Technology of the day

[Anoushka]

Nano-Grating DVDs could store 100 times more

Iomega Corporation today announced that the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) recently issued two highly notable patents to Iomega for its work with nano-technology and optical data storage, and external storage media.

New technologies could potentially allow 40-100 times more data to be stored on a DVD with data transfer rates 5-30 times faster than today's DVDs, and at similarly low costs.


Read more at http://www.physorg.com/news4249.html

[Anoushka]

Ever heard you can type faster when u cant see the words on the keyboard? Welcome to Das Keyboard.

This keyboard is unique in that it has no inscriptions on the keys, which the maker touts will make you type 100% faster in a few weeks since it will keep you from looking at the keyboard. This keyboard also features individually weighted keyswitches, "The keys are divided into groups and their feedback springs are weighted differently; from 35 grams to 80 grams, which correspond to the strength of the finger that touches the keys." But is this "UberGeek" keyboard really worth the high price tag?

More at http://www.daskeyboard.com/

[Anoushka]

Microsoft Will Drop 'My' Prefix for Longhorn

The "My" prefix was apparently an attempt to create a personal
connection between people and their computers at a time when the idea of using a computer might have been forbidding.

If you are a Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) user, there's a big change coming in Longhorn -- the code name for the next MS operating system: the "My" prefix is disappearing.

Microsoft users have become used to the "My Music," "My Pictures," and other "My" folders, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, reported. Those
Windows folders will still be yours -- but they won't keep hitting you
over the head with that terminology.

http://www.technewsworld.com/story/hardware/43450.html

[Anoushka]

Google announces Summer of Code

Announcing The Summer of Code - 31/May/2005

We're very excited to launch our newest initiative, the Summer of Code. This program aims to help students enter into the world of Open Source software development. This Summer, allow Google to help you hone your skills on real problems with real programmers. Return to school with some real experience under your belt and some cash in your wallet. By working with some of the most important organizations and foundations in Open Source we think we've put together a program that benefits Open Source, students and computer science. Read more about it and consider taking part!

http://code.google.com/index.html

[Anoushka]

Want to meet Bill Gates...Learn to tell a story (true?)

http://news.com.com/Your+chance+to+meet+Bill+Gates/2110-1042_3-5717606.html

[Anoushka]

Google at its best. Personalize Google(same functionality that yahoo and many others are giving but all of them are portals while Google is not)

http://www.google.com/ig

More news about this at

http://www.sci-tech-today.com/news/Google-Offers-customized-Web-Pages/story.xhtml?story_id=11000CA4NXR6

[Anoushka]

Curious to know how web pages (like yahoo hotmail etc) looked back in 90's?

Check this out

http://web.archive.org/collections/pioneers.html

[NM]

Anu:

Thank you for posting these useful information daily! :D

[Anoushka]

Thanks NM, I was going to ask NOV/Badri to delete the thread as I thought nobody was interested in this!

[Anoushka]

Check out this new tablet from nokia, running on linux.

http://www.nokia.com/nokia/0,,75023,00.html

[scorpio]

Thanks NM, I was going to ask NOV/Badri to delete the thread as I thought nobody was interested in this!

Anu,

No pls.. I didn't post as I couldn't lay my hands on anything worthy enough.. Pl. continue the good work.. this is one of very few threads that stick to topic, which itself is an achievement.

[Anoushka]

Now your computer can be kidnapped...by a computer virus. U
cant use it till u pay certain amount. :-)

More abt it at

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=115&art_id=qw1116918720581B225

[Anoushka]

Info on 3.9M Citigroup customers lost

Computer tapes with information about consumer lending lost by UPS in transit to credit bureau.

June 6, 2005: 5:13 PM EDT

Data on 3.9 million Citigroup customers is lost by United Parcel Service. CNN's Allan Chernoff reports.


NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Citigroup said Monday that personal information on 3.9 million consumer lending customers of its CitiFinancial subsidiary was lost by UPS while in transit to a credit bureau -- the biggest breach of customer or employee data reported so far.

Citigroup, the nation's biggest financial services company, said that UPS lost the tapes while shipping them to a credit bureau in Texas.

The tapes covered CitiFinancial customers and about 50,000 customers with closed accounts from CitiFinancial Retail Services. Customers of CitiFinancial's auto and mortgage businesses were not affected.
http://money.cnn.com/2005/06/06/news/fortune500/security_citigroup/index.htm

[Anoushka]

Comparing MS word with OO.o

Some thing you might consider if you want an alternative (better!!!) word processor.

More details can be found @ http://www.openoffice.org/. Also this tool is multi-lingual... so if anybody is interested in the regional language -- check this out. So far, the following Indian languages are supported:

Gujarathi
Hindi
Marathi
Tamil
Telegu
Also they are coming up with a stable release 2.0 soon, which will be very close to MS Office.

http://www.matt13.com/computer/open_office_or_ms_office/index.html

[Anoushka]

Do you consider you are C expert then this may excite you.

An annual contest to write innocent-looking C code implementing malicious behavior.

In this contest you must write code that is as readable, clear, innocent and straightforward as possible, and yet it must fail to perform at its apparent function.

To be more specific, it should do something subtly evil.

http://www.brainhz.com/underhanded/

[Thiru]

Anoushka,
great going... ur links and info have been very useful..

[Anoushka]

Thanks Thiru :)

I do get loads of other info through mail as well, like job offers (specially for IT crowd) in India, will it be useful to post them here as well?

[Anoushka]

Google Vs Gates

GATES VS. GOOGLE

Search and Destroy

Bill Gates is on a mission to build a Google killer. What got him so riled? The darling of search is moving into software-and that's Microsoft's turf.

By Fred Vogelstein

Microsoft was already months into A massive project aimed at taking down Google when the truth began to dawn on Bill Gates. It was December 2003. He was poking around on the Google company website and came across a help-wanted page with descriptions of all the open jobs at Google. Why, he wondered, were the qualifications for so many of them identical to Microsoft job specs? Google was a web search business, yet here on the screen were postings for engineers with backgrounds that had nothing to do with search and everything to do with Microsoft's core business-people trained in things like operating-system design, compiler optimization, and distributed-systems
architecture. Gates wondered whether Microsoft might be facing much more than a war in search. An e-mail he sent to a handful of execs that day said, in effect, "We have to watch these guys. It looks like they are building something to compete with us."

He sure got that right. Today Google isn't just a hugely successful search engine; it has morphed into a software company and is emerging as a major threat to Microsoft's dominance. You can use Google software with any Internet browser to search the web and your desktop for just about anything; send and store up to two gigabytes of e-mail via Gmail (Hotmail, Microsoft's rival free e-mail service, offers 250 megabytes, a fraction of that); manage, edit, and send digital photographs using Google's Picasa software, easily the best PC photo software out there; and, through Google's Blogger, create, post online, and print formatted documents-all without applications from Microsoft.

While Google was launching those products-all of them free-Microsoft has been trying in vain to catch up in search. It has spent about $150 million on its search project, code-named Underdog. But Google and lately Yahoo keep leaping ahead with innovations like local-area search complete with maps and satellite photos, ways to search inside a video file, and search designed for cellphones.

http://www.fortune.com/fortune/technology/articles/0,15114,1050065-1,00.html

[Anoushka]

Ever thought of searching by Image content?

Content-based image retrieval

>From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

(Redirected from CBIR)

Content-based image retrieval (CBIR), also known as query by image content (QBIC) and content-based visual information retrieval (CBVIR) is the application of computer vision to the image retrieval problem, that is, the problem of searching for digital images in large databases. "Content-based" means that the search makes use of the contents of the images themselves, rather than relying on human-inputted metadata such as captions or keywords.
A content-based image retrieval system (CBIRS) is a piece of software that implements CBIR.

There is growing interest in CBIR because of the limitations inherent in
metadata-based systems. Textual information about images can be easily searched using existing technology, but requires humans to personally describe every image in the database.This is impractical for very large databases, or for images that are generated automatically, e.g. from surveillance cameras. It is also possible to miss images that use different synonyms in their descriptions. Systems based on categorizing images in semantic classes like "cat" as a subclass of "animal" avoid this problem but still face the same scaling issues.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CBIR

[Anoushka]

Dare To hack?

All u hackers out there, dare to hack?

Hack and also win an Xbox as well.

http://www.hackiis6.com/

Nice way to test IIS 6.

[Thiru]

Thanks Thiru :)

I do get loads of other info through mail as well, like job offers (specially for IT crowd) in India, will it be useful to post them here as well?

Anoushka,
I would say keep this thread for tech info only... You can create a new thread in our 'Classifieds' forum related to the job opportunities..

[Anoushka]

That is fine Thiru, I will start a new thread soon :)

[Anoushka]

The newly released Netscape 8 is facing problems

1) It needed IE to be installed first, so that it would be
installed (unbelievable)
http://www.flexbeta.net/main/comments.php?catid=1&shownews=13318

2) This getting fixed, then Netscape hindered IE from rendering
XML
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/software/applications/0,39020384,39200178,00.htm

3) MS provided a work around for this (by uninstalling Netscape)
http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2005/05/25/421763.aspx

4) Finally, Netscape had to be patched just hours after its
official release
http://www.computerweekly.com/articles/article.asp?liArticleID=138681&liArticleTypeID=1&liCategoryID=6&liChannelID=22&liFlavourID=1&sSearch=&nPage=1

[Anoushka]

HD-DVD storage of 45 GB

TOSHIBA UNVEILS 45GB HD DVD-ROM DISC AND DOUBLE-SIDED HYBRID DISC

Further Expands Horizon of Future Digital Home Entertainment

TOKYO / LAS VEGAS, May 10, 2005 - Toshiba Corporation today announced development of a triple-layer HD DVD-ROM (read-only) disc with a data capacity of 45 gigabytes, 50% more than the 30-gigabyte dual-layer HD DVD-ROM disc already announced and enough to record twelve hours of high-definition movies on a single disc. The new disc adds a high-end option to the previous HD DVD-ROM disc lineup that includes the 15GB (single-layer, single-sided) and 30GB (dual-layer, single-sided). These two discs are already approved and standardized at the DVD Forum.

http://www.toshiba.co.jp/about/press/2005_05/pr1002.htm

[Anoushka]

New fuel cell opens way for artificial hearts

Tokyo - A Japanese research team has developed a fuel cell that runs on blood without using toxic substances, opening the way for use in artificial hearts and other organs.

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=31&art_id=qw111596760144B215

[Anoushka]

India faces worker shortage

Andy McCue, Special to ZDNet,

India faces a massive shortage of workers with European language skills over the next five years which could see the country needing to recruit up to 120,000 foreigners.

The language skills deficit is revealed in a new report by research firm Evalueserve, which calculates that no more than 40,000 Indians will have a European language specialization other than English.

http://www.zdnetindia.com/news/national/stories/122965.html

[Anoushka]

IE 7 Tabs Will Be 'Basic,' Says Microsoft

Microsoft's Internet Explorer development team acknowledges that it was a mistake not to build tabs into IE earlier.

Microsoft's Internet Explorer development team acknowledged Monday that it was a mistake not to build tabs into IE earlier. But the team's not rushing into updating: the tab feature in the next version of the popular browser will on the "basic" side.

http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=163104202&tid=5979%2C5989

[Anoushka]

Technology at its best.

Utilizing the electronic paper display technology, Citizen Watch has created a digital clock that is as thin as paper. This unique design is enabled by E Ink(r)Imaging Film. This easy-to-read, low-power display component is fully conformable, allowing product designers more creative freedom than ever before. Citizen Watch Co. and T.I.C.-Citizen Co. worked closely with E Ink to develop the electronic paper display used in this new clock.

Read more at :

http://digitalcamera.101reviews.com/news/paper-thin-digital-clock

[Anoushka]

Microsoft Shell Script

To all the people who missed working on shell scripts on windows, the waiting days are numbered

MSH (shell)

>From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

MSH, or Monad Shell, is a command line interface and scripting language being developed by Microsoft that was planned to be a part of their next operating system, codenamed Windows Longhorn. As of June 13, 2005 it will be included in the Longhorn release. It is similar in usage to the more advanced Unix shells, but, like most of Longhorn, is based on object-oriented programming and the .NET framework. Occasionally this shell is called WSH, in spite of the prior use of that name for the scripting technology called Windows Scripting Host.

Read more at :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MSH_(shell)

[NM]

Anu,

Article on fuel cell is very interesting. Thanks for sharing it here. A friend of mine is working on fuel cell tech for cars. The small scale exp was succesfull but awaiting the launch now...

NM

[NM]

Nanoparticles deliver cancer breakthrough
18:01 17 June 2005

Tiny man-made nanoparticles have been used to successfully smuggle a powerful cancer drug into tumour cells - leaving healthy cells unharmed - in one of the first therapeutic uses for nanotechnology in living animals.

read more at :

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7540

[NM]

BBC to launch free online video system
15:37 17 June 2005

The BBC is poised to release a free and "open source" internet video delivery system to compete head on with proprietary favourites.

The UK corporation has developed its own video compression algorithm, called Dirac, which will provide an alternative to the video file formats used by Microsoft's Windows Media Player, Apple's Quicktime and RealPlayer from Real.

More at : http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7537

[Anoushka]

Computers' Insecure Security

Software meant to protect PCs are now attack targets, revealing a rising number of flaws -- even more than those of Microsoft products

Think you're safe because your computer has the latest antivirus program, complete with daily updates via the Web? Or maybe you figure the firewall you have installed will stop malicious software from reaching your machine.

Well, you may not be as secure as you think. Hackers are increasingly finding flaws in the very programs designed to prevent attacks -- computer-security software.

Read more at :
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jun2005/tc20050617_1613_tc024.htm

[Anoushka]

'Teleporting' over the internet

Computer scientists in the US are developing a system which would allow people to "teleport" a solid 3D recreation of themselves over the internet.

Professors Todd Mowry and Seth Goldstein of Carnegie Mellon University in Pennsylvania think that, within a human generation, we might be able to replicate three-dimensional objects out of a mass of material made up of small synthetic "atoms".

Read more at :

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4102018.stm

[Anoushka]

NM: Thanks for the info on nanoparticles in cancer breakthrough. I've lost a few close people to cancer and I hope someday they find a way of curing cancer without having to go through Chemo!

[Anoushka]

Software from Google

Try this link to download all software offered by Google.

The softwares in offer are
1. Google Toolbar
2. Google Desktop Search
3. Picasa Photo Organizer
4. Google Deskbar
5. GMail Notifier

http://www.google.com/downloads/

[Idiappam]

Where can I download/purchase a Tamil OCR software.

Comments of some exixting Tamil OCR software, hints and tips - please!

[NM]

NM: Thanks for the info on nanoparticles in cancer breakthrough. I've lost a few close people to cancer and I hope someday they find a way of curing cancer without having to go through Chemo!Anu, you're welcome. This subject has always been dear to me, lost a close friend to it. Did a research in synthesis of cancer imaging agent which also has a therapeutic effect back in undergrad days, was very successfull...the uni is now very actively involved with this research- continuing from where I stopped...I wish...... :cry: :cry: life took a twist and had to leave all that behind... :cry: Take care.

[RR]

Where can I download/purchase a Tamil OCR software.

Comments of some exixting Tamil OCR software, hints and tips - please!
Try these sites: http://gtamilocr.sourceforge.net and http://www.ildc.in/

[Anoushka]

Where can I download/purchase a Tamil OCR software.

Comments of some exixting Tamil OCR software, hints and tips - please!

Idiappam, I have not used any Tamil OCR package so far. But here is a link for you

http://gtamilocr.sourceforge.net/

The same one as RR has posted anyway!

[Idiappam]

Thank you RR and Anoushka. I shall download them, try them and report soon!

[Anoushka]

Did a research in synthesis of cancer imaging agent which also has a therapeutic effect back in undergrad days, was very successfull...the uni is now very actively involved with this research- continuing from where I stopped....

NM: Interesting, can you post here more info on your work, please? Do it when you have time. I would like to know more about it!

[NM]

Sure Anu.. I was thinking of getting the links for you...from journal of Nuclear Medicine....

Rgds,
nm

Ok...i've found one of the abstracts ...but can't get the whole article..
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=abstract&list_uids=1648035&query_hl=1

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And, you can also read all articles by PJ Blower, Clarke or MJ Went on Rhenium186-DMSA and Technetium-99m-DMSA (DMSA = dimercaptosuccinic acid)... :D

[Anoushka]

Thanks a million for the links NM, I will print them now and read them on the way home!

[Anoushka]

Uncyclopedia

Enough of Wikipedia, try http://uncyclopedia.org/wiki/Main_Page.

Have Fun !

[Anoushka]

Why is 'lb' used as an abbreviation for pound (weight)?

The Latin word for pound is 'libra', and that word was once used in English when referring to money. Apparently the English word word "pound" comes from the Latin word "pondo" which means weight; the Latin expression seems to have been "libra pondo" for "a pound in weight" (as opposed to a pound in money).

BTW, the Italian monetary unit, the lira, as well as the British pound were coins that were once equivalent to a pound of a precious metal.
Both are abbreviated with a fancy capital L (not followed by a period).

Source: http://mathcentral.uregina.ca/QQ/database/qq.09.96/mutdosch1.html

[Anoushka]

[tscii:4de383c8a1]* Death by garbage:
New studies back up a theory that garbage is a key cause of aging and death -- molecular garbage, that is.

http://www.world-science.net/exclusives/050618_garbagefrm.htm


* Three planets bunch up at twilight:
Gaze low to the west into the deepening twilight for the next couple of weeks, and three planets will await your view.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/050618_planetsfrm.htm


* "Bigger cousin" of Earth found:
Astronomers say they have made the latest in a series of discoveries of planets that each seems to be more like ours than the last.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/050613_bigearthfrm.htm


* Scientists admit to misbehaving:
One third of U.S. scientists who took part in an anonymous survey recently admitted to research practices that could be considered dishonest, a report says.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/050616_misbehavefrm.htm


* A baby face predicts election outcomes:
A face that looks competent is a face that wins elections, a study has found.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/050612_babyfacefrm.htm


SPECIAL: how "junk DNA" shapes our brains In two new studies, scientists say they have shown that gene sequences often dismissed*as useless junk may actually influence our minds.

* Jumping genes randomly give us individuality:
Small mutations change brain cells at random, researchers say, helping make each of us unique -- even identical twins.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/050617_jumpgenefrm.htm


* "Junk" DNA may influence sociability:
Why are some of us shy and others outgoing? A study suggests part of the answer lies in so-called junk DNA.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/050613_junkdnafrm.htm
[/tscii:4de383c8a1]

[Idiappam]

Where can I download/purchase a Tamil OCR software.

Comments of some exixting Tamil OCR software, hints and tips - please!
Try these sites: http://gtamilocr.sourceforge.net and http://www.ildc.in/

Downloaded both! Preliminary Findings:

1. Gnu Tamil OCR (http://gtamilocr.sourceforge.net )
1. Slow in loading scanned bitmap images.
2. The sample image with the package worked perfectly well - recogniction was accurate.
3. Could not try with the page that I scanned. The software hangs sometimes.
4. When trying the 'Training' feature, a click on any buttons will cause the program to hang.
5. After a few tries, the system message '.... low in virtual memory' appears. Dunno what that is.

2. Ponvizhi Tamil OCR (http://www.ildc.in/)
1. The recognition of the page that I scanned was about only 70% accurate - not useful at all for a 'OCR' software. Expected accuracy is above 90%.
2. When trying the 'Training' feature. The character map does not show Tamil Fonts - there is no way to change the Font on this panel - default font 'Arial' is used. So I can't match the Character on the Bitmap to a character on the Character map. - Dunno which is which.
3. When highlighting a character on the Bitmap (on the 'Training' panel') the part of the adjacent characters up, down, left or right is also highlighted - and there is nothing I can do about it.

So, it ended up that I can't use both OCRs for the time being, unless someone tell me what to do!

[Anoushka]

Idiappam:

thanks for the review on both the OCR packages.

Here is a link which mentions a package that has OCR features as well though I am not sure if the website is upto date.

http://www.kamban.com.au/prodkam4.htm

The following link mentions about a CD that was released with OCR, check out if you can lay your hands on it!

http://bseshadri.blogspot.com/2005/05/partner-nation-on-road-to-it.html

Another link to check out is

http://www.tamil-heritage.org/ebook/ebk_ocr/docframe.htm

Where the OCR developer is mentioned as

Dr.V.Krishnamurthi

Inforeed [Information Research and Education]
11 Fourth St.
Padmanabha Nagar
Adayar
Chennai 600 020
Tamilnadu, India


Tel: +91 44 4461739

eMail: profvk@softhome.net

So maybe you can get in touch with him and let us know how things worked out.

[Anoushka]

Linux-Based Phone Lasts 200 Hours on Standby

Check out:

http://linuxdevices.com/news/NS5702204359.html

[Anoushka]

Java becoming more open source
Open Source Release For Sun's App Server

By Jim Wagner

Sun Microsystems (Quote, Chart) is quietly releasing the source code to the upcoming Java System Application Server, Platform Edition 9, under the GlassFish project, named after a semi-transparent aquarium fish.

The company is expected to release the source code for its Java-based application server under a new open source license as it kicks off its JavaOne conference in San Francisco today.

Read more at :

http://www.internetnews.com/dev-news/article.php/3515651

[Anoushka]

Google Earth

Google has released its long-anticipated geographic search tool, a new application that combines local search with satellite images and maps from around the globe.

Google Earth is a standalone application that's essentially an enhanced and upgraded version of its Keyhole 3D satellite imagery product. As Google has done with several of its past acquisitions, the company has also made the application free to all users, dropping its annual subscription fee for the basic version. Google Earth Plus with additional features will cost $20 per year.

Google Earth is designed to make it easy to "fly" to aerial views of many locations on the planet. Currently, the application has detailed imagery for the U.S., Canada and the U.K. and 38 major cities in other countries, as well as medium to high resolution terrain imagery for the entire world.

http://earth.google.com/

http://searchenginewatch.com/searchday/article.php/3516001

[Anoushka]

UMass Amherst Researchers Discover That Microbes Can Produce Miniature Electrical Wires

AMHERST, Mass. ? Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst have discovered a tiny biological structure that is highly electrically conductive. This breakthrough helps describe how microorganisms can clean up groundwater and produce electricity from renewable resources. It may also have applications in the emerging field of nanotechnology, which develops advanced materials and devices in extremely small dimensions

Read More at :
http://www.umass.edu/newsoffice/archive/2005/062205microbes.html

[Idiappam]

Thank you, Anoushka for those links to Tamil OCR sites.

I will go there and see! Report later!

[hehehewalrus]

An interesting link dedicated to bus stops

http://www.the-bus-stops-here.org/

Hope the PTC officials are reading :)

[Anoushka]

Is traditional telephony going to die in due time?

Traditional telephony under the gun

By: CIO Canada Staff

CIO Canada (01 Jul 2005)

The rapid adoption of VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) technology is the death knell for traditional telephony, according to a study from London, Ontario-based IT research firm Info-Tech Research Group (ITRG). The firm said that 23% of small- to mid-sized enterprises have already implemented VoIP technology and that number will grow to 50% within the next three years.

http://www.itworldcanada.com/Pages/Docbase/ViewArticle.aspx?id=idgml-f6fa625c-0a4f-435d&Portal=35a9256c-ab94-47e6-8f20-9717c5403f85&s=400175target=

[Anoushka]

Wi-Fi cloaks a new breed of intruder

Take care of ur Wifi Network.

Forbes is reporting on the teaming of Dell and Napster to provide music directly to college campuses. The solution will alleviate network bottlenecks caused by illegal music downloads will enable colleges to use Dell blade servers on campus to store music from Napster's library locally. This will allow network processing speed to remain fast while hundreds of students simultaneously download digital music." From the article: "Campuses were 'shrinking the [available] bandwidth on the network to discourage' illegal downloading, says John Mullen, vice president of Dell's higher education business. He says schools want a way to minimize the impact of music downloads on their networks and encourage students to shift toward legal downloads

http://www.sptimes.com/2005/07/04/State/Wi_Fi_cloaks_a_new_br.shtml

[Anoushka]

An interesting Ad,

Should not come in tech thread but then it is an ad for Telecom Italia :)

http://www.epica-awards.org/assets/epica/2004/winners/film/flv/11071.htm

[Anoushka]

Sharp Develops 'Two-Way Viewing-Angle' LCD

TOKYO - At last, a way to end squabbles over which TV channel to watch - without buying a second set. Sharp Corp. has developed a liquid-crystal display that shows totally different images to people viewing the screen from the left and the right.

More @ http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050715/ap_on_hi_te/japan_double_display

[Akash]

Google Earth

http://earth.google.com/



Its WOW!! check Atlanta Airport... could see even the shadow of the flights those are taking off!!

[Anoushka]

Google Moon

http://moon.google.com/

[Thiru]

Google Moon

http://moon.google.com/

8) 8)

[gaddeswarup]

I am not sure whether somebody mentioned this already:
From, http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/07/22/business/ptend23.php:

"Three French companies, with an assist from the Finns and the Swedes, have combined their ingenuity to come up with a digital pen-and-paper system called PaperPC that, broadly speaking, digitizes anything you can write with a pen.

What makes it different from similar systems is that it also collects all of your notes, drawings or handwritings so that they are available to you - or the friends or colleagues you designate - from anywhere that you can access the Internet. Or they can be sent to your mobile phone.

The PaperPC system comes out of a nine-employee company called MetaLinks Communications, based in Rueil-Malmaison, a suburb of Paris, but it is being marketed by Clairefontaine, the French paper company. "
swarup

[Thiru]

Anou,

What happened to your TOTD info ?? :)

[Anoushka]

Sorry Thiru, Have been busy at work these days, didn't even come to the hub for the past few days. Will start again now! :)

[Anoushka]

Prevent your laptop from theft

We've all heard the horror stories about executives' laptops being
stolen from airports, cars or park benches often enough to know that it is indeed a serious problem. Replacing a laptop costs a relatively small amount of money, but the cost of compromising or revealing data on that laptop can be significant, and a stolen laptop may grant access to a company's internal networks or virtual private networks. Here's a look into the ways to protect your laptop both "physically" and "digitally."

Set a BIOS password

If the very first thing a thief sees when they turn on a machine is "Please enter boot password: " they'll know that they are in for a load of trouble. Or else, set a boot password. Typically most laptops will prompt the user three times to enter a password, then refuse to boot if there are three failures (however, if you restart the machine, you will once again have three guesses). Removing a password-protected BIOS and boot-sequence typically involves physically opening the computer and removing the CMOS battery (which may clear the BIOS information) or shorting some jumpers to reset the BIOS to a default state, a process which is both time consuming and risky to the thief (playing with screwdrivers and an open computer is often a recipe for disaster)

Physical security devices

Did you know that you can put your notebook under lock and key? Yes, there is a whole range of notebook security devices.
Most notebooks come with a tiny oval-shaped hole tucked away in one corner, which usually goes unnoticed. This hole is needed for attaching a lock to the notebook. There are largely three types of locks to choose from:

The vanilla cable: It's a regular cable with a lock and key and works much like a bicycle lock.

The numbered cable: This is also a regular cable, but with a combination lock.

Motion detector: It locks just like your car security locks, these motion detectors are also fixed using the lock port and beep when somebody tries to move the notebook

Fingerprint Scanner

There are notebooks which come with built-in fingerprint scanners.
These let you, and only you, access the data. These devices are also available from companies like Microsoft and Targus and can be fitted on to your older machine using a PCMCIA slot or a simple USB port. A word of caution though: While using these devices, make sure that your fingers are clean and nick-free or you might end being locked out of your own notebook!

USB Keys

This is also a car-key like mechanism for your notebook. It has a key that you insert in the USB port. It does a great job of protecting people from getting to your data when you're not around. Just make sure that you carry the key with you at all times. If you don't, the applications on your computer just won't work.

UV Marking Kits

These kits can be used to mark your notebooks with a UV mark. These marks will be visible only when you put a UV light on them. A relatively cheap, but effective way of reclaiming your notebook from someone who's claiming it as theirs.

Encrypt the data on the disk

This will ensure that even if the disk can be accessed, the data is secure. Make sure the encryption is seamless and quick, and managed centrally, so that the user cannot circumvent it.

Tracing and Tracking

There are several worthwhile tracking programs available. Once a computer is reported stolen, the tracking companies will wait for the laptop to send them a location signal (sent whenever the machine is connected to the Internet). When a signal is retrieved, the program will be instructed to broadcast as much information as it can about the current connection (originating phone number, IP address, service provider etc.).

When enough information has been collected, the tracking company will notify the appropriate authorities, which will in turn, obtain a search warrant and hopefully retrieve your stolen property.

http://infotech.indiatimes.com/quickies/msid-1198145.cms

[Eelavar]

[tscii:a33b405944]Ion Propulsion

Scientists are currently working with a new process of propulsion for rockets used in space travel called Ion Propulsion.

A rocket moves in accordance with Sir Isaac Newton’s third law of motion, which says that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Burning gases are ejected forcibly from an exhaust nozzle of a rocket. The opposing reaction to this exhaust blast, and not the exhaust blast itself, moves the rocket forward. The greater the speed of the exhaust blast, the greater the reaction against the forward end of the rocket and the greater its speed.
With the launch of Deep Space 1 in October of 1998, many people thought that the ion propulsion engine is a new technology.
That is not true, the ion propulsion engine that is some times called the solar-electric propulsion engine has been four decades in the making.
The ion engine works on the principles of low thrust for long periods of time.
The research and development changes included anything from the number of thrusters onboard to the gas they used to power the spacecraft.
Ion thrusters rely on the same simple equation as any other rocket engine.
Since the exhaust blast need not push against anything at the rear, a rocket can operate even better in empty space, or a vacuum, than in the atmosphere, where the exhaust blast is slowed down by the air.
The experimental solar powered ion propulsion engine is the first non-chemical propulsion system to be used as the primary means of propelling a spacecraft.
It uses a chemical rocket to get it out of the earth’s atmosphere then the Ion Propulsion will take over which is slow at first but can increase to 10 times faster than a chemical rocket.
Initially the ion thruster will take a whole day to accelerate the craft by 30 feet per second, after a few months of operation that tiny force will speed the craft up to 10,000 miles per hour. (9)
The ion propulsion thruster pushes its exhaust about 10 times faster than a chemical rocket and when the large solar ray is taken into account, you can fly a spaceship on an interplanetary cruise with much less fuel then the conventional chemical rocket.
The result, it will be less expensive and use less fuel to get the rocket off the ground in the first place, since you won’t have to carry the additional fuel that a totally chemical-dependent rocket would need given the same specifications. (9)
The ion engine, which is sometimes called the electrostatic engine, is the electric system that obtains the highest degree of conversion of electric power into thrust, high exhaust velocity, and the longest operational lifetime.
This engine works on the principle of the ionization of the propellant gas through the use of direct electron bombardment or radio frequency fields to increase the temperature of the gas and cause the desired thrust.
The gas used to propel this type of engine is either the gas Ar (Argon) or Xe (Xenon), or the vaporized form of Hg (Mercury) or Cs (Cesium).
This stored gas enters the ionization chamber to increase its temperature up to the thrust temperature.
The increase in temperature is done through the ionization of the gas.
It passes through two acceleration grids which bombard it with positive ions from the power source.
Before reaching the nozzle the accelerated mass of ionized gas is injected with electrons.
Thrust is obtained, and the exhaust beam is electrically neutral behind the thruster nozzle. (10)
The force (F) it produces equals the mass (M) of propellant moved times its acceleration (A).
Thus F = MA. Since chemical rockets accelerate their exhaust to about 6,000 miles an hour, increasing the velocity of exhaust may liberate spacecraft from this dead-end physical equation: getting more thrust requires more propellant, yet accelerating that propellant takes evermore propellant.
Instead of increasing F by adding mass, the thruster does the same thing by increasing A, which allows you to reduce M.
Aside from the extreme rapidity of the beam, the biggest novelty of an ion thruster is its source of energy.
Chemical rockets store energy in the chemicals, but ion thrusters get power from solar cells, which make the electricity for the electrostatic field that moves the ions.
That limits the thruster to 2400 watts produced by those photovoltaic cells.
Thus solar-powered ion thrusters are usable in the inner solar system, where sunlight is abundant. (11)
Hughes Space and Communication Company is current using Xenon ion propulsion for satellites.
The world's first satellite to carry ion propulsion is 10 times more efficient than other currently used systems.
By the end of 1998, 5 on-orbit satellites were using the XIPS (Xenon Ion Propulsion System).
Four decades of research went into XIPS.
It’s available in two different power models.
The following benefits have been realized; increased efficiency allows for a reduction in propellant mass of up to 90%, reduced cost for launch, an increase in payload, no noted interference on broadcasting and telemetry operations, it is less corrosive to satellite components than are conventional propulsion systems and is safe to the environment.
Xenon has been found to offer the highest thrust of all the inert, non-reactive gases and is non-corrosive and non-explosive. (12)
NASA scientists tested the new ion propulsion system.
Over the course of the mission, the ion propulsion system increased the speed of Deep Space 1 by 10,000 miles per hour. (1)
The spacecraft carries 181 pounds of xenon, the same gas used in flash bulbs, as fuel.
It would take 1,810 pounds of chemical propellant to achieve the same velocity. Xenon is released into the chamber ringed by magnets. (The magnets enhance the efficiency of the ionization process.)
Electrons are emitted from a cathode ray tube, similar to the tube that operates a television set.
The electrons from the cathode hit the xenon atoms and knock an electron off them, imparting a net positive charge to the atoms and turning them into ions.
At the rear of the chamber a pair of electrically charged metal grids, one positive and one negative, generate an electrostatic pull on the ions.
The ions are yanked past the grids at a speed of more than 62,000 miles per hour, right out of the back of the engine and into space.
To prevent the xenon atoms from being attracted back into the engine chamber, an electrode at the rear of the engine emits free electrons that rejoin many of the positive xenon ions, rendering their charge neutral again.
With the launch of Deep Space 1 in October of 1998, many people thought that the ion propulsion engine is a new technology.
That is not true, the ion propulsion engine that is some times called the solar-electric propulsion engine has been four decades in the making.
The research and development changes included anything from the number of thrusters onboard to the gas they used to power the spacecraft.
In 1959, a NASA engineer by the name of Dr. Harold Kaufman built and tested the first ion propulsion engine at NASA Glenn.
By the 1960’s, NASA adopted the engine to their new spaceflight test program called (SERT) which is short for Space Electric Rocket Test.
In 1964, in the Wallops Islands, VA, two-ion engines built by NASA were launched on the Scout rocket named SERT 1.
SERT 1 contained onboard two ion thrusters; one of which did not work at all and the other only worked for 31 minutes. (2)
The ion engines onboard SERT 1 contained one mercury fueled engine and one cesium fueled engine. Mercury and cesium was the fuel of choice for the early ion engine endeavors. NASA followed up with SERT 2 in 1970. Both engines were powered by mercury. One of the engines lasted for more than five months and the other engine for three months. (2)
One of the problems that faced NASA is that the fuel they were using, mercury and cesium, was hard to work with. The mercury was in a liquid state and the cesium in a solid state. To solve the problem, both of the fuels had to be heated up in order to uses them.
The atoms from the mercury and the cesium would eventually cool and condense on the exterior of the spacecraft.
Many smaller mission’s to develop the ion engine existed such as Meteor-10 in 1971, ATS-6 in 1974, IAPS/P80-1 1980, ETS-3 in 1982, and RITA/EURECA-1 in 1992.
All of these missions worked off the old fuel source of mercury and cesium but engineers just could not make the fuel work.
Cesium had to be put aside due to its corrosive properties, and mercury was rejected due to its impacts on the environment.
At the Hughes Research Laboratories in California, beginning in the 1960’s a new fuel source was under development to replace the mercury and cesium.
Xenon fuel is the new fuel of choice for the current spacecrafts.
Xenon by comparison is four times heavier than air. (2)
The first xenon ion propulsion engine developed by Hughes was launched in 1979.
The engine was aboard the Air Force Geophysics Laboratory’s Spacecraft Charging at High Altitude (SCATHA) satellite.
This mission was an experimental mission for the new fuel.
In 1984 Hughes, after many years of research found that xenon fuel offered the highest thrust of all the inert, nonreactive gases.
With xenon being an inert gas, it is neither explosive nor corrosive which was good for the life of the satellites, and the safety for the personal involved with loading the xenon gases on the spacecraft.
Hughes then in 1992 focused its effort on the XIPS technology, making it the technology of future satellites.
XIPS which stands for xenon ion propulsion system, was four decades of vigorous research and development which now is the latest in propulsion technology.
Hughes has currently developed two models of its ion propulsion technology engine, the HS 601HP thruster, and HS 702 thruster.
The HS 601HP (the HP stands for high power) is 13 centimeters in diameter, has 2568 seconds ISP (impulse rate), and 18 mN (millinewtons) of thrust. (3)
The HS 702 thruster is 25 centimeters in diameter, has 3800 seconds ISP and 165 mN of thrust. (3)
This design allows for a reduction in fuel up to 90% from previous models. (3)
Less fuel allows for lower cost for launch, and an increase in payload.
The HS 601HP operates for around five hours a day, while the 702 ion thruster generally operates for only thirty minutes a day during normal operations. (3)
The XIPS thrusters are made up of a propellant supply system, a (PPU) power processing unit and the thruster itself which will be broken down even further later in this paper.
In the testing of the XIPS thrusters, five vacuum chambers measuring nine feet in diameter are needed. (3)
The flight unit testing uses three of the five chambers and the other two are used for on going life testing.
The two chambers used in the life test have logged 8,000 hours on the ion propulsion thruster unit that was built in 1995. (3)
The second chamber has logged 4,000 plus hours on its thruster that was built in 1996. (3)
Hughes Research Laboratories started the design work, but now the duties have been handed over to the Hughes Electron Dynamics department.
The world's first commercial satellite to use the new propulsion system was PAS-5.
The ion propulsion system on the PAS-5 is 10 times more efficient then systems that uses chemical propulsion.
PAS-5 was launched in 1997; the spacecraft contained four thrusters.
Hughes had five satellites in orbit, using the XIPS by the end of 1998.
One of the downfalls of the ion propulsion engine is that it is not good for quick speed changes.
Hughes Electron Dynamics was awarded a contract for $9.2 million in 1995 to design and construct the NASA Solar Electric Propulsion Technology Application Readiness (NSTAR) which was to be used for the Deep Space 1 (DS1) project. (5)
The ion engine would be used as the spacecraft’s primary means of propulsion.
DS1 is made up of an ion thruster, PPU, and a digital control and interface unit.
The most ground breaking thing about the mission is that it was the first to use solar electric ion propulsion and it will be the first spacecraft to use the onboard autonomous system for navigation.
The mission was launched from Cape Canaveral on October 24, 1998.
The mission, which cost a total of $152 million, was to test and validate 12 new technologies in space. (4)
It was the first of NASA’s New Millennium Program, focusing on technology rather than on science.
The ion propulsion engine itself was one of the technologies that were being researched on this mission.
With the success of the ion propulsion, the concept will be adapted to future NASA space missions.
Deep Space 1 carries 81.5 kilograms of xenon fuel, this provided approximately 20 months of continuous thrusting. (6)
The mission was scheduled to end on September 18, 1999, but with the success of the mission, the date has been pushed off to sometime in October depending on how things go.
DS1 was scheduled to fly by and gather information about an asteroid, Mars and possibly even a comet.
The asteroid that DS1 was going to try to observe is Asteroid 1992 KD.
By the use of the autonomous navigation system DS1 will determine where the asteroid may be heading.
The way it does this is by the software that was loaded on DS1 onboard computer system (RAD 6000).
The orbits of 250 asteroids and the positions of 250,000 stars have been studied and stored on the computer. (7)
As DS1 moves in space, its onboard camera called MICAS (Miniature Integrated Camera Spectrometer) takes pictures of the celestial surroundings.
From the pictures NASA can determine the positions much the same as sailors use the stars to get around on the sea.
Engineer’s working on this project hope to even be able to measure the effect of solar wind on things like asteroids.
NASA may decide to extend the mission, this could allow the study of the Comet Wilson-Harrington and Comet Borelly.
DS1 would fly by Wilson-Harrington in January of 2001 and Borelly in September of that same year.
The ion engine is a superior choice for long duration missions.
Some disadvantages of the ion propulsion engine, are electricity and time.
Atoms in an ion thruster are charged by electricity and used as a propellant.
In order to perform this procedure large amounts of electricity (around 2000 watts plus) are need to be generated.
The DS1 for example got its electricity from solar arrays which the further you are out in space the less intense the rays become.
Another disadvantage of the ion propulsion engine is the time it takes to thrust.
The thrust produced by xenon fuel is 0.02 pounds compared to chemical propulsion, which produces 50 to 500 pounds of thrust. (5)
The ion engine works on the principles of low thrust for long periods of time.
The ion engine can reach speeds up to 70,000 miles per hour, compared to that of a chemically propelled engine which maxis out at 10,000 miles per hour. (5)

and last thing..

a brief description from clarendon's translation of the Samaranga Sutradhara.

Inside the circular air frame, place the mercury-engine with its solar mercury boiler at the aircraft center. By means of the power latent in the heated mercury which sets the driving whirlwind in motion a man sitting inside may travel a great distance in a most marvellous manner. Four strong mercury containers must be built into the interior structure. When these have been heated by fire through solar or other sources the vimana (aircraft) develops thunder-power through the mercury.


the anciant knowledge is reemerging..............
[/tscii:a33b405944]

[Anoushka]

Google Chat

Talk free as yahoo chat...but with GOOGLE


http://www.google.com/talk/


Download (just 800 KB) and Enjoy.

[Anoushka]

A very nice and essential feature presently missing in windows

Fold and Drop

Fold n' Drop is a new interaction technique for seamlessly dragging and dropping between overlapping windows. It allows you to fold windows while dragging objects. Although it is still a research prototype, having it integrated into most popular window managers is technically conceivable.

Read More at : http://liihs.irit.fr/dragice/foldndrop/ /.

[Anoushka]

Beware of what is stored in your clipboard


We do copy various data by ctrl+c for pasting elsewhere. This copied data is stored in clipboard and is accessible from the net by a combination of Javascripts and ASP.

Just try this:

1) Copy any text by ctrl+c

2) Click the Link:

http://www.friendlycanadian.com/applications/clipboard.htm

3) You will see the text you copied on the

Screen which was accessed by this web page.

Do not keep sensitive data (like passwords, creditcard numbers, PIN etc.) in the clipboard while surfing the web. It is extremely easy to extract the text stored in the clipboard to steal your sensitive information.

PS: I checked this out in IE, Opera and Firefox. While in IE the text was visible, Firefox and Opera did not show the text in the clipboard.

PPS: For Internet Explorer:

To avoid this, do the following:

1. Go to internet options->security

2. Click custom level

3. In the security settings, select disable under Allow paste operations via script.

Now the contents of your clipboard are safe.

[Anoushka]

For 1 GB File transfer

It seems to be useful..we can send what ever files we want through this..

If you find a file too big to send by email try YouSendIt, a free service that lets you send a file up to 1GB to another PC or person. Just type in the recipient's email id and upload the file. The recipient is then notified by email and has upto 7 days to download the file. No passwords, no software to install, no accounts to create, and normal/secure transfers. This free service can even provide Data Security Encrypted HTTPS session (SSL/TLS) to make sure you data is secure.

This useful service is provided free at http://s2.yousendit.com/

[Anoushka]

Samsung builds foundation for 32 GByte Flash cards

Seoul (Korea) - Samsung claims it is first to have developed a 16 Gbit NAND Flash memory chip. Built in a 50 nm process, the device sets a new record in the storage density race and could enable memory cards with up to 32 GByte capacity.

http://www.tomshardware.com/hardnews/20050912_000100.html

[Anoushka]

New MS Office 12 Interface

In newer Vista builds the menu bar is turned off by default (although it can be reactivated temporarily by pressing alt). In Office 12, the menus have been replaced with tab-like buttons. For instance, a click of the Write button will open and display buttons, bars and shortcuts pertinent to writing, such as font face, alignment, and line spacing. Clicking insert tab will hide all the Write buttons, and will introduce buttons and options for inserting tables, images, charts, word art, etc... The only "legacy" menu item that remains is the file menu, but it has completely been redesigned. The file menu now looks like the Windows XP start menu and can be customized as well.

http://pdc.xbetas.com/?page=o12preview1

[RR]

Blogsearch

http://blogsearch.google.com/

[Anoushka]

Some cool softwares for XP users only

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx

[Anoushka]

Sun and Google team up

This is the one of the good things to happen...the best of two worlds joining hands...

Today, Sun creates yet another important relationship to add to our growing momentum. In an all-star alliance announced today, Sun and Google have begun a strategic relationship to promote and distribute their trail-blazing technologies. As part of the agreement, Sun will include the Google Toolbar as an option in downloads of the Java Runtime Environment from Java.com, Sun's showcase and portal for Java technology enthusiasts and developers. The new functionality will be available soon.

http://www.sun.com/2005-1004/feature/

[Sanguine Sridhar]

Just check it out

The Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida has put up a very Interesting Java applet on their site. It begins as a view of the Milky Way Galaxy viewed from a distance of 10 million light years and then zooms into towards Earth in powers of ten of distance. 10 million, to one million, to 100,000 light years and so on and then when it finally reaches a large Oak tree leaf. But that is not all it zooms into the leaf until it reaches to the level of the quarks viewed at 100 attometers.

This is a fantastic representation of how magnificent the Universe is and how vastly infinite it is both in the macroscopic and the microscopic level.

http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/primer/java/scienceopticsu/powersof10/index

[Anoushka]

The ultimate in battery technology


New battery technology powers for 12 years


MADISON, Wis., Oct. 3 (UPI) -- University of Wisconsin-Madison scientists say they are developing super-charged tiny lithium batteries to help treat nervous system and other disorders.

Designed to be extraordinarily reliable and work continuously for years, the tiny batteries are indispensable in everything from pacemakers to the electronic stimulators that help restore function in the brains of Parkinson's patients.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/upi/index.php?feed=Science&article=UPI-1-20051003-18090600-bc-us-batteries.xml

[Anoushka]

Apple is now launching video iPod

Apple to hold special event on Oct 12

Apple Computer will hold a special event next Wednesday to introduce a new form of product or service, AppleInsider has learned.

On Tuesday the iPod maker began distributing invitations to analysts and members of the media for a special event scheduled for 10:00 a.m.
October 12 at the California Theater in San Jose.

The invitations simply read: "One more thing..."

In recent years, Apple chief executive Steve Jobs has used the phrase "One more thing..." to indicate a surprise product announcement towards the end of his keynote presentations.

In the invitations themselves, Apple provided no hints as to what announcements it plans to make. However, recent information suggests that Apple may be preparing to introduce a version of its iPod with video capabilities.

The special event will be the second held by Apple in less than five weeks. On September 7th the iPod maker dazzled the media with the introduction of its ultra-thin iPod nano.

http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=1305

[Sanguine Sridhar]

An Indian discovered that nobody can create a folder anywhere named as "con"

This is something pretty cool...and unbelievable... At Microsoft the whole
Team, including Bill Gates, couldn't answer why this happened! Try it out yourself...

[r_kk]

An Indian discovered that nobody can create a folder anywhere named as "con"

This is something pretty cool...and unbelievable... At Microsoft the whole
Team, including Bill Gates, couldn't answer why this happened! Try it out yourself...

Why surprising. MS team already knows very clearly that the following reserved device names cannot be used as the name of a file:
CON, PRN, AUX, CLOCK$, NUL, COM1, COM2, COM3, COM4, COM5, COM6, COM7, COM8, COM9, LPT1, LPT2, LPT3, LPT4, LPT5, LPT6, LPT7, LPT8, and LPT9.

Please note that the above are possible in old Ms-Dos

How come "an Indian" discovered it?

[Badri]

An Indian discovered that nobody can create a folder anywhere named as "con"

This is something pretty cool...and unbelievable... At Microsoft the whole
Team, including Bill Gates, couldn't answer why this happened! Try it out yourself...

How come "an Indian" discovered it?

Namma Becks thambi would have discovered it!! He must have tried to create a folder called con and it would have not happened! So logically, he discovered it, didn't he? :lol:

[Sanguine Sridhar]

Huh..now i come to know that these things are system commands... Badri anna...thambi-ya ippadiya kavukuradhu..Its juzt a ctrl+c ctrl+v of a mail fwd :?

[Anoushka]

Becks, a much more detailed explanation from another friend:

Windows reserves certain names for internal use and for system-wide use. These are COM0 to COM9, LPT0 to LPT9, PRN, CON, AUX, and NUL. COM0-9 are serial ports, LPT0-9 are parallel ports, CON is
the console (monitor), PRN is the printer, AUX seems to be an alias
for COM1 and NUL is the bit-bucket.

You can use these from the command line and see how Windows interprets them. For eg. if you have a local printer on your parallel port (LPT1 or PRN), you can type 'copy file.txt PRN' and Windows will send the file to the printer.

Or if you want to store what you type in a file, use 'copy CON file.txt'. Then whatever you type will be saved into file.txt (basically copied from CONsole to the file). You can stop by trying Ctrl+Z. This is a simple way to create batch files etc. without using full-screen editors.

So Windows is right in not allowing these names to be used for regular files.

[Anoushka]

Calculating Consonants: Researchers Identify a Key to How the Brain Processes Language

http://www.psychologicalscience.org/pdf/ps/vowels_consonants.pdf

[Anoushka]

Google - online library

It is similar to online library for books of all kinds, right from technologies, and space to day to day life issues.

E.g. Searching for J2EE will give you results for J2EE books, which are digitized

http://print.google.com

[Anoushka]

2005-2006 Red Hat Scholarships

"Red Hat Scholarships is the first ever open source program of its kind in the world designed to encourage young talent and spread the open source philosophy that has created world class software like Linux, Apache and many other programs.

Open Source is a philosophy that is based on collaboration, community and the collective ownership of intellectual property. Under the Red Hat Scholarships program, we aim to connect students with mentors from the world of open source software so that they get practical exposure in software development. The challenges outlined under this program are based on practical, real-life problems that are of importance to the global open source community. The experience of participating in Red Hat Scholarships will therefore help the students when they graduate and become part of the information technology industry.

This is the second consecutive year that the Red Hat Scholarships program is being run this program will be a recurring, annual event.
Information about the winners of Red Hat Scholarships 2004-2005 will be posted to this web site soon. Under this program, awards worth Rs 10 lakhs will be distributed to the winning teams.

To participate in the program, students will have to develop a piece of high quality open source software. The projects submitted to Red Hat Scholarships are expected to have effort contribution similar to that of a typical final year BE/BTech project. Group projects are admissible provided a group does not consist of more than four students, each student of the group has identifiable contributions, and the total visible effort is commensurate with the number of students in the group. In the event of a group winning the scholarship, the scholarship amount will be divided equally amongst all group members. In addition deserving participants would be offered national and international internships with Red Hat."

http://www.in.redhat.com/community/rhscholarship.php

[Anoushka]

C++ gets a multicore tune-up

In a bid to ease the burden of programmers trying to write software that can take full advantage of dual-core and multi-threading processors, a Canadian computer-science professor has developed a set of extensions to the popular C++ programming language.

http://www.eet.com/news/latest/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=163700706

[Anoushka]

How DLP Works

A flash file and it is quite interesting

http://www.dlp.com/dlp_technology/includes/demo_flash.asp?bhcp=1

[Anoushka]

Microsoft, Yahoo to Link IM Networks

Microsoft and Yahoo announced on Wednesday a blockbuster interoperability deal that will reshape the landscape of the fragmented instant messaging market. The companies will connect their IM networks so users on each can communicate with one another using text and voice chat free of charge.

Starting in the second quarter of 2006, customers of both services will be able to see their friends' online presence, share emoticons, and add new contacts from either Yahoo! Messenger or MSN Messenger to their buddy list.


http://www.betanews.com/article/Microsoft_Yahoo_to_Link_IM_Networks/1129075667

[Anoushka]

Opera Software Releases Browsers in Hindi and Punjabi: Only Current Browser Supporting Both Languages

Oslo, Norway - October 17, 2005

Opera Software today announced the availability of its browser in both Hindi and Punjabi. The browser is available for Windows and Linux. It can be downloaded from Opera's download page.

"The Web must become more accessible to people wherever they live and whatever language they speak," said Jon S. von Tetzchner, CEO, Opera Software. "Browser companies bear responsibility for allowing all people to access this amazing resource. Barriers such as language make the Internet less of a global resource than it could be. Opera is taking this step towards removing those barriers."

Worldwide, more than 700 million people speak Hindi and more than 100 million speak Punjabi. Opera is the only browser company, whose latest version is available in both languages, providing substantial speed, usability and security upgrades.

http://opera.com/pressreleases/en/2005/10/17/

[Anoushka]

Stolen mobiles useless

Excellent innovation. Cellphones would now recognize your face and you alone can use it, rendering useless for thieves


Cellphones learn to recognize their owners' faces


Oki Electric Industry Co. Ltd. this week began marketing a technology that inexpensively adds face recognition to camera-equipped cellphones.
Oki's "Face Sensing Engine" (FSE) "middleware" decodes facial images within 280mS on a 100MHz ARM9 processor, and can restrict access to mobile devices by recognizing their owners, the company says.


Read more at : http://www.deviceforge.com/news/NS2876211743.html

[Sanguine Sridhar]

Check it out

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4588149.stm

[Anoushka]

Plugins for Google Desktop search....

very handy...

http://desktop.google.com/plugins

[Anoushka]

Fascinated by scripting...u don't need to goto Unix for that...do it on ur windows machine.

Windows "Monad" Shell is a new interactive command-line and task-based scripting technology in Windows that enables administrators to more efficiently and securely automate and control system management tasks on both desktops and servers. "Monad" Shell provides powerful task-based control (via built-in command line tools and utilities) and a powerful scripting language that enables comprehensive scripted control of the Windows operating system and applications.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=2ac59b30-5a44-4782-b0b7-79fe2efd1280&displaylang=en

[RR]

Remote control for humans

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051026/ap_on_hi_te/remote_control_for_humans

Interesting..!

[Anoushka]

Configure your email program to send plain-text email.

Visit http://helpdesk.rootsweb.com/listadmins/plaintext.html

[Sanguine Sridhar]

Create a folder on the desktop and name it "Notepad".
Now open any webpage in IE and see its view source

What is the reason??? Yet another bug or any tech reasons?

[Anoushka]

By creating a file/folder named Notepad, you are confusing IE (not difficult) because it uses the genuine notepad.exe to display HTML source code. Try this in Firefox, or other browsers, and the source will appear as usual.

Incidentally, what happens now when you actually try to use Notepad to open or edit a text file?

No, it is not a bug. By naming a file or folder "Notepad" you override internal references to the Notepad executable file. IE looks for Notepad buts finds your inappropriate replacement instead. Since your replacement is not a valid editor, all IE sees is a blank page. By using a reserved filename you broke the system.

Note: I found this bit of info by googling :)

[gaddeswarup]

I did not know where else to post this and did not want to start a new thread. I do not know whether this is true but seems plausible (this was sent to me by Shanti, one of my daughters). From:
http://www.vwclub.co.za/vwforum/viewtopic.php?p=106595&sid=c6ed705ed16f2e38fb18fb779114e152

How Standards Are Created Historically

Does the statement, "We've always done it that way" ring any bells?

The U.S. standard railroad gauge (distance between rails) is 4 feet, 8.5 inchs. That's an exceedingly odd number.

Why was that gauge used? Because that's the way they built them in England, and English expatriates built the US Railroads.

Why did the English build them like that? Because the first rail lines were built by the same people who built the pre-railroad tramways, and that's the gauge they used.

Why did "they" use that gauge then? Because the people who built the
tramways used the same jigs and tools that they used for building wagons, which used that wheel spacing.

Okay! Why did the wagons have that particular odd wheel spacing? Well, if they tried to use any other spacing, the wagon wheels would break on some of the old, long distance roads in England, because that's the spacing of the wheel ruts.

So, who built those old rutted roads? Imperial Rome built the first long distance roads in Europe (and England) for their legions. The roads have been used ever since.

What about the ruts in the roads? Roman war chariots formed the initial ruts, which everyone else had to match for fear of destroying their wagon wheels. Since the chariots were made for Imperial Rome, they were all alike in the matter of wheel spacing.

The United States standard railroad gauge of 4 feet, 8.5 inches is derived from the original specifications for an Imperial Roman war chariot. And bureaucracies live forever.

So the next time you are handed a specification and told we have always done it that way and wonder what horse's ass came up with that, you may be exactly right. The Imperial Roman war chariots were made just wide enough to accommodate the back ends of two war horses.

Now the twist to the story... When you see a Space Shuttle sitting on its launch pad, there are two big booster rockets attached to the sides of the main fuel tank. These are solid rocket boosters, or SRBs. Thiokol makes the SRBs at their factory in Utah.

The engineers who designed the SRBs would have preferred to make them a bit fatter, but the SRBs had to be shipped by train from the factory to the launch site. The railroad line from the factory happens to run through a tunnel in the mountains. The SRBs had to fit through that tunnel.

The tunnel is slightly wider than the railroad track, and the railroad track, as you now know, is about as wide as two horses' behinds.

So, a major Space Shuttle design feature of what is arguably the world's most advanced transportation system was determined over two thousand years ago by the width of a horse's ass.

And you thought being a horse's ass wasn't important?

[Idiappam]

So, a major Space Shuttle design feature of what is arguably the world's most advanced transportation system was determined over two thousand years ago by the width of a horse's ass.

And you thought being a horse's ass wasn't important?

And what determined the speed of the Space shuttle? It's fart?

[Lambretta]

Swarup garu,
I was intrigued not bcos of the Spaceship details (sorry!) but bcos the link u gave here happens to be a forum on Volkswagen Beetles (my fav. car besides the Herald! :D).....so many tks for tat........altho I've no clue as to wat this talk abt Space shuttles has to do w/ VW cars.......maybe they intend to turn one such car into a space shuttle in future.......? Tat 'd be one gr8 technology tho......enuff to give the 'Herbie' fim-makers a run for their money! :wink: :D

[Anoushka]

Linspire will replace Windows with crippled Linux - cheap



If Microsoft makes good on its self-destructive threat to pull Windows from the South Korean market rather than accede to local demands to un-bundle its proprietary media and IM apps, there's a safe harbour waiting in the form of blanket, country-wide licenses for the OS formerly known as Lindows.

Noting that South Korea blows $100m per year on Microsoft bugware, Linspire honcho Kevin Carmony has made a formal offer to South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun to license every computer in the realm for the bargain price of $5m.

"South Korea could save around a quarter of a billion dollars. More importantly, however, it would break South Korea loose from the monopolistic grasp of Microsoft, which the country currently finds itself under," Carmony explains.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/11/04/lindows_everywhere_practially_free/

[Anoushka]

Eleksen Introduces Electro Fabric

Wearable technology is not a new idea. eVest has been producing wired jackets for years, but we have yet to see technology integrated inside the fabric that makes up the jacket-until now.

Eleksen, a small UK-based firm is introducing electronic fabric, essentially carbon-embedded nylon sandwiched between layers of nylon mesh that, when a milliamps charge is passed through it, can recognize touch (and it's location), pressure and even the direction and path of a stroke. This thin, flexible, durable and washable fabric connects to a small 8-bit processor, which then can be connected to a standard electronic device like an iPod. The iPod, or whatever device you're using, delivers power to processor and fabric.

Read more :

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1895215,00.asp

[Sanguine Sridhar]

UK magazine recently held a competition, inviting its readers submit
new high fundamental scientific theories on ANY (Any means...ANY)
subject. Below are the winners:

4th place (Subject: Bio-Mechanics)
----------------------------------
Why Yawning Is Contagious:
You yawn to equalize the pressure on your eardrums.
This pressure change outside your head unbalances other people's ear
pressures, so they then yawn to even it out.

3rd place (Subject: Symbolic Logic)
-------------------------------------
The Chinese are technologically underdeveloped because each of their
alphabetical characters represents a whole word or phrase, rather than
a single letter.
Thus they cannot use acronyms to communicate technical ideas at a
faster rate.

2nd place (Subject: Newtonian Mechanics)
----------------------------------------
Deforestation may cause earthquakes, tidal waves, or even the total
destruction of our planet. Just as a figure-skater's rate of spin
increases when the arms are brought in close to the body, the cutting
down of tall trees may cause the Earth to spin dangerously fast on its
axis with disastrous results.

Winner (Subject: Perpetual Motion)
----------------------------------
When a cat is dropped, it always lands on its feet, and when toast is
dropped, it always lands buttered side down. Therefore, if a slice of
toast is strapped to a cat's back, buttered side up, and the animal is
then dropped, the two opposing forces will cause it to hover, spinning
inches above the ground. If enough toast-laden felines were used, they
could form the basis of a high-speed monorail system.

[Sanguine Sridhar]

Visit the future website. In this Website there is no need to click anywhere (except on the first page) to navigate through the site.

Its amazing...



http://www.dontclick.it/

[Sinthiya]

Visit the future website. In this Website there is no need to click anywhere (except on the first page) to navigate through the site.

Its amazing...



http://www.dontclick.it/
wicked website...but i clicked several times by accident :oops: ...

really the future of websites...

[Anoushka]

Gmail e-mail address "feature" confirmed, delete button sighted

Update: This post has been updated, as it turns out that the bug in question is only half-true.


Remember when Gmail invitations were going for US$20 and up on Craigslist? Invitations are much easier to come by these days, but the service remains popular in no small part due to its interface and massive amount of archival storage. Plus, it's Google, so it's got to be cool (unless it's Google Video). However, some users believe they have seen e-mail apparently misdirected to their inboxes, as in the case of this gentleman, Ryan Coleman.

Reportedly, as an early invitee, he was able to register "ryan.coleman." Ryan later realized that he was also receiving e-mail for "ryancoleman" (no period). Were Google's mail servers misdirecting e-mail? Was there another user with a similar username? The answer turned out to be rather surprising. From the Gmail Help Center, we learn that Gmail "doesn't recognize dots" within usernames. So to Google's mail server, eric.bangeman@gmail.com and ericbangeman@gmail.com appear the same.


Read more at : http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060120-6022.html

[Anoushka]

The world of Google, according to Google.


In the 18 months since its stock market flotation, Google has been transformed from a company that prided itself on being simple and effective, into a multi-headed high tech beast which wants to get involved in everything.

According to Marissa Mayer, vice president of search products at the company's Silicon Valley headquarters, Google likes to release new products "early and often".


Read more :

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4598090.stm

[Anoushka]

Google to Acquire dMarc Broadcasting

Brings Radio Advertising to Google AdWords Advertisers


MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. - January 17, 2006 - Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) today announced it has agreed to acquire dMarc Broadcasting, Inc., a Newport Beach, Calif.-based digital solutions provider for the radio broadcast industry.



dMarc connects advertisers directly to radio stations through its automated advertising platform. The platform simplifies the sales process, scheduling, delivery and reporting of radio advertising, enabling advertisers to more efficiently purchase and track their campaigns. For broadcasters, dMarc's technology automatically schedules and places advertising, helping to increase revenue and decrease the costs associated with processing advertisements.



In the future, Google plans to integrate dMarc technology into the Google AdWords platform, creating a new radio ad distribution channel for Google advertisers.

Read More :

http://www.google.com/press/pressrel/dmarc.html

[Anoushka]

Anti-spyware project helps users

Hi-tech firms are setting up a project to help users spot if downloads are infested with spyware and adware.

Funded by Google and Sun the Stop Badware project will expose the hidden extras that popular software, such as file-sharing programs, often has inside it.

These extras can bombard users with unwanted adverts, slow down PCs and sometimes steal personal information.

Eventually the project hopes to make tools to help clean up infested PCs.

Read more at : http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4649958.stm

[Anoushka]

How can a game help scientists???

Web game provides breakthrough in predicting spread of epidemics

Submitted by BJS on Wed, 2006-01-25 14:23.

Using a popular internet game that traces the travels of dollar bills, scientists have unveiled statistical laws of human travel in the United States, and developed a mathematical description that can be used to model the spread of infectious disease in this country. This model is considered a breakthrough in the field.

"We were confident that we could learn a lot from the data collected at the www.wheresgeorge.com bill-tracking website, but the results turned out far beyond our expectations," said Lars Hufnagel, a post-doctoral fellow at the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara and co-author of an article describing the research in the January 26 issue of the journal Nature.

Read more at :
http://www.scienceblog.com/cms/web_game_provides_breakthrough_in_predicting_sprea d_of_epidemics_9874

[Anoushka]

Yahoo 'dot' addresses

Yahoo mail beta and the original Yahoo mail is now available with professional looking 'dot' addresses.

Each existing Yahoo address can have another address as an alternate e-mail ID, which shall share the same Inbox as the primary ID. This is best, since we can now have a professional '

firstname.lastname@yahoo.com' address without having to worry about maintaining another mail account all-together.

Mails sent to or from either mail ID shall come to the same inbox and you can use either ID as the sender ID.

Get your new alternate email ID at : Yahoo dot addresses <
http://updates.mail.yahoo.com/blog/2005/12/16/get-in-on-the-mad-rush-for-new-%e2%80%9cdot%e2%80%9d-addresses/>

Log in anywhere on the Yahoo! network (Mail, Photos, Messenger with BT Communicator -- the list goes on and on...

JUST FEW SIMPLE STEPS

1 Click on options in upper left hand corner.
2 Click on mail addresses .
3 Click on Add

OR
Just Click on this link
http://edit.yahoo.com/config/list_alias?.src=ym

You can create an account with dot with same password. This ID will have mails going into the inbox of existing account.You can login or send or receive mails on either ID . You can also create another dot ID by creating totally
new account from signing from mail.yahoo.com home page.

[Sanguine Sridhar]

Here is an ULTIMATE facility..by google.

Things you need to have:

1) Gmail account

2) Gmail Drive software

Process:

1) Download Gmail Drive from
http://www.softpedia.com/progDownload/GMail-Drive-shell-extension-Download-15944.html

2) Install the software.

3) After installing, a drive named gmail drive will be
created in My Computer (just like C: D:).

4) double click on this drive, login to gmail acct. You will get a space
of 2.61 GB.

4) whatever content you copy to this drive will be
sent to your mail acc to which you have logged in.

The copy is pretty fast.

[Anoushka]

Understanding mem usage in Linux

This entry is for those people who have ever wondered, "Why the hell is a simple KDE text editor taking up 25 megabytes of memory?" Many people are led to believe that many Linux applications, especially KDE or Gnome programs, are "bloated" based solely upon what tools like ps report. While this may or may not be true, depending on the program, it is not generally true -- many programs are much more memory efficient than they seem.

Read more at :
http://virtualthreads.blogspot.com/2006/02/understanding-memory-usage-on-linux.html

[NM]

Interesting articles about brain / cognitive function :

http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology/050120_brain_sex.html

http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology/050319_brain_study.html

http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology/050808_human_consciousness.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4271018.stm

Check this out too ...

htttp://www.cogstate.com :D

[Shekhar]

NM,
Does it apply to women?!! :wink:

[Shakthiprabha.]

Interesting.

I am gonna paste these urls in

"UNDERSTANDING 'I' vedanta"

in history section.

[Shakthiprabha.]

ur last link is not working :huh:

[NM]

shakthi :

Sorry, the last one should be

http://cogstate.com :D

[NM]

NM,
Does it apply to women?!! :wink:Shekhar..... :evil: :twisted: :hammer:

[Anoushka]

The latest and greatest toy everyone wants :)

Check

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/umpc/hardware.mspx

[Anoushka]

Competitor for Yahoo Geocities??

http://pages.google.com

[Anoushka]

Google just introduced this

excellent free tool to create 3D pictures and models.

http://sketchup.google.com/

Give it a try, it's excellent. There are few tutorials available as well, so it will be a snap to learn how to create 3D architectural models.

[Anoushka]

Versora has released its Progression Desktop for Turbolinux, an easy-to-use migration tool that allows users to transfer files and settings from their Windows machine to a Linux machine, moving critical data, application settings, e-mail, calendar entries, contact lists, desktop settings and directory structures via a 'click-next-next-finished' interface........

http://www.efytimes.com/fullnews.asp?edid=11593&ntype=email

[girishk14]

Hi...I too would like to be part of this thread.. I am a technofreak and I am really interested in technology and how things work.

I am still dazzled by GPRS technology. Internet in a small handphone? Seriously, this is very amazing to me.

I really wish I had the ability to analyze the microchips inside a 3G handphone..

[narayanan]

Pretty old(almost 2 months), but worth the read:

City official threatens CentOS (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/03/24/tuttle_centos/)

Dont forget to checkout the complete email transcript given at the end of the article, its a classic :rotfl: :rotfl:

[narayanan]

Technology of the last week:

Yahoo, MS in partnership talks (http://www.forbes.com/markets/bonds/2006/05/03/yahoo-microsoft-partnership-0503markets04.html)

[Anoushka]

[tscii:4453e32239]http://webaccelerator.google.com/?subid=XX-RPP-EN&sourceid=gwa

Google Web Accelerator
Speed Up the Web

Google Web Accelerator works with your browser to help web pages show up in a snap. Learn more.

Google Web Accelerator

By downloading, you agree to our
Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy

FREE and takes seconds to install

System Requirements
Operating System: Win XP or Win 2000 SP3+
Browser: IE 5.5+ or Firefox 1.0+

Google Web Accelerator is...
• Designed for Broadband –
Web pages load even more quickly on DSL and cable connections
• Easy to use – Simply install and enjoy faster web browsing

[/tscii:4453e32239]

[Anoushka]

A Bluetooth plane with no wires or connections between its main components has been built and flown in Portugal.

The 10ft long unmanned AIVA plane relies on a wireless network to link up its engine, navigation system and onboard computers.

Tests flights carried out in Portugal have shown that the "fly-by-wireless" system works well, reports New Scientist.

Cristina Santos, at Minho University in Portugal, who developed the plane, says the aim is primarily to reduce weight and power requirements.

"Also, if you do not have the cables then the system is much more flexible to changes," she says.

Ms Santos says the idea of having no physical connections may seem scary at first but believes ultimately it will become accepted.

But she admits the system would need extensive testing before she would be willing to ride in a fly-by-wireless plane.

Copyright (c) 2006 Ananova Ltd

[Anoushka]

Microsoft Warfare: Now, It's JPEG Vs WMP

Source Courtesy :
EFYTimes

Microsoft is developing an imaging product that it claims to be far better than the omnipresent JPEG.
Friday, May 26, 2006: Microsoft gave some hints to take over the JPEC format at the last Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC). This year, at the same conference, Microsoft has given a sneak preview of the product, named Windows Media Photo (WMP).

For reading full article click
here.

http://www.efytimes.com/fullnews.asp?edid=12040&magid=11&ntype=email&email1=tlananthu@gmail.com

[Anoushka]

Orissa boy invents wonder glasses

*Bhubaneshwar (Orissa):* Apurv Mishra loves his computer like any schoolboy of his age with glasses on.

However, the glasses that he wears are not meant for wearing when playing a 3-D video game. They are his own invention

His wonder is machine is called 'Glabenator' and may empower disabled and paralytic people to see with the glasses like never before.

And the 16-year-old has even got a third rank in the international science and engineering fair in the USA for his invention.

"When the muscles move in this direction, the sensor rod sends the signal to the data transmission section from where the menu can be given commands and even the computer can be operated," says Apurv.

Apurv's award winning equipment will cost less than Rs fifteen hundred.
Pilots can also use it as an extra communication tool.

Read More at :

http://www.ibnlive.com/videos/10940/orissa-boy-invents-wonder-glasses.html

[ramky]

[ deleted ]

[RR]

World's Largest Band (http://69.111.148.2/wlb/webmusic.aspx)

Does your web site sound good?

[Anoushka]

Apple abruptly shuts down new software development center in India
Posted : 07 Jun 2006

Print Version E-mail this to a colleague Send inquiry

Apple Computer Inc. is shutting down its software development and
support operations center in Bangalore, India after just two months of
operation, according to a report in published Sunday (June 4) in The
Times of India. The Indian subsidiary, Apple Services India Pvt. Ltd,
had been unveiled in April.

All 30 staff members were told last week that they were being laid
off, according to the published report. Staffers will receive a
severance package comprising two months' salary.

The company's marketing and sales arm here, employing about 25 people,
is not affected and will continue to operate.

The Bangalore center was to have been the company's first tech
development and support operation outside its California headquarters.
Apple had intended to grow the Bangalore center's staff to 3,000 by
the end of 2007.

Sources were mystified by the company's sudden reversal of plans,
particularly given the trend among other global technology companies
to establish operations in India.

The report quoted an Apple spokesman as saying only that the company
had "reevaluated our options and decided to put our support center
growth in other countries."

[Anoushka]

The 25 worst Tech products of all time

http://www.pcworld.com/resource/printable/article/0,aid,125772,00.asp

[podalangai]

Google site to aid the blind

Google has launched a new version of its search engine which conducts its normal search, but then prioritises results which are more easily accessible to blind or visually handicapped people through screen reader software and other standard online technology.

http://labs.google.com/accessible/

[podalangai]

Skype-enabled Wi-Fi phones to be released

Skype users will soon no-longer be confined to using Skype from their desks. The company will soon be making available a new "phone" which is pre-loaded with Skype software and connects to the Skype service through a Wi-Fi internet connection. The phone can also be set to automatically synchronise with a Skype account. This means, in effect, that you can use your Skype account anywhere where you have access to Wi-Fi, potentially saving a lot of money on phone calls.

More details at http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060720-7308.html

[podalangai]

A supercomputer is going to help tackle possible outbreaks of bird flu in the UK.

The University of Wales, Swansea, is using its supercomputer to analyse patterns of bird migrations to predict in which part of the UK a bird flu outbreak is most likely to start, and will therefore allow plans to be made in advance of how to restrict the epidemic most efficiently and quickly.

More at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/south_west/5202730.stm

[Anoushka]

AMD to buy ATI in challenge to Intel

Semiconductor giant to add graphics chips

From Tribune news services
Published July 25, 2006

SUNNYVALE, Calif. -- Advanced Micro Devices Inc., the world's second-biggest maker of semiconductors, has agreed to buy ATI Technologies Inc. for $5.4 billion, adding computer-graphics chips to its product lineup as it challenges industry leader Intel Corp.

AMD Chief Executive Hector Ruiz is making the biggest purchase in the company's history to help escalate his challenge to Intel, which dominates the market for semiconductors.

ATI, based in Markham, Ontario , is the largest maker of computer graphics chips for notebook computers, which could help AMD win more orders from computer-makers such as Dell Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Co.

The acquisition of ATI "would make AMD a bigger player with a more diversified portfolio," said Nathan Brookwood, an analyst with research firm Insight 64. It "would certainly put AMD on a more equal footing relative to Intel."

ATI stockholders will receive $20.47, including $16.40 in cash and 0.2229 AMD shares, for each ATI share, the companies said Monday. The offer is nearly 24 percent more than ATI's closing price on Friday.

On Monday, shares of ATI jumped $3.11, to $19.67, on the Nasdaq stock market. On the New York Stock Exchange, AMD stock fell 87 cents, to $17.39, on concern the company might be overpaying in its quest to find new ways to beat Intel.

"The market won't like it," said Lawrence Borgman, an analyst at Jesup & Lamont Capital in New York. "It doesn't make sense unless it's something that customers are demanding."

AMD will pay $4.2 billion in cash, $2.5 billion of which will be financed by Morgan Stanley. The company will also issue 57 million shares, increasing its share count by 12 percent, and 11 million restricted stock options.

The combined company will generate "hundreds of millions" in extra revenue, growing to "billions," AMD Chief Financial Officer Robert Rivet said on a conference call with analysts. The company will save about $75 million in 2007 and $125 million in 2008, he said.

AMD cut Intel's market share to less than 80 percent in 2005 for the first time in four years, a gain that it is seeking to extend. Tapping the surge in consumer use of video games and other graphics is part of that effort.

ATI, which also supplies semiconductors used in cell phones and high-definition TVs, will help AMD expand its reach into consumer products, executives said.

The deal, subject to approval by ATI shareholders and U.S. and Canadian regulators, is expected to close by year's end, AMD executives said.

[Anoushka]

Researchers at Akishima Laboratories (Mitsui Zosen), working in conjunction with professor Shigeru Naito of Osaka University, have developed a device that uses waves to draw text and pictures on the surface of water.

The device consists of 50 water wave generators encircling a cylindrical tank 1.6 meters in diameter and 30 cm deep (about the size of a backyard kiddie pool). The wave generators move up and down in controlled motions to simultaneously produce a number of cylindrical waves, which act as pixels. The pixels, which measure 10 cm in diameter and 4 cm in height, are combined to form lines and shapes.
The device is capable of spelling out the entire roman alphabet, as well as some simple kanji characters. Each letter or picture remains on the water surface only for a moment, but letters or pictures can be produced in succession on the surface every 3 seconds.

Akishima Laboratories expects the technology to be incorporated into amusement devices that combine acoustics, lighting and fountain technology, which they hope to see installed at theme parks and hotels.

Two PDFs with pics, but they are written in Japanese and Math:
http://www.mes.co.jp/Akiken/whatsnew/pdf/188_03.pdf
http://www.mes.co.jp/Akiken/business/products/pdf/AL2004_712.pdf

[podalangai]

I was hoping a couple of posts would inspire you to start updating this thread again. :D

[Anoushka]

Thanks podalangai :)

[thamizhvaanan]

[tscii:a28bd5d7b9]Modern diesel Engine facts

Fuel passes through the injector jets at speeds of nearly 1500 miles per hour (2400 km/h) - as fast as the top speed of a jet plane.

Fuel is injected into the combustion chamber in less than 1.5 ms - about as long as a camera flash.

The smallest quantity of fuel injected is one cubic millimetre - about the same volume as the head of a pin. The largest injection quantity at the moment for automobile diesel engines is around 70 cubic millimetres.

If the camshaft of a six-cylinder engine is turning at 4500 rpm, the injection system has to control and deliver 225 injection cycles per second. (Imagine the same for some of the high end gasoline engines that run at 19,ooo rpm and above :shock: )

On a demonstration drive, a Volkswagen 1-litre diesel-powered car used only 0.89 litres of fuel in covering 100 kilometres (264MPG) - making it probably the most fuel-efficient car in the world. Bosch’s high-pressure fuel injection system was one of the main factors behind the prototype’s extremely low fuel consumption. Production record-breakers in fuel economy include the Volkswagen Lupo 3L TDI and the Audi A2 3 L 1.2 TDi with standard consumption figures of 3 litres of fuel per 100 kilometres (78MPG). Their High-pressure Diesel injection systems are also supplied by Bosch.

[/tscii:a28bd5d7b9]

[Anoushka]

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ - Google spread sheets! Looks and feels similar to Excel, I have actually created our badminton club accounts in this and shared the file so everyone can view the updated version anytime :)

[ramky]

.
DirectX 9.0c Redistributable

http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/OS-Enhancements/DirectX-9.0c-Redistributable.shtml#

Microsoft DirectX is a group of technologies designed to make Windows-based PCs an ideal platform for running and displaying applications rich in multimedia elements such as full- color graphics, 3D animation, video and rich audio.

DirectX 9.0 includes security and performance updates, along with many new features across all technologies, which can be accessed by applications using the DirectX 9.0 APIs.

The DirectX 9.0 Redist is available for download for those users that do not have an internet connection available during installation or Setup has trouble connecting to the Microsoft server.

[Anoushka]

Check this out! FrontPage is being phased out this year and being replaced with Microsoft Expression suite!

http://www.microsoft.com/products/expression/en/default.mspx

[RR]

Google apps for your domain

Now you can gmail from your own domain.

https://www.google.com/a

[Anoushka]

For all those who find Yahoo and Google search engines tedious and time-consuming, a new website known as GahooYoogle has come up with a solution. This website combines the search engines of Yahoo and Google on one screen. Using a split screen to display the search results of both the engines, this website is proving to be convenient for many net surfers.

Click on the following link.....
http://www.gahooyoogle.com/

[RR]

From the frontpage of GahooYoogle:

How to remember the name and spelling of GahooYoogle? A little "poem", you will never forget GahooYoogle:

Write Yahoo then Google
Make the Y and G Toggle
Never forget GahooYoogle

[Anoushka]

Check out this site...Cool .....
http://www.swarmthe.com/go/swarm


What is Swarm? The Basics:

Swarm shows you what websites people are visiting, right now<http://www.swarmthe.com/go/swarm>.


Swarm is a graphical map of hundreds of websites, all connecting to each other. It updates itself every second with where people are going and coming from. As sites become more popular, they move towards the center of the swarm.

Website traffic is symbolized with thin lines. Each time you see a line appear, it means someone has moved from one site to the other. You can gauge how many people are swarming around based on the number of lines.

Why use this?

Swarm is a useful tool for browsing the web, not searching it. You need to come here with an open mind and you may find some really cool stuff.
Community:

In addition to a forum <http://www.swarmthe.com/forum>, Swarm allows you to chat about any link you see. When you see a little chat icon flash, it means people are actively chatting about that link. You don't have to wait for the icon to appear, you can begin talking about any link you find (and hopefully someone will join in!) Firefox Extension: You may be asking where Swarm gets its data. The answer is in a Firefox extension that you can optionally download. When you download the extension, websites you visit are anonymously sent to Swarm.
There is no registration, no email and no personal data ever given to Swarm.
You can also turn it on and off easily. Learn more<http://www.swarmthe.com/go/extension>.


The Firefox Extension is the lifeline of Swarm. Please help enrich Swarm and join the community by downloading the extension<http://www.swarmthe.com/go/extension>.

[ramky]

Microsoft reserve 20% of your available bandwidth for their own purposes
(for updates and interrogating your machine etc).

Here's how to get it back : (Works on XP Pro and 2000.)

Click Start --> Run --> type gpedit.msc

This opens the group policy editor. Then go to:

Local Computer Policy --> Computer Configuration --> Administrative Templates --> Network --> QOS Packet Scheduler --> Limit Reservable Bandwidth

Double click on Limit Reservable bandwidth. It will say it is not configured, but the truth is under the 'Explain' tab :

"By default, the Packet Scheduler limits the system to 20 percent of the bandwidth of a connection, but you can use this setting to override the default."

So the trick is to ENABLE reservable bandwidth, then set it to ZERO. This will allow the system to reserve nothing, rather than the default 20%.

It worked for me, so should work for you too.

[Anoushka]

http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2006/09/13/diebold/index_np.html

Diebold, the e-voting-machine maker, has long sworn its systems are secure. Not so, says a new Princeton study. Converting votes from one candidate to another is simple.

By Brad Friedman

Excerpt from article follows

Sept. 13, 2006 | Having reported extensively on the security concerns that surround the use of electronic voting machines, I anxiously awaited the results of a new study of a Diebold touch-screen voting system, conducted by Princeton University. The Princeton computer scientists obtained the Diebold system with cooperation from VelvetRevolution, an umbrella organization of more than 100 election integrity groups, which I co-founded a few months after the 2004 election. We acquired the Diebold system from an independent source and handed it over to university scientists so that, for the first time, they could analyze the hardware, software and firmware of the controversial voting system. Such an independent study had never been allowed by either Diebold or elections officials.

The results of that study, released this morning, are troubling, to say the least. They confirm many of the concerns often expressed by computer scientists and security experts, as well as election integrity activists, that electronic voting -- and indeed our elections -- may now be exceedingly vulnerable to the malicious whims of a single individual.

Excerpt over

[Anoushka]

Apparently --- to be the new academic wikipedia, with academic "constables" to police the entries.
A blurb from the site. (http://citizendium.org/)

"The Citizendium (sit-ih-ZEN-dee-um), a "citizens' compendium of everything," will be an experimental new wiki project that combines public participation with gentle expert guidance. It will begin life as a "progressive fork" of Wikipedia. But we expect it to take on a life of its own and, perhaps, to become the flagship of a new set of responsibly-managed free knowledge projects. We will avoid calling it an "encyclopedia," because there will probably always be articles in the resource that have not been vouched for in any sense.

[podalangai]

NASA is making plans to build a permanent base on the moon. The construction will start in 2020 and, when finished, will be able to support stays on the moon of as long as 180 days. NASA sees this as a step to establishing a permanent presence on the moon... and then Mars.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16042651/

[Anoushka]

[tscii:9de82b0209]http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techinnovations/2007-05-31-google-web-offline_N.htm

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) — Google said Wednesday it had created Web software that runs both online, and offline, marking a sea change for the Internet industry by letting users work on planes, trains, spotty connections and even in the most remote locations.

The technology, called Google Gears, would allow users of computers, phones and other devices to manipulate Web services like e-mail, online calendars or news readers whether online, intermittently connected to the Web or completely offline.[/tscii:9de82b0209]

[Shakthiprabha.]

NASA is making plans to build a permanent base on the moon. The construction will start in 2020 and, when finished, will be able to support stays on the moon of as long as 180 days. NASA sees this as a step to establishing a permanent presence on the moon... and then Mars.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16042651/

:shock:

(thanks to anou for breathing air into this thread. )

[Anoushka]

ZoneAlarm is still not Vista ready

It is an unfortunate fact that many ZoneAlarm products, including the ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite, are not yet available in a Vista-compatible version. However, the company promises free Vista updates as soon they do become available. The ZoneAlarm Web site states, "ZoneAlarm products are eligible for a free Vista upgrade when it is released as part of a 1-year update program." But that's a small consolation for those who've been waiting for an update for several months.

For those who want a Vista-capable security solution now, the runner-up we mentioned in the article, Norton Internet Security 2007, supports Windows Vista as of February 2007, according to the product FAQ.

[Anoushka]

To all people who are interested in open source alternatives for their proprietry/costly software , this would be helpful

http://www.osalt.com/

[Anoushka]

[tscii:e3c6c820cf]http://www.usatoday.com/tech/products/gear/2007-06-18-wireless-usb-chip_N.htm

Wireless USB chip could cut cords worldwide

NEW YORK — Chip designer Alereon said Monday it is releasing the first chip that uses a frequency band that is legal all over the world for wireless USB, a technology with the potential to cut the tangle of cables surrounding computers.

The new chip could prove an important step in persuading computer makers to incorporate the technology. A few wireless USB products are already on the U.S. market, but they send and receive signals over a frequency that isn't legal in most of the world because of potential interference with radar.[/tscii:e3c6c820cf]

[Anoushka]

[tscii:8de7469d32]http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2007-06-19-airbus-cellphone-system_N.htm

Airbus approved for onboard cellphone system

PARIS (AP) — European planemaker Airbus said Tuesday it had received approval from European aviation authorities for an onboard mobile phone system.

In a statement, Airbus said it was the first aircraft maker to win approval from the European Aviation Safety Agency for an on-board system for cellphones that use the European GSM technology.

Passengers will be able to make and receive calls and send and receive e-mails and text messages once the system is in place, Airbus said.

Cabin crew will be able to engage a "voice-off" mode which only allows SMS text messaging and e-mail services, Airbus noted.

The service will first be available on Airbus' single-aisle planes for short-haul flights in western Europe, following the granting of airworthiness certification.
[/tscii:8de7469d32]

[bingleguy]

tats a commendable move :clap: by the Airbus ......

[Anoushka]

ZoneAlarm now supports Vista, offers free extensions

By Scott Dunn

For months, ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite has claimed on its box to be "Vista ready," but users found otherwise.

Fortunately, the company has now released a Vista version of the suite and promises to make it up to customers.

Free sub extension for ZoneAlarm customers

In the June 7 issue, I responded to reader complaints that the ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite (which I'd discussed in the May 24 issue) did not support Windows Vista, despite its product labeling saying so. Soon thereafter, I received a phone call from Allison Wagda, director of public relations at Check Point, the maker of ZoneAlarm products. She announced that Vista versions of the suite and its products would be available immediately, and apologized to customers who were affected by the delay in getting the products out.

"We are offering anyone who purchased the suite a six-month extension on their subscription to make up for the loss," Wagda told me. Check Point is also offering a refund to customers who would rather return the product. To take advantage of these offers, customers in the U.S. should call 1-877-966-5221. Those outside the U.S. should call +49 1805 104777 in Germany.

[podalangai]

Wi-Fi update helps eye doctors

Thousands of residents of remote villages in southern India have easy access to eye care thanks to a specially designed, low-cost and long-distance wi-fi network.

The network allows specialists at Aravind Eye Hospital at Theni, in the state of Tamil Nadu, to interview and examine patients in nine remote clinics via high-quality video conference.

The new technology has been developed by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley and at Intel Corporation in collaboration with the Indian hospital.

Full story:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7029942.stm

[rajraj]

A Nobel prize engineers can relate to:

Giant magnetoresistance in hard drives -


http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/newstex/AFX-0013-20130626.htm

[podalangai]

The final frontier for solar energy

Researchers from Europe, Japan and the US are considering the viability of building giant solar panels in a low earth orbit that would supply cheap, inexhaustible energy to industry and homes.

Building a huge array outside the Earth's atmosphere would have the advantage of having no clouds to interrupt the flow of solar energy to the arrays.

Yet the sizeable downside would be the technical challenges of construction and of getting the power down to the ground.

Full story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7131617.stm

[podalangai]

[tscii:fe7e20d350]The world's cheapest car

Tata Motors has unveiled the world's cheapest motor car. The vehicle, called the Tata Nano, will sell for 100,000 rupees or $2,500 (£1,277) and enable those in developing countries to move to four wheels.

The four-door five-seater car, which goes on sale later this year, has a 33bhp, 624cc, engine at the rear.

More at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7180396.stm[/tscii:fe7e20d350]

[Anoushka]

How to fix that gizmo you dropped in the loo

By Scott Dunn

It happens to everyone: one moment, you're talking on your cell or dialing up a tune on your MP3 player, and the next, you're staring down at your gadget in a toilet, a puddle, or worse.

If your portable electronic device gets dropped or submerged, is there anything you can do? Fortunately, the answer is yes.


What to do before you call the shop

Whether you left your iPod in your pocket when you did your laundry, discovered that your dog thinks your Zune is a chew toy, spilled coffee on your Treo in your car's cupholder, or dropped your phone in the sink while shaving during your conference call, you've probably discovered the hard way that today's electronics are not invulnerable.

When disaster like this strikes, what should you do? I spoke with Aaron Vronko, co-founder of Rapid Repair, based in Kalamazoo, Mich. Rapid Repair specializes in iPod and iPhone repairs, but also handles repairs of Zunes and other small appliances. Vronko told me what you can do to rescue your portable electronic device.

First, the obvious: water and electronics don't mix

If you merely dropped your handheld device on a hard, dry surface, your problem may not be too serious. In cases of dry damage, dust off your device and turn it on. If you can't make it work, you'll need to find a repair service. But you probably won't be out more than a nominal charge to see if it can be fixed.

A much bigger danger is secondary damage caused by exposure to water or other liquids.

"That's when the most damage happens," says Vronko. "People don't realize how much liquid can get inside or the harm it can do." What happens next can determine whether your device lives or dies.

If your handheld is exposed to liquids, try these steps.

Step 1: Act quickly. If your electronic device has been exposed to liquid, a wait-and-see approach may do more harm than good. The longer the electronics are exposed to moisture, the greater the chance of connections corroding, causing irreparable damage.

Step 2: Don't turn it on. "If you turn on a device exposed to water, you're attracting ions to the liquid and causing even more problems," says Vronko.

Step 3: Clean with solvent. Not all electronic devices can be easily disassembled, but do what you can to open yours up if it's a simple matter. Then carefully clean the parts with an electronics-safe solvent.

Good solvents to use for this purpose include contact cleaner from an electronics shop or a strong rubbing alcohol. Don't use the kind of mild alcohol that's sold in many drug stores; it contains too much water. Use a cleaner that's 80% or more alcohol.

Step 4: Dry and try. Once you've cleaned it, let your device dry out completely. Then reassemble it and try it out.

Step 5: If necessary, seek repairs sooner rather than later. If you don't succeed in reviving your handheld, try to get it to a repair service before internal water damage gets worse.

Vronko relates an unusual story in which his cell phone was on his lap during his drive home. When he got out of his car, the phone fell onto the driveway and that night was covered by 12 inches of snow. He didn't find the handheld until spring, two months later.

When he found the phone, he didn't have time to work on it, so he threw it into a freezer for another two months.

Once he found the time, Vronko cleaned out the phone with a solvent and made sure it was thoroughly dry. As a result, the phone worked just fine.

"Certain electronics don't like freezing temperatures," Vronko notes, so he doesn't recommend this approach for everything. "But, in this case, the cold kept the delicate parts from oxidizing."

For more check out http://windowssecrets.com/links/zogirkxua2zid/18e719h/?url=WindowsSecrets.com%2Finfo

[Anoushka]

Microsoft is presenting many ways to educate and build expertise in the Developers and IT Professionals on Microsoft Technologies. MSDN is the primary resource one can learn from. Another way is the seminars which happen all the time. Now seminars are happening in your city, in your office and in your PC. You can attend the seminars virtually on the April 9th and 10th, 2008. All you need is to register for the event and attend the seminars online. This seminar is absolutely free and does not involve any cost.

Register for Microsoft's Virtual Tech Days for a FREE online training on Visual Studio 2008, Windows Server 2008 and SQL server 2008 on 9th and 10th April. Visit http://www.virtualt echdays.com

[Anoushka]

[tscii:fd15faf75c]--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TOP STORY

Flash ads bearing malware plague popular sites

By Scott Dunn

A Flash-based advertisement that appeared last week on the USA Today site downloaded malicious code to users' computers, generating erroneous warnings of a malware infestation and offering a phony solution.

The Flash vulnerability is so widespread that such "malvertisements" may be present on thousands of sites, but there are measures you can take to reduce your exposure.


Just opening the page puts you at risk

Visitors to USAToday.com last Thursday got more than they bargained for. A hacked Flash advertisement meant that merely viewing a page in your browser was capable of triggering a malware attack on your PC. According to an alert on the security site Websense, the ad can take control of the browser without any user interaction at all.

Two days after the ad appeared on the USA Today site, two prominent Utah-based news sites, DeseretNews.com and SLTrib.com, were found to have similarly dire banner ads. These ads directed users to various unexpected locations, including the site for AntiSpywareMaster. This destination has been called a "corrupt anti-spyware parasite" and a "fake program" by the RDV Group, a safe-computing organization.

News sites aren't the only victims of what Sandi Hardmeier, who authors the blog Spyware Sucks, calls "malvertisements." The ads themselves may appear perfectly harmless, notes Hardmeier, who's been recognized as an MVP (Most Valued Professional) by Microsoft. "The criminals behind such malvertisements . . . have no shame," she writes, "impersonating everything from WeightWatchers to Oxfam."

Advertisements are not the only source of the problem. The principal conveyors of this malicious code are Flash animations (or .swf files), which are commonly used to create intro screens, online video, and other Internet content in addition to Web ads.

Of particular concern are Flash files that are vulnerable to insertion of malicious code using a technique called cross-site scripting, or XSS.

This vulnerability was widely publicized earlier this year by Google researcher Rich Cannings and his co-authors in their book Hacking Exposed Web 2.0: Web 2.0 Security Secrets and Solutions. According to a report in the U.K.–based tech-news site The Register, a Web search revealed more than 500,000 vulnerable files on major Web sites.

A permanent fix is a long way off

Makers of Flash-building tools, including Adobe, Autodemo, TechSmith, and InfoSoft, quickly updated their development environments to patch the holes, according to a March story in The Register. But because many of the vulnerable files have to be regenerated from scratch, a titanic number of high-risk Flash files remain online.

Speaking at last month's CanSecWest security conference in Vancouver, B.C., Cannings estimated that over 10,000 sites host the risky files, The Register reported.

But that estimate may be low. In his security blog, Jeremiah Grossman, founder and chief technology officer of WhiteHat Security, writes that "potentially hundreds of thousands" of Web sites could be at risk. "Reasonably workable fixes are going to be a long time coming," he adds.

Even diagnosing the problem can be a challenge, notes Spyware Sucks's Hardmeier. She points out that advertising commonly appears on Web sites in one of two ways: either the Web site's staff handles its own advertising and posts the ads directly, or the site is served ads from an advertising network, which typically manages the content.

Unfortunately, it isn't always easy for sites or advertising networks to detect problem ads. "Malvertisements are coded to exclude particular IP addresses, cities, states, and even entire countries," Hardmeier explains. "It is standard operating procedure for a malvertisement to be coded so that it will not trigger a redirect if displayed on a computer within the IP range of the victim Web site or victim advertising network."

What you can do to protect yourself

Even though the long-term solution is for the providers of Flash-based content to create more-secure versions of their files, there are some measures users can take to protect themselves. These protections are not foolproof, but they at least reduce the risk of exposure to malware via compromised Flash files.

Some of these tips come from Andre Gironda, Secure SDLC Consultant and author of the ts/sci security blog, who posted his pointers in a comment to Grossman's blog posting.

The no-Flash option

The most effective – albeit drastic – way to protect yourself from malware-bearing Flash files is to uninstall Flash entirely. Adobe provides a special tool for doing this; you can find instructions and a link for downloading this file in a Technote published on the Adobe site.

The part-time-Flash option

If going without Flash entirely is too extreme, you can limit the sites that use this and other risky plug-ins by installing free browser add-ons that let you manage active Web content more granularly:

For Internet Explorer, TurnFlash lets you toggle between blocking Flash files and allowing them to run. A tray icon lets you turn Flash on or off, but the setting takes effect only in any new IE windows that you launch, not in the existing browser window.

A similar utility called No! Flash also switches Flash on and off, but it also gives you the ability to turn off several other elements, such as Java applets and other scripts. As with TurnFlash, the changes take effect in the next IE window you open.

For Mozilla Firefox, a plug-in called Flashblock disables all Flash content on Web sites and replaces it with a round Flash logo. You can selectively enable Flash files by clicking their icons.

For more comprehensive security, the plug-in NoScript not only disables Flash but also turns off Java, Silverlight, and other active Web elements. A NoScript icon in the Firefox status bar provides a pop-up menu for adding a site you trust to the add-on's "whitelist," which enables all scripts and animations on the site (but not necessarily those on the site's pages that are served up by ad networks). You can also right-click a link in Firefox to set its NoScript options via the context menu.

The minimal option

At the very least, update the Flash Player software on your system to the latest version (9.0.124.0 or higher). In the last three months, Adobe has patched a number of security holes in this product. The update won't protect you from all buggy Flash files on the Web, but it will make your browsing much safer.

You can download the latest Adobe Flash Player from the Adobe Web site.

After you install the update, run the free Secunia Software Inspector online malware scanner to find old versions of the Flash Player that may have been left behind on your system. Secunia's on-screen report will show the path and filename of the old files you need to delete. You may have to run the inspector more than once to make sure all the old files are deleted. If you delete a needed file by mistake, simply run the newest Flash Player installer again to correct the problem.

One danger posed by Flash bugs is the ability of hackers to get your login credentials for a given site. Andre Gironda recommends creating multiple Firefox profiles, each with its own NoScript (or, if you prefer, Flashblock) settings. He uses his Flash-enabled profile to browse sites such as YouTube, but he exits that browser and launches his Flash- and script-blocked copy of Firefox when he conducts online banking and visits other sites that require logins.

To set up a Firefox profile, do the following:

Step 1. Choose Start, Run. Type cmd.exe and press Enter.

Step 2. At the command prompt, type:

"C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" -profilemanager

Then press Enter. (Note that the quotation marks are required and that your path may differ.)

Step 3. If you want Firefox to prompt you for a profile each time you launch it, uncheck the option Don't ask at startup in the Firefox — Choose User Profile dialog box.

Step 4. Click Create Profile and follow the steps in the wizard to name your new profile. Repeat the steps to create a second profile. For example, you might name one profile Flash-Yes and another Flash-No. When you're done, click Exit.

Step 5. Rather than being prompted for a profile each time you open Firefox, create separate shortcuts to launch each profile. For example, if you have a shortcut to Firefox in your QuickLaunch toolbar or on the desktop, drag the shortcut with the right mouse button pressed, drop it, and choose Create Shortcuts Here.

Step 6. Right-click one of your Firefox shortcuts and choose Properties. Click the Shortcut tab and edit the command line so it ends in with -p followed by a space and the name of one profile. For example, the entire command line might read:

"C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" -p Flash-Yes.

Repeat these steps for a second shortcut to launch your other Firefox profile.

Step 7. You may need to download and install one of the plug-ins described above for these profiles and configure each profile's browser differently. However, any changes you make should be saved with that profile, so they will be in effect the next time you launch it.

A complete solution to high-risk Flash files may not come any time soon. Until the creators and managers of these files can ensure a high degree of safety, users have to be extra cautious to avoid the risks of Flash-borne malware.

For more on Flash security vulnerabilities, see Windows Secrets contributing editor Mark Edwards's Apr. 10 PC Tune-Up column.
[/tscii:fd15faf75c]

[Anoushka]

[tscii:b9c739c34f]http://windowssecrets.com/2008/05/08/02-Make-your-PC-difficult-to-steal-easy-to-recover

Make your PC difficult to steal, easy to recover

By Scott Dunn

For little or no money, you can lower the chances that your computer will be targeted by thieves.

Take a few simple steps now to make your notebook and desktop PCs easier to recover should they ever be lost.


Secure your computers from real-world threats

A common saying in the computer world is that if an intruder has physical access to your computer, it's not your computer anymore. I've written recently about ways to protect your system from malware embedded in Flash animations (Apr. 17) and harmful Web sites (May 1). But what about securing the computer itself?

The Seattle Times reported recently that Microsoft has given law-enforcement agencies a tool for decrypting passwords and analyzing computer activity and data. According to reports in Wired and elsewhere, Microsoft's Computer Online Forensic Evidence Extractor (COFEE) is a USB thumb drive that houses a collection of 150 off-the-shelf utilities. None of the programs were developed by Microsoft, and all of them are available to the public separately.

The programs, which include Windows Forensic Toolchest and RootkitRevealer, run from a script, so police officers don't have to start each utility individually. By running the script from a USB drive, law-enforcement officials can collect information located in the PC's RAM or available via a network connection. This data might be lost if the computer were unplugged and taken back to a lab.

If law-enforcement agencies and the public at large can get these tools, you have to wonder how the snoop apps might be used by co-workers who don't have your best interests or privacy in mind.

Whether you're concerned with others prying into your data or stealing your valuable hardware, protecting physical access to your computer is one of the wisest security moves you can make. Think of the things you take care not to lose, such as your house keys and your wallet. You keep these things safe by always knowing where they are or by storing them in secure locations. If you value your electronics, you should treat them the same way.

A number of vendors offer tools for securing your laptop, monitor, or CPU to a desk or other immovable object. Other PC security products put your system in a locked box or block access to drive ports and other controls. A variety of cables and other locks for laptops, desktops, and other equipment are available online. One popular site for such hardware is Secure-It.

However, there's plenty you can do to lock down your PC without spending much — or anything at all.

Enhance recoverability by leaving your mark

If your system (or your cell phone, PDA, or other portable electronic device) is found by an honest person, your chances of reclaiming it are better if it has been permanently labeled with your contact information.

The best labeling approach is to use an engraving tool to etch your contact information into the case of your PC or other equipment.

If you think putting your name and phone number on your devices gives up too much privacy, label the equipment with the e-mail address of an account whose name displays little or no identifying information. Most ISPs let you create multiple e-mail accounts, or you can sign up for a free account at Yahoo Mail, Gmail, or another Web service.

You're more likely to get a response from the person who finds your lost laptop by attaching your phone number to the device. And you'll increase your chances of recovering a lost or stolen PC even more by including an incentive such as "$300 reward" on your label.

Only a few of the many services designed to help recover missing products are free. For a limited time, Windows XP users who sign up early for the Laptop Superhero beta program at YouGetItBack.com can get in free. Download and install the software, and then register your information in the service's "secure vault." If someone reports finding your laptop, the company helps you get it back, just like the name says.

A related program that's also free for the time being is LaptopLock. Install the software, set your preferences, and register with the service. The next time a computer you've reported as missing connects to the Internet, LaptopLock will detect it and perform whichever actions you've set up beforehand: delete or encrypt specified files, run a program or batch file of your choice, or display a message.

LaptopLock will also attempt to send identifying info about the notebook's current IP address, although it's questionable whether knowing the crook's IP address would actually help police recover your computer.

The for-pay recovery option. Computer Security Products sells a hard-to-remove aluminum label that lists the company's phone number and a serial number. A single label costs $25, and a package of 10 is priced at $150.

Should anyone contact the service about finding a system you've registered with the company, you'll be notified and can make arrangements for retrieving the item. The label etches the contact information into the device's case to protect you — even if someone removes the label itself.

Less-expensive (and less secure) labels for keys, luggage, and electronics are available for $10 to $15 from YouGetItBack.com.

In addition to LaptopLock's free (for now) service, a number of for-pay services help you track stolen computers over the Internet. One of the leading PC-recovery services is ComputraceComplete from Absolute Software. The service costs $50 per year. If it doesn't recover your laptop within 60 days of its loss, you may be eligible for the company's $1,000 Theft Recovery Guarantee.

Sound the alarm to prevent tampering

As I mentioned above, the best way to prevent your PC and other hardware from being stolen or accessed is to lock it away. Your lockdown strategy depends on your location:

Hotel: Don't assume that items are safe just because they are locked in your hotel room. Get a room with a safe for storing laptops and other valuables, or take such items with you when you leave the room.

Office: Notebook computers, removable hard drives, laptop memory cards, USB thumb drives, PDAs, and any other equipment in your office that is easily removed should be put in a locked cabinet overnight and on weekends. If your company doesn't provide such a cabinet, suggest that it get one.

Traveling: Airports and other travel scenes present so many possible distractions that it takes only a moment for someone to snatch an unattended item or for you to leave something behind. Never leave a laptop visible in your car; if you must, stow it in the car's trunk, but try to avoid being seen locking such items there. If you need to put your computer down for a moment while you're in any public setting, keep the case between your feet.

The free Laptop Alarm alerts you when your computer is touched by someone. After you install the program and activate the lock function, you can set the laptop alarm to play a loud warning sound when the machine loses AC power, when its mouse moves or is unplugged, or when the system shuts down or logs off.


Figure 1. Laptop Alarm will sound an alert when the options you select occur.

Even if the notebook's sound is muted or turned down, Laptop Alarm turns the sound back on and plays the alarm at full blast. You can set a password to unlock your system or turn off the alarm.

Naturally, this software won't guard your computer in a coffee shop while you use the restroom. But if you need to pay attention to other things for a while, the program can help alert you if someone is tampering with your system.

Laptop Alarm is currently listed as a beta product, so some of its advertised features may not yet work. Still, the alarm worked quite well when I tested the program[/tscii:b9c739c34f]

[Sinthiya]

thanks Anoushka for the interesting articles... :)

How to fix that gizmo you dropped in the loo
:lol:...i had a somewhat similar incident of dropping my cell phone into a hot cup of water...:oops:..

Don't ask me why i even put my cell phone over a hot cup of water (stupidity :banghead:)...i did so, left to grab something else...when i came back to pick up the cup and cell, the cell phone slipped and fell right into the hot cup of water :banghead: :banghead:...all of a sudden, the cell phone blinked for few seconds and was slowly dying...i quickly grabbed some paper towels, opened my loose battery cover :x...and removed the battery right away...i tried to dry them as much as possible - even to the extent of using a hair dryer to dry up the moisture that was starting to appear on my screen...as i went to bed that night, i prayed that the phone will work the next day :lol: (cause i didn't write the numbers down anywhere else..:oops:)...thankfully, the next day, it worked!! :D...Nokia is a great phone! :P

Learned lesson: never put gizmos on top of a cup of any liquid :oops: and attempt to pick it up, even if you thought you had that sort of balance...:banghead:...

[podalangai]

Turning mobile phones into microscopes - to diagnose malaria

A project at the University of California, Berkeley, has developed a cheap attachment to turn the digital camera on many of today's mobile phones into a microscope. It enhances the magnification on the camera's lens sufficiently to show individual white and red blood cells, which means that with the correct stain, the mobile phone can be used to identify the parasite that causes malaria.

Moreover, by transmitting an image directly over the mobile network, the device could help with the remote diagnosis and monitoring of many illnesses in the developing world.

Full story at:
http://www.economist.com/science/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11367989

[Anoushka]

Learned lesson: never put gizmos on top of a cup of any liquid :oops: and attempt to pick it up, even if you thought you had that sort of balance...:banghead:...

:lol: or put a cup of any liquid close to gizmos :) I've dropped a glass of hot water on my laptop once and another time the laptop and a pot of yoghurt went into the same bag in a hurry, result - laptop ate all the yoghurt! :)

The first time I removed everything bit by bit and dried it using a hair dryer, didn't work, had to remove the hard disk and put it on a different laptop skeleton to continue working, the second time cleaned it up completely and managed with minimal damage, just a horizontal line being displayed :)

[Anoushka]

Turning mobile phones into microscopes - to diagnose malaria

A project at the University of California, Berkeley, has developed a cheap attachment to turn the digital camera on many of today's mobile phones into a microscope. It enhances the magnification on the camera's lens sufficiently to show individual white and red blood cells, which means that with the correct stain, the mobile phone can be used to identify the parasite that causes malaria.

Moreover, by transmitting an image directly over the mobile network, the device could help with the remote diagnosis and monitoring of many illnesses in the developing world.

Full story at:
http://www.economist.com/science/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11367989 Finally something useful coming out of that camera attached to the cellphone :)

[Anoushka]

There are so many tasks for us to do everyday. Many of these tasks come to us from others, and many are initiated by ourselves. All these tasks need to be properly scheduled and delegated.
These tasks flow through various means - phone, email, fax and what not.
Tracking these is a nightmare?
Not any more, if you are with tmail.
Yes, with tmail, you can now easily manage all your tasks. Generally speaking, you can do all the followings:
Assign tasks to others globally, which reflect in their to-do list
Get your to-do list filled in by others
Manage your to-do list, with scheduling and dependency information
Set and get reminders for tasks approaching deadlines
Route a task through multiple persons, serially or in parallel
Get various types of reports at your fingertips
Excited? Sign In/Up and use it for FREE for both personal and commercial use! The obvious links in the menu bar is all that you need to use tmail.

http://www.gcollab.com/tmail/tmail

[Sinthiya]

:lol: or put a cup of any liquid close to gizmos :) I've dropped a glass of hot water on my laptop once and another time the laptop and a pot of yoghurt went into the same bag in a hurry, result - laptop ate all the yoghurt! :)

The first time I removed everything bit by bit and dried it using a hair dryer, didn't work, had to remove the hard disk and put it on a different laptop skeleton to continue working, the second time cleaned it up completely and managed with minimal damage, just a horizontal line being displayed :)
hehe...that's funny...i don't feel too embarassed now :)...

[Uthappam]

Who made the first Tamil computer?

or rather..

Who made the first computer Tamil?

[Anoushka]

[tscii:a61e73e15b]Save time by creating folders in bunches

By Scott Dunn

Simplify file management by generating new folders from your right-click menu that automatically have the current date in the folder name.

Run a four-line batch file from your context menu that creates whole hierarchies of folders that you name from the Command Prompt.


Name folders based on their creation date

It's often useful to sort files into folders based on when the files were created. This is especially handy for storing digital photos. Of course, you can simply create a folder and name it manually. But it's much faster to add the date to the folder name automatically.

Date-based folders are more useful if their names are automatically sorted in chronological order. They won't sort chronologically if you use a date format such as "June 30, 2008."

But you can sort folders by date if you use the year-month-day format (for example, "2008-06-30"). This way, your folders will be listed in date order automatically when you sort them by name.

Start by choosing Windows' short-date format:

Step 1. Press the Windows key (Win) plus the letter R to open the Run dialog box. Type control intl.cpl and press Enter.

Step 2. In the Regional and Language Options Control Panel, click Customize (in XP) or Customize this format (in Vista).

Step 3. In the Customize Regional Options dialog box, click the Date tab.

Step 4. For Short date, choose yyyy-MM-dd from the drop-down list. Click OK twice.

Now add a command to your folders' context (or right-click) menu that names new folders based on this format.

In Windows XP, this can be done via Windows Explorer dialog boxes. Unfortunately, doing so triggers a Windows bug that can be fixed only by editing the Registry.

In Vista, you have to edit the Registry from the start, so it's best to use the Registry Editor to make the change in both Vista and XP.

Careless Registry changes can cause Windows to misbehave, so create a restore point before you begin. That way you can revert to the pre-modification Registry in case something goes wrong.

In XP, follow these steps to create a restore point:

Step 1. Choose Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, System Restore.

Step 2. Select Create a restore point, click Next, and follow the instructions in the wizard to complete the process.

Follow these steps to create a restore point in Vista:

Step 1. Click Start, type SystemPropertiesProtection, and press Enter. Click Continue if prompted by User Account Control (UAC).

Step 2. Click Create. Type a name for your restore point, and press Enter. Click OK to acknowledge the completion of the process and OK again to close System Properties.

Now you're ready to add a new command to Explorer's context menu for folders:

Step 1. Press Win+R to open the Run dialog box. Type regedit and press Enter.

Step 2. In the tree pane on the left, navigate to and select:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell

Step 3. (Optional) The next tip I describe entails returning to this location, so you may want to choose Favorites, then Add to Favorites; type a descriptive name; and press Enter to facilitate reopening the key.

Step 4. In the tree pane, right-click the shell icon and choose New, Key. Type a name, such as Date_Folder, and press Enter.

Step 5. With Date_Folder (or whatever you named the key) selected in the tree pane, double-click the (Default) icon in the right pane.

Step 6. In the Value Data box, type the command as you want it to appear on your context menu. For example, you might type "New folder with today's date" (without the quotation marks). Click OK.

Step 7. Right-click the Date_Folder key in the tree pane and choose New, Key. Name it command and press Enter.

Step 8. With the command icon selected in the tree pane, double-click the (Default) icon in the right pane.

Step 9. In the Value data box, type:

cmd.exe /c md "%1\%%DATE%%"

(including the quotation marks) and click OK. Exit the Registry Editor.

Now when you right-click a folder icon in Explorer or on the desktop, you'll see your new command. When you choose it, a Command Prompt window may briefly flash on screen.

The command creates a new folder inside the selected one, so you may find it easier to use on folders in the tree pane. If you don't see the new folder, press F5 to refresh the Explorer window.

Once the folder contains a folder named for the current date, the command can't create another folder with the same name. So once you invoke it, subsequent use of this command on the same folder will have no effect until the next day.

Mass-produce new folders via a batch file

By default, the only ways to create a folder in Explorer are to click File, New, Folder or to right-click in the right pane and choose New, Folder. If you need to make more than a few new folders at one time, this gets old very quickly.

Save time and trouble by adding a command to your folder context menu that lets you create all the new folders you wish — including a hierarchy of subfolders — almost as fast as you can type.

Start by creating a batch file that will generate new subfolders within any folder you right-click:

Step 1. Press Win+R to open the Run dialog box. Type notepad and press Enter.

Step 2. In Notepad, type the following four lines exactly:

@echo off
set /p name="Type one or more folder names: "
cd %1
md %name%

The first line hides the code from the Command Prompt window.

The second line prompts you to enter the folder names and then stores the names in a variable called Name.

Be sure to place one or more spaces before the closing quotation mark in line 2. That way, the names you type won't run up against the prompt in the Command Prompt window.

The other commands in the batch file switch the current folder to the one you right-clicked and create folders based on what you type at the prompt.

Step 3. Save the file to a location of your choice, for example C:\batch. Name the file something like manyfolders.cmd and then exit Notepad.

Next, add a command to launch the batch file from your folders' context menu. As in the context-menu customization I described above, this change requires some Registry editing:

Step 1. Set a restore point as explained above.

Step 2. Press Win+R to open the Run dialog box. Type regedit and press Enter.

Step 3. In the tree pane on the left, navigate to and select:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell

(If you saved this key to your Favorites menu as part of the tip above, choose the entry there to open the key in a flash.)

Step 4. In the tree pane, right-click the shell icon and choose New, Key. Type a name such as Make_Folders and press Enter.

Step 5. With Make_Folders (or whatever you named it) selected in the tree pane, double-click the (Default) icon in the right pane.

Step 6. In the Value Data box, type the command as you want it to appear on your context menu. For example, you might type Make one or more folders. Click OK.

Step 7. Right-click the Make_Folders key in the tree pane and choose New, Key. Name the new key command and press Enter.

Step 8. With the command icon selected in the tree pane, double-click the (Default) icon in the right pane.

Step 9. In the Value data box, type:

"c:\batch\manyfolders.cmd" "%1"

(with the quotation marks) and click OK. Naturally, your path and batch file name may differ. Exit the Registry Editor.

Now when you want to make one or several new folders within another folder, right-click that folder and choose your new command. A Command Prompt window appears telling you to type the name(s) of your folder(s). Type the name of each folder you want to create at that location, separated by a space.

If you want a folder name to include spaces, put that name within quotation marks. To create folders within folders, use the \ symbol. When you're done, press Enter.

For example, if you type:

Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri

you create those five folders within the current folder. Typing:

Mon\draft Mon\final Tue\draft Tue\final Wed\draft Wed\final Thu\draft Thu\final Fri\draft Fri\final

creates five folders, each of which has two subfolders named "draft" and "final."

If you don't see your new folders, press F5 to refresh Explorer.

Note that you can use this command to create a single folder as well.

Bonus tip: Looking for a fast way to add a single subfolder without taking your hands off the keyboard? Select the parent folder in Explorer, press Alt+F, Enter, Enter. Type the new name and press Enter again.

Note that this technique doesn't work if you have an object selected in the right pane. To fix that, press Ctrl+Spacebar to deselect it before using the aforementioned key sequence.

Troubleshoot a balky folder-creation shortcut

If your new folder-generating commands don't work as expected, double-check your settings in the Regional and Language Options Control Panel and the text in your manyfolders.cmd batch file.

You may also need to reopen the Registry Editor and double-check the names and values of the keys you just added. Double-click the (Default) icon of any key whose commands you need to edit, make the required changes, and click OK.

If the batch file still refuses to run and you decide to remove the commands from the context menu, navigate to and select:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell

in the Registry Editor, right-click the Date_Folder or Many_Folders key in the Registry Editor's tree pane, and choose Delete. Click Yes to confirm.

If the file causes other problems, choose Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, System Restore. Select the restore point you created before starting the process to return your computer to its previous state.[/tscii:a61e73e15b]

[Nerd]

http://cultofmac.com/hoping-apples-brick-is-first-all-screen-laptop/3230
Whoa :shock: :clap: