eTail Networks Limited

Liquid smoking drinks to go on sale

2008-10-30T20:40:00.000-07:00

A fruit flavoured herbal drink ‘Liquid Smoking’, claiming to have instant high euphoric soothing effect is all set to be launched in Britain, would sooner or later hit the Indian market. The soft drink in a red and white can not only appears similar to Red and White cigarette packets, but also claims to deliver the same feelings as cigarette.
Launching as an alternative to cigarette, which is banned in public places, it would help smokers to have sip outside bars and restaurants. The Dutch supplier and manufacturer, United Drinks and Beauty Corporations when asked about its product, said: “The product has the same effects as nicotine, but this you can drink in restaurants and even on flights.”
‘There is no research claiming the drink has any harmful content,’ said Martin Hartman, chief executive, United Drinks and Beauty Corporations. It has less than 21 calories per 275 ml can and contains 15 percent nicotine.Against the manufacturer’s claim of ‘healthy alternative’, anti-smoking groups say the drink would glamorize smoking and encourage people to get addicted as it contains nicotine, which have the addictive potential

Google to bring 250yrs newspaper archives online

2008-09-10T03:37:00.000-07:00

Google Inc. has undertaken a new project to make archives of the world-famous newspapers available on the Internet.
Making an announcement in this regard, the company said that its newspaper-scanning project would begin with a handful of North American newspapers, including the Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph, considered to be the continent's oldest newspaper.
While big newspapers like The Times and The New York Times have already opened their archives to readers, smaller publications do not have the resources to embark on the labour-intensive process of scanning thousands of editions.
Google said that it wanted that billions of articles from the past 250 years be available on the Internet.
The company also said that it would bear all costs of scanning the archives of any newspapers willing to allow the stories to be shown free on Google's website.
According to the firm, a part of the revenue generated from advertising displayed next to the stories will be shared with the participating publishers.
Google has refused to tell how many other papers have signed up or how much the company has budgeted for the project.
The archive articles will be shown in the same format as they originally appeared, allowing readers to zoom into stories and browse through the rest of the edition.

English to Malayalam Converter

2008-09-06T03:55:00.000-07:00

Google Indic - “When it’s from google its good” if you are one such person, this is a pretty nice convertor. You can type in English and accordingly Malayalam will be shown on the screen. Eg: Namaskaram will be shown in Malayalam.
Malayalam ONline - Similar to Google Indic. Some people find it the best! Give it a try and let me know your view.
Ilamozhi - Another English to Malayalam Convertor Online.
Download Varamozhi Offline - Writing your Malayalam Blog might become easy if you have it downloaded.It’s the offline version of Malayalam Online.

RIL 5th in Forbes Asia's Fabulous 50

2008-09-04T05:47:00.000-07:00

Ten Indian companies led by the likes of state-run Bharat Heavy Electricals, telecom major Bharti Airtel and Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries have made their way into the Forbes' list of 50 best listed companies in the Asia-Pacific region.

The 'Asian Fabulous 50' ranking is topped by Taiwan-based computer maker Acer, while BHEL and Bharti Airtel are the top ranked Indian companies at the overall fifth and sixth spots.

Acer is followed by Chinese steel maker Angang Steel, Taiwan's Asustek Computer and Indonesia's Bank Rakyat Indonesia at the second, third and fourth spots, respectively.

Among Indian firms, BHEL and Bharti Airtel are followed by private sector lender HDFC Bank (22), IT bellwether Infosys (25), diversified conglomerate ITC (27), engineering and infrastructure firm Larsen & Toubro (30), auto maker Mahindra & Mahindra (34), Reliance Industries (39), world's sixth largest steel maker Tata Steel (44) and software exporter Wipro (46).

Among countries, China has the maximum representation with 13 firms, while India comes second with its 10 companies.

"Indian companies once again had a strong showing, with 10 making our cut. Infosys and Wipro, perennial top performers, are back for the fourth year. Reliance Industries, Bharat Heavy and Larsen & Toubro are back for the third year."

"Consumer-oriented companies such as Bharti Airtel, HDFC Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra and ITC are growing with India's middle class," the magazine said in an accompanying report.
The list is based on long-term profitability, sales and earnings growth, stock price appreciation and projected earnings for every company in the region with revenues or market capitalisation of at least five billion dollars.

Solar-powered cargo ship will leave a cleaner plume

2008-08-27T05:39:00.000-07:00

The race to go green has taken to the high seas with two Japanese companies saying they will begin work on the world's first ship to have propulsion engines partially powered by solar energy.
Japan's biggest shipping line Nippon Yusen KK and Nippon Oil Corp said solar panels capable of generating 40 kilowatts of electricity each would be placed on top of a 60,000-tonne car carrier to be used by Toyota Motor Corp.
Toyota also recently announced that it would install "symbolic" solar panels on its Prius cars.
The solar panels would help conserve up to 6.5% of the fuel used in powering the diesel engines that generate electricity aboard the ships.
The ship system is expected to help reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 1 to 2%, or about 20 tonnes per year, said Hideyuki Dohi, general manager at Nippon Oil's energy system development department.
Nippon Yusen will invest about 150 million yen ($1.4 million) in the solar panel system to be designed by Nippon Oil.
Solar panels capable of generating several kilowatts of electricity have been used on large vessels before, but their use has been limited to power for the crew's living quarters. Solar panels for an average home usually generate 3.5 kW of electricity.
Damage to the panels from salt and vibration are hurdles that remain to be overcome. The ship is scheduled to be completed in December.
"If it's possible, we want to aim for the full commercialisation of the system in the next three to five years," said Nippon Oil executive vice president Ikutoshi Matsumura.

Messi Magic Lifts Argentina to Repeat Gold Triumph

2008-08-23T07:57:00.000-07:00

Argentina remain Olympic football champions after a goal engineered by superstar Lionel Messi inspired them to a 1-0 win over former champions Nigeria in the gold medal match at the Beijing Games on Saturday.
Messi disentangled himself from Nigeria's tight marking to put teammate Angel Di Maria clear on goal early in the second half of a final played in sapping 35-degree midday heat before a near capacity crowd of 89,102 at the National Stadium.
Benfica's Di Maria chipped over the advancing goalkeeper Ambruse Vanzekin to break the deadlock and score what proved the winning goal in the 58th minute.

"It was a dream game. All I could think of was thank God the ball went over the line and now thanks to that I have a gold medal," Di Maria said.
Argentina successfully defended the Olympic crown from their 1-0 win over Paraguay in Athens four years ago. They are now unbeaten in 12 matches stretching over two Games, an Olympic football record.
Nigeria went in with the pyschological edge of beating Argentina 3-2 in the corresponding final 12 years ago in Atlanta to become the first African Olympic champions.
But although Nigeria kept Messi in check for the most part, he ultimately sunk them with his exhilarating skills in a decider twice halted for water breaks for the heat-stressed players.

The Legend of Lionel Messi

"We didn't play our best football today but this victory is a good one for us," Messi said. "The fact that we have been to the athlete's village and met famous sportsmen, it's all an experience that we will not forget quickly."
Messi, who almost didn't play in Beijing with Barcelona wanting him back in Spain in time for the Champions League third qualifying round matches, came close to scoring 13 minutes from the end, but was thwarted by a brave covering tackle from Nice central defender Onyekachi Apam.
Messi once again proved Nigeria's nemesis after undoing them in the final of the 2005 FIFA under-20 World Cup in Utrecht when he earned and converted two penalties in a 2-1 win.
"Messi terrorises not only our team, but all teams in Europe. He didn't score but he created a lot of their chances. That is why we have the silver and they have the gold," Nigerian coach Samson Siasia said.
"We're very disappointed, but it means we came second in the Olympic Games. We had a lot of good scoring chances, but you have to score goals to win the gold medal."
The defending champions began well with Di Maria put clear by skipper Juan Riquelme in the ninth minute and was brought down on the edge of the box.
Hertha Berlin right winger Solomon Okoronkwo, the only over-aged player in the Nigerian squad, produced some sweet touches to combine well with striker Victor Obinna.
Sergio Aguero, whose two goals destroyed Brazil in Tuesday's 3-0 semi-final win, was put through by Di Maria but Apam saw off the threat in the 16th minute.
Messi appealed for a penalty when he surged into the area but it was turned down and at the other end left-winger Peter Odemwingie's header was just over the bar.
The baking heat forced Hungarian referee Viktor Kassai to stop play for a water break on the half-hour and on the resumption Odemwingie skipped around Nicolas Pareja and skipper Promise Isaac just missed connecting with the cross.
The ball came back and Isaac's header was saved by Sergio Romero in Nigeria's best chance of the half. Argentina didn't get their first corner until the 39th minute and just before halftime Apam again defused another Messi threat and Di Maria let fly with a fierce long-range drive which just whistled past the right post.
Messi almost scored minutes after the interval flicking the ball around a defender and unleashing a stinging volley that was taken by Vanzekin.
Apam went into the referee's book for a heavy tackle on Di Maria as Argentina began to take more control of the game. Messi had a chance moments later skipping clear after winning the ball in a tackle but Apam saved the situation with a great covering tackle on the edge of the box.

Top 10 Black Hat Hackers

2008-08-20T05:08:00.000-07:00

A black-hat is a term in computing for someone who compromises the security of a system without permission from an authorized party, usually with the intent of accessing computers connected to the network. The term white hat is used for a person who is ethically opposed to the abuse of computer systems. The term cracker was coined by Richard Stallman to provide an alternative to using the existing word hacker for this meaning. The somewhat similar activity of defeating copy prevention devices in software which may or may not be legal in a country’s laws is actually software cracking.
Jonathan James: James gained notoriety when he became the first juvenile to be sent to prison for hacking. He was sentenced at 16 years old. In an anonymous PBS interview, he professes, “I was just looking around, playing around. What was fun for me was a challenge to see what I could pull off.”
James’ major intrusions targeted high-profile organizations. He installed a backdoor into a Defense Threat Reduction Agency server. The DTRA is an agency of the Department of Defense charged with reducing the threat to the U.S. and its allies from nuclear, biological, chemical, conventional and special weapons. The backdoor he created enabled him to view sensitive e-mails and capture employee usernames and passwords.
James also cracked into NASA computers, stealing software worth approximately $1.7 million. According to the Department of Justice, “The software supported the International Space Station’s physical environment, including control of the temperature and humidity within the living space.” NASA was forced to shut down its computer systems, ultimately racking up a $41,000 cost. James explained that he downloaded the code to supplement his studies on C programming, but contended, “The code itself was crappy . . .certainly not worth $1.7 million like they claimed.”
Given the extent of his intrusions, if James, also known as “c0mrade,” had been an adult he likely would have served at least ten years. Instead, he was banned from recreational computer use and was slated to serve a six-month sentence under house arrest with probation. However, he served six months in prison for violation of parole. Today, James asserts that he’s learned his lesson and might start a computer security company.

Adrian Lamo: Lamo’s claim to fame is his break-ins at major organizations like The New York Times and Microsoft. Dubbed the “homeless hacker,” he used Internet connections at Kinko’s, coffee shops and libraries to do his intrusions. In a profile article, “He Hacks by Day, Squats by Night,” Lamo reflects, “I have a laptop in Pittsburgh, a change of clothes in D.C. It kind of redefines the term multi-jurisdictional.”
Lamo’s intrusions consisted mainly of penetration testing, in which he found flaws in security, exploited them and then informed companies of their shortcomings. His hits include Yahoo!, Bank of America, Citigroup and Cingular. When white hat hackers are hired by companies to do penetration testing, it’s legal. What Lamo did is not.
When he broke into The New York Times’ intranet, things got serious. He added himself to a list of experts and viewed personal information on contributors, including Social Security numbers. Lamo also hacked into The Times’ LexisNexis account to research high-profile subject matter.
For his intrusion at The New York Times, Lamo was ordered to pay approximately $65,000 in restitution. He was also sentenced to six months of home confinement and two years of probation, which expired January 16, 2007. Lamo is currently working as an award-winning journalist and public speaker.

Kevin Mitnick: A self-proclaimed “hacker poster boy,” Mitnick went through a highly publicized pursuit by authorities. His mischief was hyped by the media but his actual offenses may be less notable than his notoriety suggests. The Department of Justice describes him as “the most wanted computer criminal in United States history.” His exploits were detailed in two movies: Freedom Downtime and Takedown.
Mitnick had a bit of hacking experience before committing the offenses that made him famous. He started out exploiting the Los Angeles bus punch card system to get free rides. Then, like Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, dabbled in phone phreaking. Although there were numerous offenses, Mitnick was ultimately convicted for breaking into the Digital Equipment Corporation’s computer network and stealing software.
Mitnick’s mischief got serious when he went on a two and a half year “coast-to-coast hacking spree.” The CNN article, “Legendary computer hacker released from prison,” explains that “he hacked into computers, stole corporate secrets, scrambled phone networks and broke into the national defense warning system.” He then hacked into computer expert and fellow hacker Tsutomu Shimomura’s home computer, which led to his undoing.
Today, Mitnick has been able to move past his role as a black hat hacker and become a productive member of society. He served five years, about 8 months of it in solitary confinement, and is now a computer security consultant, author and speaker.

Kevin Poulsen: Also known as Dark Dante, Poulsen gained recognition for his hack of LA radio’s KIIS-FM phone lines, which earned him a brand new Porsche, among other items. Law enforcement dubbed him “the Hannibal Lecter of computer crime.”
Authorities began to pursue Poulsen after he hacked into a federal investigation database. During this pursuit, he further drew the ire of the FBI by hacking into federal computers for wiretap information.
His hacking specialty, however, revolved around telephones. Poulsen’s most famous hack, KIIS-FM, was accomplished by taking over all of the station’s phone lines. In a related feat, Poulsen also “reactivated old Yellow Page escort telephone numbers for an acquaintance who then ran a virtual escort agency.” Later, when his photo came up on the show Unsolved Mysteries, 1-800 phone lines for the program crashed. Ultimately, Poulsen was captured in a supermarket and served a sentence of five years.
Since serving time, Poulsen has worked as a journalist. He is now a senior editor for Wired News. His most prominent article details his work on identifying 744 sex offenders with MySpace profiles.

Robert Tappan Morris: Morris, son of former National Security Agency scientist Robert Morris, is known as the creator of the Morris Worm, the first computer worm to be unleashed on the Internet. As a result of this crime, he was the first person prosecuted under the 1986 Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.
Morris wrote the code for the worm while he was a student at Cornell. He asserts that he intended to use it to see how large the Internet was. The worm, however, replicated itself excessively, slowing computers down so that they were no longer usable. It is not possible to know exactly how many computers were affected, but experts estimate an impact of 6,000 machines. He was sentenced to three years’ probation, 400 hours of community service and a fined $10,500.
Morris is currently working as a tenured professor at the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. He principally researches computer network architectures including distributed hash tables such as Chord and wireless mesh networks such as Roofnet.

Mass media claimed at the time he was a mathematician and had a degree in biochemistry from Saint Petersburg State Institute of Technology.
According to the coverage, in 1994 Levin accessed the accounts of several large corporate customers of Citibank via their dial-up wire transfer service (Financial Institutions Citibank Cash Manager) and transferred funds to accounts set up by accomplices in Finland, the United States, the Netherlands, Germany and Israel.In 2005 an alleged member of the former St. Petersburg hacker group, claiming to be one of the original Citibank penetrators, published under the name ArkanoiD a memorandum on popular Provider.net.ru website dedicated to telecom market.[1] According to him, Levin was not actually a scientist (mathematician, biologist or the like) but a kind of ordinary system administrator who managed to get hands on the ready data about how to penetrate in Citibank machines and then exploit them.
ArkanoiD emphasized all the communications were carried over X.25 network and the Internet was not involved. ArkanoiD’s group in 1994 found out Citibank systems were unprotected and it spent several weeks examining the structure of the bank’s USA-based networks remotely. Members of the group played around with systems’ tools (e.g. were installing and running games) and were unnoticed by the bank’s staff. Penetrators did not plan to conduct a robbery for their personal safety and stopped their activities at some time. Someone of them later handed over the crucial access data to Levin (reportedly for the stated $100).

In human terms, it’s a case of a trusted, 11-year employee gone bad. Lloyd built the Novell NetWare computer network at Omega South and then blew it up with a software time bomb after he fell from corporate grace and was ultimately fired for performance and behavioral problems. Today, he faces a sentence of up to five years in prison.
In a business sense, the loss of its key manufacturing programs cost Omega, which builds measurement and instrumentation devices for customers like NASA and the U.S. Navy, more than $10 million, dislodged its footing in the industry and eventually led to 80 layoffs.
The 1996 incident set off an intense investigation that brought together the U.S. Secret Service and one of the world’s top data recovery and forensics experts to piece together the evidence that would ultimately lead to Lloyd’s arrest and conviction

David Smith, the author of the Melissa virus, was facing nearly 40 years in jail when he decided to cooperate with the FBI.
Facing jail time, public wrath and a fortune in potential fines, the 30-year-old sender of the fast-spreading Melissa computer virus did what hundreds of criminals have done before. He agreed to go undercover.
Federal court documents unsealed at the request of the Associated Press show that for almost two years, Smith - then out on bail - worked mostly full time cruising the dark recesses of the Internet while the FBI paid his tab.
What did the FBI get? A windfall of information about malicious code senders, leading directly to two major international arrests and pre-empting other attacks, according to federal prosecutors. What did Smith get? Just 20 months in federal prison, which was about two years less than the minimum sentencing requirement, and about 38 years less than he faced when initially charged.
Sometimes it takes a thief to catch a thief, said former federal prosecutor Elliot Turrini, who handled Smith’s case and agreed to the reduced sentence.
About 63,000 viruses have rolled through the Internet, causing an estimated $65 billion in damage, but Smith is the only person to go to federal prison in the United States for sending one.

The computer hacker known as “Mafiaboy,” who crippled several major Internet sites including CNN, arrives in court Thursday, Jan. 18, 2001 in Montreal, Canada. He pleaded guilty on Thursday to 55 charges of mischief. The trial of the 16-year-old Montrealer, who can not be identified under Canadian law, was set to begin Thursday on 66 charges relating to attacks last year on several major Web sites, as well as security breaches of other sites at institutions such as Yale and Harvard.

Mark Abene (born 1972), better known by his pseudonym Phiber Optik, is a computer security hacker from New York City. Phiber Optik was once a member of the Hacker Groups Legion of Doom and Masters of Deception. In 1994, he served a one-year prison sentence for conspiracy and unauthorized access to computer and telephone systems.
Phiber Optik was a high-profile hacker in the early 1990s, appearing in The New York Times, Harper’s, Esquire, in debates and on television. Phiber Optik is an important figure in the 1995 non-fiction book Masters of Deception — The Gang that Ruled Cyberspace
Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
http://eyeball-series.org/hacker/hacker-eyeball.htm
http://www.itsecurity.com/features/top-10-famous-hackers-042407/Hacking News

Abhinav Bindra wins India's first ever individual Olympic gold

2008-08-10T22:11:00.000-07:00

World champion Abhinav Bindra wins India's first ever individual gold at the Olympic Games by winning the gold medal at the men's 10m air rifle event in Beijing on Monday.Bindra, a Khel Ratna awardee, finished the qualifying event joint fourth with Romania's George Alin Moldoveanu after the duo shot a score of 596/600. Earlier, Bindra ended the poor run of Indian shooters at the Beijing Olympics by qualifying for the men's 10m air rifle event finals. Bindra, a Khel Ratna awardee, finished the qualifying event joint fourth with Romania's George Alin Moldoveanu after the duo shot a score of 596/600.The bespectacled shooter managed a series of 100,99,100,98,100 and 99.

However, Gagan Narang failed to make the final cut in the same event finishing ninth with a score of 595/600. Narang shot a series of 97,100,100,100,98,100.

32 Most Important SEO Tips

2008-08-09T04:11:00.000-07:00

Following these simple tips will definitely boost your traffic and search engine
1. Make sure your site is not under construction, incomplete, with little or no unique content.
2. When your site is ready, submit it to Google, Yahoo, MSN and ASK.com. Consider also submitting to other search engine but most of them are powered by these four leading search engines. Submit also your site to reputable high PR web directories, open directories, yellow pages and social bookmarking sites such as del.icio.us, furl, etc.
3. Submit your sitemap to Google, Yahoo, MSN and ASK.com (sitemap for search engines usually in XML format)
4. Offer sitemap to your site visitors for easy page navigation. (sitemap for visitors in HTML format)
5. Create unique and rich content sites. Avoid duplicate content. Do not create multiple pages, sub-domains, domains, mirror sites or sites with different domain names but same content.
6. Check your keywords and make sure they are relevant and actually are contained in your site. Avoid keywords stuffing.
7. Use text instead of images in your content, links and important subjects.
8. Make your TITLE and ALT tags descriptive, simple and keyword rich. Avoid irrelevant and repeated keywords.
9. Title tag should be 60-80 characters maximum length.
10. Meta tag description should be 160-180 characters including spaces. (about 25-30 words)
11. Meta Tag keywords must be 15-20 words maximum.
12. Optimize Pages with Headings (H1, H2, H3..) containing your site's primary keywords.
13. Validate your CSS and HTML. Check for errors and broken links.
14. If your site contains dynamic pages(i.e., the URL contains a "?" character), make sure you use SEO friendly URLs. Search engines' spiders having difficulty indexing dynamic pages.
15. Maximum links per page must be fewer than 100. Avoid the risk of being flagged as link farm by search engines.
16. Use Lynx as text browser to check your site. (http://lynx.isc.org/)
17. Allow search bots (good ones) to crawl your sites without session IDs or arguments that track their path through the site. Using these techniques may result in incomplete indexing of your site.
18. Check your web server/host if it supports the If-Modified-Since HTTP header. It tells search engines whether your content has changed since last crawled your site. It will save you bandwidth, resources and avoid server overload.
19. Use Robots.txt file to manage and control search engine spiders in indexing your site. You can allow and disallow spiders and choose directories you want to be crawled and indexed. But with bad bots or spam bots you need to modify your HTACCESS file to properly and effectively manage bots or spiders. Visit http://www.robotstxt.org/wc/faq.html to learn more about Robots.txt file.
20. Do not attempt to present different content to search engines than what you show to your site visitors.
21. Avoid dirty tricks and exploiting loop holes to improve search engines ranking.
22. Avoid links to bad neighborhood such as web spammers, link farms, phishing, hacker, crack, gambling, porn and scam sites. Linking to them will greatly affects your search engine rankings.
23. Do not attempt to join in link schemes, excessive reciprocal links or excessive link exchanging and link exchange web rings.
24. Do not use unauthorized programs or online tools to submit your site, check page rankings and other automated queries. Avoid the risk of being flagged as spam.
25. Do not use hidden text and links. Show to search engines what you show to your vistors. It will greatly affect your site's reputation.
26. Do not attempt to create pages that contains phishing, scam, viruses, trojans, backdoors, spyware, adware and other malicious programs.
27. Make your site useful and informative.
28. Improve your link building. Link to high PR websites. Quality of relevant links are far more important than quantity. Links will greatly improve your site's visibility, popularity and rankings. Search engines consider links as votes to your site.
29. Check your page link structure. Every page should be reachable by a single static text link.
30. Be extra careful in purchasing SEO services. Some uses illegal and questionable ways to improve rankings.
31. Do not buy or sell links.
32. Do not create sites that contains purely affiliate links and no valuable content that are useful to the users.

Social Media Optimization

2008-08-09T03:11:00.000-07:00

Social Media Optimization (SMO) SMO is definitely a form of search engine marketing and the various SMO rules formulated ensure that huge traffic is driven to the website. Here it needs to be underlined that unlike SEO, SMO relies on more channels (and not just on search engines) to steer traffic.

A rather new concept, SMO necessitates making the best use of social media for website optimization. The original idea behind SMO is to make the websites more popular, more easily traceable in social media searches conducted by custom search engines such as Technorati. There are many ways that you can do it, whether you make use of blogs, podcasts or vlogs, your basic aim should be to make the website easily linkable. Again, speaking of content diversification, the easier it can be done, the better will it be for you.

Thus, going by SMO rules, you benefit if you allow others to make use of the website-content and even tools.
The rules of Social Media Optimization are as follows:
* Provide ability for easy linking
* Add Tagging and Bookmarking
* Participate
* Dynamic content
* Allow comments to be posted on your dynamic contents
* Create Blog for your website
* Social Networking
* Get Linkedin
Methodologies for SMO
Dynamic Content
As is the case with Search Engine Optimization, content (dynamic content at that) seems to be the backbone of Social Media Optimization. Prepare dynamic contents for your websites so that the websites are optimized for Social Media.
Social Bookmarking
Social Bookmarking is the other important aspect of SMO. This includes adding social bookmarking tools as well as specific bookmarking services like bookmarking and tag optimization for del.icio.us, reddit, digg, frank, Netvouz, furl, blinklist, technorati and other social bookmarking portals.
Blog Optimization
Blogs are another important contribution for your website to be optimized for social media. Install blog for your website and optimize it for Search Engines. Wordpress comes with excellent SEO plugin which makes Blogs easier to be optimized.
RSS (Really Simple Syndication)
RSS provides an effective way to distribute the dynamic content of the website. Add RSS in your website especially for dynamic content and distribute to various RSS portals.

Google Launches TV Ads in AdWords Platform

2008-08-07T03:41:00.000-07:00

Google has ventured into TV advertising with Google TV Ads. The program allows AdWords advertisers to distribute a TV advertisement across various U.S. networks using the traditional Google AdWords bidding system. Google TV Ads are still in Beta, and users can sign up here to get involved.The development seems like the next logical step for Google after they recently entered into the radio and print advertising marketplace. They are aiming to build the AdWords platform as a one stop shop for a wide range of different advertising mediums.Google TV Ads allows advertisers to create a 15-60 second video advertisement and distribute it on participating US television stations during certain programs or times of the day. The program also features an ad creation marketplace where advertisers can post their requirements and have a professional video advertisement designed for them.Distributing the video works much like a traditional AdWords campaign, with advertisers bidding for placement using a CPM measure:
Advertisers also select which networks show their ads and the time for each campaign to be run.
Once an ad has been run, Google's online tracking and reports then allow advertisers to view stats about the campaign including the number of impressions served, the percentage of viewers who watched the entire ad and when viewers changed channels. Google claims to use second by second data from set top boxes to gather the above information.I think Google TV advertising is a great addition to the AdWords platform and it will hopefully make TV advertising a reality for many small business owners. On the other hand, Google will need to keep a close eye on the project to ensure high quality ads are being produced; otherwise the value of the network could quickly diminish.source - www.ineedhits.com

Cyborg Names

2008-08-06T04:14:00.000-07:00

Have you ever tried to speak as Arnold in terminator...? If you have tried , then you must have ended up in lots of 'eh' and 'aaa'.Terminator always speaks as a machine would do in technical names like 'Artificial Synthesised Digital Transmission System' or even more complicated way. Such technical names are collectively called cyborg names.
Here is a really cool website that gives the cyborgname for any word which is not more that 10 letters. Visit http://www.cyborgname.com/.
The homepage of the website has the core of the site. A text field will ask your name. The as step two you can select your character. And just submit it to get your cyborg name.For eg. If you give LIBIN, thats my name, you will get "Lifeform Intended for Battle and Immediate Nullification." Cool... right..?

Technology@Olympics

2008-08-05T00:15:00.000-07:00

Innovation stars hit the world stage

High-tech companies showcasing their products at the 2008 Olympic Games will quickly discover that the events offer both opportunities and challenges. The greatest story of the Olympics may be China itself, which gets the chance to showcase to the world the results of its decades-long extreme makeover from a dull communist nation to one of the world's fastest growing economies.

LEDs brighten the venues

CREE Inc. is providing about 440,000 LEDs to illuminate the exterior of the Water Cube, where water-sport events will be held. Contractors for the Beijing Olympics found LEDs a more colorful and lower power route to lighting up their creations.

Planners' heads are in the clouds

China hopes to direct rainfall away from Olympic venues by seeding clouds with silver iodide pellets. Weather modification is still a hit-or-miss technology, China's goal is to pre-empt usual summer showers before the opening ceremonies or reduce the size of water droplets in clouds to delay storms.

Eliminating the guesswork

The Beijing Meteorological Bureau has invested in a supercomputer to help it gauge weather nd air quality during the Games. The bureau's IBM System p575 supercomputer is capable of eeping an area up to 44,000 km2 to provide hourly weather forecasts based on numerical data for each square kilometer.IBM technicians install copper plumbing for water cooling IBM's Power 575 supercomputer and test out the system for use in Beijing Olympics where the weather forecasting can be as much art as science.
RFID's the ticket for secure Games

The interest in RFID reinforces the idea that it has matured enough to support large-scale events. Paper tickets for the games are embedded with a wafer-thin chip die, a sliver-ink printed antenna and a 1-kbyte memory chip. "The 13.56-MHz HF chip embedded in the ticket stores a unique serial number to ensure authenticity," according to Thierry Burgess, general manager of ASK.

Mobile TV: Locals will tune in - on analog

China's homegrown digital mobile TV system will take a trial run at the Games, but most Chinese fans will watch the coverage on analog-equipped handsets like this one.
Transportation: Driverless rail

China has made a large investment in transport systems throughout Beijing to ease the way for the 3 million spectators who will pour into the city for the Olympics.Driverless trains are not new (i.e. the Air Train linking JFK and New York city), but China's driverless trains run faster (62.5 miles per hour), making the entire journey from the Beijing airport to the center of the city only 16 minutes. They also carry more people -- 4,500 passengers an hour.

Money Transfer through your cell phone

2008-08-02T02:19:00.000-07:00

The new reform to hit Indian Mobile Industry is money transfer through your cell phone. Isn’t that amazing? Its something that should have been introduced in India much earlier compared to foreign countries, but it’s never too late. Imagine a guy working (lets say in) USA will soon be able to transfer his hard earned money to his family living in small town (say) Jabalpur via mobile.
All he would need to do is recharge his mobile phone with money, same way as he operates with his prepaid mobile account and then SMS the amount to his wife’s mobile.
In return, she would receive a number (similar to a PIN) and be able to cash it at any prepaid distribution point of her mobile service provider.
Anil Kapur, managing director, South Asia, Western Union Financial Services, said: “We have agreements with operators around the world, and are looking at mobile money transfers of principal amounts worth $100 and below. It will be a high volumes-low margin play. It will help the millions in remote towns and villages, who do not have or need a bank account.”
This is really interesting that with a single SMS any one can easily send money from any part of the world to their friends, relatives or whom so ever concerned in India.
Since Banking regulations in India currently do not allow cash for exchange of another ‘unit’ such as ‘airtime’ in the case of mobiles. Only banks and the Indian Post (through money orders) are currently allowed such transfers. But now they are looking towards liberalizing it.
The technology is in place and operators are now waiting for the green signal. I expect some announcement and big surprises in this regard from big telecom operators and also by some advertising companies.
“We are currently developing the commercial and technical framework, which operators will be able to use to link their networks into Western Union’s money transfer systems. We expect India, as one of the biggest recipients of remittances, to be among the first countries to benefit from mobile money transfer services,” a GSM Association (GSMA) spokesperson told Business Standard.
Bharti Airtel and GSM Association have jointly launched a pilot programme that enables over 25 million Indian abroad to remit money to India through mobile phones.
Bharti Airtel has partnered with the State Bank of India creating a public - private partnership to cater to the Indians at home and abroad.
"It will revolutionize the money transfer industry with its advantages, such as reach, ease of use, and lower transaction costs and provide immense benefits to 25 million of Indians across the world and their families in India," said Sunil Bharti Mittal, chairman and managing director, Bharti Enterprises; Board Member of the GSM Association and the board sponsor of this programme.
The programme is aimed at tapping the mobile networks to enable the 200 million international migrant workers to easily and securely send remittances to their dependents, many of whom don’t have bank accounts.
The programme will complement existing local remittances channels and make transferring money internationally significantly more affordable.
GSMA said in a statement that the programme spearheaded by a special group of 19 mobile operators with networks in over 100 countries and representing over 600 million customers, it could double the number of recipients of international remittances to more than 1.5 billion, while helping to quadruple the size of the international remittances market to more than $1 trillion by 2012.
The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) is also a partner. Bharti Airtel has already tied up with State Bank of India for mobile remittance, and is pilot testing it at a few villages in India (one such project is in a small Himalayan town of Pithoragarh in India). Vodafone too has tied up with Citibank towards the same end.
"Bharti Airtel is part of the GSM Association's (GSMA) Mobile Money Transfer programme along 34 other global mobile operators. GSMA has partnered with Mastercard Worldwide and the Western Union Company for this project. It is too premature right now to comment on any specific initiative," said a Bharti Airtel spokesperson.
Other operators, too, are waiting for regulations to be in place before commercial operations begin.
The reason is simple. The regulatory hurdle apart, the mobile money transfer opportunity is huge. India has over 200 million mobile subscribers, a little over 300 million savings account holders but slightly over 70,000 bank branches.
Mobile remittance - domestic and international - can facilitate fund transfers, especially micro fund transfers in under-banked areas, say mobile operators.
Recorded remittances sent home by migrants from developing countries reached $206 billion in 2006 (currently estimated to be around $250 billion), according to the World Bank's Global Development Finance Report 2007. The top recipients of remittances in nominal dollar terms are India (around $27 billion according to RBI), Mexico, China, and the Philippines.
The technology already exists. Many operators have already developed and tested their money remittance applications, and are now awaiting regulatory clearance.
For instance, ICICI Bank account holders can use (and is being used by some) Reliance handsets (even the low-end Rs 1,000 ones with or without Internet connectivity) to make intra-bank (to ICICI account holders) money transfers.
Mahesh Prasad, president (Applications & Solutions Group) RCom, says: "We are adding more features and will soon start inter-bank (ICICI account holders transferring money to other bank accounts) money transfers using Reliance handsets.
Globally too, Smart Communications, of the Philippines, plans to launch several pilot projects in collaboration with mobile phone operators and banks in Bahrain, Italy and other countries hosting large Filipino migrant populations.
GTel's G-Cash programme is another Philippine service using SMS to execute transactions and cash centres to pay out funds received.
In Mozambique, MCel has introduced a system of airtime transfer from phone to phone, effectively allowing trading in very small denominations. India, hopefully, should soon follow
ALPHA MOBILE-CASH
You now have the power to make funds transfer with your cell phone anywhere and anytime via text messaging. Alpha Mobile Cash is a unique service that allows all cell phone users (regardless of carrier) who are registered members of AFS a swift, easy and secure access to funds transfer by sending a text message. You no longer have to spend time driving to and waiting in line at an old-fashioned money transfer location anytime you want to send money to friends and family members. To send money, simply text: SEND (AMOUNT) (FirstName LastName) (CreditCard or Echeck) to 32075. Always put SEND in front of every text message reply.
What are the benefits?
It is safe and convenient.
Irrespective of the service provider being used, this service saves you the time and effort driving to and waiting in line at an old-fashioned money transfer location. You can easily do your transaction anytime anywhere.
It is very cost effective.
This service is available 24 hours daily.
It is secure.
How do I use this service?
Very easy. First step is to register. Then you can start enjoying our Mobile Cash Transfer by text messages feature on your cell phone. The Mobile cash text line is 32075.Simply follow the step-by-step prompt on your cell phone to complete your transaction. Its that simple."
Mobile Money Transfer wouldn’t just be limited to common man, big telecom companies are going to exploit this opportunity to earn more moolah by introducing some charges on the money transfer. SMS is the most common feature used by major people using cell phones in India. It is a one good platform to get connected and reach maximum audiences. What I don’t understand is that today people and companies talk about GPRS enabled applications and smart phones and all the cool applications that require high end applications why do people and companies not leverage the already popular and readily available SMS platform and build services around it which will appeal to the masses

Domain Name Registration- Some legal Issues (contd)

2008-07-31T01:00:00.000-07:00

Domain name serves as an internet address used for identifying computer sites connected to the internet. Domain name is comparable to a telephone number and identifies one computer from millions of others connected to the internet.
Domain names serves the same function as a trade mark and is entitled to equal protection as a trade mark. Problems arises when a company wants to register its company name or well known trade marks as a domain name on the internet only to discover that the name has already been taken. Litigation in cyber era, thus involves domain names-infringement and passing off resulting in blurring of trade marks, cyber squatting, etc.
Infringement and Passing off
Conflict between trade marks and domain names arises when an unrelated party registers a domain name that is identical to or similar to another registered trade mark constituting infringement under the trade mark laws. Protection is also offered for misappropriation or passing off an unregistered trade mark. Domain names that may be considered infringing also include intention misspelling.
For eg, if one is neither Reebok nor authorised by it, it is an infringement to operate a domain name like www.reebokstuff.com. People seeing that domain name and/or going to that site are likely to be confused that the said site is affiliated with reebok when it is not.
In India, similar or identical marks along with well known trade marks are protected if the same is likely to cause confusion and result in erosion of distinctiveness of the mark.. The factors to be considered are the similarity between the domain name and the trade mark, the competitive proximity of the products offered by the infringer and the trade mark owner, infringer's intention to confuse parties, evidence of actual confusion, degree of care expected of the trade mark owners customers.
Case Laws
Reference here may be made to some leading case laws. In British Telecommunications Plc vs One in a Million Ltd., (1999) FSR 1(CA), it was held that the placing on the internet register distinctive names such as "Marks and Spencer" made a representation that the registrant was connected or associated with the name registered and thus the owner of the goodwill in the name. This amounted to passing off. In addition, the registration of such a distinctive name as a domain name was an erosion of the exclusive goodwill in the name which or which is likely to damage the owner of the goodwill.
In the case of Maruti Udyog Ltd., and Suzuki Motor Corpration vs World Information Pages, 2000 PTC 636, it was held that the domain name "marutisuzuki.com" is identical to Maruti Suzuki. The registartion of the domain name was held to be registration in bad faith. The domain name was ordered to be transferred to Maruti Suzuki.
In the case of Yahoo Inc., vs. Akash Arora, 1999 PTC 201, it was held that the domain names of the Plaintiff and the Defendant being almost identical, there was every possibility of an internet user being confused and deceived into believing that the domain name had a common source or a connection. In view of the same, if there was a close resemblance between two trade marks, the addition of the word India was of no consequence. Accordingly, the addition of the word "India" did not distinguish the Defendant's domain names from that of the Plaintiff. Thus, it did not matter that "Yahoo" was a dictionary word. The name had acquired a uniqueness and distinctiveness and was associated with the business of the Plaintiff.
Further, in the case of Info Edge (India) (P) Ltd. Vs Shailesh Gupta, (2002)(24)PTC355(Del), the Defendant had adopted NAUKARI.COM as their domain name. The Complaint was filed by the Plaintiff, whose domain name was "NAUKRI.COM" and interim injunction was granted.
CyberSquatting
As it is fairly inexpensive to reserve a name, there are various instances of cyber squatting. A strong indicator of bad faith is the intent to sell registered domain name to the owner of the corresponding trade marks or to register a high number of domain names. Hence, there is a strong evidence that the registration was made not to trade under, but to trade the name which is not a legitimate purpose of domain name registration.
Character Conflict
The other area of conflict arises where there is no intention to trade in a name. Both parties have a legitimate reason to use the characters in the name. This conflict generally involves companies name based on generic names.
Remedies
A trade mark owner may sue for trade mark infringement, if domain name similar to the trade mark is used without permission in a commercial sense and in a way that is likely to cause confusion, deception or mistake. In India, the District Court has the power to adjudicate disputes between trade mark owners and domain name registrants including the power to enjoin the use of the domain name and to direct its reassignment to the trade mark owner.

Internet, IT And Software, Copyright and Domain Name Issues - India

2008-07-28T20:57:00.000-07:00

INTRODUCTION
Internet has emerged as a global medium which drives global economic development. Internet provides new trademark and branding opportunities for conducting business globally and making it accessible to the consumers world-wide at affordable price. At the same time, it has also created new opportunities for various kinds of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) infringement, disputes, cyber offences etc. India’s growth in the internet space has been commendable. India has also made tremendous growth in Information and Software Technology and is having compounded growth of more than 25% every year. The increasing use of Information Technology (IT), however, brings with it new challenges and threats. Amongst the most significant is the security threat, including data theft, piracy, hacking, identity theft, violation of intellectual property rights, etc. Given the commercial importance and potential of IT in India, there is a need for special efforts to fight such illegal activities. In order to keep the legal regime abreast with this change in the society, the Indian Parliament went about legislating the Information Technology Act, 2000. This article attempts to provide an insight to the major issues being faced by India in the cyber space.
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS OVER INTERNET
After the advent of Internet most of the corporate Intellectual Property are held in the digital form as it provides affordable access of all the IPR resources to the public at large. However, internet has also made infringement of IPR , in particular copying of Copyright material easy and simple..Internet is being termed as the world”s biggest copying machine. India has specific legislations to deal with various kinds of IPR infringement however these legislations are not equipped to deal with some of the modern day copyright violations. The Copyright Act, 1957 prohibits reproduction of the copyrighted work in any material form including the storing of it in any medium by electronic means, by any unauthorized person but is incapacitated to deal with illegal duplication, importation, distribution and sale of pirated music as it becomes difficult to trace the location of information.
In this scenario, where sharing of information among people has become the major function of the internet, the peer-to-peer file sharing services provided by various websites, linking, deep linking, framing and other innovations which have changed the way people share information over the world wide web, have given rise to a legal controversy. While the users downloading music, software, computer games and other copyrighted material are held liable for direct copyright infringement, the service providers go scot free as the existing Copyright Act has no provision for making a service provider liable in such a situation. The rapid dissemination of data over the Internet means that one has to spend a lifetime and fortune tracking down copies of the work that infringes those rights, indentifying the infringer and litigating in each concern jurisdiction.
The protection to computer software is derived out of two Acts, the Indian Copyright Act, 1957 and the IT Act, 2000. While the Copyright Act grants protection to the computer program as it is granted to other forms of copyrighted work, the technological and complex nature of the computer programs calls for technically effective protection.The Indian Copyright Act, 1957 accords a special status to computer software as compared to other forms of copyrighted work. The Copyright Act regards the computer programs as literary works, and in addition to the general exclusive rights provided to other literary works, it grants extraordinary exclusive rights to the owners of the computer programs like right to sell or offer for sale, and the right to give on commercial rental or offer for commercial rental. The Act has also exempted computer programs from ‘fair dealing exception’ (i.e. private use for research, criticism or review of that work or any other work) which is available in case of other copyright works.The IT Act, 2000 provides for punishment for tampering with the ‘source code’ of a computer program but this protection applies to computer source codes ‘which are required to be kept or maintained by law for the time being in force’. Hence, the protection accorded by the IT Act is only for ‘source code’ of computer programs of government agencies and the ‘source code’ of computer programs of private users still stand unprotected.
CYBERCRIMES
• The Technological progress has also given a new dimension to the various crimes which traverse through various territories thus creating the issue of jurisdiction. Identity theft, misuse of credit cards, hacking, leaking of critical information and frauds are some of the issues which are being faced by the Indian cyber consumer. Some of these cyber offences are explained below :
Spamming
Spamming means sending unsolicited bulk/commercial mails over the net which clogs the network and reduces the speed. . With IT Act having no provisions on spamming, the legal picture on this lays still unclear.
• Phishing and Pharming
Phising means to misrepresentation on the internet, which may lead the user to disclose their personal data at their own will. This is known as phishing and pharming and is not addressed by the IT Act.
Cyber Stalking
Cyber stalking involves a person following a web-surfer through cyberspace inspite of the objections by their later , which could result into causing severe mental agony, stress and harassment to the person being stalked. While the IT Act does not address the issue, it could be regulated by the Indian Penal Code, although there exists a need for specific and appropriate provisions to be included in the IT Act for an effective check on such activities.
• Credit Card Frauds
The use of credit card through internet, for making payment of goods or services, has opened major routes for frauds against the cyber consumers. As the transaction, while using credit card through internet, takes place CNP (Card Not Present), it opens the room for people stealing information of cards and misusing it for making a purchase. As the IT Act does not deal with credit card frauds, there exists a need express provisions to be formulated for checking such activities.
DATA PROTECTION AND PRIVACY
Internet technology facilitates the gathering of personal data. But this also brings a possibility of a threat to the privacy of a cyber consumer or netizens. With the boom in online service provider companies in India, misusing of the personal data of a cyber consumer has become a major menace.
However, there is no specific legislation to protect the personal data of a person though to a little extent protection may be given under the Copyright Act, 1957.With US and EU having strict policies relating to privacy and protection of personal data, it becomes very important for India, considering the inflow of foreign investments and other business opportunities, to have specific data protection and privacy laws. The Information Technology Act protects privacy rights only from government action and it’s unclear if such protection can be extended to private actions as well. The absence of data protection and privacy law has also been creating obstacles for Indian companies while dealing with the EU as the data protection directives require a very high level of protection. India needs to adapt to the changing needs of the time and provide for a comprehensive data protection regime which will not only help in gaining consumer confidence but also increase the amount of business that Indian BPO service providers receive from the EU.
DOMAIN NAME ISSUES
With the advancement of e-commerce, the domain names have come to acquire the same value as a trademark or the business name of a company. The value attached to domain names makes it lucrative for cyber criminals to indulge in domain name infringements and the global nature and easier and inexpensive procedure for registering domain names further facilitates domain name infringements. When a person gets a domain name registered in bad faith, i.e. in order to make huge profits by registering a domain name corresponding to a trademark of another person, with an intent to sell the domain name to the trademark owner at a higher price, such activities are known as cybersquatting. The IT Act does not deal with the domain name issues. In India the domain name infringement cases are dealt with according to the trademark law. With most of the countries providing for specific legislations for combating and curbing cyber squatting, India also needs to address the issue and formulate legal provisions against cyber squatting. For settlement of Disputes, WIPO has introduced a new mechanism called ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) for settlement of disputes relating to domain names. As the parties are given the right to file the case against the decision of ICANN in their respective jurisdictions, the decisions of ICANN is having only persuasive value for the domain users.
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY LAW
India passed the Information Technology Act, 2000 to deal with the emerging cyber issues. It aims to provide for the legal framework so that legal sanctity is accorded to all electronic records and transactions carried out by the means of electronic data interchange and other means of electronic communication (e-commerce). However, it does not deal with major issues like Spaming, Cyber Stalking, Phising etc.
GREY AREAS
For the effective regulation of a phenomenon, the legal regime for it must be abreast with the latest developments taking place in that field, which becomes difficult in the case of Information Technology as it has an accelerated pace of development and hence the statute requires constant updating. Some grey areas in the Act which need special attention are:
• The Act extends the application of its penal provisions to persons outside India, irrespective of their nationality if the offence under the Act relates to a computer located in India. Such extra-territorial jurisdiction is fraught with limitations as to its enforcement.
• The jurisdiction of a particular country over online transactions, which involves more than one jurisdiction, has been left open. This can lead to a conflict of jurisdictions.
• The Act fails to address the issue of cross-border taxation that may arise in international contracts.• The Act does not address the issue of protection of intellectual property on the internet.
• The Act does not deal with privacy and data protection issues on the internet.
• The Act fails to cover cyber laundering of money, spamming, phishing, cyber stalking, cyber squatting and other innovative cybercrimes.
• The Act does not clarify the situation regarding the liability of network service providers.

From Athens to Beijing: The history of Olympic Games-1: First 1896 Olympic Games

2008-07-23T03:42:00.000-07:00

The Olympic Games as we know have a long history that dates back to Antiquity. It all started in Greece, in the Peloponnese, some 3,000 years ago. Greece was the birthplace of the ancient Olympics. The first modern Olympics were held in Athens in 1896.
Only 241 competitors, all men, from 14 countries turned up for contests in gymnastics, bicycle races, tennis, fencing, marksmanship, track and field and swimming, all of which meant little to the Greeks who were interested in one event only.
The marathon was named after a village in Attica, approximately 40 kms north-east of Athens, where the Athenians defeated the Persians in 490 BC. According to legend, a Greek messenger carried the news from the plains adjoining Marathon to Athens then promptly dropped dead.
Seventeen competitors, including 15 Greeks, lined up in Marathon for the classic distance race. Frenchman Albin Lermusiaux set a scorching early pace but collapsed after 32 kms, allowing Spiridon Louis from the Greek town of Amarousion to take the lead. Louis entered the Olympic stadium to a rapturous reception and two Greek princes left their seats to jog alongside their new hero on his way to the finish.
The opening was seen over by 40,000 spectators in the stadium and plus by many more on the surrounding hills. The most outstanding achievement of the 1896 Games at Athens came from Germany's Carl Schuhmann who not only won three gymnastic events but also won the wrestling title.
First Olympic Games in 1896 Venue: Athens, Greece Dates: April 6-15,1896
NumbersofSports:9 (43events)
Numbers of Nations: 14
Numbers of Participant: 241 (all male)
Youngest Gold medalist: Alfred Hajos ( Hungary) aged 18 years 70 days in swimming.
Oldest medalist: Georgios Orphandis (Greece) aged 37 years in shooting
Final Medals Tally
Country G S B Total
United States 11 7 2 20
Greece 10 17 19 46
Germany 6 5 2 13
France 5 4 2 11
Great Britain 2 3 2 7
Hungary 2 1 3 6
Austria 2 1 2 5
Australia 2 - - 2
Denmark 1 2 3 6
Switzerland 1 2 – 3
Mixed team 1 1 1 3
Total 43 43 36 122
TRIVIA:
** Greek businessman Georges Averoff from Alexandria, Egypt paid 920, 000 drachma (ú 36,500 at the 1896 exchange rate) for the reconstruction of the Panathenean Stadium at Athens.
** The Panathenean Stadium at Athens, the venue for the first Olympic Games in 1896 was actually been built in 330 BC by the orator Luycurgus, a disciple of Plato.
** Australia, France, Greece, Great Britain and Switzerland are the only five countries have never failed to be represented at all Olympic Games since 1896.
** James Connolly (United Sates) won the triple jump on 6 April 1896, and thus became the first Olympic champion since the Ancient Games. He also finished second in the high jump and third in the long jump.
** Alfred Hajos (Hungary) won the 100m and the 1,200m events. For the longer race, the swimmers were transported by boat and left to swim back to shore alone.
** Americans John and Sumner Paine became the first brothers to win Olympic gold medals, when they came first in the military pistol and free pistol shooting events respectively in the 1896 Games at Athens. Incidentally their father had successfully defended yachting’s America Cup some years before.
** Only first and second place finishers of these Games were awarded medals. The winners received silver medals and crowns of olive branches, while second place finishers received bronze medals.

The quest to become the first to fly around the earth

2008-07-21T23:15:00.000-07:00

Wiley Post (1898 - 1935)First to fly solo around the world, 1933. Post was considered one of the most colourful figures of early aviation. He set many records before being tragically killed near Point Barrow, Alaska in 1935 in a crash which also took the life of his flying companion, humorist Will Rogers.

In 1924 four Douglas World Cruisers and eight American crewmen set out from Seattle, Washington, to attempt the first around-the-world airplane flight. One hundred seventy-five days later three of the aircraft and crews became the first to circumnavigate earth.
The Douglas World Cruiser biplane was a variant of the Navy's DT-2 torpedo bomber that could be operated either with wheels or floats. The prototype was delivered 45 days after the contract was let in summer 1923. Tests were successful, and four more aircraft were ordered. Each of the aircraft was named after a US city representing a compass point: Seattle, crewed by Maj. Frederick Martin (pilot and flight commander) and SSgt. Alva Harvey (flight mechanic); Chicago, crewed by Lt. Lowell H. Smith (pilot) and 1st Lt. Leslie Arnold; Boston, with 1st Lt. Leigh P. Wade (pilot) and SSgt. Henry H. Ogden aboard; and New Orleans, with Lt. Erik Nelson (pilot) and Lt. Jack Harding in the cockpits.
The success was largely a result of extensive planning; 30 spare engines were dispatched all over the world prior to the flight; with co-operation of the Royal Air Force and the US Navy, 28 nations supplied thousands of gallons of fuel and oil along the flight path.
The airplanes left Seattle, Washington, on 6 April 1924 and headed west, equipped with the latest navigational aids. Even so, fog, blizzards, thunderstorms and sand storms took a toll. On April 30, Seattle crashed in dense fog on a mountainside near Port Moller on the Alaska Peninsula. Major Martin and Sergeant Harvey hiked out of the wilderness. The remaining crews continued, flying on to Japan, Southeast Asia, India, the Middle East, Europe, England, and Ireland. On 3 August Boston was forced down in the North Atlantic, sinking in rough seas while being towed. A prototype was dispatched to Nova Scotia, where Lieutenant Wade and Sergeant Ogden renamed the aircraft Boston II and rejoined the flight. The crews stopped in several US cities and returned triumphantly to Seattle on 28 September.
The trip had totaled 175 days, covering 44 360 km (27,553 miles), with stops in 61 cities, the total flying time being 371 hours, 11 minutes.
In 1933, it took an American, Wiley Post, only 7 days to be the first to fly solo around the world. Between July 15 and 22, Post covered 25 110 km (15,596 miles) in 7 days, 18 hours and 49 minutes in one of the most remarkable displays of flying endurance of the century. Post's single engine Lockheed Vega, the Winnie Mae was equipped with a Sperry automatic pilot, a radio direction finder, and other new devices.
Earlier, in 1931, ex-barnstormer Post and navigator Harold Gatty had thrilled the nation by dashing around the world in the Winnie Mae. The flight was not only a great technical achievement, but one which demanded extraordinary fortitude. For over 106 hours, neither Post nor Gatty had an opportunity to sleep. The flight's elapsed time of 8 days, 15 hours and 51 minutes far surpassed the previous record of 21 days set in 1929 by the airship Graf Zeppelin.
The first non-stop flight around the world was made by, again, a team of the US Air Force flyers in 1949. Taking off from Carswell Air Force base in Fort Worth, Texas on 26 February, Captain James Gallagher and a crew of 14 headed east in a B-50 Super fortress, called Lucky Lady II. They were refueled four times in air by KB-29 tanker planes of the 43rd Air Refueling Squadron, over the Azores, Saudi Arabia, the Philippines and Hawaii. The circumnavigation was completed on 2 March, having traveled 94 hours and 1 minute, covering 37 743 km (23,452 miles) at an average 398 km/h (249 mph).

The Wayback Machine

2008-07-21T04:45:00.000-07:00

Web Archive

The Internet Archive is a complete snapshot of all web pages on every website since 1996 till today. Since the average lifetime of a page on the Internet is 100 days, this snapshot is retaken every two months. The Internet Archive at BA includes the web collection of 1996 to 2006. It represents 1.5 petabytes of data stored on 880 computers. The entire collection is available for free access to researchers, historians, scholars, and the general public.

About the Wayback Machine

Browse through 85 billion web pages archived from 1996 to a few months ago. To start surfing the Wayback, type in the web address of a site or page where you would like to start, and press enter. Then select from the archived dates available. The resulting pages point to other archived pages at as close a date as possible. Keyword searching is not currently supported.

Gadget to put 3D person in your palm

2008-07-19T03:21:00.000-07:00

Researchers in Japan are developing a gadget that could enable people to hold a three dimensional image of someone in the palm of their hand. They hope the gCubik, which is still at the prototype stage, will later be developed to move in real time and appear to speak.

The ultimate image they have in mind is having a small person in the palm, said Shunsuke Yoshida, one of the researchers involved in the study at Japan's National Institute of Information and Communications Technology.

Suppose we have a picture of our girlfriend smiling on our desk. She could be smiling as a 3D image in a cube. Grandparents could use the device—which comes in a 10 centimeter cube—to see a 3D image of their grandchild living far away, while business people could view a prototype product from afar and school teachers could use it in science classes, he said. At the moment the device has a still image but efforts are underway to make it move in real time, Yoshida said.

The panels have many tiny lenses on liquid crystal displays. Unlike conventional 3D displays, which are viewed only from the front, the gCubik can be seen from three sides, giving different images from various angles. And unlike conventional 3D users will not need glasses to see the benefit.

The experts hope to put the technology to practical use within about three years by improving picture quality, getting rid of cords now attached to the cube and allowing viewing from all six sides of the box.

Yamaha YZF R15 150cc - Preview

2008-07-18T01:25:00.000-07:00

Daemon is back!!! Yamaha’s YZF R15 has already became the most expected machine of 2008. As expectations hit the roof, in this preview, we try to give our readers some unheard information along with some exciting pictures and video.

Yamaha YZF R15 150cc: While the R1 is inspired from M1, Yamaha’s YZF R15 is developed to imitate R1 in every aspect. Yes, you can expect the exceptional motorcycling experience in the R15. In Yamaha’s term YZF R15 150cc is a machine, like all other Yamaha R series , that comes with racing DNA and the spirit of competition living in every component

Yamaha YZF R15 150cc: Hurrah! we are going to touch the heart.The 150cc engine which powers the YZF R15 is the India’s first 150cc liquid cooled engine. Yamaha has brought lot of advanced technologies which are usually used in higher displacement engines for this 150cc mill. Here are few highlights of YZF R15’s hi-tech engine.
YZF R15 makes use of DiASil (Die-casting Aluminum-Silicon) cylinder. The DiASil Cylinder is an all-aluminum cylinder made possible by an exclusive Yamaha aluminum forging technology. Because it uses a 20% silicon aluminum alloy, it is possible to create a cylinder wall that is so hard and durable that it eliminates the need for a conventional steel cylinder sleeve. And, because the cylinder is all aluminum, it has excellent heat dissipation qualities (cooling capacity is improved by 60% and reduces engine weight (by 30%) at the same time.
YZF R15 makes use of forged piston (India’s first) which enables lighter piston design and excellent power developement.
YZF R15’s 4-valve combustion chamber adopts centrally mounted spark plug and six hole type injector which leads to path breaking performance.
A compact radiator cools the engine to maximize stablity and performance.
Yamaha YZF R15 150cc: Similar to the R1, Yamaha has adopted a six speed transmission for its new 150cc YZF R15. Optimized ratios will help you to keep the motor singing in the high-rpm range throughout all the gears.
Yamaha YZF R15 150cc: Here are the dimensions of the demon. YZF R15 must be the most compact bike in its class. It’s overall length is 1070mm, overall width is 670mm and its wheels base is 1290mm. Since sporty YZF R15 is shorter too and its height is just 1070mm. YZF R15 150cc features F 80/90 -17 inches tyres in the front and 100/80-17 inches tyres in the rear. Both the tyres are tubeless.

4 more rush 2 http://www.yamaha-motor-india.com/r15/. special thanks to Yamaha Motors India.

BREAKING THE SILENCE ON CHILD ABUSE

2008-07-17T03:28:00.001-07:00

Tulir, a Chennai-based NGO has been doing pioneering work in bringing to attention the widespread sexual abuse of children -- as high as 42 per cent in one Chennai survey.

Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) and its prevention have become major problems in all countries, particularly in India, with the absence of specific laws against CSA and the lack of awareness on the subject. CSA can occur both within families, social groups and in underprivileged situations, such as in orphanages.

While correction and punishment are ways to tackle the problem, it is increasingly felt that prevention is a far better method. This is because of two reasons: the difficulty of bringing CSA offenders to book; and tragically, the virtual impossibility of erasing the scars left on victims.

In India, there are several organisations working with child rights, but only a few, such as Chennai-based Tulir, that focus on CSA. Tulir is Tamil for the first tender leaves of a plant - symbolising children and belief in the resilience and resurgence of human activity. In 2006, Tulir was honoured with an International Award by the Women's World Summit Foundation on the occasion of the World Day for Prevention of Child Abuse (November 19) in Geneva.

The Tulir Centre for the Prevention and Healing of Child Sexual Abuse, which began in 2002, is the inspiration of its Executive Director, Vidya Reddy. Reddy's experience as a volunteer with Childline, a 24-hour helpline for children in Chennai, made her aware of the many cases of CSA and the need for an organisation specifically devoted to the issue.

The major programmes of the organisation are with children. Over the last three years, Tulir has covered around 40 private schools in Chennai. It also runs a project with municipal corporation schools.

According to Reddy, a typical programme in a school begins with an orientation for parents, proceeds to intensive workshops for teachers and, finally, targets the children, who are only taught in groups. As the programme is exclusively for primary school students, the words 'sex' or 'abuse' are never used. 'Personal safety' is the slogan. The purpose is to encourage children to speak out if they feel uncomfortable, unsafe or confused when an adult touches them. Children always have the right instinct and know the difference between a friendly pat on the back and an unwarranted touch.

If a disclosure is made by a child about abuse during a Tulir session, it is brought to the notice of the parents or teachers, depending on the situation.

In the beginning, the group worked on just 'love and fresh air', says Reddy. It was in the second year of their operations that they received funding from Save the Children, Sweden , for a research project. Since then, they have been receiving funds from Action Aid, UNICEF, Save the Children, UK, for their domestic child workers project in West Bengal.

In 2005, Tulir undertook a research project on 'Prevalence and dynamics of child sexual abuse among school-going children in Chennai'. The revelations were shocking. Out of a sample of 2,211 child participants, 939 or 42 per cent had undergone some form of child abuse.

Tulir has worked with several organisations such as Intervention Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse, Chicago, and Terres Des Hommes (People of the Earth) that works across Europe in child rights. In India, Tulir has been associated with Action for the Rights of the Child, Pune, which translated their awareness materials into Marathi. The Karnataka State Council for Child Welfare has done the same in Kannada.

There is no law against child sexual abuse in India, Reddy points out.

In a span of 15 days, Goa has seen four cases of heinous child abuse, and once again a problem long known to exist is in the spotlight. The state is now witnessing an alarming rise in sexual abuse against children in the 7-16 age group. The recent arrests and investigation by social groups reveal that more than 10,000 paedophiles visit the coastal state every year and molest children, especially brought for the trade from Karnataka. Recent cases prove that many foreigners implicated in this exploitation lure children with expensive gifts and money. They also buy gifts for the families of the children, to convince them to let the young ones stay with them. But the exploitation is also Indian, and not limited to crimes committed by tourists.

The first of the recent cases is especially shocking. A 9-year-old girl was alleged raped by an Italian, aged 56 years, a frequent traveler to Goa. Navhind Times reported earlier this month that it is now believed that he has been abusing many children for over 10 years. A popular host to many parties, he used a perviously abused girl to procure a child as a domestic servant in his house. It is alleged that he raped her for three days continuously after tying her hands and legs, and that he performed forced anal sex on the little one.

A shameful history

Foreign paedophiles are not new to Goa; it is well known that many visit tourist destinations around the world for a few months every year, usually in the months corresponding with winter in their country of residence. In Goa, tourist agents involved in the racket provide information on beaches to visit, and how to find and approach potential targets. The 'channawalla' or the 'ice cream seller' on the beaches acts as a pimp. In some cases, a child lives with the paedophile in his room, with the knowledge of the proprietors of the hotel or guesthouse. A number of impoverished families from the nomadic Lamani tribe as well as from villages in northern Karnataka are engaged in vending wares on the beach. Their children inevitably interact with foreign tourists lounging on the beach, providing an easy and regular avenue for exploitation.

The history of this crime in the state is long, and as a result Goa is destined to become the child sexual abuse capital of the world, having already attained that status within India. The first 10-year long racket of paedophilia came to light in 1991. Freddy Peats, the aged mastermind, is presently serving life imprisonment in Goa along with his accomplice, New Zealander Eoghan Colm McBride, also into his sixties. Interestingly he enjoyed the respect of the people of Margao for his supposed dedication to the welfare of poor children. Five of his partners from Australia, Sweden, Bangkok, Germany and France are still absconding.

The state's response to these crimes has been appallingly indifferent; Peats' conviction was a rare prosecutorial success in an ocean of neglect and failures. More typically, cases are rarely brought, and almost never concluded properly. A good example of this is the case of John Colin Middleton, a 71 year-old Briton, who was arrested on 19 March 2001 from a guest house where he was found with three children he brought with him from Nepal. He was alleged to have served a sentence for a previous conviction for sodomy with a child in New Zealand. Middleton was released on bail on 23 March 2001. His passport was later returned to him and the case against him was declared 'closed'. Such arbitrary waivers of prosecution and punishment are common.

The legal picture

Paedophilia, or Child Sexual abuse [CSA], is the physical or mental violation of a child with sexual intent, usually by an older person who is in some position of trust and/or power, vis-à-vis the child. The term paedophile refers to any adult who habitually seeks the company of a child/children for the gratification of his/her sexual needs. A child is defined variously by different Indian laws. In this article, a child is defined by age - as anyone below the age of 18 years - as per the definition contained in the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Child sexual abuse occurs in three ways typically: incestuous abuse (i.e. by family members of victims), sexual abuse by strangers, and child prostitution. In conservative societies, as ours is, incest is less likely to be reported to the police, because of fear of social disgrace. Families often chooses to 'resolve' the issue privately because they view it as not a criminal matter. From the victim's point of view, however, incest may be more traumatic than rape by strangers, because such behaviour may be continued over a period of time and the victim remains helpless to protect herself from such abuses. In addition, it may have long-term psychological effects. The victim develops an inner sense of guilt and depression, which may have long-lasting effects on her personality development.

The laws dealing with sexual offences do not specifically address child sexual abuse. It is disconcerting but true, the India Penal Code 1860 does not recognise Child abuse. Only rape and sodomy can lead to criminal conviction. Anything less than rape, as defined by the law, amounts to 'outraging the modesty'. These laws are problematic when applied to adult women, but they are even more difficult when applied to children. While sec. 376 IPC seeks to provide women redress against rape, it is rarely interpreted to cover the broad range of sexual abuses [particularly of children] that actually takes place. The word 'rape' is too specific, this does not include abuse on 'boys'; moreover, 'intercourse' is often interpreted to mean with an 'adult'.

Tulir has undertaken a new research programme to look at the CSA issue from a different perspective with the advent of technology. As a result of the Internet, the entire profile of abuse has undergone a paradigm shift. Viewing child pornography on the Internet gives impetus to abuse. Then again, children who participate in Internet chat rooms are at risk. Individuals, pretending to be youngsters, befriend innocent children and later entice them into actual meetings outside.

Tulir may just be touching the fringes of a major societal problem but hopes to tackle a menace shrouded in sordid silence.

How to develop a winning personality?

2008-07-16T23:56:00.000-07:00

Become the person you've always wanted to be . . . And create the life you've always wanted to live! How To Develop A Winning Personality has helped thousands to climb the ladder of success in business and in their personal lives.

It is entirely commendable to devote some thought and effort to the improvement of your personality. You do not have to make it the be all and end all of your existence but you can and should, as a normal human being, make enough concession to space-age attitudes to be able to live comfortably and happily in the space age. If you don't, and if you are not a saint or a genius , you are going to be a mighty lonely Soul, and that brings us to one of the major-if not the major-reasons for devoting yourself in at least a limited way to the improvement and development of your personality.

Self improvement can be yours if you master the simple lessons outlined in this book. If you plan to start your own business or work from home and deal with others, you need to know how to develop a winning personality. Personal growth and self-motivation will be enhanced and which will give you the most important tools for success.
You, too, can achieve your maximum potential by learning the secrets of how to:
Have confidence and power
Influence people to your way of thinking
Meet the people you want to meet
Attract new friends and lovers
And much more!
There are no limits on what you can do when you develop a winning personality!

Internet Addiction :The Emergence Of A New Clinical Disorder

2008-07-15T21:09:00.000-07:00

Anecdotal reports indicate that some on-line users were becoming addicted to the Internet in much that same way that others became addicted to drugs or alcohol which resulted in academic, social, and occupational impairment.
This study investigated the existence of Internet addiction and the extent of problems caused by such potential misuse. This study utilized an adapted version of the criteria for pathological gambling defined by the DSM-IV (APA, 1994). On the basis of this criteria, case studies of 396 Dependent Internet users (Dependents) and a control group of 100 non-dependent Internet users (Non-Dependents) were classified. Qualitative analyses suggest significant behavioral and functional usage differences between the two groups. The purpose of this exploratory study was to investigate if Internet usage could be considered addictive and to identify the extent of problems created by such misuse.

Pathological Gambling was viewed as most akin to the pathological nature of Internet use. By using Pathological Gambling as a model, Internet addiction can be defined as an impulse-control disorder which does not involve an intoxicant. Therefore, this study developed a brief eight-item questionnaire referred to as a Diagnostic Questionnaire (DQ) which modified criteria for pathological gambling to provide a screening instrument for addictive Internet use. Respondents who answered "yes" to five or more of the criteria were classified as addicted Internet users (Dependents) and the remainders were classified as normal Internet users (Non-Dependents) for the purposes of this study.
An exploratory survey consisting of both open-ended and closed-ended questions was constructed for this study that could be administered by telephone interview or electronic collection. A total of 605 surveys in a three month period were collected with 596 valid responses that were classified from the DQ as 396 Dependents and 100 Non-Dependents. Approximately 55% of the respondents replied via electronic survey method and 45% via telephone survey method.

RESULTS
The sample of Dependents included 157 males and 239 females. Mean ages were 29 for males, and 43 for females. Mean educational background was 15.5 years. Vocational background was classified as 42% none (i.e., homemaker, disabled, retired, students), 11% blue-collar employment, 39% non-tech white collar employment, and 8% high-tech white collar employment. The sample of Non-Dependents included 64 males and 36 females. Mean ages were 25 for males, and 28 for females. Mean educational background was 14 years.

Length of Time using Internet
The length of time using the Internet differed substantially between Dependents and Non-Dependents. Among Dependents, 17% had been online for more than one year, 58% had only been on-line between six months to one year, 17% said between three to six months, and 8% said less than three months. Among Non-Dependents, 71% had been online for more than one year, 5% had been online between six months to one year, 12% between three to six months, and 12% for less than three months. A total of 83% of Dependents had been online for less than one full year which might suggest that addiction to the Internet happens rather quickly from one’s first introduction to the service and products available online.
Further results suggested that differences existed among the specific Internet applications utilized between the two groups as Non-Dependents predominantly used those aspects of the Internet which allowed them to gather information (i.e., Information Protocols and the WorldWide Web) and e-mail. Comparatively, Dependents predominantly used the two-way communication functions available on the Internet (i.e., chat rooms, MUDs, news groups, or email). Non-Dependents viewed the Internet as a useful resource tool and a medium for personal and business communication. Dependents enjoyed those aspects of the Internet which allowed them to meet, socialize, and exchange ideas with new people through these highly interactive mediums.

Extent of Problems
One major component of this study was to examine the extent of problems caused by excessive Internet use. Non-Dependents reported no adverse affects due to its use, except poor time management because they easily lost track of time once on-line. However, Dependents reported that excessive use of the Internet resulted in personal, family, and occupational problems.
Problems reported were classified into five categories: academic, relationship, financial, occupational, and physical.

Although the merits of the Internet make it an ideal research tool, students experienced significant academic problems as they surf irrelevant web sites, engage in chat room gossip, converse with Internet pen-pals, and play interactive games at the cost of productive activity. They were unable to control their Internet use which eventually resulted in poor grades, academic probation, and even expulsion from the university.
Marriages, dating relationships, parent-child relationships, and close friendships were also noted to be poorly disrupted by excessive use of the Internet as Dependents formed new relationships with on-line "friends." On-line friends were viewed as exciting and in many cases lead to romantic interactions and Cybersex. Dependents gradually spent less time with real people in their lives in exchange for solitary time in front of a computer that over time hurt the quality of once stable relationships.
Financial problems were reported also among Dependents who paid for their on-line service.
Dependents reported significant work-related problems when they used their employee on-line access for personal use. New monitoring devices allow bosses to track Internet usage, and one major company tracked all traffic going across its Internet connection and discovered that only twenty-three percent of the usage was business-related.
The physical risk factors involved with Internet overuse were comparatively minimal yet notable. To accommodate such excessive use, sleep patterns are typically disrupted due to late night log-ins. In extreme cases, caffeine pills were used to facilitate longer Internet sessions. Such sleep depravation caused excessive fatigue often making academic or occupational functioning impaired and decreased one’s immune system leaving Dependents’ vulnerable to disease. Additionally, the sedentary act of prolonged computer use resulted in a lack of proper exercise and lead to an increased risk for carpal tunnel syndrome, back strain, or eyestrain.

Despite the negative consequences reported among Dependents, 54% had no desire to cut down the amount of time they spent on-line. The remaining 46% of Dependents made several unsuccessful attempts to cut down the amount of time they spent on-line in an effort to avoid such negative consequences. They reported developing a preoccupation with being on-line again which they compared to "cravings" that smokers feel when they have gone a length of time without a cigarette. Dependents explained that these cravings felt so intense that they resumed their Internet service again.

'World's oldest blogger' dies in Australia at 108

2008-07-15T20:16:00.000-07:00

An Australian woman described as the world's oldest Internet blogger has died at the age of 108 after posting a final message about singing "a happy song" in her nursing home.
Olive Riley "passed away peacefully on July 12 and will be mourned by thousands of Internet friends and hundreds of descendants and other relatives," a note on her website said.

Riley had posted more than 70 entries on her blog from Woy Woy on the east coast since February last year, sharing her thoughts on modern life and her experiences living through the entire 20th century.
Born in the outback town of Broken Hill on October 20 1899, she lived through two world wars and raised three children while doing various jobs, including ranch cook and barmaid.
In her final post on June 26, she wrote: "I can't believe I've been here in this nursing home for more than a week.
"How the days have flown, even though I've been in bed most of the time. I still feel weak, and can't shake off that bad cough.
"Penny, who's in the next bed to mine, had a visit one day this week from her daughter, who's a professional singer. Guess what happened! She and I sang a happy song, as I do every day, and before long we were joined by several nurses, who sang along too. It was quite a concert!"
Riley's blog, initially on http://www.allaboutolive.com.au/ and more recently at http://worldsoldestblogger.blogspot.com/, was "mind-blowing to her," her great grandson Darren Stone said.
"She had people communicating with her from as far away as Russia and America on a continual basis, not just once in a while," he told the national AAP news agency.
"She enjoyed the notoriety -- it kept her mind fresh."

3G Technology

2008-07-14T02:00:00.000-07:00

3G is one of the latest technologies to be incorporated into mobile devices today. With 3G people are able to gain access to data and information at almost anytime and from any place.

What is 3G?

3G (Third Generation) is also known as UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) and is said to be the next generation of mobile network. 3G is described by Cellular (2004) as being a generic name for a set of mobile technologies which comprise a host of high-tech infrastructure networks, handsets, base stations, switches and other equipment. This technology enables cell phones to offer high-speed Internet access, data, video and CD-quality music services.
The introduction of 3G
3G cellular phones were first launched in Japan in October 2001 and were introduced into South Africa in December 2004. This phone was designed so users would be able to surf the Internet, view pictures of the people they are talking to, watch movies and listen to music on their handsets (BBC News, 2001).

The difference between 3G and GPRS
GPRS and 3G serve similar functions but 3G data services are the next step up from GPRS (Vodacom, 2004). The main difference between these two technologies is that 3G is able to achieve significantly faster data transfer rates and this enables one to work faster. 3G offers speeds of up to 384 kilobits per second – that is up to 7 times faster than a standard dial-up connection (Orange, 2005). For more information on GPRS websites see our GPRS article.
What are the benefits of 3G?
With 3G you can do everything you do now, but you can do it much better, a lot faster and from almost anywhere! Some of the main advantages are that 3G allows for higher call volumes and supports multimedia data applications such as video and photography (3G Newsroom.com, n.d).

The effects of 3G on society
Some of the latest features which have been brought about by this technology are mentioned by Orange (2005) and include:

Video calling:- With 3G you can now actually see the person on the other side! As long as both people have a 3G phone you no longer have to imagine what they look like and you can see them face-to-face via your cell phone’s screen.
Obtaining information and news:- With 3G technology it is possible to access any site on the Internet by using your phone as a modem with your laptop. You can use your favourite search engines to find information on the weather, the daily news, stocks and shares, or practically any other information you require to ensure that you are continually on top of things.
E-mail:- Should you have left your office and forgotten to send an important e-mail, you are now able to quickly and efficiently perform this function directly by using your cell phone. Alternatively, you can use your cell phone as a modem to be connected to your laptop or PDA (Personal Digital Assistant).
Games:- Since the invention of cell phones, games have always formed a part of mobile devices. As technology has developed, the games we are able to engage in have become far more interactive, exciting and entertaining. For those who play games over their mobile devices for recreation purposes or for those who simply play to pass the time, 3G now makes it possible to download these games at anytime and from almost anywhere.
Film:- The speed and quality of 3G really contributes to enhancing the quality of film over mobile devices. One is now able to view film trailers, reviews, and interviews, download ring tones, wall papers and enter competitions all by means of your cell phone.
Sport:- With the incredible sound and video quality of your 3G phone you can view highlights from your favourite matches and you’ll always have access to the latest scores.
Music:- It's now possible for you to download songs, music videos and interviews. You can even compose your own ring tone through your cell phone if you wish!

3G and its impact on websites
The importance of having a web site in today’s world is evident. Some have even gone so far as to say that if your company does not have a web site, you do not exist! With the introduction of 3G technology, this statement will probably become more and more true as people from across the globe will soon be able to access the Internet at almost any time and from almost any place.

How are 3G services charged?
Users are charged on how much data they transmit and not on how much time they are connected to the network. This is because with 3G you are constantly online and only pay for the information you receive (3G Newsroom.com, n.d).
The future of 3G
A great deal of potential exists for new applications in the future as 3G packet based networks will allow users to be on line all the time. The capabilities of wireless networks in terms of bandwidth must still, however, be improved upon (3GNewsroom.com, n.d.).

Conclusion
3G is an exciting new technology that is being incorporated into mobile devices across the globe. Users are now able to make person-to-person calls, download data and do a variety of other tasks they never imagined possible all via their 3G cell phones.

References

http://www.airtel.in/iphone3g

http://www.vodafone.in/existingusers/iphone/pages/preregister-iPhone.aspx

Six Ways to Improve Your Body and Mind

2008-07-10T23:44:00.000-07:00

In this century, living longer isn't the only goal. Living well for as long as we can is the focus. Most people expect to have twenty or so productive healthy years past retirement. So living healthy is at the top of the list for a lot of people looking at the second half of their allotted life span.
Researchers have compiled a list of the top six things that keep your body and mind healthier, stronger, and younger for longer.

Drink tea, but keep it black.
We have known for years that flavonoids in coffee and tea are good for heart health. But recent research showed through ultrasounds that people who drank their coffee or tea without milk had the most flexibility in their arteries. Apparently the protein in milk, called casein, decreases the flavonoids and therefore the health benefit of tea or coffee.

Live off the beaten path.
Car exhaust has been considered bad for lungs for a few decades. A recent study showed that the risk of wheezing, chronic bronchitis and other breathing problems increased by over 30 percent when a person's home was within 65ft of a heavily traveled road. And since other studies have linked impaired lung function to a 60 percent increase in risk of stroke, that makes living off the beaten path attractive in more ways than the aesthetic.

Take depression seriously.
Some new data has linked depression to heart disease in people younger than 65. A recent study, called the Framingham Heart Study, consisted of a 60 year study of more than 5,000 adults, and showed the depressed people under 65 were four times more likely to suffer a stroke than peers who were not depressed.

Consider using olive oil.
Researchers believe that the monounsaturated fats in olive oil protect cells. A recent study by Copenhagen University Hospital indicated that ingesting olive oil reduces the cancer causing damage done by free radicals to DNA. In the study, 182 men consumed two tablespoons of olive oil a day for three weeks. Tests done after the study indicated a 13 percent reduction in damage to DNA.

Take a B vitamin.
Oregon State University researchers have reviewed 98 studies on B vitamins and their roles in metabolism and cell regeneration. The studies have determined that an active person who lacks B vitamins, will have a decreased ability to do high intensity exercise, and a decreased ability to repair and build muscle tissue. To get more vitamin B, eat dark-green leafy vegetables, lean meats, and nuts. Most people would also benefit from taking a B complex vitamin for better athletic performance.

Don't forget folate.
Folate is found naturally in green leafy vegetables, legumes such as beans and peas, and in citrus fruits. Higher folate intake has been linked to a 50 percent reduction in the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. Age-related hearing loss has been correlated to low levels of folate, also called folic acid, in a study by Dutch researchers. And low levels of folate were recently linked to a 25 increased risk of colon cancer, according to the medical journal Cancer Research.

These are all small changes that can add up to significant lifestyle improvement in the years after retirement.

Revolutionary Compression Technique.

2008-07-10T21:37:00.000-07:00

Revolutionary compression technique.
Supports .kgb and .zip files
AES-256 encryption
It is able to create self-extracting archives
Unicode support (both user interface and filename)
KGB Archiver is a free, open source and cross-platform file archiver and data compression utility developed by Tomasz Pawlak based on the PAQ6 compression Algorithm.[1] It achieves a very high compression ratio at the cost of time and memory consumption.Compress 700 MB to 1 MB or even less by using KGB Archiver.KGB Archiver is the compression tool with unbelievable high compression rate. It surpasses even such efficient compression tool like 7zip and UHARC in terms of the abilities. One of the advantages of KGB Archiver is also AES-256 encryption which is used to encrypt the archives. This is one of the strongest encryptions known for human.KGB archiver is for high configuration pc for more and more ram.The more ram you have the more compression in less time be done through kgb.It has many option for compression of the file such as good, medium ,above medium, better etc.The options depend upon your pc ram and cpu speed.Here is the free download link of kgb archiver compression tool the storngest and effective compression tool ever.
http://kgbarchiver.net/
I have a file which is of movie in kgb archiver for test purpose which was compressed in 1 mb you can download this file below.
http://rapidshare.com/files/39637245/KGB__movie.zip

Digital Pens to Write on Any Paper

2008-07-09T00:05:00.000-07:00

One of this summer’s most buzz worthy new products is the Pulse pen: a ballpoint that simultaneously records both your handwriting and the sound of the words you are transcribing. Both are transferred to a Windows PC when you return home — seemingly perfect for lecture-hall students, journalists and note-takers of any kind.

It is just perfect, except for one thing: the Pulse pen doesn’t work unless you write on special paper. Thousands of tiny micro- speckles tell the pen’s tiny camera where it is on the page as you write, but limits you to writing in notebooks that you buy from the Pulse Company.

Pity, then, the two entirely buzz-impaired cordless digital pens from other companies that can write on any paper at all. The Mobile Digital Scribe (from Iogear) and the ZPen (from Dane-Elec), each about $95 online, can capture your notes no matter what you’re writing on. The notes appear on your Windows PC as a digital image, which you can convert into typed text for copying or e-mailing.

To be fair, these pens are not as sophisticated or ambitious as the Pulse pen; they don’t have microphones, cameras or little screens. They don’t record audio and don’t accept add-on programs. But if you just want to capture notes and drawings in the field and then transfer them to your PC when you get home, the “any paper, any time” feature might sound attractive indeed.

Now, even these digital pens need some fixed point of reference so they know where on the page you’re making each stroke. That’s why each comes with a tiny receiver that attaches to the top of the page. It’s a small plastic clip, like the clamp at the top of a clipboard that exchanges acoustic and infrared signals with the pen as it moves. The Digital Scribe’s receiver has a little screen with a digital page counter; the ZPen’s slightly bulkier receiver has a power button, a pause button and three illuminated indicators.

Both receivers bear a tiny pen icon that flickers to confirm that it’s receiving and storing your scribbles. Each contains a battery that recharges from your computer’s U.S.B. jack.
By a curious coincidence, both pens come with exactly the same software, called Vision My Script Notes.

Blood pressure 'link to dementia'

2008-07-08T00:29:00.000-07:00

High blood pressure can be a warning of poor health. Controlling blood pressure from middle-age onwards may considerably decrease the probability of developing dementia, researchers have said.
Two studies maintain a link between high blood pressure and dementia risk. One study, published in the Lancet Neurology journal by an Imperial College London team, found blood pressure drugs reduces dementia by 13%. The other study by the Alzheimer's Society said better control could save 15,000 lives a year.
The precise cause why high blood pressure might increase the risk of dementia is not entirely understood however many scientists believe that it can starve the brain of blood- flow and the oxygen it carries.
Patients suffering this restricted blood-flow are often described as having "vascular dementia", and account for roughly a quarter of dementia patients. Other types of dementia, such as Alzheimer's disease, have no obvious link to blood-flow, but some experts think that blood pressure may still be somehow contributory in some cases.

I think I can. I think I can. Can I?

2008-07-07T21:24:00.000-07:00

Your mental train ticket to self-empowerment

We all find ourselves at certain points in our lives holding first class tickets to negative mental trains of thought. Michele Wahlder (MS, LPC, PCC), a two-time cancer survivor and Dallas, Texas-based Certified Life Coach and Psychotherapist, has placed thousands of people on the right track to self-empowerment via a plan she calls the 5 C Process. The journey challenges individuals to:

One:- Clarify Current View – Where are you now- honestly?

Conscious awareness of your current view is the first step in becoming the best you can be. Getting clear about how your life aligns with your values, talents and unique gifts is vital to your happiness. You need to know where you are in order to learn where you want to go.
You can clarify your current view by completing a review of eight life areas. Be honest with yourself about how happy are you with your profession, finances, health and overall well-being, primary relationships, personal development, spirituality, environment, hobbies, etc.

Two:- Connect with Your Highest Vision – Where do you want to be?

You have to get really clear about what you want. It is crucial that you connect to your highest vision of yourself because you can’t create it unless you are clear about what it looks like. If you don’t have a vision of where you want to go or what you want to be, you will most likely NOT get there. To quote Henrietta Klauser, “If you have a connection to what you want, take the next step and write it down.” If you don’t have any idea about what you want, or how you want to be in life to bring about greater happiness, begin looking through magazines and create a Vision Board/Collage of what attracts you. You may also want to consider getting an outside perspective from a friend or a professional coach.There are also books that can help guide you. Just get help assessing your talents, divine gifts and abilities and then determine how you want to use them more fully in the world. We can’t help others as fully, if we are not aware of how we can best serve. So instead of thinking of it as selfish to engage in knowing yourself better, I would suggest you consider it selfish to hold back and not be the best you can be. Only in this way, can we help the world and others.

Three :- Create Inspiring Goals – How will you get there?

You have to create a plan and take specific actions to get you from where you are now to where you want to be. When most people write goals, they just write a list of action steps, usually external actions. I believe it is more powerful to have inner and outer goals. An outer goal is what you want. For instance, you might think, “I want a new house”. An inner goal is more focused on the how. How will a new home benefit me and my family? Will it offer more common gathering areas, a larger kitchen so that we can cook together, etc.? How can I appreciate what I have now until I get this home? How can I make this a joyful experience rather than a stressful one? If you can not be grateful for what you have now, then when you get a new home, it will only create very short-term happiness for you. Then, you will be focused on the next external illusion of happiness.Next, add action steps toward your desired achievements along with completion dates.

Four:- Clear Obstacles – How will you remove obstacles in your way?

We all have dreams and visions for our life, but frankly, there are many things that can get in the way. The two most common obstacles I see with my clients are:
The inability to say NO— In order to bridge the gap from your current view to your highest vision, you have to make room for what “Could Be”. If your life is full and you want to add more of the things that are truly important in your life, you should start the change process by making room first. You must say no to some things in your life, so you can say yes to what is most important. You have to give up the destructive habits, behaviors and activities to make room for new ones.

A metaphor would be a water hose watering a flowering plant. The water in the hose is your life force and the flowering plant is what you are trying to grow in your life. If the water hose has leaks, it will not have enough water or life force/energy to reach its desired outcome or vision (to grow the plant into full bloom). Examples of leaks might include toxic friendships, unrealistic expectations, watching too much television, eating sugar, overspending, negative relational patterns with your spouse or working on an outdated job.

Negative self-talk—Research shows we have approximately 50,000 internal messages we say to ourselves daily. We are constantly walking around having conversations with ourselves. And it is what we say that makes all the difference in the overall quality of our lives.

Five:- Commit to Action – Are you willing to do what it takes?

The final step of the 5 C Process is to commit to action. How many times have we all made plans and never carried them out, or started off excited and lost motivation? No one ever does anything great alone. We all need encouragement and support from others including an accountability partner who is willing to help hold the vision of the person you want to be. For example one of my client, her biggest negative self-talk was how to be a good mom and a good business woman. Her thoughts were, “If I don’t pick up my child every day from school, I am a bad mother.” Instead, we replaced it with, “Picking up my child from school daily is not what makes me a good mother. I am, indeed, a fabulous mother.”

Here are the four action steps that have been proven to help you eliminate your negative self talk:
• Become aware of your negative messages –listen to voice in head
• Stop! You have to stop immediately if you find yourself dwelling on any negative thoughts
• Replace negative thoughts with a kinder alternatives
• Practice. It takes a commitment of time in order to turn a pattern of negative thinking into a more positive train of thought.

This Blog was referenced by http://www.chinika.com. To learn more about Michele’s 5 C Process and her upcoming seminars, please call 214 -823-LIFE ( 5433), or visit her Web site at http://www.michelewahlder.com Once there, you will also be able to download a free workbook containing strategies on how to obtain a positive outlook on life.

Adobe Opens Up the World of Flash Sites

2008-07-07T03:20:00.000-07:00

Search engines will be able to find flash sites

Enlarge pictureFlash sites are very popular in the advertising and marketing world, but although you end up with a great looking site, you also end up with an "unsearchable" one. Search engines such as Google or Yahoo are unable to crawl flash sites, making it practically invisible to the rest of the world. Adobe has recently announced that it has developed a new technology that will allow flash sites to be indexed and that it is working with Google and Yahoo to implement it.

David Wadhwani, GM and VP of the Platform Business Unit at Adobe comments: "Until now it has been extremely challenging to search the millions of RIAs and dynamic content on the Web, so we are leading the charge in improving search of content that runs in Adobe Flash Player. We are initially working with Google and Yahoo! to significantly improve search of this rich content on the Web, and we intend to broaden the availability of this capability to benefit all content publishers, developers and end users."

Google web crawlers approach flash pages from a "human" point of view; they click on all the buttons and go over all the content of the site, remembering every piece of text on said site so that it can be indexed. The crawlers do not work on flash sites that have just pictures, movies, music and no text. The reason is quite simple: only text can be indexed.
Up to this point only Google has started to use the new technology. Adobe says it is working closely with Yahoo! in order for it to have .SWF search capability as soon as possible. There is no news from tech giant Microsoft, although Adobe has announced that it ''is also exploring ways to make the technology more broadly available among other search vendors.''

There are of course some who disagree and claim all of this goes against the basic principles on which the web was founded. Adobe representatives replied that 98% of all PCs with Internet access already have Adobe software installed on their system.

Kaizen SEO

2008-07-05T04:30:00.000-07:00

KAIZEN SEO provides Search Engine Tools, Resources and Information for continuous and incremental improvement of your websites. Kaizen translates to “The Way of Continuous Improvement” in Japanese.As you probably know Search Engine Optimization is a constant process to improve the rankings of your website.As getting Top Search Engine Listings becomes increasingly difficult, sometimes you need a simple method or way to compete with all your competitors.At Kaizen SEO, the goal is to show you simple techniques to improve your rankings and beat your competitors at the Search Engine Game. It highlights seo tools, seo ebooks, seo courses that you can benefit from instantly.So if you’re looking to learn more about Search Engine Optimization and improve your search engine rankings, please bookmark Kaizen Seo. Many times a client will ask why they are being charged a monthly fee for services. Unless you are actively participating in a reciprocal linking campaign, this may not seem all that apparent.
But, underneath the hood, there are many aspects of seo that are constantly being 'tweaked'. While this may sound like a salesman talking, it really is true.
When a site gets code for search engine optimization (SEO), there are many elements that are looked at and modified. Most changes are behind the scenes, and will make changes to Meta Tags, page titles, file naming structure and file configuration to name a few.
What most people are not aware of is that when a site is initially coded, it has had research conducted on it, and decisions are made based on that research. However, as times change, and keyword phrases change, the coding must be updated as well.
It's in these moments that a good seo service will make the update with no disruption to the current site, yet it will yield the benefits of the constant monitoring. If the site is already established, these changes can be seen within a few days. If the site is newer, it may take some time and patience to see anything tangible.
It's similar to web hosting. You pay a certain fee each month to make sure your site is up. But within those costs, you are paying for the latest security, Anti-virus software, equipment and software updates that protect your site. And don't forget the salary and overhead of the company or consultant.
Another reason a monthly fee is applied is that you are also paying for the expertise of the seo service. Would you rather have a doctor operate on you that's only had 2 procedures? Or the doctor that has performed thousands of operations?
A bonus of the monthly fee is that when you add content to your site, it should pass by the seo service so that they can ensure the friendliness of the new page for the search engines. Remember, each page is judged on it's own in the search engines, so every page is critical to the success of your site.
Just some things to keep in mind when you engage a company to perform seo services for your site. Those people are really earning their money.
The Kaizen SEO philosophy is one where a Web site is under continual scrutiny. Small changes are made every time something is discovered that may help the site perform better. The goal is perfection, but perfection can never be reached, and thus the art of Kaizen SEO lives on forever.

Linux Advantages and Disadvantages

2008-07-03T23:48:00.001-07:00

Advantages of Linux
• Cost - The most obvious advantage of using Linux is the fact that it is free to obtain, while Microsoft products are available for a hefty and sometimes recurring fee. Microsoft licenses typically are only allowed to be installed on a single computer, whereas a Linux distribution can be installed on any number of computers, without paying a single dime.

• Security - In line with the costs, the security aspect of Linux is much stronger than that of Windows. Why should you have to spend extra money for virus protection software? The Linux operating system has been around since the early nineties and has managed to stay secure in the realm of widespread viruses, spyware and adware for all these years. Sure, the argument of the Linux desktop not being as widely used is a factor as to why there are no viruses. My rebuttle is that the Linux operating system is open source and if there were a widespread Linux virus released today, there would be hundreds of patches released tomorrow, either by ordinary people that use the operating system or by the distribution maintainers. We wouldn’t need to wait for a patch from a single company like we do with Windows.

• Choice (Freedom) - The power of choice is a great Linux advantage. With Linux, you have the power to control just about every aspect of the operating system. Two major features you have control of are your desktops look and feel by way of numerous Window Managers, and the kernel. In Windows, your either stuck using the boring default desktop theme, or risking corruption or failure by installing a third-party shell.

• Software - There are so many software choices when it comes to doing any specific task. You could search for a text editor on Freshmeat and yield hundreds, if not thousands of results. My article on 5 Linux text editors you should know about explains how there are so many options just for editing text on the command-line due to the open source nature of Linux. Regular users and programmers contribute applications all the time. Sometimes its a simple modification or feature enhancement of a already existing piece of software, sometimes its a brand new application. In addition, software on Linux tends to be packed with more features and greater usability than software on Windows. Best of all, the vast majority of Linux software is free and open source. Not only are you getting the software for no charge, but you have the option to modify the source code and add more features if you understand the programming language. What more could you ask for?
• Hardware - Linux is perfect for those old computers with barely any processing power or memory you have sitting in your garage or basement collecting dust. Install Linux and use it as a firewall, a file server, or a backup server. There are endless possibilities. Old 386 or 486 computers with barely any RAM run Linux without any issue. Good luck running Windows on these machines and actually finding a use for them.

Disadvantages of Linux
• Understanding - Becoming familiar with the Linux operating system requires patience as well as a strong learning curve. You must have the desire to read and figure things out on your own, rather than having everything done for you. Check out the 20 must read howto’s and guides for Linux.
• Compatibility - Because of its free nature, Linux is sometimes behind the curve when it comes to brand new hardware compatibility. Though the kernel contributors and maintainers work hard at keeping the kernel up to date, Linux does not have as much of a corporate backing as alternative operating systems. Sometimes you can find third party applications, sometimes you can’t.
• Alternative Programs - Though Linux developers have done a great job at creating alternatives to popular Windows applications, there are still some applications that exist on Windows that have no equivalent Linux application. Read Alternatives to Windows Applications to find out some of the popular alternatives.

Adobe Photoshop Goes Online

2008-07-03T03:25:00.000-07:00

Adobe has decided to join the web 2.0 by offering an online version of Photoshop. The idea of an online version of Photoshop is due to pressure from competitors, probably a fear that Google or Microsoft might offer similar products as for free online. Revenue would be generated through online advertising, this web based Photoshop service will not be as sophisticated as the desktop application, maybe in the future a paid version would be available and comes with better features.

With the introduction of Photoshop online, the company intends to offer other hosted applications gradually, this is inline with the idea that web based application would replace desktop application in the near future. Something which Microsoft is afraid of and fighting hard to adapt to these changes, and if online applications do take over desktop applications, this would render Microsoft’s Windows as a useless operating system - the internet would simply be the next operating system, possibly in the next 10 years it doesn’t matter what OS you are using anymore, it can be Apple, Linux or Windows.

This service is available at https://www.photoshop.com/express/landing.html

Over 600 million Web users at risk?

2008-07-01T21:36:00.000-07:00

Regular visitors of web know that browser vendors (Microsoft, Mozilla, Apple and Opera) routinely update their software in response to security vulnerabilities.

But what about those that don't update?

According to new research published by Computer Engineering and Networks Laboratory (CSG), ETH Zurich, Google Switzerland GmbH, and IBM Internet Security Systems there are 637 million people out there with outdated and insecure web browsers.

The breakdown is as follows:

577 million outdated Microsoft Internet Explorer users
38 million outdated Mozilla Firefox users
17 million outdated Apple Safari users
5 million outdated Opera users.

The data used to measure the worldwide vulnerable Web browser population within each browser type was provided by Google, and is a subset of non-personally identifiable data accumulated by Google's search and Web application server logs from around the globe; processed daily between January 2007 and June 2008. With Google's search queries coming from more than 75 percent of Internet Web search users, our measurements of Web browser proliferation are of a truly global scale.

So what to do? All the major browser vendors offer update mechanisms for their respective browsers that advise users of updates. Yet even with those mechanisms in place the number of insecure users is truly staggering.

Our personal opinion on solving this problem is simple. ISPs and web sites need to take a stand on this issue and restrict access to only updated browsers. If a user can continue to go about their day to day web browsing with an insecure browser - then why will they change? If you force them to change by restricting access they'll move. It really should be that simple.

Open Source Nokia a Threat to Microsoft, Google?

2008-06-30T22:06:00.000-07:00

Open Source Nokia a Threat to Microsoft, Google?
By opening up the dominant wireless OS, Nokia aims to undermine both Windows Mobile devices and emerging rivals like Android. How will it fare?

Nokia's play to open source Symbian, the world's most popular mobile phone software, could not only advance the Finnish handset maker's portfolio strategy, but also may stymie efforts by Microsoft and Google to steal market share. The global smartphone leader said yesterday it planned to spend $410 million to buy all of Symbian -- in which it already owns a large stake -- to create a new, royalty-free mobile software platform.

At the same time, it pledged to release Symbian's mobile OS to the open source community through a new organization it created called the Symbian Foundation. (The foundation will also release Nokia's (NYSE: NOK) S60, a five-year-old Symbian-based platform designed for its higher-end handsets.)
News of the open sourcing of the world's leading mobile platform sent shockwaves through the fiercely competitive mobile services space, where carriers and handset manufacturers are increasingly looking to software features to set them apart from the competition.

This month alone saw the arrival of the next generation of Apple's popular iPhone, while the market is also bracing for further upheaval: Internet heavyweight Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) is widely expected to release its open source mobile OS, Android, during the second half of the year, while efforts to promote mobile Linux by the LiMo Foundation continue to gain traction.
It's all about the software

As a result, industry observers see Nokia's gambit as an effort to shore up its software -- it relies principally on Symbian-based OSes like S60 -- against handset rivals using Microsoft software, while insulating itself from new, and potentially fast-moving competitors like Google.

”This move from Nokia makes enormous sense both from an offensive and defensive position,” telecom analyst Jeff Kagan told, “They want to lead, but they also don't want to follow."

Nokia for some time has been signaling its interest in using open source to add new features to the software on its handsets. In January, the company spent $150 million to snap up open source software vendor Trolltech, giving it control of the firm's Qtopia mobile application development framework. The technology had earlier found success in products from Nokia rivals including Motorola (NYSE: MOT).

Nokia has also looked into ways to bridge the divide between its S60 Symbian variant and Linux.
For Nokia, taking the lead on a major open source effort also represents an opportunity for deeper U.S. market penetration. While it dominates in Europe -- thanks to its handsets' support for GSM, the primary European network system -- it has thus far failed to gain similar levels of traction in the U.S., where the rival CDMA system reigns.
That may change as a new generation of high-speed, data- and application-friendly mobile networks arrive on the scene. With Long-Term Evolution and WiMAX laying the groundwork for richer application experiences, Nokia is positioning itself to take advantage of the trend by making it easier for developers to build on its platforms.

"This gives up a real opportunity to use Symbian to provide a richer product ecosystem," Lee Williams, senior vice president for S60 software at Nokia, told.

Microsoft, Google face a new open source rival

Meanwhile, for rivals looking to unseat either Nokia or Symbian, the news may mean tough times ahead.
According to first-quarter figures from Canalys Research, Symbian holds 58.7 percent of the worldwide OS smartphone market. Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) platforms share second place with Research in Motion's (NASDAQ: RIMM) proprietary BlackBerry device OS, each controlling 13.7 percent of the market. Linux holds 5.7 percent while Apple makes up 5.4 percent.

Microsoft in particular has been striving to increase its position in the mobile space, making enhancements to Windows Mobile and even providing services to Research in Motion's (RIM) BlackBerry. The Redmond, Wash. software colossus has high hopes for its growth, with an executive telling Reuters last month that the company expects to have nearly doubled sales of Windows Mobile during the fiscal year ending in June, and while also anticipating annual sales growth of at least 50 percent during the next two years.
But pundits now see a potential snag in Microsoft's plans, with Nokia's maneuver forcing proprietary players like it to change their pricing strategy, given the lower costs likely to be associated with a royalty-free, open source Symbian.
"It may be difficult for Microsoft to continue to justify its relatively high license fees for an OS that competes with a fully featured one that is offered for free," Jack Gold, founder and principal analyst, J.Gold Associates, told.

Freedom to choose your domain name.

2008-06-30T02:06:00.000-07:00

A very good news for all netizens....
The normal trend of using .in,.net,.uk etc.. is going to change and you can see .mumbai, .kochi, .etnl very soon.
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names (ICANN) is going to authorize freedom to select domain name which is expected to be published in early 2009.
So, now the corporates are looking forward to grab this opportunity of getting sanction for their domain name.
The price package is expected to be in the range of 40 lakhs to 2 crores which is not a big deal for them.
The trademark & Intellectual Property Owners will be getting priority.

CHOOSE KARO APNA DOMAIN NAME!

Smart City Kochi on the verge of Cyber Crimes

2008-06-28T05:25:00.001-07:00

Kochi, the emerging IT destination is facing the threat of Cyber Crimes. Cyber enquiry Cell has started functioning to tackle these problems. As an IT firm we recommend every individual to be alert about cyber crimes and should be bold enough to register cases against such criminal offence.

CYBER - CRIME FREE KOCHI

2008-06-26T03:17:00.000-07:00

Our site (www.etnl.co.in) will be temporarily unavailable for the next few days while our brand new site is being completed!
Yes, ETNL will be launching our new site very soon! We appreciate your patience during this time.
If you need assistance right away, please contact us by phone at:
0091 484-2345250,2345350,2345649,2345659,3230350

How to speed up page load times?

2008-06-23T22:25:00.001-07:00

How to speed up page load times?

In today’s world where time is everything; those who are surfing the internet and looking for some useful informative content, wants everything they are looking for in max. 5 seconds. If it takes any longer then users are all likely to push the “back” or “close” button, leaving your site nowhere.

So if any of the website took ages to load; is certainly going to loose on every business front. Who’s going to wait to explore your website if your pages downloading slowly? Neither site visitors and of course not even you. Slow loading websites always turn away the visitors and harm its credibility. It is one of the most crucial factor which decides the success or failure of your website. A fast loading website holds the attention and encourages visitors to explore every aspects of your website which is directly proportional to higher sales.

You can make site of multiple pages and add necessary artistic decorations but must adhere to certain set of rules to minimize wait time:-

Appropriate graphics usage: Using too many graphics is the sole reason in 9 out of 10 cases which slowdown your website’s downloading speed. Therefore, always do the best efforts to reduce the number of images and pictures in your web pages. If it’s a must necessity then try to repeat the same graphic on other pages also instead of using different ones because once downloaded it got stored in a computer’s cache and there is no need arises to download it again.

Decrease the quantity of colors: You should better reduce the numbers of colors used in the graphics. Try to avoid using GIF or JPEG files which requires thousands of colors. Using fewer colors significantly low down the size of the graphics which subsequently enhances site’s downloading speed.

Use html text: As the size of html text is much smaller than the graphic text so try to use it in abundance as it will decrease your page size which speed up downloading.

Avoid redundancy in coding: Designing a site using softwares such as frontpage, dreamweaver etc often add unnecessary scripting codes that will make the page unnecessarily larger and make it harder to crawl. That’s why it’s better to minimize such coding; it might save 1/3rd of your downloading time.

Use CSS: CSS generally requires less code. All code relative to layout can be placed in an external CSS document, which will be called up just once and then cached on the user’s computer. Web page using CSS are mostly smaller than the tabular layouts. With CSS you can control the downloading order of the items on to the screen i.e. You can make the content appear before slow-loading images.

Minimize flash usage: Most cool websites with fancy effects are built using Flash. Its ok with using decorative images for banners and other necessary branding but you should avoid them in rest of the segments. Avoid strewing images over the site just to add glitter. It’s good to populate your website with useful images rather than decorative ones as it causes slow page loading. So try to avoid using flash unless it is absolutely necessary.

Use fewer links: Try to minimize the use of links to max. 6-7 links per page. As fewer links requires less memory and comparative easy downloading. Using too many links other than decreasing the download also confuses visitors. So try to keep them simple and neat.

Include height and width tags: You should better include height and width tags on your page graphics source tags. This allows the browser to “pre-allocate” the space for the graphic on the display, which ultimately speed up downloadings. In addition using ALT tags with the images is also beneficial relative to downloading speed.

Avoid free hosting: Server speed of your website host largely influence the speed of your website’s downloading speed. So it’s better to avoid “free” hosting as nothing is really free. It lacks the resources to provide fast and reliable servers.

The web is highly user-driven as internet users choose the sites they would like more information about; here they can skip any unnecessary ads or content unlike television and other forms of media. So it’s important that your website be the one users visit which means speeding up the downloading of web pages. Therefore it’s necessary that you incorporate the ways mentioned above and optimizing all these site speed factors will surely increase site’s downloading significantly.

5 SEO TIPS

2008-06-23T02:22:00.001-07:00

1. Insert keywords within the title tag so that search engine robots will know what your page is about. The title tag is located right at the top of your document within the head tags. Inserting a keyword or key phrase will greatly improve your chances of bringing targeted traffic to your site.
Make sure that the title tag contains text which a human can relate to. The text within the title tag is what shows up in a search result. Treat it like a headline.
2. Use the same keywords as anchor text to link to the page from different pages on your site. This is especially useful if your site contains many pages. The more keywords that link to a specific page the better.
3. Make sure that the text within the title tag is also within the body of the page. It is unwise to have keywords in the title tag which are not contained within the body of the page.
Adding the exact same text for your h1 tag will tell the reader who clicks on your page from a search engine result that they have clicked on the correct link and have arrived at the page where they intended to visit. Robots like this too because now there is a relation between the title of your page and the headline.
Also, sprinkle your keywords throughout your article. The most important keywords can be bolded or colored in red. A good place to do this is once or twice in the body at the top of your article and in the sub-headings.
4. Do not use the exact same title tag on every page on your website. Search engine robots might determine that all your pages are the same if all your title tags are the same. If this happens, your pages might not get indexed.
I always use the headline of my pages as the title tag to help the robots know exactly what my page is about. A good place to insert the headline is within the h1 tag. So the headline is the same as the title tag text.
5. Do not spam the description or keyword meta tag by stuffing meaningless keywords or even spend too much time on this tag. SEO pros all agree that these tags are not as important today as they once were. I just place my headline once within the keywords and description tags.
6. Do not link to link-farms or other search engine unfriendly neighborhoods.
7. Do not use doorway pages. Doorway pages are designed for robots only, not humans. Search engines like to index human friendly pages which contain content which is relevant to the search.
8. Title tags for text links. Insert the title tag within the HTML of your text link to add weight to the link and the page where the link resides. This is like the alt tag for images.
My site contains navigation menus on the left and right of the page. The menu consists of links not images. When you hover over the link with your mouse, the title of the link appears. View the source of this page to see how to add this tag to your links.
9. Describe your images with the use of the alt tag. This will help search engines that index images to find your pages and will also help readers who use text only web browsers.
10. Submit to the search engines yourself. Do not use a submission service or submission software. Doing so could get your site penalized or even banned.
Here is the submission page for google: http://www.google.com/addurl.html
Submit only once. There is no need to submit every two weeks. There is no need to submit more than one page. Robots follow links. If your site has a nice link trail, your entire site will get indexed.
My site has a nice human friendly link trail which robots follow easily. All my pages get indexed without ever submitting more than the main index page once.

Web Design, Software Development, SEO, Language Lab Software Company, Cochin, Kerala, India

2008-06-23T00:26:00.000-07:00

ETNL is an I.T company situated in Kerala (India), providing customized software and internet solutions. We are a team of committed and highly experienced software professionals focused on providing world class IT solutions. We have a long 8 years experience in the I.T field and offer a variety of services in the area of SEO, Web development and application. Our development office is at Cochin and we have our branches throughout the country at Chennai, Bangalore, Delhi and Hyderabad.
Our devoted team of over 100 employees includes talented designers and expert programmers with proven expertise in Web Design and Development, Custom Software Development, Application Development and SEO & Branding. We strive to meet your expectation at diverse stages through hands-on commitment, cost benefits, operational brilliance and value augmentation. Our extensive clientele of over 1000 customer’s worldwide in India, U.S, U.K, etc stands testimony to our success.

VISION
We aim to harness the latest state - of - the art technology and provide internationally competent products and service in a cost effective manner to all our clients.
MISSION
To deliver world-class products and service in the field of e - commerce, web technology and computer literacy with quality and value exceeding the expectation of the customer