies’ – intelligent sticky notes that can be digitally searched, located, and can send reminders and messages.

The goal of Quickies is to bring one of the most useful inventions of the 20th century – the sticky note – into the digital age, says Mistry. Quickies connect remotely to a computer, collaborate seamlessly, and update you via various sources, such as sending an SMS on your mobile phone.

How does it work?

The process is simple: As the user notes down a reminder on a physical sticky note, the information is simultaneously captured and stored as a digital note on a computer. A computer program, coupled with digital-pen hardware, enables this capturing. The computer program processes the digital note, recognises and converts the hand-written text into digital text, and applies some computational methods to understand the context and the content of the information.

The program is also smart. For example, in a scenario where a note was written about an appointment, it updates the user’s calendar and also reminds him of the scheduled appointment via an SMS on his mobile phone. The Quickies can also be used as location tags for items such as books. “One of the most interesting features is ‘findability’. At the back of each of the Quickies is a unique RFID tag, which makes it possible to locate them in the house or office,” Mistry says.

But wouldn’t the Quickies be rendered useless without the digital pen? Not so. “The core innovation that drives ‘Quickies’ lies in the algorithms and intelligence,” Mistry says. “Although there are many digital pens which can be used with the technology, a small scanner would eliminate their need, and a normal pen could be used in that setup. Just to let you know, we have a version where you don’t need to be near a computer.”

And what would the cost be?

“At present, the system costs us around $75 (Rs 3,000), although that can be cut by half,” he says.

Business intelligence market trends and expert forecasts for 2008

2008-02-05T10:46:00.000+05:30

(By Jeff Kelly, TechTarget)

The business intelligence market underwent some major changes in 2007: A slew of big-time acquisitions altered the vendor landscape dramatically; Microsoft claimed it was "changing the economics" of BI; and one city police department even used BI to fight crime. Here, the TechTarget experts make sense of all the recent BI market action and predict what 2008 holds so you can better plan for the New Year.

William McKnight

Senior vice president of information management at East Hanover, New Jersey-based consulting firm Conversion Services International

As organizations round out their technology stack, most will chiefly consider business intelligence (BI) offerings from one of the mega-vendors already in their shop, such as SAP, Microsoft, IBM and Oracle.
Mastering master data in the operational environment will become a needed part of information management, starting in Fortune companies.
The value proposition for MDM/CDI will become clearer as organizations begin using it to address problems with customers, products, parts, and other "lists" they struggle with having too many of and having too little data integrity with.
Operational BI will continue to grow.

John Hagerty

Vice president and research fellow at Boston-based advisory firm AMR Research

Analytic applications will significantly increase in prominence. Historically, most of the attention in this market sector has focused on BI tools. Buyers increasingly demand information delivered to business users in the context of their role and job function within the organization.
Recent mergers and acquisitions will further force the standardization issue.
BI and PM will go pervasive. It's no longer an option to report and analyze metrics in isolation.

Wayne Eckerson and Cindi Howson

Director of research for The Data Warehousing Institute (TDWI), and founder of BIScorecard.com

As BI becomes more pervasive and is deployed on an inter-enterprise basis, vendors who currently offer only per-user pricing will also offer per-server pricing.
Near-real-time dashboards will be in demand. Users want fresher data faster to gain insight into core operations and business processes and make faster, better decisions.
Event-driven analytic platforms come of age, as there are many analytic applications that require real-time monitoring and process execution.
System and usage monitoring will take precedence. Monitoring capabilities, currently lacking in most BI platforms, will reach show-stopper status as the number of BI users in any given deployment escalates, and as BI becomes mission critical. IT will rely on niche vendors (such as Teleran and Appfluent) that currently provide better monitoring capabili¬ties than many BI vendors.
Mission-critical infrastructures supporting BI solutions will become much more industrial strength in the next 12 months.
A majority of enterprise BI customers will deploy BI solutions on clustered servers with failover and disaster recovery host sites.

James Kobielus

Principal analyst of data management at Washington, D.C.-based Current Analysis

BI is quickly becoming SOA's crown jewel. The past year has seen a rash of headline-grabbing mergers and acquisitions in the BI arena.
BI is evolving into tailored business analytics. Performance management (PM) is rapidly becoming a key competitive front in the BI wars.
BI going truly real-time through complex event processing. Complex event processing (CEP) promises business agility through continuous correlation and visualization of multiple event-streams.
BI tools will be increasingly bundled with data warehouse appliances. More and more data warehouse vendors will pre-integrate BI solutions -- their own and/or those of their partners -- into appliances. Increasingly, data warehouse/BI appliances will be tailored, packaged, and priced for many market segments and deployment scenarios.
BI goes collaborative. In 2008 and beyond, we expect to see the BI, collaboration, and knowledge management segments converge.

Blog Dictionary - Blog Bible for your ready reference...

2008-01-29T12:49:00.000+05:30

While creating / modifying / just reading blogs, you must have come across many terms, which confused you and you were desperate to know what they really mean...

So don't worry... Keeping in mind the great need to have a consolidated list of all the terms used in the blogging industry, I present to you "Blog Dictionary"...

Do not forget to send your comments / suggestions... If you think I have missed any term, please drop in a comment and I would include it!

Bookmark this post for your future needs...

Happy Reading!!

Autocasting: Automated form of podcasting that allows bloggers and blog readers to generate audio versions of text blogs from RSS feeds.	Audioblog: A blog where the posts consist mainly of voice recordings sent by mobile phone, sometimes with some short text message added for metadata purposes. (cf. podcasting)
Blaudience: The audience, or readership, of a blog.	Blath: A math oriented blog. A portmanteau of “math” and “blog”.
Blog Carnival: A blog article that contains links to other articles covering a specific topic. Most blog carnivals are hosted by a rotating list of frequent contributors to the carnival, and serve to both generate new posts by contributors and highlight new bloggers posting matter in that subject area.	Blistless or B-listless: When a blogger becomes listless or apathetic about posting. It is also indicative of what will happen to the blogger’s mailing list.
Blog client: (weblog client) is software to manage (post, edit) blogs from operating system with no need to launch a web browser. A typical blog client has an editor, a spell-checker and a few more options that simplify content creation and editing.	Blogger: Person who runs a blog. Also blogger.com, a popular blog hosting web site. Rarely: weblogger.
Bloggies: One of the most popular blog awards.	Blog Farm: A website constructed from a group of linked weblogs, typically with the main blog aggregating the total content/acting as a gateway.
Blog feed: The XML-based file in which the blog hosting software places a machine-readable version of the blog so that it may be “syndicated” for further distribution on the web. Formats such as RSS and Atom are used to structure the XML file.	Blog Hopping: To follow links from one blog entry to another, with related side-trips to various articles, sites, discussion forums, and more.
Bloglet: A small blog entry, usually one or two sentences long.	Blogoneer: A portmanteau of “blog” and “pioneer”, meaning a person who blogs with an expert or pioneering attitude.
Blogorrhea: A portmanteau of “blog” and “logorrhea”, meaning excessive and/or incoherent talkativeness in a weblog.	Blogosphere: All blogs, or the blogging community. Also called blogistan or, more rarely, blogspace.
Blogroll: A list of blogs. A blogger features a list of their favorite blogs in the sidebar of their blog.	Blog site: The web location (URL) of a blog, which may be either a dedicated domain, a sub-domain, or embedded within a web site.
Blogsite: Sometimes confused with a simple blog or blog site, but a blogsite is a web site which combines blog feeds from a variety of sources, as well as non-blog sources, and adds significant value over the raw blog feeds.	Blogsnob: A person who refuses to respond to comments on their blog from people outside their circle of friends.
Blogstorm: When a large amount of activity, information and opinion erupts around a particular subject or controversy in the blogosphere, it is sometimes called a blogstorm or blog swarm.	BlogThis: Pioneered by Blogger.com, BlogThis links on a blog allow the reader to automatically generate a blog entry based on the blog entry he/she is reading, and post to their blog.
Blooger: A blogger who exhibits adolescent tendencies and lacks basic social graces or good manners. A portmanteau of “blog” and “booger.”	Categories: This is a method of organizing blog entries by assigning each entry to a predetermined topic. Each topic (category) will link to a list of entries, all with related content.
Celeblog: A blog detailing the lives of movie stars, musicians, and other celebrities, much like tabloid magazines. They often feature embarrassing or revealing paparazzi photos.	Comment spam: Like e-mail spam. Robot “spambots” flood a blog with advertising in the form of bogus comments. A serious problem that requires bloggers and blog platforms to have tools to exclude some users or ban some addresses in comments.
Clix: A person’s circle of online communities	Dark Blog: A non-public blog (e.g. behind a firewall)
Desktop Blogging Client: An off-line blog management (posting, editing and archiving) tool.	Fisking: To rebut a blog entry in a line-by-line fashion.
GBCW: The “Good Bye Cruel World” diary is when a Kossack decides that Daily Kos has become too (fill in the blank) or isn’t nearly (fill in the blank) enough for him or her to continue visiting the site. General chaos ensues in the Comments as other Kossacks agree, disagree, and wish the diarist good luck or good riddance.	Instalanche: Sudden and possibly overwhelming increase in traffic to a site after being linked to by the Instapundit.
Hits: Number of users visited is often referred as hits. (website / blog hits).	HT: “Hat Tip” An acknowledgment of the source where you found the noteworthy item.
Koufax: An annual quasi-Liberal webblog award.	Kos Kid: A term for any one who posts, or reads regularly, the blog Daily Kos. Also known as “Kwazy Kos Kids” after the eccentric nature of some of the members.
Lazy Web: Making a suggestion to an internet community in the hopes that someone else will do the work.	Link Love: linking to a site or blog, usually unsolicited, that you like, enjoy, or find useful.
Linkroll: A list of recently-bookmarked links with brief descriptions, in the sidebar of a blog.	Momosphere: Term to encompass blogs written by mothers. A portmanteau of “mom” and “blogosphere”.
Natural Blogarithm: Used to describe the vibe or rhythm of the blogging community. A portmanteau of blog and natural logarithm.	PENUS (Potentially Exciting News Under Scrutiny): Use this when you have something big that you can’t wait to show to the blogosphere.
Permalink (Permanent link : The unique URL of a single post. Use this when you want to link to a post somewhere.	Phlog: Type of blog utilising the Gopher protocol instead of HTTP.
Ping: The alert in the TrackBack system that notifies the original poster of a blog post when someone else writes an entry concerning the original post.	Podcasting: Contraction of “iPod” and “broadcasting” (but not for iPods only). Posting audio and video material on a blog and its RSS feed, for digital players.
Post: An entry written and published to a blog.	RSS: Really Simple Syndication is a family of Web feed formats used to publish frequently updated content such as blog entries, news headlines or podcasts.
RSS aggregator: Software or online service allowing a blogger to read an RSS feed, especially the latest posts on their favourite blogs. Also called a reader or feedreader.	RSS feed: The file containing a blog’s latest posts. It is read by an RSS aggregator/reader and shows at once when a blog has been updated. It may contain only the title of the post, the title plus the first few lines of a post, or the entire post.
Scribosphere: Term to encompass blogs written by professional and aspiring screenwriters. A portmanteau of “scribe” and “blogosphere”.	Shart: An acronym; Stubborn, Hostile And Resentful Troll, the most feared kind. A blog that falls victim to such a troll is said to have been “sharted”. A blogger who vandalises their own page for sympathy is said to have sharted themselves.
Shocklog: Weblogs to produce shocking discussions by posting various shocking content.	Spam blog: A blog which is composed of spam. A Spam blog or “any blog whose creator doesn’t add any written value.”
Slashdotted: The Slashdot effect can hit blogs or other website, and is caused by a major website (usually Slashdot, but also Digg, Metafilter, Boing Boing, Instapundit and others) sending huge amounts of temporary traffic that often slow down the server.	Subscribe: The term used when a blogs feed is added to a feed reader like Bloglines or Google. Some blogging platforms have internal subscriptions, this allows readers to receive notification when there are new posts in a blog.
Svithe: A spiritually themed post on a blog not normally focused on spiritual matters.	Template: Templates, used on the “back end” of a blog that work together to handle information and present it on a blog.
Theme: CSS based code that when applied to the templates will result in visual element changes to the blog. The theme, as a whole, is also referred to as a blog design.	TrackBack: A system that allows a blogger to see who has seen the original post and has written another entry concerning it. The system works by sending a ‘ping’ between the blogs, and therefore providing the alert.
Troll: A commenter whose sole purpose is to attack the views expressed on a blog and incite a flamewar, for example, a liberal going to a conservative blog, or vice versa. The word trolling means literally ‘to fish’, ie. when the troll fishes for a clashback from the blog writer and/or pro commenters.	Vloggers: Those who share streaming or downloaded video content on the web often engage in voraging, scouring search engines and obscure websites to present a curated collection of videos that usually fall within a set theme or editorial perspective.
Vlog: A video blog; a vlogger is a video blogger (e.g. someone who records himself interviewing people of a certain field).	Vorage: A marriage between the words forage and video defined as “The act of foraging for video on the internet and sharing it with others.”

Submit your sites to the top-most web directory of the world wide web

2008-01-28T10:17:00.000+05:30

According to Wikipedia, a web directory is: "A directory on the World Wide Web. It specializes in linking to other web sites and categorizing those links." Having said that, there are many web (i.e. online) directories available on the Internet. Some are dedicated to one topic/category, while some are generic. So what differentiates one directory from other?? It is the list of sites that go under each category, that is of utmost importance. It shows how credible this directory is.

Site-Sift is not just another web directory. It is a directory with a style, it's the top web directory. Some categories like News, Science, and Reference have a host of excellent sites which provide rich information on that topic. The user can also add his/her own site to a particular category by following a very simple process. The user can as well suggest his/her own category, and after approval it would be instantly added to this directory. It also offers a unique functionality - Site Sift Listings. This easy to install & use script is meant for those techies who want to run their own directory. You may also access the valuable content on search engine optimization (SEO), web design, programming, etc. on the forums.

Site-sift has been there since 2004 and have established such a credibility that makes it stand ahead of its competition. I would strongly suggest everyone to visit it and add their sites in appropriate categories.

Now we have a Phone with a Screen that Folds!!!

2008-01-23T12:00:00.000+05:30

Netherlands: A Dutch company has squeezed a display the size of two business cards into a gadget no bigger than other mobile phones – by making a screen that folds up when not in use.

The 5-inch display of Polymer Vision’s ‘Readius’ is the world’s first that folds out when the user wants to read news, blogs or email and folds back together so that the device can fit into a pocket.Polymer Vision, spun out of Philips, whetted the appetite of gadget fans more than two years ago when it showed off a prototype. Now, the gadget is in production and will go head-to-head with Apple’s iPhone and Amazon’s ebook reader Kindle when it hits stores mid-2008.

“You get the large display of e-reading, the super battery life of e-reading, and the high-end connectivity ... and the form factor and weight of a mobile phone,” Karl McGoldrick, chief executive of Polymer Vision, said. “We are taking e-reading and bringing it to the mobile phone.” He would not say how much the Readius would cost, but said it would be comparable to a high-end mobile phone.

McGoldrick said his “dream device”, which the company planned to build within 5 years, was a mobile phone with an 8-inch colour display that could show video. Like Kindle, the Readius has a so-called electronic paper screen, which displays black-and-white text and images that look almost like they have been printed on paper.

The device – which will also just make phone calls – connects to the Internet using 3G mobile phone networks with high data speeds.Users will be able to set up their email accounts, news sources, podcasts, audio books and blog feeds at home on their computer, and the data is then pushed to the device whenever it is updated. McGoldrick said the company opted to use this approach – which rules out quickly browsing the Web on-the-go – because it was simpler in a mobile environment. “I see these devices with 50 buttons on them. We have eight,” he said, adding that the company plans to add a keypad to future models.

How about WEARING a GSM mobile phone on your WRIST!

2008-01-14T11:31:00.000+05:30

Its true, just check this out..

Its a cool GSM mobile phone in the form of a wrist watch and contains all the features that a normal GSM handset should have..

Its 1.3" 65K color TFT touchscreen display is probably the first thing to fascinate you, and like all othes GSM mobile phones, it also supporta music and video player (MP3 and MP4), a mild draw back is that it has a 60 MB internal memory and which is not extendable..

The GSM wrist watch has a tri-band GSM/GPRS support, a WAP browser, it supports MP3 and MIDI ringtones, and also has a sound recorder, calendar and a notes application with basic handwriting recognition. There is also e-book support, calculator, currency and unit converter, plus the little fellow can tell the time out loud.

Check out from ThinkGeek.com for more info regarding this wrist watch mobile phone..

Vertu Ascent Ti (Rating 7 / 10)

2008-01-11T17:21:00.000+05:30

Vertu, the makers of premium luxury handsets, recently launched the Ascent Ti in India.

Features:

The 'Ti' is indicative of its high performance titanium body, which is supported by leather, sapphire crystal and ceramic.

The device is equipped with a 3-megapixel camera with auto focus shutter, and boasts of the ‘Vertu Fortress’ feature that allows for remote synchronisation of a user’s contacts and calender to a Vertu server.

This is the first 3G Vertu phone that works anywhere in the world.

And yes, this phone is definitely not meant for those making their decision based on the price; but in case you are curious, the device retails at Rs 3,26,000.

For more information, visit www.vertu.com

My rating: 7 out of 10

Dedicated service for answers to crucial questions about taking care

2008-01-08T14:20:00.000+05:30

Time never stops for anyone. With age, as time passes, one contracts various diseases, some of them are minor while some critical. Timely help & proper care is the key to faster recovery in these situations. However, many of us could not find the right care / aid at the right time. Hence we happen to be the victim of the disease... It would be really great and helpful if one is aware of how to take better care of someone in a disease situation. This is exactly where today's resource hits bulls-eye! Bettercare.com is the one-stop resource for your needs on "caring" & how to take better care of anyone in almost any disease.

This is a dedicated service for anyone who requires answers to crucial questions about taking care. The site has been designed for easy navigation and operates on colour-coded channels. It provides excellent & scientifically accurate information as per following channels:

Care Information
Care Search
Care Discussion

It also presents real-time stories of real lives and how they benefited with help from bettercare.com's experts. This is MUST for all those looking for accurate tips on taking good care of oneself and one's beloved (truely a perfect care home). So check out bettercare.com now! This is an advertisement.

Sony Ericsson W910i (Rating: 8.5 / 10)

2008-01-08T01:12:00.000+05:30

Sony Ericsson recently launched its latest slider phone in the Walkman series, the W910i, in Indian markets for Rs 19,000 in two colours - red and black.

Features:

Wide 2.36-inch screen with 256k colours and a resolution of 320x240 pixels.
40MB of built-in memory, and can be expanded with the packaged 2GB Memory Stick Micro card.
Equipped with a 2-megapixel camera, the phone boasts of an auto-rotating display, which adjusts your display’s orientation according to how you hold the phone.
Proprietary Shake Control technology, which lets the user control his media player by flicking the W910i one way or the other, and also play games.
SenseMe feature which groups songs according to their tempo, creating custom playlists for different moods.
The 3G phone boasts of Bluetooth, A2DP, FM Radio and a talk time of up to nine hours.

I am giving a rating of 8.5 out of 10 to this phone. Share your opinions here (comment on this post), and help other users to choose the right phone!

New Scientific Trick to find out if your Girl is under Depression

2008-01-06T16:49:00.000+05:30

Can’t smell the roses? Maybe you are depressed. Smell too much like a rose yourself? Maybe you’ve got the same problem...

Scientists from Tel Aviv University recently linked depression to a biological mechanism that affects the olfactory glands. It might explain why some women, without realising it, wear too much perfume. Scientific research that supports this theory was published in the journal Arthritis and Rheumatism.

“Our scientific findings suggest that women who are depressed are also losing their sense of smell, and may overcompensate by using more perfume,” explains Prof Yehuda Shoenfeld, a member of the Sackler Faculty of Medicine at Tel Aviv University. “We also believe that depression has biological roots and may be an immune system response to certain physiological cues.”

Shoenfeld draws his conclusions from research on autoimmune diseases, focusing on conditions such as lupus, arthritis and rheumatism.

More than a feeling

Affecting millions around the world, depression accompanying lupus – Shoenfeld has found – is much more than an emotional reaction to being ill. It appears to have a biological cause. In lupus patients and those with other auto-immune diseases, a particle known as an ‘autoantibody’ attacks the person’s own immune system; appearing in the human body as an aberrant reaction to autoimmune diseases.

This particle “is a real novelty,” says Shoenfeld. “We have found that, when generated, it weakens a person’s sense of smell and can induce the feeling of depression.” Scientists today widely accept the fact that people with Alzheimer’s disease lose their sense of smell. Prof Shoenfeld’s research is the first that links depression to smell in lupus patients, however.

Shoenfeld also suggests that a standardised “smell test” could be used by doctors to help diagnose depression as well as autoimmune diseases.

It's Official Now - Indians used nanotechnology 2,000 years ago

2008-01-01T16:41:00.000+05:30

Visakhapatnam: Indian craftsmen and artisans used nanotechnology extensively about 2000 years ago to make weapons and long lasting cave paintings, a Nobel laureate of Chemistry said here.

However, the craftsmen were completely unaware that they were practising carbon nano-techniques that are the most sought after in the current age. Citing examples of the Damascus blades used in the famous sword of Tipu Sultan and paintings in the Ajanta, caves Nobel laureate Robert Curl Jr said studies have found existence of carbon nano particles in both.

On the sword, scientists found carbon nanotubes, which are cylindrical arrangements of carbon atoms first discovered in 1991 and now made in laboratories all over the world. “Our ancestors have been unwittingly using nanotechnology for over 2,000 years (in the Ajanta paintings) and carbon nano for about 500 years. Carbon nanotechnology is much older than carbon nanoscience,” Curl said at the ongoing 95th Indian Science Congress here.

The 74-year-old scientist from the US shared the 1996 Nobel Prize for Chemistry with Richard Smalley and Harold Kroto for the discovery of the carbon cage compounds, known as fullerenes.

Revolutionary Research - Did Graham Bell steal idea for the telephone?

2007-12-29T09:27:00.001+05:30

Boston: A new book claims to have definitive evidence of a long-suspected technological crime - that American inventor Alexander Graham Bell stole ideas for the telephone from a rival, Elisha Gray.

In The Telephone Gambit: Chasing Alexander Graham Bell's Secret, journalist Seth Shulman argues that Bell - aided by aggressive lawyers and a corrupt patent examiner - got an improper peek at patent documents Gray had filed, and that Bell was erroneously credited with filing first.

Shulman believes the smoking gun is Bell's lab notebook, which was restricted by his family until 1976, and later digitised and made available. The notebook details the false starts Bell encountered as he tried transmitting sound electromagnetically over a wire. Then, after a 12-day gap in 1876 - when Bell went to Washington to sort out patent questions about his work he suddenly began trying another method, which was the one that proved successful.

As Bell described that new approach, he sketched a diagram of a person speaking into a device. Gray's patents, which describe a similar technique, feature a very similar diagram. Shulman's book, due out in January, recounts other elements that have piqued researchers' suspicions.

For instance, Bell's transmitter design appears hastily written in the margin of his patent; Bell was nervous about demonstrating his device with Gray present; he also resisted testifying in an 1878 lawsuit probing this question; and Bell, as if ashamed, quickly distanced himself from the telephone monopoly bearing his name.

Now Scientists have developed Bots for babies!!!

2007-11-27T23:08:00.000+05:30

Scientists have built robots that take care of mobility limitations in toddlers with special needs, helping them with their mental and social development.

Babies driving robots. Sounds fururistic, but it is actually the focus research being conducted at US’ University of Delaware that could have significant impact on the cognitive development of infants with special needs.

Two researchers – James Galloway, associate professor of physical therapy, and Sunil Agrawal, a professor of mechanical engineering – outfitted kid-sized robots to provide mobility to children who are unable to fully explore the world on their own.

The work is important because much of infant development – both of the brain and behaviour – emerges from the thousands of experiences each day that arise as babies independently move and explore their world. Infants with Down Syndrome, cerebral palsy, autism and other disorders can have mobility limitations that disconnect them from the exploration that their peers enjoy.

“Currently, children are not offered power mobility, such as wheelchairs until they are 5-6 years of age, or older,” Galloway said. “This delay in mobility is particularly disturbing when you consider the rapid brain development during infancy.” When a baby starts crawling and walking, everything changes for everyone involved. “Now consider the negative impact of a half decade of immobility for an infant with already delayed development,” Galloway said.

“Given the need, you would think that the barriers to providing power mobility must be insurmountable. In fact, the primary barrier is safety.” Therapists and parents fear a young child in a power wheelchair might mistakenly go the wrong way, end up in a roadway and get hit by a car, he said. And therefore, a baby robot…

“Our first prototype mobile robot, called the UD1, was designed with smart technology that addresses each of these safety issues so that infants have the opportunity to be a part of the real world environment,” Agrawal said. The tiny robot is ringed with sensors that can determine the obstacle-free roaming space, and will either allow infants to bump obstacles or will take control from the infant and drive around the obstacle itself.

The next prototype, UD2, will build on the current technology to provide additional control to a parent, teacher or other supervising adult. “In this way, we can bind technology and human need together to remove barriers for movement in the environment,” Agrawal said. Galloway said no one had ever tried using robots with babies – early experiments show that seven-month-olds can learn to operate the simple joystick controls – and he is passionate about the possible benefits to children with special needs of even younger ages.

“Infants with limited mobility play in one location while their peers or siblings go off on distant adventures all over the room or playground,” Galloway said. “With the robot, they become the centre of attention because their classmates want to try it.” “We predict that this increased social interaction alone will provide an important boost in their cognitive development,” he added.

Agrawal – a robotics expert who had been developing a fleet of small, rounded robots that could work as a unit through a wireless network – first approached Galloway with the idea. “When I saw his little robots, it was easy to envision a baby driving one,” Galloway said. Initial jitters were calmed by the first test run of the UD1 at the UD Early Learning Centre. “It was a relief when we saw that the children quickly grasped the use of the joystick,” Agrawal said. “If they had just sat there or cried, it would have been back to the drawing board. But over time, we have seen them increase their time with the robot and the amount of distance they cover.

”The project will now move on to a second generation with more than one robot. The researchers believe the study will also expand the understanding of young infants’ learning capacity. They believe the training, robot design and new technology derived from the project will provide the foundation for the first generation of safe, smart vehicles for infants born with mobility impairments. They want the UD1 to be light enough for moms to stow in a car trunk, and robust enough for babies to use in the home, yard and playground, and maybe even the beach.

Researcher James Galloway can be reached at jacgallo@udel.edu, while Sunil Agrawal can be contacted at agrawal@me.udel.edu

It's Shocking! Record-busting scorpion was bigger than man

2007-11-22T22:58:00.000+05:30

Paris: This was a bug you couldn’t swat and definitely couldn’t step on. British and German researchers reported Wednesday that they had discovered the giant fossilised claw of an ancient sea scorpion that, hundreds of millions of years ago, would have been over 8 feet long - much taller than the average man, and almost as long as a car.

The find, in a quarry near the German town of Pruem, is the biggest specimen of arthropod ever found, they said in a study published by Biology Letters, a journal of Britain’s Royal Society.

“This is an amazing discovery,” said Simon Braddy, from the University of Bristol in England. “We have known for some time that the fossil record yields monster millipedes, super-sized scorpions, colossal cockroaches and jumbo dragonflies, but we never realised until now just how big some of these ancient creepy-crawlies were.”

The 18.4-inch claw was wielded by a species of sea scorpion called the Jaekelopterus rhenaniae, which lived between 460 and 255 million years ago.Using the claw as a benchmark, the scientists believe its owner was between 7.57 and 8.41 feet long.Chelicerae - wand-like appendages used to grasp food and bring it to the beast’s mandibles - would have added another 1.6 feet.“

This exceeds the previously-recorded maximum body length of any arthropod by almost half a metre, the chelicerae not included,” their study says.Despite their name, sea scorpions, known as eurypterids, were not true scorpions. Equipped with long, flat, jointed carapaces, they stalked warm shallow sea waters from around 500 million to 250 million years ago, eventually moving into fresh water.

Biologists delving into Earth’s distant past are divided as to how some arthropods were able to develop into such monstrous size.Some suggest that they benefit from an oxygen-rich atmosphere, while others argue that they had to get bigger in order to keep up with the super-sizing of their likely prey, the early armoured fish.

“There is no simple single explanation,” said Braddy. “It is likely that some ancient arthropods were big because there was little competition from the vertebrates, as we see today. If the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere increased suddenly, it doesn’t mean all the bugs would get bigger."

Quick test for deadly disease - Chikungunya - developed by the Indians!

2007-11-12T08:18:00.000+05:30

Thiruvananthapuram: An outbreak of the chikungunya virus in Kerala has prompted researchers to develop a new diagnostic test to distinguish chikungunya from dengue viruses.

The kit works as early as the second day of symptoms, whereas conventional tests can only detect antibodies a week after infection.Distinguishing between the two diseases is difficult as both have initial symptoms of fever and joint pains, and both are spread by the Aedes aegypti mosquito.

The test uses polymerase chain reaction (PCR) methods that rapidly produce thousands of copies of a gene. It contains two sets of gene probes – one common to all four types of dengue, and another specific to chikungunya. This is the first test that detects dengue and chikungunya viruses at once, say scientists at the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB).

The scientists tested 120 patients’ blood samples and accurately picked out four cases of dengue and the remaining chikungunya cases, says Easwaran Sreekumar, a researcher at RGCB’s Department of Molecular Microbiology.

Now wear your battery on your sleeve!

2007-11-06T20:13:00.000+05:30

Imagine being able to use electronic devices by simply plugging them in to your clothing. If some scientists in Australia have their way, that’s just what you’ll be doing in the future.

--- Picture: An illustration of the Flexible Integrated Energy Device (FIED) showing the flexible batteries ---

Researchers from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) are developing a new technology called the ‘Flexible Integrated Energy Device’ (FIED) that could have a range of applications, from military to medical.

Principal research scientist with CSIRO’s Energy Technology Division, Dr Adam Best, said the technology would be incorporated into a piece of clothing and would comprise three components: Advanced, conductive fabrics as part of the battery; a vibration energy harvesting device; and a rectifier/power management system to power electronic equipment.“It will look like an ordinary garment, but will have extraordinary capabilities,” Best said. “As the person wearing the garment moves, the vibrations they create can be harvested and channelled into recharging the battery or powering plug-in electronic device or devices.”

“We have combined the areas of energy harvesting, energy storage and advanced fibre development to create the integrated battery technology,” he added. The device will be used to store and provide energy over a continuous period of time. It can be charged by plugging into an electrical power point or through vibration energy harvesting.

“This kind of technology has important applications for soldiers in the field and could mean they no longer need to carry heavy batteries,” Dr Best said. “Essentially, they’d be wearing the battery,” he said. There are a range of other civilian applications for the FIED, including communication devices such as radios and mobile phones, small electronic devices including MP3 players, and sports wear.

The researchers say it could also be used in medical devices such as vital sign monitoring systems.

Best in class Hemorrhoids treatment products review site launched!

2007-11-02T16:56:00.000+05:30

Google defines Hemorrhoids as: these are naturally occurring veins in the anal area that may become enlarged and produce pain, swelling or bleeding. For many patients, following a high fiber diet, drinking more fluids and other simple measures are all that is required to relieve symptoms. Widening of the veins in the anus causing itchy discomfort, pain, and bleeding. When hemorrhoids bleed it may be confused with bleeding due to other causes such as colon cancer! It is estimated that more than 10.4 million people in the USA are affected by Hemorrhoids (Source: Digestive diseases in the US: Epidemiology and Impact – NIH Publication No. 94-1447, NIDDK, 1994).

Now one must be worried about where to find most reliable information / guides on Hemorrhoids treatment. Naturally Internet. But Internet would provide you millions of search results which will take you ages to scroll through and boil down to the most reliable products. So you should turn on to an expert and there is no better expert in Hemorrhoids Treatment than TrustSource.org! This incredible site has reviews of best-in-class products for Hemorrhoids treatment. Note than the products listed on TrustSource have been rigorously evaluated for the claims they make. It also provides with their own customer reviews and ranking. The motive of all this exercise is to make it easy for you, "the consumer" to view which product gives the best all around benefits for your health and the best overall value.

So don’t waste your time in running around for best-in-class guide for hemorrhoids treatment – trust TrsuSource.org! This is an advertisement!

Latest Technology To Try Your Luck Online - TopUSAOnlineCasinos

2007-10-30T18:08:00.001+05:30

I am an amateur in the world of casinos. However, I think casinos are like black boxes, the more you try to find out about them, the more fascinating they become. And online casinos are no different. In fact, they are more mesmerizing and tempting. However, have you ever wondered which casino is better than others? Would you prefer the casino next door or a famous and reputed casino? How do you come to know which one is better?

Ever heard of Las Vegas - the city of fortune? This city itself has, it is estimated that, more number of casinos than in any other country! And no wonder there are casinos in every nook & corner (or website in case of online casinos), which tempt you to try your fortune with them, and eventually lose it to them! It becomes extremely important that you know the casino you'd like to play at. And what can be a better resource than www.topusaonlinecasinos.com for all your desires to know about online casinos in the USA! It is a completely FREE guide to assist players (US only) find safe and reputed online gambling destinations. The casinos are ranked by professional poker and blackjack players, based on various parameters including bonus size, payout rate, customer support, number of games, deposit options, graphics and ease of use.

This site provides top-10 list of best online casinos and is updated everyday! The reviewers present their detailed observations of a particular casino, analyze it thoroughly based on certain parameters and finally rate it on a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being worst, 10 being best). You will be presented with a snapshot of every casino on the homepage. However, you can also check out detailed review of the casino. And if you like a particular casino, go ahead and download it on your machine! It's as simple as 1..2..3!! Besides reviews of online casinos, it also has reviews of online poker rooms and online sportsbook, if you desire. All those who want to try their luck online, just logon to this site, check out best casinos and play!! This is an advertisement.

Robust backbone of a successful ecommerce solution - Ashop Shopping Cart

2007-10-24T23:37:00.000+05:30

In this era where almost every other business is going online (i.e. ecommerce), is your business ready for the ecommerce boom? Not yet? Fine - get ready. This is the right time to do so, as you will still be able to join the game when it is hot! However, hold your horses and do not act in haste. There are hundreds of ecommerce software solutions available in the market. Some of them are good, some are bad. So you need to be extremely careful in choosing the ecommerce software for your business, as you are toying with money, and no one likes to be misguided / taken for a ride.

As all of you are aware of, a shopping cart is the backbone of an ecommerce solution. So why settle for anything less when you can get an award winning shopping cart software, without any hassles! Because through this revolutionary software, your entire website & the online business is managed only from one centralized & complete software - ASHOP ecommerce software. It also provides a turn-key ecommerce solution with its revolutionary online store-building software. It proudly boasts of one of the easiest solutions for web based administration with world-class features that allow the merchant to build an online store capable of competing with the webs most powerful sites!

Ashop ecommerce shopping cart software is integrated (in collaboration) with all leading banks, financial gateways, and third party financial processors (to the likes of Visa, Mastercard, American Express, etc). It's extremely easy to deploy & operate, with exclusive world-class customer support, huge inventory of great web designs / layouts to pick up from, and of course it is very affordable! So, stop breaking your head and grab a copy of ASHOP now! This is an advertisement and you'll get extra satisfaction when you buy through it!

Score over Bad Luck with revolutionary concept of BadCreditOffers

2007-10-23T16:28:00.000+05:30

In this turbulent time when stock markets are so volatile, that you can expect them to fluctuate faster than you breathe, I am sure you would be having tough time in managing your finances. While some of you must have made a future out of this turbulence, others may not be that lucky and would have lost hundreds of thousands of bucks... There is only one thing you need in this time - fresh dose of some quick bucks to cover your losses.

Here is the free resource for "such" people looking out for quick bucks to cover up their monetary losses & bad credit and to immediately gain financial stability - BadCreditOffers.com! It is not just other compilation of some great credit offers, but it does allow the user to compare the offers (with those available elsewhere in the market). Then the user makes informed decision to choose the one which is most suitable to him/her. And that's precisely where BadCreditOffers scores over others.

It provides credit cover for instruments under various categories including credit cards, home loans, auto loans, personal lonas, etc. It also provides detailed analysis of customer's credit report. So guys, what are you waiting for? Guys, lady luck favours only lucky - get lucky, choose BadCreditOffers now! Note that this is a paid post.

Lethal Weapon to attract Lady Luck

2007-10-23T14:58:00.000+05:30

They say "Lady Luck Favours Only Lucky People"... If you want to try your luck online, of course for a very little cost, then you have come to the right resource - Pro360.com - online casino at your fingertips! This fantastic resource provides you very reliable and honest reviews about hundreds of online casinos. Luck does not care whether you speak English, Espanol, Japanese, or for that matter any other language; it just bestows prosperity. And so is this stupendous betting site! And luck will favour you only when you are making the right moves at the right place at the right time. And that's precisely where Pro360 will be your lethal weapon...

Pro360 provides reviews of best of the online casinos on many factors like the gaming experience, bonus offered, certificates, rating by editor, rating by users / players, and trust score (which indicates how reliable this casino is). You would be provided with the snapshot of every casino. If any casino interests you, you can go through the detailed review and then make your informed decision. Once you have made up your mind, simply click on the link to that casino and try your luck!!

And besides all this, it also provides honest reviews about specific games like blackjack, video poker, roulette, baccarat, bingo, sports betting etc. Note that this is an advertisement and you would not be charged to read this! :)

The Age of Software Powered Communications, by Bill Gates

2007-10-17T09:13:00.001+05:30

Following is an excellent message from none other than Bill Gates, on the topic of “Age of Software Powered Communications”!

If you've been in the work force for 20 years or more, you can remember a time when the pace of business-and life in general-was quite a bit slower than it is today. Back then we read newspapers and magazines and watched the network news to stay informed. Faxes were just becoming a common way to share written business information. A phone call might elicit a busy signal or no one would answer at all. In those days, no one expected to send documents to coworkers on the other side of the globe instantly, collaborate in real-time with colleagues in distant cities, or share photographs the very day they were taken.

These and similar advances have delivered remarkable results. The ability to access and share information instantly and communicate in ways that transcend the boundaries of time and distance has given rise to an era of unprecedented productivity and innovation that has created new economic opportunities for hundreds of millions of people around the world and paved the way for global economic growth that is unparalleled in human history.

But few people would argue that there is no room for improvement. Although we have once-unimaginable access to people and information, we struggle today to keep track of emails and phone calls across multiple inboxes, devices, and phone numbers; to remember a growing number of passwords; and to synchronize contacts, appointments, and data between desktop PCs and mobile devices. The fact is that the proliferation of communications options has become a burden that often makes it more difficult to reach people than it used to be, rather than easier.

In 2006, I wrote about how unified communications innovations were already beginning to transform the way we communicate at work. Because you are a subscriber to executive emails from Microsoft, I want to provide you with an update on the progress we're making toward achieving our vision for unified communications. I also want to share my thoughts on how rapid advances in hardware, networks, and the software that powers them are laying the foundation for groundbreaking innovations in communications technology. These innovations will revolutionize the way we share information and experiences with the people who are important to us at work and at home, and help make it possible to put the power of digital technology in the hands of billions of people around the globe who have yet to reap the benefits of the knowledge economy.

Moving Beyond Disconnected Communications

A fundamental reason that communicating is still so complex is the fact that the way we communicate is still bound by devices. In the office, we use a work phone with one number. Then we ask people to call us back on a mobile device using another number when we are on the go, or reach us on our home phone with yet another number. And we have different identities and passwords for our work and home email accounts, and for instant messaging.

This will change in the very near future. As more and more of our communications and entertainment is transmitted over the Internet thanks to email, instant messaging, video conferencing, and the emergence of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), Internet Protocol Television (IPTV), and other protocols, a new wave of software-driven innovations will eliminate the boundaries between the various modes of communications we use throughout the day. Soon, you'll have a single identity that spans all of the ways people can reach you, and you'll be able to move a conversation seamlessly between voice, text, and video and from one device to another as your location and information sharing needs change. You'll also have more control over how you can be reached and by whom: when you are busy, the software on the device at hand will know whether you can be interrupted, based on what you are doing and who is trying to reach you.

One of the best examples of how communication is changing-and how technology is integrating the way people share experiences across devices-starts in the world of video games. With Xbox Live, the online gaming and entertainment network for Xbox 360, people can play games with friends who are in distant locations. Xbox Live also provides a comprehensive range of communications options including video chat and instant messaging, as well as text, voice, and picture messaging, all seamlessly integrated into the video game experience. With more than 7 million subscribers, Xbox Live is quickly redefining the way people access entertainment of all kinds. And it is enabling them to share experiences with each other in real time without being constrained by the limits of location.

But that's just the start. We recently launched Games for Windows - Live, which links Xbox 360 gamers with the millions of people who play games on their PCs. Now, Windows and Xbox 360 video game players can compete and communicate with each other without being constrained by the limits of devices.

The communications expectations that young people-and anybody else who has adopted the latest digital communications tools-bring to the workplace are already changing how we do business. To them, the desk phone is an anachronism that lacks the flexibility and range of capabilities that their mobile device can provide. A generation that grew up on text messaging is driving the rapid adoption of instant messaging as a standard business communications tool. Accustomed to forming ad hoc virtual communities, they want tools that facilitate the creation of virtual workgroups. Used to collecting and storing information online, they look for team Web sites, Wikis, and other digital ways to create and share information.

All of these expectations are prompting companies to adapt by implementing new communications strategies and technologies. Those that do are already seeing a wide range of benefits including significant cost savings and important productivity gains. At Microsoft, for example, we replaced our old voice mail system with Exchange Server 2007 unified messaging, a move that is saving the company $5 million annually by lowering hardware and maintenance costs. More importantly, Exchange Server 2007 provides a software solution that enables integration of traditional telephone infrastructure and VoIP with corporate messaging, calendaring, and directories. This convergence of telephony and messaging increases employee productivity and decreases the administrative workload for IT professionals.

The Next Wave of Communications Technologies

Today in San Francisco, Microsoft is launching the next wave of enterprise VoIP and unified communications products for business. Among the products we'll launch are Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 and Microsoft Office Communicator 2007, which bring together a broad range of communications options including voice, instant messaging, and video into a single, consistent experience. Office Communications Server 2007 and Office Communicator make it easier for employees to communicate and collaborate with each other in real-time by letting them see at a glance if the people they want to contact are available. They will also be able to initiate a conversation by email, voice, video, or instant messaging from within Microsoft Office system applications, making communication and collaboration an integral part of day-to-day work processes, rather than an interruption. In addition, when they use the new version of Office Communicator Mobile that is launching today, they! will be able to stay connected using Windows Mobile-powered devices.

We're also announcing the availability of Microsoft RoundTable, an advanced video and VoIP conferencing device that provides a 360-degree view of a meeting room, along with wideband audio and video that tracks the flow of conversation between multiple speakers. With RoundTable and Office Live Meeting or Office Communications Server, meeting participants in different locations will be able to converse and share information as if they were in the same room. RoundTable also enables companies to record meetings for later use.

All of these products are important steps toward achieving our long-term vision for streamlined, integrated communications that will enable people to be more productive, more creative, and to stay in touch more easily without being limited by the device they have at hand or the network they are connected to.

A Foundation for Future Innovation

It would be hard to overstate the magnitude of the changes that are coming. Standardized, software-powered communications technologies will be the catalyst for the convergence of voice, video, text, applications, information, and transactions, making it possible to create a seamless communications continuum that extends across people's work and home lives. This will provide the foundation for new products, services, and capabilities that will change the world in profound and often unexpected ways.

This will happen not only in developed countries where access to digital technology is the norm, but also in emerging economies around the world. Currently, about 1 billion of us have a PC, just a fraction of the world's 6 billion people. As we make technology more accessible and simpler to use-often in the form of affordable mobile devices-we can extend new social and economic opportunities to hundreds of millions of people who have never been able to participate in the global knowledge economy. And as more and more of the world's people are empowered to use their ideas, talents, and hard work to the fullest, the results will be new innovations that make everyone's lives richer, more productive, and more fulfilling.

– Bill Gates

Quick bucks in just a few clicks through CashAdvance Payday Loans

2007-10-13T19:12:00.000+05:30

In this highly technological world, anything can happen - things which you never imagined, which you never even thought of in your wildest dreams... Technology surely helps the mankind - it eases the life. But it can endager the lives also... The most disastrous things happen at the most unexpected times. Sometimes, there are certain situations when you are in dire need of urgent monetary help to deal with the difficult situations. And only during such instances you would find that the bank employees are on strike, or there is a technological failure and the ATM machines in your area are not working, or simply no one is willing to lend you money. At any stage during your life, if you need quick and urgent money to make up for (at least some of) your losses, turn to only one highly reliable source - CashAdvance brought to you by Payday Loans.

To give you a background, payday loans are nothing but the short-term, small, and unsecured personal loans, which DO NOT require any background / credit checks. To avail one, you just need to logon to their website or enter any of their stores; submit a request for payday loan, ranging between $100 and $1500; fill up one simple form (mentioning your employment status, minimum income, active savings / current account number) and that's it... you're done! The payday loan term generally ranges from 4 to 30 days (which can be conviniently decided by the borrower as per his/her salary day). In some cases, you need to pay a flat rate (despite the loan tenure), while in some other cases, different interest rates for different tenures would be charged - in either case, the charges are very low... You can visit any of their shops to find out the exact charges applicable to you. Some of its salient features are:

Fast processing
Applying anonymously from the public
Completing the application in the privacy of your own home
No difficult handwriting that may confuse the lender
Have time to find ALL the information you need at home
Cut the long queues

There are many online payday loan lenders available on this site, some of them are quite familiar household names like Womens Pay Day Advance and InstantPayment Enrolment Pay Day Loans. So, go ahead and apply for an online payday loan and get a cash advance now!

Make Billions Online with Ashop Ecommerce Software

2007-10-13T17:27:00.000+05:30

With growing familiarity and acceptance of the Internet, soon began the new trend called Internet Commerce, or eCommerce as it is widely known. In early 2002, there were very few ecommerce players and users were quite relectunt to disclose their financial information online, thanks to the ignorance and fear of risk of misuse. Soon it stated changing and now more & more trade happens online. So what's the crucial reason of such a gigantic (positive) change in people's mindsets? After a prolonged research and analysis, I found that it has to do a lot with the way ecommerce is being conducted. In simple words, the most crucial part of ecommerce's success is - Shopping Cart.

In a basic definition, Shopping Cart is nothing but a series of scripts that keep track of items a visitor picks to buy from a site until s/he proceed to the "checkout". A popular misconception is that shopping carts handle the whole financial transaction, but they only really act as a front end which passes information via a secure connection (another service) to a payment gateway - a separate service altogether. The good news is that there are literally hundreds of shopping cart packages (free & licensed) available online. The bad news is that there are very few to bank upon! Too many choices make it very difficult to make a decision - especially when all companies claim to have the superior product. Hold on... Here's the master of the trade - Ashop shopping cart software - a leading US provider of hosted shopping cart software.

It's the market leader in ecommerce software, with lots of awards to its credit. A turn-key ecommerce solution for the future... a secure & web based solution for setting up your online business within seconds! With no software to install during any stage of setting up your customized shopping cart, you can build and manage an online store within just a few clicks!! And that too, from any computer anywhere in the world with only Internet connection. I can't stop myself to mention some of its top-class features:

Secure hosting,
99.8% guaranteed uptime,
Daily backups,
Free SSL certificate,
Inbuilt web optimization,
Comprehensive statistic reports to help you analyze in greater details,
Free tech support, and
Free upgrades for life

So guys, what are you waiting for? Grab Ashop, create your own world online and make billions...

Researchers find why donated blood goes bad!

2007-10-10T17:43:00.000+05:30

Chicago: Donated blood quickly loses some of its life-saving properties as an important gas dissipates, US researchers said on Monday, in a finding that explains why many patients fare poorly after blood transfusions.

Researchers at Duke University Medical Centre found that nitric oxide in red blood cells is key to transferring oxygen in the blood to tissues. This gas appears to break down almost immediately after red blood cells leave the body, leaving much of the blood stored in blood banks impaired, said Duke’s Dr Jonathan Stamler in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

“If you don’t have nitric oxide in there, you can’t get oxygen into the tissues,” he said. But if you restore this gas, banked blood appears to regain this ability, Stamler said. “The medical community, for the past few years, has been struggling with this issue of blood not being quite as good as we’d hoped,” he said.

He noted that many studies have shown patients who receive blood transfusions have higher incidents of heart attacks, heart failure, stroke and even death. “This is not a new issue. It has been a long struggle,” he said. While researchers had understood that banked blood is not the same as the blood in the body, the exact difference was not well understood.

“I think we have a good explanation and I think we have a solution,” Stamler said. He measured levels of nitric oxide in stored human blood obtained from a commercial supplier and found that the levels started dropping quickly. But if the nitric oxide was restored at any point, the red blood cells were again able to open blood vessels and deliver oxygen to tissues, he said. He tested the blood with added nitric oxide both in the lab and in dogs, and found the flow was restored.

Led by Dr Timothy McMahon, a second team at Duke University - whose study appears in the same journal - documented the depletion of nitric oxide in banked blood. “We were surprised at how quickly the blood changes,” he said. “We saw clear indications of nitric oxide depletion within three hours.” Both researchers called for clinical trials to study exactly who might benefit from banked blood.

They said researchers should study ways to safely add nitric oxide back into banked blood to see how this might improve its effectiveness. “In principle, we now have a solution to the nitric oxide problem. But it needs to be proven in a clinical trial,” Stamler said.

New "clutter detector" software to cut confusion

2007-09-26T17:00:00.000+05:30

The danger of clutter - especially on a visual screen - is that it causes confusion that affects how well we perform tasks. To that end, visual clutter is a challenge for fighter pilots picking out a target, for people seeking important information in a user interface, and for Web site and map designers, among others.

Now, a team of scientists at the US-based Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has identified a way to measure visual clutter. Their research, published in the August issue of Journal of Vision, could lead to more user-friendly displays and maps, as well as tips for designers seeking to add an attention-grabbing element to a display. “We lack a clear understanding of what clutter is: what features, attributes and factors are relevant, why it presents a problem and how to identify it,” said lead author Ruth Rosenholtz.

The fact that one person’s clutter is the next person’s organised workspace makes it hard to come up with a universal measure of clutter. Rosenholtz and colleagues modelled what makes items in a display harder or easier to pick out. They used this model, which incorporates data on colour, contrast and orientation, to come up with a software tool to measure visual clutter.

To be useful, such a tool has to capture the effect of clutter on performance. In their paper, Rosenholtz and her colleagues Yuanzhen Li and Lisa Nakano tested the influence of clutter on searching for a symbol in a map, like an arrow indicating “you are here.” They found good correlation between the time it takes to find a symbol in a map and the amount of clutter according to their measure.

In earlier work, they also showed that their clutter detector correlates well with human subjective judgments of clutter. In that case, the team asked 20 people to rank 25 maps of the United States and the city of San Francisco in order from most cluttered to least cluttered. The maps ranged from a grey and green map of the country to city maps overlaid with lines, words and colours.

Although there was a fair bit of disagreement among the people being tested about what constituted clutter, when the researchers compared results from their clutter measure to those of their human subjects, they found a good correlation. Rosenholtz next plans to offer this visual clutter tool, as well as other tools developed in her lab, to designers as part of a user study. She hopes to learn what insights designers get from knowledge of how a user will likely perceive their designs, and how best to present this information to the designers.

Warning! Unlocking iPhone can damage device

2007-09-26T15:54:00.000+05:30

San Francisco: Apple Inc. said on Monday (Sept 24) that programs available on the Internet that allow the iPhone to be used with other service providers besides US’ AT&T’s network can irreparably damage the device.

Apple, which also makes the iMac computer and the iPod digital music player, said once an Apple-supplied software update is installed on the iPhone, it “will likely result in the modified iPhone becoming permanently inoperable.” “We are not doing anything proactively to disable iPhones that have been hacked or unlocked,” said Phil Schiller, Apple’s head of worldwide product marketing.

The California-based company also said an iPhone that fails to work because of the installation of the unlocking software is not covered under the warranty. Apple plans to release the next iPhone software update later this week, the company said in a statement. “Apple strongly discourages users from installing unauthorised unlocking programs on their iPhones,” the company said.

There are a number of unlocking software programs on the Internet, and, at least two of them, iUnlock and Anysim, can cause the iPhone to stop working once its software is updated, Schiller said. “There may be others, but we don’t know all of them,” he added.

Now combine Mobile, PC Phone, Voicemail, PBX, and Internet Fax in one - RingCentral

2007-09-21T17:28:00.000+05:30

Once upon a time there were very few telephone lines and a very few privileged people had access to it and could actually afford it. Later came mobile phones and telecommunication got instant boost! With the ever-evolving Internet, it became more approachable and affordable. Nowadays, more and more business throng on an effective customer support system and call centers (in any form) are one of the most essential ingredients of a successful business.

A call center will prosper if it appeals to consumers and there is not better way than to have a toll-free number! However, getting a dedicated toll-free number for yourself is quite a process, typically called “red tape” – lots of paper work, government approvals and what not.

How about getting your own toll-free number with just a few clicks? I am not joking! Seriously!! Boost your business image and accessibility immediately with a toll free number. The toll free number gives a nationwide, big business image and allows customers to call you for free, making it more likely that they’ll call. It’s all made possible by RingCentral – a revolutionary concept in online telephony. RingCentral’s technology receives the call to the toll free number and distributes it to the telephones you select, in the manner you configure through easy set up tools. You can direct all calls to a single telephone, such as your home phone, all the time and have RingCentral do nothing else, or you can take advantage of RingCentral’s flexible and powerful Virtual PBX to create a phone answering and routing system equal to that of a Fortune 500 company.

RingCentral’s easy sign up steps let you pick your number before you sign up. If you already have a toll free number, RingCentral can work with that, too. However, when you set up your toll free number, RingCentral will keep track of all your calls in your Call Log and give you real-time call management through our exclusive Call Controller software and through advanced call screening abilities. Activated immediately, your toll free number comes with RingCentral’s complete line of advanced telephone and fax features that give you all the functions of an expensive PBX without the expense.

Here I am listing some of the key features of RingCentral – Try it free today:

· Choose an 800, 888, 877, 866 or vanity number. You can choose a number that works best for you, including a vanity number. RingCentral’s easy sign up process lets you pick a number before you complete your registration, to ensure you get what you want.

· Rates as low as 3.9¢/min - no double billing RingCentral will not double charge for domestic forwarded calls. Some competitors advertise 2.9¢/min rate but actually charge 5.8¢ for a 1-minute conversation because they charge for both ends of the call: the incoming call and your answering time. At RingCentral, there are no hidden charges.

· Route calls to any phone worldwide. You can route callers to your business, home, mobile or any other phone worldwide.

· Have your toll free number appear as your caller ID. RingCentral’s exclusive RingOut click-to-call feature allows you to place calls with a click of a mouse. You can even use your toll free number as your caller ID.

· Additional benefits: Your toll free number comes with an online call manager to react to calls in real-time plus a click-to-call component and an ability to automatically route callers based on who they are and when they're calling. You also get custom music on hold, a dial-by-name directory, an award-winning fax service and more. You can use your toll free number alone or with multiple extensions and an auto-attendant to form a Virtual PBX.

Interested? Try it free today!

Google Search got a new competitor - PowerSet

2007-09-19T09:12:00.001+05:30

There’s no business like search business. And this is precisely why a US-based start-up called Powerset is pursuing a particularly challenging goal: It’s aiming to outshine Internet’s search giants, Google, with its own new search software.

After nearly two years of hushed development, the San Francisco-based company is finally providing a peek at a “natural-language” technology that is supposed to make it easier to communicate with search engines.

The algorithms in Powerset are programmed to understand search requests submitted in plain English, a change from the “keyword” system used by Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and the owners of the other leading engines.

The distinction means Web surfers will theoretically be able to get more meaningful results by typing more precise search requests in the form of straightforward questions like “What did Steve Jobs say about Apple?” instead of entering an ungrammatical mishmash like “Apple Steve Jobs said.”

Barney Pell, Powerset’s co-founder and chief executive, likens the hit-and-miss-process of searching with keywords to talking to a 2-year-old. “In one sense, you are happy you can talk to it at all, but you still really want it to grow up so you can hold a real conversation,” he said.

This isn’t the first time a search engine has tried to understand simple English, but Powerset has drawn more attention because its natural-language technology is being licensed from the Palo Alto Research Centre. Better known as PARC, the Xerox Corp subsidiary is renowned for hatching breakthroughs – such as the computer mouse and the graphical interface for personal computers – that were later commercialised by other companies.

“We have the best natural-language search technology that has ever been developed,” Pell, an artificial intelligence expert, said. Backed by $12.5 million in venture capital, Powerset is gradually opening its testing ground, dubbed Powerlabs, to 16,000 people who signed up to get an early glimpse at the search engine.

The start-up is so confident that its methods are superior to Google that Powerlabs will present some answers alongside what its rival returns when asked the same questions. Powerset is requiring its users to vote on which engine produced better results before they are allowed to enter another search request.

Search Antecedents

Other search engines have previously promised to understand conversational English with little success. Ask Jeeves was founded in the 1990s on the premise that Internet search requests should be presented as simple questions. It frustrated users with too many irrelevant answers.

After nearly failing in the dot-com bust, the company embraced the keyword approach to search and abandoned its mascot – a cartoon butler named Jeeves – to distance itself from the days it relied on natural-language algorithms. It is now known simply as Ask.com.

Industry analyst Charlene Li of Forrester Research is sceptical about Powerset’s prospects, too. She doubts Powerset will be able to comprehend all the different ways that people seeking the same type of information can phrase their questions.

For instance, the questions “What caused the collapse of Enron?” and “What caused the downfall of Enron?” typically produce different search results even though they are essentially asking the same thing, Li said. That’s because computers have trouble recognising synonyms and other subtle nuances in language. “Understanding the meaning of many words is difficult without people involved,” she said.

HP Pavilion dv9502tx: An Entertainment Powerhouse

2007-09-17T16:56:00.000+05:30

With the all-new dv9500 series, Hewlett-Packard
continues to take entertainment seriously while designing its laptops.

Successor to the dv9000 series, Hp now decides to play smart.

Just like the dv9000 series, this one also comes with a 17-inch wide screen display. With AMD Turion™ 64 X2, Nvidia dedicated graphic memory and 1GB DDR2 RAM, the dv9500 is a good entertainment laptop especially considering its affordable price of Rs 50,000. But, what makes it so affordable?

Rating: 6.5/10

Pros: An entertainment powerhouse with a beautiful design; bright crisp display; complete set of audio visual controls, long battery life, touch pad on/off button; fingerprint reader; excellent software.

Cons: Heavy weight for everyday use; display resolution could have been much higher; the dedicated graphic memory of just 128 MB is way too less for professional use; internal hard disk memory has been decreased in comparison to the dv9000 series.

Bottom line: The Hp pavilion dv9502tx is good for home users who don't want to spend a fortune on a large entertainment notebook. Professionals beware, it's a tempting deal!

Unravelling the secrets of the Dead Sea Scrolls

2007-09-17T16:48:00.000+05:30

For centuries, the Dead Sea Scrolls remained unread, keeping their secrets about the earliest years of Christianity. Even after their discovery in caves by the Dead Sea in 1947, many scrolls were too brittle to be read without destroying them.

Now research at the School of Optometry and Vision Sciences at the UK-based University of Cardiff could provide the key to unlocking those secrets. The Head of School, Professor Tim Wess, has been working with Diamond Light Source – a new scientific facility in Oxfordshire, UK – and developed techniques to read the written words without unrolling the fragile documents.

The Diamond machine is the size of five football pitches and fires electrons at close to the speed of light to generate what is known as synchrotron light, in the form of X-rays, ultraviolet and infrared beams. The X-rays generated can be 100 billion times brighter than a standard laboratory X-ray tube.

Professor Wess and his team are now working on the full scale imaging and “virtual unravelling” of documents too fragile to unroll. They will also use the Diamond synchrotron to examine the nanoscopic structure of parchments such as the Dead Sea Scrolls, which are at risk of degrading to gelatine over the centuries. They hope to develop a simple test to determine the proportion of gelatine in a historical sample.

Professor Wess said: “In addition to identifying ways to prevent the loss of important records from our past, our research aims to understand how we might recover documents damaged in natural disasters across the ages – such as the fire at the Library of Alexandria, or more recently, flooding in the Czech Republic, Italy and Poland, which could leave such archives lost forever.”

New Technology - Birth by Proxy ??!!!

2007-09-16T12:40:00.000+05:30

In path-breaking science, researchers have engineered a salmon to reproduce trout; conservationists laud the technology, saying it will help endangered species...

Papa salmon plus mama salmon equals... baby trout? Japanese researchers have put a new spin on surrogate parenting as they engineered one fish species to produce another, in a quest to preserve endangered fish.

Taking it from there, scientists in the US begin the next big step. Next month, they will try to produce a type of salmon highly endangered in its Idaho state: the sockeye – this time using more plentiful trout as surrogate parents.

The new method is “one of the best things that has happened in a long time in bringing something new into conservation biology,” said University of Idaho zoology professor Joseph Cloud, who is leading the US government-funded sockeye project. The Tokyo University inventors, in a method they call “surrogate broodstocking,” injected newlyhatched but sterile Asian masu salmon with sperm-growing cells from rainbow trout – and watched the salmon grow up to produce trout.

The striking success, published in Friday’s edition of the journal Science, is capturing the attention of conservation specialists, who say new techniques are badly needed. “They showed nicely that... they produced the fish they were shooting for,” said John Waldman, a fisheries biologist at Queens College in New York. “Future work should look to expand this approach to other fishes in need of conservation. We have a lot of species of fish around the world that are really in danger of becoming extinct.”How the Japanese did it?

First, Tokyo University marine scientist Goro Yoshizaki and his team started with “salmonids,” a family that includes both salmon and trout, and one of concern to biologists because several species are endangered or extinct. Initial attempts to transplant sperm-producing cells into normal masu salmon mostly produced hybrids of the two species that didn’t survive. This time, Yoshizaki engineered salmon to be sterile. He then injected newly hatched salmon with stem cells destined to grow into sperm that he had culled from male rainbow trout.

Once they were grown, 10 of 29 male salmon who got the injections produced trout sperm.Here’s the bigger surprise: Injecting the male cells into female salmon sometimes worked, too, prompting five female salmon to ovulate trout eggs. That’s a scientific first, Yoshizaki said.The stem cells, it seems, were still primitive enough to switch gears from sperm-producers to egg-producers when they wound up inside female organs.

Then Yoshizaki used the salmon-grown trout sperm to fertilise both wild trout eggs and the salmon-grown trout eggs. DNA testing confirmed that all of the dozens of resulting baby fish were pure trout, he reported. Moreover, those new trout grew up able to reproduce. Now comes Idaho’s attempt to prove if the method is really useful in trying to produce the endangered sockeye salmon. Last January, Yoshizaki helped University of Idaho scientists collect and freeze immature sperm tissue from young sockeye salmon being raised at a state-run hatchery.

Next month, he’ll be back to help Cloud thaw the tissue and implant it into sterile rainbow trout. If they’re successful, this time around, papa trout plus mama trout will equal baby salmon.

Bio-dynamised water - To cure diabetes and heart problems!

2007-09-14T10:52:00.000+05:30

Bio-dynamised water, believed to cure various ailments including diabetes and heart problems, is set to hit Indian markets soon.

Aqua Dyn, a research centre at the Auroville township in the city, has developed commercially viable equipment to carry out the ‘bio-dynamising’ technique developed in France in the early 20th century. The centre has been selling the processed water within the township for over five years.

The centre has also been exporting the equipment to European countries, especially France, Aqua Dyn’s managing director Uthirapathy said. “The equipment for commercial, household and portable use will soon be launched across India,” he said.

The process of bio-dynamising includes infusing electro-magnetic waves and metallic trace elements into the water. It also uses the reverse osmosis technique – the method of using pressure to separate dissolved substances from a solution – to purify heavily contaminated water. “Bio-dynamised water helps remove toxins from the body and has proven properties to heal diseases, including arthritis, diabetes, skin cancer and heart ailments,” he said. Get a free glucose meter. You may qualify to receive your Diabetic supplies at no cost to you!

As part of the process, electrodes of a particular metal or a combination of metals are inserted into the water. The mineral carbon reinforces the immune system; chromium is good for the eyes, sugar assimilation and hair revitalisation; while copper is an anti-inflammatory element and also eases kidney problems. Germanium helps cure cancer and boosts the immune system, and gold can be useful for heart diseases and high blood pressure, Uthirapathy said. Electrodes of iron, magnesium, manganese, nickel, silicon and silver are also available to treat specific ailments.

Bio-dynamism and its effects on health were first established by French scientist Marcel Violet. During his studies, Violet found that the processed water enhanced healing by up to 30 per cent in animals. It also boosted growth in plants by over 30 per cent. He also claimed that drinking the water helped him recover from a heart ailment and skin cancer. After Violet’s death, the technology got buried till it was rediscovered by his assistant in the late 1970s. He also founded a Marcel Violet Laboratory to conduct research on the same. The ‘dynamisers’ for household and commercial purposes will be available in the range of Rs 20,000 to Rs 24,000.

Eye implant that could save the sight of millions...

2007-09-12T11:18:00.000+05:30

Sensors can monitor production processes, unmask tiny cracks in aircraft hulls, and determine the amount of laundry in a washing machine. In the very near future, they will also be used in the human body to detect and raise the alarm in the event of high pressure in the eye, bladder or brain.

If the pressure in the eye is too high, nerve fibres die, resulting in visual field loss or blindness. Since increased pressure occurring within the eyeball (intraocular pressure), also known as glaucoma, is not usually painful, the condition is often diagnosed too late. Moreover, such patients often tend to develop cataracts when they get older – the lenses of their eyes become opaque.

In such cases, surgeons remove the natural lens and replace it with an artificial one.

To avoid further loss of nerve fibres, the intraocular pressure is then regulated as accurately as possible with the help of medication. Unfortunately, the pressure continues to vary despite medication, obligating the patient to have it constantly monitored by physicians, and the medication dosage adjusted accordingly.

In the future, however, a sensor developed by Germany-based researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Microelectric Circuits and Systems IMS will eliminate the need for constant visits to the physician by such patients. “We integrate the 2.5 by 2.6 millimetre sensor in the artificial lens,” says Thomas van den Boom, group manager for biohybrid systems at the IMS. “This doesn’t impair the patient’s vision.”

The top and bottom of the sensor are formed by electrodes; the top electrode is flexible, in contrast to its rigid counterpart on the bottom of the sensor. When the intraocular pressure increases, the top electrode is pushed in, reducing the distance between the top and bottom of the sensor. Using a tiny antenna, the implant sends the pressure data collected from the electrodes to a reader that is fitted into the frame of a pair of spectacles.

The patient can view the results on a handheld device and determine whether the pressure has reached a critical level. An antenna in the spectacle frame supplies the sensor with the required energy via an electromagnetic field, keeping the sensor’s power consumption to an absolute minimum. The permanent eye implant is currently undergoing clinical trials and could come into general use in two to three years’ time.

But the sensor is not only suitable for use in the eye: When implanted in blood vessels in the thigh or the upper arm it can also help patients with chronic hypertension. “Conventional devices for measuring blood pressure at home are not suitable for determining the correct medication dosage,” says van den Boom. The sensor is also expected to benefit patients suffering from increased intracranial pressure or those with incontinence problems.

New spider-shaped vessel that promises low fuel consumption at high speeds

2007-09-11T13:14:00.000+05:30

Engineers have designed a new spider-shaped vessel that promises low fuel consumption at high speeds; could be ideal for marine research, military purposes, and also as a pleasure-boat…

Pity the fisherman or sailor who staggers on deck in the morning and through bleary eyes sees a 100-foot-long water spider coming at him, buzzing ominously. No cause for alarm, however. It’s just Proteus, a so-called Wave Adaptive Modular Vessel (WAM-V) designed for everything from military uses to biological studies, ocean exploration and sea rescue.

The Proteus – which costs about $1.5 million – was designed and built by US-based Marine Advanced Research, led by Ugo Conti, an Italian-born engineer and oceanographer. The craft rides on metal and fabric pontoons that have hinges and shock absorbers to flex with the motion of the waves, which helps it to skim over the water at a maximum speed of 30 knots (55.5kmph).

DESIGNED TO SAIL CHOPPY WATERS

With a load-bearing capacity of 12 tonnes, the spindly catamaran can travel approximately 8,000km on one 7,500-litre load of diesel. Its design also adds to this, its developers say. With a length of 100 feet, the high length to displacement ratio and the small wet surface result in low fuel consumption even at high speeds. Also, the 50-feet-wide beam and low wind resistance ensure a high margin of safety.

Spec sheets inform that a crew of two can man this large vessel. Its crew cabin, suspended like a gondola from its four-legged superstructure, is spartan for a boat named after a Greek sea god who in mythology was able to change into different forms. Unlike conventional boats, the hulls of the Proteus conform to the surface of the water. A WAM-V does not push, slap or pierce the waves. It utilises flexibility to adapt its structure and shape to the water surface.

RESEARCH AND RESCUE

According to the engineers at Marine Advanced Research, the Proteus can be adapted to multiple uses due to “her modular construction, reconfiguration speed, ease of operation and environmental friendliness.” They disclose that the craft could even be used to “conduct search and rescue operations with helicopter-like performance at a fraction of the cost” – with searches extending for weeks, without refuelling. Due to the way it is built, the full-size WAM-V can also manoeuvre directly over small vessels or people to be rescued. Its soft, inflatable hulls and jet propulsion option maximise safety of rescue operation.

With its unobstructed view, the Proteus – its developers say – is a good option for patrolling and monitoring marine resources, from shallow waters to an open ocean. Daniel Basta, director of US’ National Marine Sanctuaries for the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, said the light-weight, low-cost and modular craft is well suited to scientific and environmental purposes. “It will be tested for standard dive support operations, putting instruments on the bottom, collecting data – all the things that we currently do in one form or another, but most likely more cheaply, effectively and probably better,” Basta said.

In keeping with that versatility, Proteus does have pleasure-boat potential. It can be fitted with different types of detachable cabins that can accommodate anything from a honeymooning couple to 12 passengers. Sea trials of the Proteus are currently being carried out in US waters.

Now doctors can diagnose patients before the symptoms show!

2007-09-10T21:18:00.000+05:30

Scientists are coming up with new ways to diagnose patients before the symptoms show; research could help in early detection of cancer, heart disease and other disorders…

Researchers in the US have established a technique that provides a new approach for detecting a number of genetic disorders found in infants and young children. Daniel Raftery, a professor of analytical and physical chemistry at Purdue University, and his collaborators used a simple chemical reaction to improve the ability to detect important molecules in complex fluids like blood and urine.

The technique makes the markers for some genetically caused metabolic disorders up to 100 times more visible, Raftery said. “This technique allows us to profile a class of biomarkers – molecules that indicate disease – that would otherwise be very difficult to detect,” he said. “The increased sensitivity could allow doctors to diagnose a range of diseases at very early stages.”

This method of analysis, called metabolomics, involves the simultaneous analysis of multiple small molecules, or metabolites, which occur in fluids and tissues in the body. These can indicate a response to biological stress or a specific disease state. “The metabolic profile found in biofluids, such as blood and urine, provides a snapshot of ongoing biological processes in the human body,” Raftery said. “This type of analysis could be a key to earlier detection of diseases.”

Just like an MRI
Researchers use nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy – a cousin of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) – to detect hydrogen or carbon atoms to provide insight into the metabolites present. However, this standard approach has its disadvantages, Raftery said. The signals from carbon atoms are very weak and are difficult to detect, while the signals from hydrogen atoms often overlap. In particular, metabolites present in high concentrations overlap those present in low concentrations. Raftery and his team revolutionised this by enhancing the visibility of a certain type of metabolites – amino acids, by chemically tagging the molecules of interest so that they are more easily visible.

Faster and reproducible
In addition to its increased sensitivity, the new testing method requires little pretreatment of the sample and roughly 0.5 millilitres of blood to perform the test. The entire test can be performed in about half an hour, providing a quick turnaround for results and treatment decisions for patients, Raftery said.

“It is a very simple process and would not require much training to perform the tests,” he said. “It is an easily reproducible test that can be done over and over again, which is important to ensure accurate diagnosis. “This approach is applicable to a variety of molecule types and other fluids, and has the potential for additional applications,” he added. “We plan to test more samples and to determine if this methodology proves to be sensitive to cancer and heart disease, as it is for metabolic disorders.”

A blood test for cancer
In another study, British scientists claimed to have developed a blood test that offers the possibility of spotting cancer long before the symptoms appear.

The test successfully detected early signs of breast cancer in some women, and the scientists hope the vital clues will help them to revolutionise cancer prevention by offering cheaper and less invasive screening techniques in the next ten years. The University of Southampton research team studied blood samples collected from 11,000 women over the last 30 years, some of whom later developed cancer. The researchers looked for and spotted significant biomarkers of breast cancer in the samples. An all-purpose cancer blood test could be quicker, cheaper, more accurate and less invasive than other tests.

10 tech certifications that actually mean (in details)...

2007-09-08T09:25:00.000+05:30

1. MCSE
The Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) certification suffered a bad reputation several years back when numerous people were memorizing the answers to exam questions from "brain dumps" posted by test-takers on the Internet and obtaining the certification without any real understanding of the technology. Microsoft responded by replacing the knowledge-based multiple-choice questions with a variety of performance-related scenario questions that make it much more difficult to cheat. The difficulty level of the questions was escalated, and the number of exams required to obtain the certification was increased to seven. The MCSE has consequently regained respect in many corners of the IT community and is a useful certification for demonstrating your expertise in Microsoft server products.

2. MCA
In addition to making the MCSE exams more difficult, Microsoft has created many new certifications. The Microsoft Certified Architect (MCA) is the premiere Microsoft certification, designed to identify top experts in the industry. To obtain the MCA, you must have at least three years of advanced IT architecture experience, and you have to pass a rigorous review board conducted by a panel of experts. There are a number of MCA programs. The infrastructure and solutions MCA certifications cover broad architecture skills, but there are also more technology-specific programs for messaging and database skills. There are currently fewer than 100 MCAs in the world, making this an elite certification.

3. CCIE
The Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) is widely recognized as one of the most difficult to obtain (and expensive) IT certifications. Like the MCSE/MCA, it’s a vendor-sponsored certification, focusing on Cisco’s products. The CCIE requires that you pass both a written exam and a hands-on lab. To sit for the written exam, you must pay $300 and choose from one of several tracks: Routing and Switching, Security, Storage Networking, Voice, and Service Provider. You must pass the written exam before you’re eligible to take the lab exam. This is an eight-hour hands-on test of your ability to configure and troubleshoot Cisco networking equipment and software. The lab exams cost $1,250 each. This does not, of course, include travel expenses that may be necessary since the labs are conducted only in certain locations. As if all that weren’t enough, you don’t get to rest on your laurels after obtaining the certification. CCIEs must recertify every two years or the certification is suspended.

4. CCSP
Another Cisco exam that’s popular with employers in today’s security-conscious business world is the Cisco Certified Security Professional (CCSP). It focuses on skills related to securing networks that run Cisco routers and other equipment. You’re required to pass five written exams and must recertify every three years by passing one current exam. Before you can take the CCSP exams, you must meet the prerequisites by obtaining one of Cisco’s lower-level certifications, either the Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) or the Cisco Certified Internetwork Specialist (CCIP).

5. CISSP
Security certifications confer some of the highest-paying jobs in IT today, and one of the most well-respected non-vendor specific security certifications is the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP). The organization that grants the CISSP is the (ISC)2, which was founded in 1989 and has issued certifications to more than 50,000 IT professionals. Exam candidates must have at least four years of direct full-time work experience as a security professional. One year of experience can be waived if you have a four-year or graduate degree in information security from an approved institution. Another unique feature of the CISSP is that you must subscribe to the (ISC)2 code of ethics to take the exam. Exam fees vary based on geographic region. In the United States, standard registration is $599 ($499 for early registration). You must recertify every three years by obtaining at least 120 hours of continuing professional education, and you must pay a yearly fee of $85 to maintain the certification. The exam is a six-hour test consisting of 250 multiple-choice questions.

6. SSCP
For those who can’t meet the rigorous experience requirements to sit for the CISSP, the (ISC)2 also offers the certification. SSCP candidates need have only one year of direct full-time security work experience. The exam consists of 125 multiple-choice questions, and you have three hours to complete it. Those who pass the written exam must be endorsed by someone who holds a current (ISC)2 certification and will attest to the candidate’s professional experience or by an officer of the corporation or organization that employs you (owner, CEO, managing partner, CIO, etc.). As with the CISSP, you must recertify every three years by submitting proof of continuing education credits and paying an annual maintenance fee.

7. GSE
Another popular and well-regarded security certification is the GIAC Security Expert (GSE), offered by the SANS Software Security Institute. Before you can attempt the GSE, you must complete three lower-level certifications: GIAC Security Essentials Certification (GSEC), GIAC Certified Intrusion Analyst (GCIA), and GIAC Certified Incident Handler (GCIH). The lower-level certifications require passing multiple-choice exams, and at least two of the three certifications must be at the "Gold" level, which requires that in addition to the written exam, you submit a technical report that's approved to be published in the SANS Reading Room. A personal interview is also part of the GSE qualification process. Pricing depends on whether you take the exam as part of SANS self-study or conference training programs or challenge the exam. Without the training, each lower-level exam costs $899.

8. RHCE / RHCA
Many companies are looking to save money by switching to Linux-based servers, but they need personnel who are trained to design, deploy, and administer Linux networks. There are a number of Linux certifications out there, but the Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE) certification has been around since 1999 and is well respected in the industry. The exam is performance-based. You’re required to perform actual network installation, configuration, troubleshooting, and administration tasks on a live system. You have a full day (9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.) to complete it. The cost is $749. The Red Hat Certified Architect (RHCA) is an advanced certification that requires completion of five endorsement exams, each of which costs $749 and range from two to eight hours. Like the RHCE exam, they are hands-on skills tests. You must have the RHCE certification to take the RHCA exams.

9. ITIL
For those who aspire to management positions in IT services, the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) certifications provide demonstration of knowledge and skills involved in that discipline. There are three certification levels: Foundation, Practitioner, and Manager. The Manager level certification requires completion of a rigorous two-week training program, and you must have the Foundation certification and five years of IT management experience. Then, you must pass two three-hour exams consisting of essay questions.

10. Certifications for special situations
Many specialist exams are available in IT subcategories that can be helpful to those who want to specialize in those areas. Some of these include:

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) compliance certification

Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) compliance certification

Database administration certification

Wireless networking certifications

Voice over IP certifications

In addition, for those who have little or no experience in IT, entry-level certifications such as those offered by CompTIA may help you get a foot in the door as you start your IT career.

Now YOU can setup your own Online Shop with a few clicks!

2007-09-03T20:45:00.000+05:30

With the growing use of the Internet, online shopping and e-payments has become the “in” thing. Online payment (commonly known as e-payment / e-commerce) is now acceptable at many leading online shops. People have in fact found a goldmine in the online shops. That’s precisely the reason why many people have started with the idea of online shopping (or e-commerce). Some of the most successful ideas of e-commerce include Million Dollar Home Page, Doggles, SantaMail, and many more.

You must be wondering what the unique thing is about these online businesses that makes them such a big hit. Well, the key ingredient of any successful e-commerce is the error-free, hassle-free, easy, simple, and efficient online shop! There are many softwares available on the Internet that facilitate this. But one of my all-time favourites is: ZLIO. Owning a Zlio shop is absolutely free! You just need one valid email address to setup your own e-commerce shop.

That’s it – no hassles, no forms to be filled, no commitments, and no charges at any stage! It enables the subscribers to setup their own customized online store in less than 5 minutes. Shopkeepers can then choose products from hundreds of the Internet's top retailers to include in their store(s) and sell at the same rate as the Internet merchant. What’s more, you can also include your own Google AdSense ads (or any other affiliate ads) on your Zlio shop.

Another advantage of Zlio is that you do not need to possess complex knowledge of programming. You can create your customized shop with the help of a few clicks! Setup an online store in 5 minutes. Choose products from hundreds of the Internet's top retailers to include in your customized store. Sell at the same rate as the Internet merchant and make a commission on each sale. Interested?? Click on the above link / image to visit Zlio.

Latest Buzz - Boil Egg With Your Mobile!!!

2007-08-30T20:56:00.000+05:30

See what a cell phone (mobile) can do

Pre-requisites for this experiment:

1 Egg
2 Mobiles
65 minutes of connection between mobiles.

Assemble these in something as per following image:

Initiate the call between the two mobiles and allow the call for 65 minutes approximately.

During the first 15 minutes nothing happenes;

25 minutes later the egg starts getting hot;

45 minutes later the egg is hot;

65 minutes later the egg is cooked.

Conclusion: The immediate radiation of the mobiles has the potential to modify the proteins of the egg. Imagine what it can do with the proteins of your brains when you do long calls.

Let it be a lesson for the Mobilemaniacs!

10 tech certifications that actually mean something...

2007-08-27T21:11:00.000+05:30

There are hundreds of tech certification programs and exams out there, some sponsored by software vendors, some by vendor-neutral organizations, and some by educational institutions. A number of them are easy to obtain—as evidenced by the many IT pros who list a three-line string of acronyms after their names. You pay your money and you take a multiple-choice test; if you pass, you’re in.

Others are excruciatingly difficult: Cost is high; eligibility to even take the exam is dependent on having years of experience, formal education, and/or sponsorship from others who already hold the title; and the exams are grueling, multi-day affairs that require hands-on performance of relevant tasks. Most are somewhere in between.

But which certifications really provide a measure of your knowledge and skills in a particular area? And which will really help you get a job or promotion? Here's a look at 10 of the technical certifications that actually mean something in today’s IT job market.

MCSE (Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer)
MCA (Microsoft Certified Architect)
CCIE (Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert)
CCSP (Cisco Certified Security Professional)
CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional)
SSCP (Systems Security Certified Practitioner)
GSE (GIAC Security Expert)
RHCE / RHCA (Red Hat Certified Engineer / Architect)
ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library)
Certifications for special situations: Many specialist exams are available in IT subcategories that can be helpful to those who want to specialize in those areas. Some of these include:
1. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) compliance certification
2. Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) compliance certification
3. Database administration certification
4. Wireless networking certifications
5. Voice over IP certifications

In the next post, I would discuss these certifications in details...

Now Light Bulbs Grow on Trees!

2007-08-26T20:59:00.000+05:30

Need more light in your life? Grow it on a tree. The Pear Light, designed by Nick Foley, is a hand forged steel tree upon which grow three pears. Inside each pear are 10 ultra bright LEDs and some rechargeable batteries. The pears attach to the tree with magnets; when you want some light, pick a pear, and when your pear goes dead (in about an hour), just stick it back on the tree and it’ll recharge itself. An elegant (and bright) idea, but the “hand forged” part makes me think it’ll be hard to get your hands on one. More pics after the jump.

To find out more about this, click here!

Google at work to create its own version of desktop Linux

2007-08-23T20:54:00.000+05:30

Google is preparing its own distribution of Linux for the desktop, in a possible bid to take on Microsoft in its core business - desktop software. A version of the increasingly popular Ubuntu desktop Linux distribution, based on Debian and the Gnome desktop, it is known internally as 'Goobuntu'.

Google has confirmed it is working on a desktop linux project called Goobuntu, but declined to supply further details, including what the project is for. It's possible that it's just one of the toys Googleplex engineers play with on Fridays, when they get time off from buffing the search engine code or filtering out entries about Tiananmen Square.

It could be for wider deployments on the company's own desktops, as an alternative to Microsoft, but still for internal use only. But it's possible Google plans to distribute it to the general public, as a free alternative to Windows.

Google has already demonstrated an interest in building a presence on the desktop. At CES Las Vegas this month, it announced the Google Pack, a collection of desktop software bundled together for easy downloading. The pack includes many apps which compete directly with the Windows bundle, such as Google Talk, Google Desktop, Mozilla Firefox, the Trillian instant messenger client, RealPlayer, and Picasa photo management.

Going the whole hog and distributing a complete desktop software suite would merely be another step down the same path. However, entering the desktop software world would be a huge step. Making Goobuntu as easy to use as XP will require a lot more development. It's unlikely to be ready for showtime any time soon, and it's possible Google itself hasn't finalised where the project should go.

Whatever Google's intentions, the input of Google engineers and developers, writing new features and fixing bugs, will be a huge boost to the Ubuntu project. Ubuntu, funded by the South African internet multimillionaire and occasional cosmonaut Mark Shuttleworth, is already emerging as a leader in the desktop Linux world.

It has built considerable momentum in the Linux community, and is starting to appear more widely. Shuttleworth is seeking to persuade white-box PC manufacturers to start shipping machines with Ubuntu preinstalled. It is top of the Distrowatch download chart, is installed on up to six million computers, and doubling every eight months, according to estimates from Shuttleworth's company, Canonical.

It has spawned a number of different offshoots, including Xubuntu, Kubuntu and Edubuntu (for schools). The word Ubuntu means "humanity to others" in several African languages, including Zulu and Xhosa. It's one of the founding principles of post-apartheid South Africa. The origin of the word 'Goobuntu' is not clear, though it does not appear in online Zulu dictionaries.

The Goobuntu.com domain has been registered in the past couple of days, though presumably not by Google. It now redirects to a Cuban portal. Perhaps Google will have to think of a new name for the system before they launch it to the wider public.

Source: The Register, UK

Ultra Portable, Extra Strong Cement Concrete House inside a BAG!

2007-08-19T09:17:00.000+05:30

A new dwelling that is ultra-portable, tough as concrete and long-lasting could be the answer to the cries of millions of refugees across the world...

When disasters such as earthquakes or tsunamis strike, aid agencies need to rapidly provide infrastructure for sheltering refugees. However, tents lack durability and have major limitations in operation. Their use is especially restricted in places with extreme weather conditions, such as Kashmir. “While starvation occurs over a period of weeks, death from exposure can occur in a single night” said the UN Co-ordinator for Afghanistan, where the useable life of some tents is under three weeks due to wind damage. There are over 35 million refugees in the world. But now, thanks to the efforts of two British engineers, there is new hope for them: A revolutionary tent-type dwelling that is ultra-portable, easy to set up, and as hard as concrete.

William Crawford and Peter Brewin, inventors of the ‘Concrete Canvas’, were drawn to the challenge of providing shelter in a humanitarian crisis and the need for a simple and robust solution.

“Throughout the design process, we aimed to retain the simplicity of the original concept. The result is a product that is both simple to use and simple to manufacture,” the duo noted in their study.

While studying at the Royal College of Art, UK, their combined expertise in design and engineering provided the scientific methodologies to develop the new material technology. This helped in realising their initial concept of using inflation to create strong and durable compressive structures.

HOW IT WORKS
Concrete canvas is a “rapidly deployable hardened shelter that requires only water and air for construction.” It can be deployed by one person without any training in under 40 minutes, and is ready to use in 12 hours.

The key to the shelter is the use of inflation to create a surface that is optimised for compressive loading. This allows thin walled concrete structures to be formed, which are both robust and lightweight.

The canvas consists of a cement impregnated fabric, dubbed concrete cloth, bonded to the outer surface of an inflatable plastic inner. It forms a hut-shaped structure with over 170 square feet of floor space. The technology can also be scaled to provide larger structures.

FOUR EASY STEPS
• Delivery: Delivered folded and sealed in a plastic sack with a dry weight of around 500kg, concrete canvas is light enough to be transported in the back of a truck or small aircraft.
• Hydration: Once in position, the sack is filled with water. The volume of the sack controls the water to cement proportions, eliminating the need for water measurement. After the cement hydrates, which takes 15 minutes, the sack is cut along its seams and unfolded, strengthening the ground sheet. It is usually deployed at dusk to avoid over-drying the cement.
• Inflation: The structure is unfolded to form the shelter's platform. It is then inflated by activating a small chemical pack. This releases a controlled volume of gas into the plastic inner and inflates the structure.
• Setting: The concrete cloth curves in the shape of the inflated inner. Twelve hours later, the structure is ready to use. Holes for doors and ventilation are left where no concrete cloth is bonded to the plastic skin, thus allowing access points to be cut from the inside.

Solar Thermal Water Heater For Less Than Five Dollars

2007-08-16T21:12:00.000+05:30

This project will create a DIY solar hot water heater for less than five dollars (if you have access to a garbage dump). It will allow you to see the principles of solar water heating in action, and is highly customizable. Its a great way to learn about using the renewable energy of the sun to produce useful effects, in this case hot water. You can use these instructions to build a device that will actually heat enough water to use in the home, but it would require modifications.

This device is more useful for camping or as a science experiment and teaching tool. A word of caution it is possible to create very hot water with this technique and you should be careful not to burn yourself. You can find this and more great DIY projects relating to renewable energy, solar cooking, and sustainable design at The Sietch. By using the sun instead of fossil fuels to heat your water you will be preventing dangerous greenhouse gasses from being released into the atmosphere, helping to prevent global warming.

Most Authentic Watch Bands...

2007-08-11T19:33:00.000+05:30

As we progress, our desires for better gadgets increases. Generally men are crazy about a few gadgets - computers, cell phones, digital MP3 players, pens, and watches. We have hundred thousands of different watches in the market today. Some are local watches, some are advanced american watches, some are prestigious Swiss watches, and some are digital. As expensive watches are status symbols, you need to take very good care of them. Watch belts (or straps) are the most important component of a watch - be it local one, or american, or Swiss, or a digital one. Withous a good & matching watch band, your watch is just a piece of metal (or plastic). The watch bands provide the killer look to the watch.

So here I present to you an exclusive resource for high-quality Watch Bands (or straps) - WatchBand.biz. It is a site of the WatchStyle group, the international leader in replacement bands for luxury watches. It is the world leader in replacement bands for high-end and luxury watches. It has a massive collection of over 5,000 quality watch staps of many types including lether, metal, and synthetic bands. It has a very impressive collection of leading brands like Alligator, Crocodile, Nature, Leonardo, Swatch, and many more. This classic collection offers HIRSCH Artisanal leather watch bands which are handcrafted in an elaborate process of 60+ steps! All leather belts are sauna-tested, water resistant, and are guaranteed to be allergy proof. It, in fact, works very closely with HIRSCH in Austria. It has a very large collection of exclusive watch bands, with massive discounts! I have never seen such a authentic collection of watch bands! The customer service is simply outstanding.

Don't waste your time searching anymore... just go ahead and grab one piece today! This is an advertisement. Product URL: http://www.watchband.biz/

Apple TV - What's Next?

2007-08-08T21:12:00.000+05:30

Whenever I think of the AppleTV, I squeeze my eyes shut, click my heels three times, and say, “There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home.”

Where I go in my mind’s eye is the living room. I’m laying on the sofa watching television or a movie on a modest but impressive 42-inch plasma display. At the heart of my home theater, the device running the whole operation, is the AppleTV. I download from the Internet the TV shows or movies I buy, rent, or request on demand in high-definition. I record one show while watching another. I watch Internet TV programs on “stations” like Joost, YouTube, or MySpace.

Then I wake up. This is no Oz.

The elegantly designed, low-profile AppleTV sits unobtrusively next to my Samsung display. To the right of it is the incredibly ugly, obtrusive set-top box given to me by my service provider, Verizon. Right now, I need both devices — and the DVD player in the cabinet below.I wish I needed only one.

The reality — my Kansas — is that Generation One of the AppleTV falls short of meeting my needs and expectations and those of many other home entertainment enthusiasts. We still need all these devices in our living rooms, or we plunge down the rabbit hole of buying media servers or building our own. To me, the AppleTV is wonderfully simple to use but deliberately crippled, underperforms, and overall is a disappointment, all things considered.

And yet it drips with potential and promise. This is what interests me. I believe that Apple — the company that brought us the iPod, iTunes, the iTunes Music Store, and the iPhone, not the company that gave us Lisa or the Newton — has a plan and roadmap for AppleTV. What we are seeing here is Generation One, just like there was an initial release of the iPod, which led to the iPod and iTunes for Windows computers, to color displays, photographs, video, and some might argue the iPhone.

Where will AppleTV go next?But first, Generation One.Out of the BoxOne of the things that attracted me to the AppleTV was the promise of ease of setup, ease of use, and convenience. I had been researching Windows Media Center computers, buying an off-brand media center, or building my own by using an old laptop or a Mac Mini. Ultimately, I decided I just didn’t want to mess with the hassle of buying and setting up a Media Center computer or building my own. I just don’t have the time (or money).

Another consideration was important. I am not the only one who uses the home entertainment equipment in the living room. My wife and kid control the clicker, and unless the user experience for the DIY media center was butt simple they’d never use it or would complain until my ears bled.We already purchase TV shows from the iTMS that we missed recording on the DVR, and I previously had bought season passes for “Bones,” “Eureka”, and “Psych” when I got sucked into the whole video-on-the-iPod-thing. I’d transfer these to the iPod and hook it up to the TV to watch on the larger screen.

So it made sense to try the $299 AppleTV. As promised, the AppleTV was amazingly simple to hook up to my television and network. I provided the network security information as requested, fired up iTunes, and began transferring or streaming content within 15 minutes without reading the instructions. It does, however, take a while to move gigabytes of data over a wireless network (I use both an 802.11g and n network).
Do note as well that you will need the right kind of television — either an HDTV or a fairly-new standard television that uses Component video cables. Also, you will need to purchase, or have on hand, the needed cables to hook up the AppleTV to your set. (See Macworld’s AppleTV coverage for assistance.)

Months of Use
After months of use I am reasonably satisfied with what the AppleTV delivers, but I am probably more forgiving than most home entertainment aficionados. A few observations:

Ease of use: stunningly simple. The AppleTV’s main interface is clutter-free: You have a choice of Movies, TV Shows, YouTube (new to version 1.1), Music, Podcasts, Settings, and Sources. As I had hoped would happen, my wife and kid use the AppleTV without pestering me with questions and criticisms, although I am the one who manages the content.

Quality: for me, acceptable; for you, I’m not so sure. One of the biggest issues of the AppleTV is it’s capable of playing HD content, there’s just little of it on the iTMS. This is a deal-breaker for many who want to buy an AppleTV but won’t because the quality isn’t up to their HD standards.

Even so, I was surprised by the overall quality of the AppleTV. The shows I downloaded from the iTMS were a bit fuzzy, especially the ones encoded at 320 by 240 before Apple began encoding content at 640 by 480. But after spending years with a standard television I didn’t care that the show quality was not high-definition. I’ll watch HD on the HD channels and near HD quality on an up-converted DVD player. For now.

Microsoft Describes Technology Behind Software Plus Services

2007-08-02T21:24:00.000+05:30

Microsoft chief software architect Ray Ozzie gives details on the company's planned transformation from software to software plus services. Microsoft Corp. gave some of the clearest examples yet on Thursday of its vision for software plus services.

"This services transformation, from software to software plus services, is a very very big deal for our company," said Ray Ozzie, chief software architect for Microsoft, speaking during his company's annual financial analyst meeting. "It will be a critical aspect of all our offerings over the next years." Software plus services in Windows could include a services component that might store device settings, he said. That service would make it easier for users to access the same application from various devices or buy new devices without having to create new settings.

Office customers might use hosted services, such as publishing, sharing and editing, in conjunction with Office applications, he said. If Microsoft has had trouble articulating its software plus service vision, it managed to clearly describe how it will enable that goal. The company is currently working feverishly to build a hardware and software platform that will support its services vision across every one of its software products, Ozzie said.

This year, he's concentrating on building this services framework. In the next year to year and a half, the company will begin introducing new and key components of the platform, he said. At the very bottom level of this services framework are Microsoft's massive data centers and the networks that connect them to the Internet. The company has more than doubled the size of its data centers over the past year and next week will break ground on a new data center in San Antonio, Ozzie said.

Above that level is what he said is the most fundamental layer, including a utility computing fabric made up of a virtualized computation layer, infrastructure that manages load balancing of applications and horizontally supported storage. The platform will also include a services layer that can be shared across applications. Such services include user identity services, presence information and contact lists.

This platform will be used internally by Microsoft to support its own services, such as Windows Live, but partners will be able to use it to support their applications that work in conjunction with Microsoft products as well, Ozzie said. The platform will also support enterprise applications and be part of an offer from Microsoft that allows companies to choose among several service models. "This choice is a substantial differentiator" for Microsoft, he said.

Companies may decide to buy Microsoft servers, which offers them the ultimate in customization, control and compliance, he said. Enterprises could instead hire third party companies that might have a unique expertise in a particular area to host a service for them. Finally, an enterprise could use hosted services directly from Microsoft, which recently began discussing its hosted services aspirations.

Microsoft isn't alone in moving toward a services business and other companies are already offering some types of hosted services that Ozzie described. Google, for example, already offers many hosted services aimed at consumers and enterprise users. The search giant, however, has come under fire for failing to offer enterprise customers the type of support they are used to.

Ozzie argues that Microsoft has advantages in that regard. "We are the only company in the industry that has the breadth of reach from consumers to enterprises to understand and deliver and take full advantage of the services opportunity," he said. Ozzie also contends that Microsoft is one of only a few companies that has the financial capacity to capitalize in this "sea change."

Microsoft may also have an advantage against competitors because of the large installed base of Microsoft customers. "That lets us extend those things they're doing in to the cloud in a way that helps them without tremendous disruption," he said. Still, Microsoft, Google and startups will all be experimenting in this realm, he said. Ozzie's focus is making sure that every developer at Microsoft is thinking about how they can leverage services to take advantage of the market opportunity, as opposed to letting a competitor come in and steal that business.

Microsoft HD Photo considered for standardization by JPEG Committee

2007-07-31T21:17:00.000+05:30

Microsoft's ongoing attempt to establish its own photo format as a JPEG alternative (and potential successor) took another step forward today when the JPEG standards group agreed to consider HD Photo (originally named Windows Media Photo) as a standard. If successful, the new file standard will be known as JPEG XR.

Microsoft has sunk a great deal of work into HD Photo/JPEG XR and is aiming it specifically towards digital photography and other image capturing devices. JPEG XR features include fixed or floating point high dynamic range, wide gamut image encoding, better compression compared to JPEG, lossless compression, the ability to store 16 or 32 bits of data per color, and support for CMYK, RGB, monochrome, and embedded ICC color profiles.

HD Photo is also capable of storing data in such a way that only the needed information for any particular region needs to be decoded, and the compressed data itself can be manipulated. Microsoft cites this feature as important for supporting the next generation of products like Windows Live Earth. The new format may also improve the quality of photos taken under low-light conditions, due to its ability to store color data as interpreted by the camera sensor more flexibly than other formats may allow.

In contrast to the ongoing fight between competing file standards ODF and OOXML, the market seems moderately more friendly to the idea of a Microsoft-created standard that might replace, or at least complement, the existing JPEG standard. Although JPEG2000 is capable of many of the same capabilities as HD Photo, the latter requires significantly less computational power and decompresses significantly faster. Adobe's TIFF format obviously isn't going anywhere anytime soon, but JPEG XR has the potential to establish Microsoft as a parity player in the image format game.

Now that the JPEG committee has begun the standardization process, balloting will begin and last through October of this year. Assuming balloting is successful, it should take approximately one year to finalize and publish the completed standard, and Microsoft expects to work closely with the commission throughout this process. Redmond has also stated it will offer a royalty-free grant for its patents that are required to implement the new standard.

Your Mundane Posts can earn you Loads of Dollars!

2007-07-26T20:06:00.000+05:30

There have been quite a buzz about earning some dollars through your blogs/sites, for instance "Work from home", "Earn from your posts", "Earn through blog advertising", etc. However, this market is too crowded to find reliable, efficient and good pay-masters. Some are just too noisy, some do not pay well, some ask for too many efforts and time to get paid... Then there are some entities which pay very late - perhaps a month later after you are qualified!! Man, this is ridiculous... But wait... there is good news! Smorty - advertise on blogs. Smorty is arguably the most effective tool to increase search engine rankings and targeted traffic, and to get highly paid for blogging.

Why Smorty? Here are some of the best-in-class features of Smorty:

Connecting advertisers with a network of high-quality sites/blogs
Benefit for advertisers - Get thousands of unique inbound links (get almonds at the cost of peanuts!)
Advertisers pay only for those posts which they approve...
Benefit for Bloggers - Get paid for writing your genuine opinions (get almonds at almost no cost!!)
It pays the bloggers WEEKLY... Yes, you read it right - Weekly payments!
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Cracking of Windows Passwords Made Simple as 1.2.3

2007-07-24T21:09:00.000+05:30

Have you ever tried to log into a Windows computer for a few minutes and you finally realize that you forgot the password?

There’s a way to crack the password and it doesn’t involve reformatting and reinstalling Windows.

The solution is called @stake LC4 (formerly L0phtCrack), however since Symantec stopped development of L0phtcrack, I’m going to let you in on a program called LC5. Just like L0phtCrack, LC5 attacks your Windows machine with a combination of dictionary and brute force attacks. LC5 can crack almost all common passwords in seconds. More advanced passwords with numbers and characters takes longer.

The main purpose of the LCP program is user account passwords auditing and recovery in Windows NT/2000/XP. I haven’t tested it against Windows Vista yet, so I’m not sure if it will work. Your mileage may very either way.

How it works:
Windows NT, 2000 and XP passwords are stored as encrypted hash marks. LC5 attacks these hash marks with hundreds of passwords per minute. Eventually the correct password will be sent and then displayed to the screen.

Good intentions:

System administrators can find weak passwords within minutes.
Sys admins can then change the passwords to make them more secure.
LC5 can be used to access computers of users who forget passwords.
In companies, it can be used to access computers of employees who have left the company.

Bad intentions:

Hackers can use LC5 to sniff passwords over networks.
Hackers can install this application onto a primary domain controller and steal hundreds of passwords within minutes.
Please note that I am not the author of this software.
Be advised that if you use this software, you do so at your own risk without any warranty expresses or implied by Geek With Laptop.

Download LC5 (v5.04):

English version (with installer) - 2.29 MB
English version (without installer, ZIP) - 1.86 MB
English version (without installer, RAR) - 1.66 MB

Software License: LCP is a freeware program. The program may be distributed under condition of saving all files contents and structure of installation package.