A couple of link profile visualizations I created with Google Fusion tables,
28.5.12
Marlins Royals Angeles
Ticketamerica.com has schedules for the Miami Marlins and the Kansas City Royals as well as the game times for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim MLB Club.
Get your hands on the tickets using following links,
Get your hands on the tickets using following links,
5.3.12
800ask arrons allentown 2
Ticketamerica.com has tickets for 1-800-Ask-Gary Amph at The FL State Fairgrounds Tickets and the Aaron's Amphitheatre at Lakewood Atlanta, GA and the Allentown Fairgrounds Allentown, PA tickets.
13.12.10
SEO Basics:: My guide for a SEO Noob:: Lesson 1 :: Why SEO?
Before you begin reading this, please note that whatever I'll say in next few articles is strictly for beginners and if you find anything to the contrary feel free to point out.
Now, with that out of the way, lets start with the lesson:
A Little Retrospection: Part I:
Long long ago (about 15 years) the only way of reaching the masses was through advertisements in newspapers and/or through some audio-visual media like television. Back then companies used to create ad campaigns for their products hoping to spread the word and thereby create/generate sales. This type of advertising commonly referred to as "Outbound Advertising" which generally involves the above mentioned ad campaigns along with direct one on one marketing tactics like telemarketing, leaflets and so on. These tactics, although hugely successful, were, obviously, limited by factors such as cost and were, mostly but not always, geographically limited. There was also a not so slim chance of some would be customer slamming his/her phone/door in the face of the marketing executive.
A Little Retrospection: Part II:
But all this has changed since the advent of web and more importantly with the current exponential growth rate of internet penetration worldwide. This has brought the world together like never before and has also opened new doors for new methods of marketing. Now almost every company worth its name owns at least one website and tries to provide detailed information about its products and services using that website. A user can, after reading through the website and comparing it to other similar ones, make a decision about purchase of products or services of that particular company.
Marketing Challenges With Online Marketing:
The web, being what it is, has made it easier for consumers to find the right product from the comfort of their homes but, at the same time, it has made it necessary for the companies to use the right kind of tactics to reach out to the right kind of consumer. There are simply billions of websites with at least million of them trying to sell some kind of product/service.
Most of the users turn to Search Engines to find information about whatever they are looking for. These Search Engines then return results to the users based on the "Search Term" (referred to as Keyword from now on). These results are in the form of links to websites relevant to the Keyword entered. The user then, usually, proceeds to the link/website and does what he/she is supposed do once there; consume the information and make a decision about purchase based on that information.
This sounds/looks simple to layman but there are many factors to be considered for achieving sales this way. First and foremost is the fact that Search Engine displays the results in a pre-determined order of importance and arranges the results in a top-down manner. Most users dont bother to dig deeper and only the sites at the top of the heap get more visitors and thereby, probably, as there are still many other factors that might influence the buyer's decision, generate more sales and of course more profit. This simple fact makes it necessary to make efforts towards achieving good ranking position in Search Engine results (Referred to as "organic results" from now on). This is where Search Engine Optimization, commonly known as SEO, comes into the picture.
Search Engine Optimization/ SEO:
The position of a website in Search Results (referred to as "ranking" from now on) depends on certain parameters that differ from one Search Engine to another. These parameters, combined in some sort of algorithm, help the concerned Search Engine to decide the ranking pattern for any Keyword.
The process of SEO, when applied correctly, refers to optimizing the website in such way that it influences these parameters in a positive manner thereby increasing the website's chances of getting top ranking in Search Results.
SEO can be divided into
Note: There are many more and I'll explore those in detail as the series progresses.
Need For Search Engine Optimization/ SEO:
The traditional methods of marketing are often short term and involve, most of the times, direct communication with the consumer with or without his/her permission. Almost all of us, at some point of time, have dealt with telemarketers calling at odd hours and even odder places.
On the other hand with online marketing the scenario is entirely different. The user/consumer decides whether or not to click on any given link. This is also called as "Inbound marketing". In this case only those that are truly interested in a particular service try find the website. This is the major advantage that online marketing has over traditional methods. Other advantages also involve low cost of operating a campaign and long lasting effects. Note that I have put emphasis on "effects" and I did that to highlight the fact that these effects need not necessarily be beneficial. A bad online marketing campaign can have disastrous long term effects on your business plans.
As I have stated earlier, the job of online marketing does not end with a website; rather it begins with it. Having a good website is just a first small step towards building a successful online presence. The Search Engines account for a significant portion of the traffic that comes to any top ranking website. Hence it becomes important to rank well in Organic Results.
Higher the ranking position more the number of visitors you get, which, ultimately, results in better sales for your website. In order to achieve these goals of proper ranking and better sales it is essential to employ proper SEO techniques.
I hope this will help those interested in learning the basic of the art called SEO. If you have any questions or suggestions just drop a comment.
Random Thought:
Can the burst suggest an orchestral microprocessor?
Now, with that out of the way, lets start with the lesson:
A Little Retrospection: Part I:
Long long ago (about 15 years) the only way of reaching the masses was through advertisements in newspapers and/or through some audio-visual media like television. Back then companies used to create ad campaigns for their products hoping to spread the word and thereby create/generate sales. This type of advertising commonly referred to as "Outbound Advertising" which generally involves the above mentioned ad campaigns along with direct one on one marketing tactics like telemarketing, leaflets and so on. These tactics, although hugely successful, were, obviously, limited by factors such as cost and were, mostly but not always, geographically limited. There was also a not so slim chance of some would be customer slamming his/her phone/door in the face of the marketing executive.
A Little Retrospection: Part II:
But all this has changed since the advent of web and more importantly with the current exponential growth rate of internet penetration worldwide. This has brought the world together like never before and has also opened new doors for new methods of marketing. Now almost every company worth its name owns at least one website and tries to provide detailed information about its products and services using that website. A user can, after reading through the website and comparing it to other similar ones, make a decision about purchase of products or services of that particular company.
Marketing Challenges With Online Marketing:
The web, being what it is, has made it easier for consumers to find the right product from the comfort of their homes but, at the same time, it has made it necessary for the companies to use the right kind of tactics to reach out to the right kind of consumer. There are simply billions of websites with at least million of them trying to sell some kind of product/service.
Most of the users turn to Search Engines to find information about whatever they are looking for. These Search Engines then return results to the users based on the "Search Term" (referred to as Keyword from now on). These results are in the form of links to websites relevant to the Keyword entered. The user then, usually, proceeds to the link/website and does what he/she is supposed do once there; consume the information and make a decision about purchase based on that information.
This sounds/looks simple to layman but there are many factors to be considered for achieving sales this way. First and foremost is the fact that Search Engine displays the results in a pre-determined order of importance and arranges the results in a top-down manner. Most users dont bother to dig deeper and only the sites at the top of the heap get more visitors and thereby, probably, as there are still many other factors that might influence the buyer's decision, generate more sales and of course more profit. This simple fact makes it necessary to make efforts towards achieving good ranking position in Search Engine results (Referred to as "organic results" from now on). This is where Search Engine Optimization, commonly known as SEO, comes into the picture.
Search Engine Optimization/ SEO:
The position of a website in Search Results (referred to as "ranking" from now on) depends on certain parameters that differ from one Search Engine to another. These parameters, combined in some sort of algorithm, help the concerned Search Engine to decide the ranking pattern for any Keyword.
The process of SEO, when applied correctly, refers to optimizing the website in such way that it influences these parameters in a positive manner thereby increasing the website's chances of getting top ranking in Search Results.
SEO can be divided into
- On-Page Optimization and
- Off-Page Optimization
Note: There are many more and I'll explore those in detail as the series progresses.
Need For Search Engine Optimization/ SEO:
The traditional methods of marketing are often short term and involve, most of the times, direct communication with the consumer with or without his/her permission. Almost all of us, at some point of time, have dealt with telemarketers calling at odd hours and even odder places.
On the other hand with online marketing the scenario is entirely different. The user/consumer decides whether or not to click on any given link. This is also called as "Inbound marketing". In this case only those that are truly interested in a particular service try find the website. This is the major advantage that online marketing has over traditional methods. Other advantages also involve low cost of operating a campaign and long lasting effects. Note that I have put emphasis on "effects" and I did that to highlight the fact that these effects need not necessarily be beneficial. A bad online marketing campaign can have disastrous long term effects on your business plans.
As I have stated earlier, the job of online marketing does not end with a website; rather it begins with it. Having a good website is just a first small step towards building a successful online presence. The Search Engines account for a significant portion of the traffic that comes to any top ranking website. Hence it becomes important to rank well in Organic Results.
Higher the ranking position more the number of visitors you get, which, ultimately, results in better sales for your website. In order to achieve these goals of proper ranking and better sales it is essential to employ proper SEO techniques.
I hope this will help those interested in learning the basic of the art called SEO. If you have any questions or suggestions just drop a comment.
Random Thought:
Can the burst suggest an orchestral microprocessor?
11.11.10
After Instant Results, Its Time For Instant Previews
For every search term the users will see a small magnifying glas icon just to the right side of the search result link. Clicking on this icon opens a pop-up that shows the snapshot of the webpage.
The image provided snapshot highlights things like the title, some related text and the URL of of the webpage. For example, if you click on the image, you will find that for the keyword "Tech et al" the snapshot contains an image of my site with highlighted snippet of text containing the searched term.
Using this feature the user can compare the results on different snippets and based on the relevence can chose the best one for his/her requitrements. If you are searching for something you have seen beofre and need to find again then, instead of clicking on every link, you can simply check the previews to see if the page is familiar or not.
According to Google blog,
- Quickly compare results - A visual comparison of search results helps you pick the one that’s right for you. Quickly flip through previews to see which page looks best.
- Pinpoint relevant content - Text call outs, in orange, will sometimes highlight where your search terms appear on the webpage so you can evaluate if it’s what you're looking for.
- Interact with the results page - Page previews let you see the layout of a webpage before clicking the search result. Looking for a chart, picture, map or list? See if you can spot one in the preview.
1.10.10
Got a shiny new Domain
I have been inactive for quite a long time(10 posts in two years). There were many reasons for the lack of activity(like laziness). But when I decided to come back, I felt like I needed a change and the best place to start was with Domain name.
The old domain "some-blog" has an interesting back story associated with it. When I started blogging as a n00b, I had no idea about the importance of domain name and other geeky stuff like SEO. So I was like, "Man, "some blog" sound so cool! I gotta use that. But unfortunately "some blog" was already taken and I had to settle with "some-blog". It wasn't too long before I started reading about SEO and tried to implement different methods and then I realized that the name "some-blog" doesn't really sound as cool as I thought.
That was when I started to think about getting a custom domain, but I wasn't sure if I had enough to write about and keep the blog updated regularly. So I chose another cool thing, tech et al, as the title of my blog. Its not that much better than "some-blog" but at least "tech et al" sounds and IS really cool. Meanwhile I kept looking for bargains to get a new domain as cheap as possible. The coolness factor won again and I bought techetal.in as my new domain.
I bought the domain from Dynadot.com and got a great bargain for one year plan. I am also planing to upgrade it to a 5 year plan but that can wait. The redirection thingy took quite a lot of time as this was my first time. I had to clear all the setting a couple of times and twice I changed the domain back to good, old some-blog. Finally I got it working today and here I am, writing a nostalgic story about a blog's coming of age.
PS: I'll be starting a series of SEO articles for beginners and I hope to cover all the basic points in about 10/15 posts.
The old domain "some-blog" has an interesting back story associated with it. When I started blogging as a n00b, I had no idea about the importance of domain name and other geeky stuff like SEO. So I was like, "Man, "some blog" sound so cool! I gotta use that. But unfortunately "some blog" was already taken and I had to settle with "some-blog". It wasn't too long before I started reading about SEO and tried to implement different methods and then I realized that the name "some-blog" doesn't really sound as cool as I thought.
That was when I started to think about getting a custom domain, but I wasn't sure if I had enough to write about and keep the blog updated regularly. So I chose another cool thing, tech et al, as the title of my blog. Its not that much better than "some-blog" but at least "tech et al" sounds and IS really cool. Meanwhile I kept looking for bargains to get a new domain as cheap as possible. The coolness factor won again and I bought techetal.in as my new domain.
I bought the domain from Dynadot.com and got a great bargain for one year plan. I am also planing to upgrade it to a 5 year plan but that can wait. The redirection thingy took quite a lot of time as this was my first time. I had to clear all the setting a couple of times and twice I changed the domain back to good, old some-blog. Finally I got it working today and here I am, writing a nostalgic story about a blog's coming of age.
PS: I'll be starting a series of SEO articles for beginners and I hope to cover all the basic points in about 10/15 posts.
29.5.10
Nokia, Opera side with Adobe to take on Apple
The battle between Adobe and Apple over use of flash in ipad/iphone apps has just got even more fierce with Nokia and Opera announcing their support for flash.
Jon von Tetzchner, co-founder of Opera -- the maker of most widely used cellphone browser and strong supporter of open Internet initiatives -- said on Thursday his company was supporting Flash.
"It is the only proprietary part of the Web we support," von Tetzchner told Open Mobile Summit conference in London.
"We support Flash as well," said Alberto Torres, chief of Nokia's solutions business unit.
Getting the support of these two companies along with Google's android already supporting flash means a big plus for Adobe and especially flash, since it was openly criticizedby Steve Jobs "for being proprietary(that was rich coming from him), unstable, insecure, a battery hog and not at all suitable for mobile devices." Jobs went as far as naming flash the number one reason fro macs crashing all over the world.
Even though flash is the most used technology for online games and multimedia Apple does not support flash on any of its portable devices. This has resulted in a bitter war between the two companies in last two months.
It should also be noted that Nokia and Opera are not the only companies declaring their support for Adobe, Time Warner and NBC Universal have told Apple they won't spend the time and money to rework their Flash-friendly video libraries to make them compatible with the iPad.
Source:
Nokia, Opera side with Adobe on Flash
Jon von Tetzchner, co-founder of Opera -- the maker of most widely used cellphone browser and strong supporter of open Internet initiatives -- said on Thursday his company was supporting Flash.
"It is the only proprietary part of the Web we support," von Tetzchner told Open Mobile Summit conference in London.
"We support Flash as well," said Alberto Torres, chief of Nokia's solutions business unit.
Getting the support of these two companies along with Google's android already supporting flash means a big plus for Adobe and especially flash, since it was openly criticizedby Steve Jobs "for being proprietary(that was rich coming from him), unstable, insecure, a battery hog and not at all suitable for mobile devices." Jobs went as far as naming flash the number one reason fro macs crashing all over the world.
Even though flash is the most used technology for online games and multimedia Apple does not support flash on any of its portable devices. This has resulted in a bitter war between the two companies in last two months.
It should also be noted that Nokia and Opera are not the only companies declaring their support for Adobe, Time Warner and NBC Universal have told Apple they won't spend the time and money to rework their Flash-friendly video libraries to make them compatible with the iPad.
Source:
Nokia, Opera side with Adobe on Flash
4.5.10
What an Idea! Airtel Launches MY Tunes service
Barely a month after Idea cellular launched their Pretones service- where user can listen to a song of their own choice whenever they make a call- Airtel has also jumped in the fray. Airtel has launched a value added service for its customers called "My Tunes". The service is currently available only in Delhi.
Shashi Arora, chief executive officer, Delhi and NCR, mobile services, Bharti Airtel, said in the company statement, “Starting with the launch of Hello Tunes in 2004, Airtel has led the music on mobile revolution in India. With the My Tunes service, today we are putting the power and freedom of choice in the hands of the customer – the power to choose the content he wishes to consume along with the freedom to enjoy an unlimited music experience on mobile.”
The service when activated allows user to listen any song of his/her choice from the nation's library of half a million songs including Bollywood and regional songs as well . The My Tunes service is available at a subscription fee of Rs 15 per week or at 30 paise per minute of use. Creation of Playlist with unlimited tracks is also supported. Consumers who want to subscribe to My Tunes simply need to dial 54345 from their handset.
Keywords: Airtel My Tunes, Idea PreTones
Shashi Arora, chief executive officer, Delhi and NCR, mobile services, Bharti Airtel, said in the company statement, “Starting with the launch of Hello Tunes in 2004, Airtel has led the music on mobile revolution in India. With the My Tunes service, today we are putting the power and freedom of choice in the hands of the customer – the power to choose the content he wishes to consume along with the freedom to enjoy an unlimited music experience on mobile.”
The service when activated allows user to listen any song of his/her choice from the nation's library of half a million songs including Bollywood and regional songs as well . The My Tunes service is available at a subscription fee of Rs 15 per week or at 30 paise per minute of use. Creation of Playlist with unlimited tracks is also supported. Consumers who want to subscribe to My Tunes simply need to dial 54345 from their handset.
Keywords: Airtel My Tunes, Idea PreTones
8.7.09
Free upgrade to windows 7
Microsoft has unveiled its "Windows 7 Upgrade Option Program" that allows free or nearly-free upgrades to Windows 7 for people who purchase a new Vista PC between June 26, 2009, and Jan. 31, 2010.
The customers who buy windows vista equipped PCs during above mentioned period will be able to upgrade to windows 7. The PCs with Windows Vista Home Premium, Business or Ultimate versions of vista will get an upgrade to Windows 7 Home Premium, Professional or Ultimate when Microsoft officially introduces the new operating system. The soonest date to receive this upgrade disc is Oct. 22, the retail availability date for Windows 7. It may be weeks later, however, before many customers see those discs.
The program is a repeat of one launched in 2006 where Microsoft offered discounts for upgrading to windows vista for new windows XP PCs during oct06 to mar 07.
Microsoft has listed several computer makers, including Acer, Asus, Dell, Fujitsu, Lenovo, Samsung, Sony and Toshiba, that sell laptops that qualify for a free or discounted Windows 7 upgrade.
The FAQ regarding this program can be found here.
Keywords: Windows 7, Windows 7 free upgrade, Microsoft windows 7
The customers who buy windows vista equipped PCs during above mentioned period will be able to upgrade to windows 7. The PCs with Windows Vista Home Premium, Business or Ultimate versions of vista will get an upgrade to Windows 7 Home Premium, Professional or Ultimate when Microsoft officially introduces the new operating system. The soonest date to receive this upgrade disc is Oct. 22, the retail availability date for Windows 7. It may be weeks later, however, before many customers see those discs.
The program is a repeat of one launched in 2006 where Microsoft offered discounts for upgrading to windows vista for new windows XP PCs during oct06 to mar 07.
Microsoft has listed several computer makers, including Acer, Asus, Dell, Fujitsu, Lenovo, Samsung, Sony and Toshiba, that sell laptops that qualify for a free or discounted Windows 7 upgrade.
The FAQ regarding this program can be found here.
Keywords: Windows 7, Windows 7 free upgrade, Microsoft windows 7
14.4.09
Conficker has got a bag full of wonders
Now first of all what is this conficker?
Conficker is a worm that is specifically targeted at windows users(another reason why you should switch to Linux). It spreads by exploiting a vulnerability in the network stack implementation of Windows operating systems ranging from XP to newly launched Windows 7 beta. It is also known as downup and downadup. It so good(or bad) that leading Anti virus companies have formed teams to see if they can find some cure for it.
What it does?
Researchers are still working to find all its "features" but here are few that are most important:
After infecting a PC using vulnerability mentioned above it attaches itself to system start up. Then the worm (one of its variant to be specific) generates a list of 250 domain names across five top level domain names and tries to connect with those hosts to check for any available "Updates"(cool,innit?). Its different variants use different number of hosts and tlds.
Some of its variants attach themselves with removable media so as to infect new machines.The worm is spreading so fast that right now there are around 10 million computers infected with it.
How to find if you are infected?
Just check if your PC shows any of above symptoms. For example if you can connect to anti virus sites using proxies but are unable to do so directly then you are infected.
How to remove?
The worm disables system restore so it is of no use. It also terminates anti virus related processes and hence that gets eliminated as well. Use updated versions of Bitdefender of McAfee to remove this worm. Also download and install the emergency patch issued by Microsoft from here. Another suggestion is to disable AutoRun option. Another(really important) suggestion is to turn off the Administrative shares. The worm can remotely execute on your PC if these shares are enabled.
PS: Microsoft is offering $250,000 if you can only find out who released this worm. Well..........
PPS: If you want Computer security products for free then check this out.
Keywords: Free anti virus software, Conficker, downaddup, downup virus, anti virus sites blocked, Anti virus sites not accessible, sites not opening
Conficker is a worm that is specifically targeted at windows users(another reason why you should switch to Linux). It spreads by exploiting a vulnerability in the network stack implementation of Windows operating systems ranging from XP to newly launched Windows 7 beta. It is also known as downup and downadup. It so good(or bad) that leading Anti virus companies have formed teams to see if they can find some cure for it.
What it does?
Researchers are still working to find all its "features" but here are few that are most important:
- Disables access to all anti virus sites.
- Disables windows update
- causes congestion is LANs
- Disables Microsoft services like BITS and error reporting
- researches have just recently found that it also installs fake anti virus software for just $50.
After infecting a PC using vulnerability mentioned above it attaches itself to system start up. Then the worm (one of its variant to be specific) generates a list of 250 domain names across five top level domain names and tries to connect with those hosts to check for any available "Updates"(cool,innit?). Its different variants use different number of hosts and tlds.
Some of its variants attach themselves with removable media so as to infect new machines.The worm is spreading so fast that right now there are around 10 million computers infected with it.
How to find if you are infected?
Just check if your PC shows any of above symptoms. For example if you can connect to anti virus sites using proxies but are unable to do so directly then you are infected.
How to remove?
The worm disables system restore so it is of no use. It also terminates anti virus related processes and hence that gets eliminated as well. Use updated versions of Bitdefender of McAfee to remove this worm. Also download and install the emergency patch issued by Microsoft from here. Another suggestion is to disable AutoRun option. Another(really important) suggestion is to turn off the Administrative shares. The worm can remotely execute on your PC if these shares are enabled.
PS: Microsoft is offering $250,000 if you can only find out who released this worm. Well..........
PPS: If you want Computer security products for free then check this out.
Keywords: Free anti virus software, Conficker, downaddup, downup virus, anti virus sites blocked, Anti virus sites not accessible, sites not opening
Choose your hosting solution with web hosting choice
In good old days when internet was invented it was only used for academic purposes. But within last few years due to technological advancements and price reduction(mainly) internet use has grown like million folds. So it is not really surprising when people launch their personal websites just for the fun of it.
The first step while launching a website be it a personal or full of some ecommerce stuff is to find a good hosting solution. As you all know every website has a page called "Home" and it is related to your actual home in every sense of the word. It is your home on the internet. So while buying some place to build this home you need to take a few things into account. Things like security, space, bandwidth make a real impact on your websites success. Now while buying/building your actual home you(we all do) take advise from someone who has more experience and knowledge about it. The same is applicable to your online home as well. There are so many web hosting solutions available that it is really impossible for a novice to choose the best one. This is exactly what you need the expertise of Web Hosting Choice for. Web Hosting Choice is for all of the people who want to launch their websites. They provide a free for all research guide to help users choose the right web host for their personal or business website. On their homepage they have provided a comparison of top ten web hosting solutions. You can also read the reviews about each and every one of the providers.An in depth comparison chart is provided that makes it easier to compare one provider with another.If you just a beginner and don't want to spend too much money then you can use the cheap web hosting link. You can easily get answers to all your hosting related questions in the faqs section which is really cool because armed with that much knowledge you can easily find the best web host for you.
Keywords: Web hosting, ecommerce web hosting,
The first step while launching a website be it a personal or full of some ecommerce stuff is to find a good hosting solution. As you all know every website has a page called "Home" and it is related to your actual home in every sense of the word. It is your home on the internet. So while buying some place to build this home you need to take a few things into account. Things like security, space, bandwidth make a real impact on your websites success. Now while buying/building your actual home you(we all do) take advise from someone who has more experience and knowledge about it. The same is applicable to your online home as well. There are so many web hosting solutions available that it is really impossible for a novice to choose the best one. This is exactly what you need the expertise of Web Hosting Choice for. Web Hosting Choice is for all of the people who want to launch their websites. They provide a free for all research guide to help users choose the right web host for their personal or business website. On their homepage they have provided a comparison of top ten web hosting solutions. You can also read the reviews about each and every one of the providers.An in depth comparison chart is provided that makes it easier to compare one provider with another.If you just a beginner and don't want to spend too much money then you can use the cheap web hosting link. You can easily get answers to all your hosting related questions in the faqs section which is really cool because armed with that much knowledge you can easily find the best web host for you.
Keywords: Web hosting, ecommerce web hosting,
7.4.09
Windows 7 will allow downgrade to XP
Just like the saying "once bitten is twice shy" , Microsoft seems to have learned few lessons from the Vista catastrophe. When Microsoft announced its new operating system all attention was focused on designing something that will be light weight and will run on most of the computers with any expensive upgrade.
Even though Vista was better than XP in many ways like security(remember UAC? it was the best but most ill-implemented feature) , looks etc. it needed far more sophisticated hardware to show its capabilities. Because of these problems and negative publicity the most popular feature of Vista turned out to be the Downgrade option. Many computer vendors like Dell sold Pre-downgraded machines as Microsoft had already stopped selling XP. With Windows 7 also Microsoft has made the same promises and although one look at beta version(i know there is still long way to go) is sufficient to say that this time Microsoft is really serious, it is planning to offer the infamous downgrade option with Windows 7 as well.
Presumably with Windows 7 ultimate and Business version the downgrade rights will be attached allowing the customers to downgrade not only to Vista(?) but to XP as well. In Windows 7 Microsoft is expanding the Downgrade rights program to allow PC makers to ship downgraded machines based on anticipated demand for those systems.
Keywords: Windows 7 downgrade
Even though Vista was better than XP in many ways like security(remember UAC? it was the best but most ill-implemented feature) , looks etc. it needed far more sophisticated hardware to show its capabilities. Because of these problems and negative publicity the most popular feature of Vista turned out to be the Downgrade option. Many computer vendors like Dell sold Pre-downgraded machines as Microsoft had already stopped selling XP. With Windows 7 also Microsoft has made the same promises and although one look at beta version(i know there is still long way to go) is sufficient to say that this time Microsoft is really serious, it is planning to offer the infamous downgrade option with Windows 7 as well.
Presumably with Windows 7 ultimate and Business version the downgrade rights will be attached allowing the customers to downgrade not only to Vista(?) but to XP as well. In Windows 7 Microsoft is expanding the Downgrade rights program to allow PC makers to ship downgraded machines based on anticipated demand for those systems.
Keywords: Windows 7 downgrade
3.4.09
AMD releases ATI Radeon HD 4890
AMD has released its latest graphics card ATI Redaon HD 4890. It comes with an 850 MHz core clock, memory clock at 975 MHz, 1 GB of GDDR5 memory and a maximum board power of 190 watts on a 55nm process technology, with an idle power consumption down 30% to 60 watts.
The full list of features is given below. It is expected to cost around $250 just like NVDIA GeForce GTX 275.
ATI Radeon HD 4890 specs:
- 956 million transistors on 55nm fabrication process
- PCI Express 2.0 x16 bus interface
- 256-bit GDDR5 memory interface
- Microsoft DirectX 10.1 support
- Shader Model 4.1
- Unified Superscalar Shader Architecture
- 800 stream processing units
+ Common instruction set and texture unit access supported for all types of shaders
+ Dedicated branch execution units and texture address processors
- Dynamic Geometry Acceleration
o Programmable tessellation unit
o Accelerated geometry shader path for geometry amplification
o Memory read/write cache for improved stream output performance
- OpenGL 3.0 supportATI Avivo HD Video and Display Platform
+ High definition (HD) playback of Blu-ray and HD DVD video
o Hardware DivX and MPEG-1 video decode acceleration
o ATI Avivo Video Post Processor
o Two independent display controllers
o Two integrated dual-link DVI display outputs
+ Each supports 18, 24, and 30-bit digital displays at all resolutions up to 1920x1200 (single-link DVI) or 2560x1600 (dual-link DVI)
+ Each includes a dual-link HDCP encoder with on-chip key storage for high resolution playback of protected content
o Two integrated 400 MHz 30-bit RAMDACs
+ Each supports analog displays connected by VGA at all resolutions up to 2048x1536
o DisplayPort output support
+ 24 and 30 bit displays at all resolutions up to 2560x1600
o HDMI output support
+ All display resolutions up to 1920x1080
+ Integrated HD audio controller with support for stereo and multi-channel (up to 7.1) audio formats, including AC-3, AAC, DTS5, enabling a plug-and-play audio solution over HDMI
o Integrated AMD Xilleon HDTV encoder
+ Provides high quality analog TV output (component/S-video/composite)
+ Supports SDTV and HDTV resolutions
+ Underscan and overscan compensation
o Seamless integration of pixel shaders with video in real time
o VGA mode support on all display outputs
- ATI PowerPlay Technology
o Performance-on-Demand
+ Constantly monitors GPU activity, dynamically adjusting clocks and voltage based on user scenario
- ATI CrossFireX Multi-GPU Technology
- PCI Express based PC is required with one X16 lane graphics slot available on the motherboard
- 500 Watt or greater power supply with two 75W 6-pin PCI Express power connectors recommended (600 Watt and four 6-pin connectors for ATI CrossFireX technology in dual mode)
- And of course at least $250
1.4.09
Keep your PC secure for ......FREE
Because of the worldwide acceptance of Windows operating systems, thousands-actually the number is far bigger than that- of viruses ,spywares and many other malicious programs have been released on the internet targeting windows user. These viruses and spywares pose a serious threat to user's data security as well as computer's functionality. As Windows is not that secure when left on its own- but don't blame poor Microsoft programmers coz even if the Redmond based company had thousands of programmers only for making Windows secure there are millions of kids out there trying to break it down- you must take a certain precautions so as to make at least an illusion of being safe and secure.
To achieve this goal you either have to invest in some commercial security solution or read on.
So now if you are still reading then I'd give a few tips so that you can secure your PC against most of the threats.
Step #1: Keep the operating system updated.
There is absolutely nothing that is more important than keeping your Windows updated as frequently as possible. My advise to you is keep "Automatic updates" on. With this your Windows installation will be updated automatically whenever you are online.
If for whatever reasons you have turned automatic updates off then follow these steps:
Step #2: Download, install, and run some good anti spyware tool to get rid of all spyware.
Spyware is any software that is installed on your PC and tracks your online behavior without your knowledge or consent. Spyware generally can
Following are few good and free antispywares available for download use any one of these to keep your PC spyware free.
Step #3: Download and install a good Personal Firewall.
Step #4: Use a good anti-virus software
We all need passwords for like everything , you should use different passwords for each account. But remembering all these passwords is no less troublesome than forgetting them all at once. So passwords should be stored at some location which is both safe and easy to access. Thats where password managers come in.
But as the saying goes "the chain is only as strong as its weakest link" all these security measures only work if the weakest link i.e you are careful. Do not click on anything that says you have won a 3 day free membership of some website or a $1000000 prize from some lottery you never bought. Also do not send your confidential personal information to anybody you are not really familiar with.
To achieve this goal you either have to invest in some commercial security solution or read on.
So now if you are still reading then I'd give a few tips so that you can secure your PC against most of the threats.
Step #1: Keep the operating system updated.
There is absolutely nothing that is more important than keeping your Windows updated as frequently as possible. My advise to you is keep "Automatic updates" on. With this your Windows installation will be updated automatically whenever you are online.
If for whatever reasons you have turned automatic updates off then follow these steps:
- Open Microsoft Windows Update page at http://update.microsoft.com/windowsupdate/
- Scan the PC using "Scan for updates" link to find out what critical updates and security fixes are missing.
- Select, download, and install a selection of updates, especially any Critical Updates.
- Restart the PC after finished(If asked).
Step #2: Download, install, and run some good anti spyware tool to get rid of all spyware.
Spyware is any software that is installed on your PC and tracks your online behavior without your knowledge or consent. Spyware generally can
- what web pages you are visiting and send these information to advertising companies. This kind of spyware is commonly called adware.
- It can also record all your keystroke and send them to some remote computer without your knowledge. So obviously your passwords and bank account numbers are not safe with these beauties around.
Following are few good and free antispywares available for download use any one of these to keep your PC spyware free.
- Windows defender. If you are a vista user you don't need to download this.
Step #3: Download and install a good Personal Firewall.
Step #4: Use a good anti-virus software
- Even though Kaspersky is not free i'd like to recommend it here. This is the best antivirus software currently available. Download 30 day trial from here.
We all need passwords for like everything , you should use different passwords for each account. But remembering all these passwords is no less troublesome than forgetting them all at once. So passwords should be stored at some location which is both safe and easy to access. Thats where password managers come in.
- KeePass is a free open source password manager, which helps you to manage your passwords in a secure way. You can put all your passwords in one database, which is locked with one master key or a key file. So you only have to remember one single master password or select the key file to unlock the whole database. The databases are encrypted using the best and most secure encryption algorithms currently known (AES and Twofish).
- RoboForm is a password management software with Artificial Intelligence built in that can automatically fill online forms for you.
But as the saying goes "the chain is only as strong as its weakest link" all these security measures only work if the weakest link i.e you are careful. Do not click on anything that says you have won a 3 day free membership of some website or a $1000000 prize from some lottery you never bought. Also do not send your confidential personal information to anybody you are not really familiar with.
30.3.09
Office 2007 Tips and Tricks
Here is a collection of Office 2007 tips and tricks. These tips are highly useful for a beginner as well as for someone who has been using it for like... months.
Create Tables to Your Own Specifications:
1. Position the cursor on the area of the document where you want to insert your table.
2. On the Insert tab of the Ribbon, click Table, and then click Draw Table.
3. Define the table size. Right-click to select the area where you want the table to appear.
4. Use the mouse to draw the internal table lines the way you want them.
To erase any lines you've drawn by mistake, press the SHIFT key, and the pointer will change from a pencil to an eraser.
It is also possible to create tables within ones you have already created.
Reuse Tables in Word:
1. Select the table that you want to save.
2. On the Insert tab of the Ribbon, click Table, point to Quick Tables, and then click Save Selection to Quick Tables Gallery.
3. In the Create New Building Block dialog box, give the table a name, classify it with some basic parameters, and then click OK.
To reuse a saved table:
1. Position your cursor where you want to insert a saved table.
2. On the Ribbon, click Insert, click Table, and then point to Quick Tables.
3. From the list, click the table you saved previously. This table will now be inserted into the document.
Pre-define the Format for Pasting in Word 2007:
In a Microsoft Office Word 2003 document, each time you paste some text or an image, you can select the format (source formatting, destination formatting, or text only) by clicking the clipboard icon. In Microsoft Office Word 2007 and Microsoft Office Outlook 2007, you can still do this manually or, more conveniently, set the default paste formatting mode. Here’s how:
Go to Advanced Options or click the Set Default Paste option when the clipboard icon appears, and then set your preferences. The pasted text and images will now be formatted automatically according to your settings.
Preview Type and Color Formatting:
You can see how formatting will look in Live Preview before applying it to the Microsoft Office Word document you're working on. Select a formatting option (for example, click Page Layout, click Page Color, and then point to a color), and Live Preview will temporarily apply it. To keep the result, just click the color, or keep browsing for alternatives.
Overprinting Watermarks on Documents:
You can easily insert a watermark into your document in Microsoft Office Word 2007. Click Watermark from the Page Layout tab on the Ribbon.
Save a Set of Quick Styles for Use in Other Documents:
1. On the Home tab, in the Styles section, click Change Styles.
2. Point to Style Set, and then click Save as Quick Style Set.
3. In the Save Quick Style Set dialog box, name the file, and then click Save. After you do, the name of your new style set will appear in the Style Set list, where you can apply it to any document.
Do not change the folder location when saving a style set, or your list will not automatically appear in the Style Set list. Also note that only styles appearing in the Styles gallery on the Home tab are included when you save a style set.
Add or Remove Styles from the Quick Style Gallery:
The Styles gallery on the Home tab in Microsoft Office Word 2007 includes several built-in paragraph and character styles by default, such as Normal style, Heading styles 1 and 2, and Title. However, you can customize that gallery for any document or template to include just the paragraph and character styles you need to access most quickly.
To display the Styles pane, click the dialog launch icon in the lower-right corner of the Styles section (or press CTRL+SHIFT+ALT+S). To remove a style from the Quick Style Gallery, right-click the style name where it appears in the gallery, and then click Remove from Quick Style Gallery.
To add a style in the Styles pane to the Quick Style Gallery, right-click the style name, and then click Add to Quick Style Gallery. (Note that, if the style is already in the gallery, the option to remove the style from the gallery also appears here.) You can also add or remove a style from the Quick Style Gallery through the Add to Quick Style Gallery check box in the Create New Style or Modify Style dialog boxes.
Quickly Know How Many Lines or Words You Have Typed:
Right-click the status bar, and then select a parameter. Microsoft Office Word can show you, for example, line details or the number of words typed. This information is useful when you are writing a document that must have a fixed length.
For another set of tips and tricks just click on tips and tricks.
Create Tables to Your Own Specifications:
1. Position the cursor on the area of the document where you want to insert your table.
2. On the Insert tab of the Ribbon, click Table, and then click Draw Table.
3. Define the table size. Right-click to select the area where you want the table to appear.
4. Use the mouse to draw the internal table lines the way you want them.
To erase any lines you've drawn by mistake, press the SHIFT key, and the pointer will change from a pencil to an eraser.
It is also possible to create tables within ones you have already created.
Reuse Tables in Word:
1. Select the table that you want to save.
2. On the Insert tab of the Ribbon, click Table, point to Quick Tables, and then click Save Selection to Quick Tables Gallery.
3. In the Create New Building Block dialog box, give the table a name, classify it with some basic parameters, and then click OK.
To reuse a saved table:
1. Position your cursor where you want to insert a saved table.
2. On the Ribbon, click Insert, click Table, and then point to Quick Tables.
3. From the list, click the table you saved previously. This table will now be inserted into the document.
Pre-define the Format for Pasting in Word 2007:
In a Microsoft Office Word 2003 document, each time you paste some text or an image, you can select the format (source formatting, destination formatting, or text only) by clicking the clipboard icon. In Microsoft Office Word 2007 and Microsoft Office Outlook 2007, you can still do this manually or, more conveniently, set the default paste formatting mode. Here’s how:
Go to Advanced Options or click the Set Default Paste option when the clipboard icon appears, and then set your preferences. The pasted text and images will now be formatted automatically according to your settings.
Preview Type and Color Formatting:
You can see how formatting will look in Live Preview before applying it to the Microsoft Office Word document you're working on. Select a formatting option (for example, click Page Layout, click Page Color, and then point to a color), and Live Preview will temporarily apply it. To keep the result, just click the color, or keep browsing for alternatives.
Overprinting Watermarks on Documents:
You can easily insert a watermark into your document in Microsoft Office Word 2007. Click Watermark from the Page Layout tab on the Ribbon.
Save a Set of Quick Styles for Use in Other Documents:
1. On the Home tab, in the Styles section, click Change Styles.
2. Point to Style Set, and then click Save as Quick Style Set.
3. In the Save Quick Style Set dialog box, name the file, and then click Save. After you do, the name of your new style set will appear in the Style Set list, where you can apply it to any document.
Do not change the folder location when saving a style set, or your list will not automatically appear in the Style Set list. Also note that only styles appearing in the Styles gallery on the Home tab are included when you save a style set.
Add or Remove Styles from the Quick Style Gallery:
The Styles gallery on the Home tab in Microsoft Office Word 2007 includes several built-in paragraph and character styles by default, such as Normal style, Heading styles 1 and 2, and Title. However, you can customize that gallery for any document or template to include just the paragraph and character styles you need to access most quickly.
To display the Styles pane, click the dialog launch icon in the lower-right corner of the Styles section (or press CTRL+SHIFT+ALT+S). To remove a style from the Quick Style Gallery, right-click the style name where it appears in the gallery, and then click Remove from Quick Style Gallery.
To add a style in the Styles pane to the Quick Style Gallery, right-click the style name, and then click Add to Quick Style Gallery. (Note that, if the style is already in the gallery, the option to remove the style from the gallery also appears here.) You can also add or remove a style from the Quick Style Gallery through the Add to Quick Style Gallery check box in the Create New Style or Modify Style dialog boxes.
Quickly Know How Many Lines or Words You Have Typed:
Right-click the status bar, and then select a parameter. Microsoft Office Word can show you, for example, line details or the number of words typed. This information is useful when you are writing a document that must have a fixed length.
For another set of tips and tricks just click on tips and tricks.
30.11.08
5.11 Tactical series
We all rely on police, firefighters, and of course on military for our safety. But what about their own safety? Because when you are dealing with some emergency then it is essential to be extremely accurate and fast. And for that gear worn by the security personal plays an important role. This is exactly where 5.11 tactical excels.
5.11 Tactical Series creates superior products that enhance the safety, accuracy, speed and performance of law enforcement, military and firefighting professionals. The series includes 5.11 Tactical Pants, footwear, knives and almost all other safety items necessary for making our safety keepers safe. Tacticalpantsusa have since long set standards for the industry by designing products that exceed the needs of the customers with functional innovation while delivering exceptional value.
In case you are wondering about "5.11 " then its a rock climbing difficulty level as listed in the Yosemite Decimal System. With skill levels ranging from 5.0 (easy) to 5.10 (difficult), 5.11 is even more grueling. 5.11 is officially defined as, “After thorough inspection, you conclude this move is obviously impossible; however, occasionally someone actually accomplishes it.” Thats exactly what 5.11 tactical series does.
5.11 Tactical Series creates superior products that enhance the safety, accuracy, speed and performance of law enforcement, military and firefighting professionals. The series includes 5.11 Tactical Pants, footwear, knives and almost all other safety items necessary for making our safety keepers safe. Tacticalpantsusa have since long set standards for the industry by designing products that exceed the needs of the customers with functional innovation while delivering exceptional value.
In case you are wondering about "5.11 " then its a rock climbing difficulty level as listed in the Yosemite Decimal System. With skill levels ranging from 5.0 (easy) to 5.10 (difficult), 5.11 is even more grueling. 5.11 is officially defined as, “After thorough inspection, you conclude this move is obviously impossible; however, occasionally someone actually accomplishes it.” Thats exactly what 5.11 tactical series does.
22.11.08
Secure your PC [part 1] : ESET Smart Security
I do not think that it is really necessary explain the necessity of using a good security solution for your PC. With so many security solutions available making the choice of good one is the real problem that needs to be addressed. I will - in this and next few articles- try to cover the leading security solutions and the services provided by each.
1. ESET Smart Security :
ESET Smart Security is designed to be a complete solution in the field of computer protection against infiltrations and attacks . It is a total security solution for a PC equipped with firewall and other modules. Provides optimal protection when used at default settings and is not too taxing on the system.If all components are used simultaneously, the effectiveness of the whole program is multiplied.
ESET Smart Security provides:
ESET Smart Security is a product designed to provide comprehensive protection against a variety of threats. It features the following:
1. ESET Smart Security :
ESET Smart Security is designed to be a complete solution in the field of computer protection against infiltrations and attacks . It is a total security solution for a PC equipped with firewall and other modules. Provides optimal protection when used at default settings and is not too taxing on the system.If all components are used simultaneously, the effectiveness of the whole program is multiplied.
- key features of "ESET Smart Security :
- integrated firewall and antispam module
- improved graphical user interface
- operating modes for common and advanced users.Common mode has all settings at default while advanced user mode allows you to configure things your way.
- improved and automatised cleaning
- true incremental updates
ESET Smart Security provides:
- Protection:
- Precise Detection:
- Lightweight Design:
- Scanning Speeds:
ESET Smart Security is a product designed to provide comprehensive protection against a variety of threats. It features the following:
- NOD32 Antivirus + Antispyware
- Anti-malware engine
- A personal firewall with port stealthing and advanced filtering features
- An antispam filter with Bayesian filtering, whitelisting and blacklisting.
11.11.08
Mortgage and more
They say the credibility of the information is only as good as its source and i have found an example that does justice to this saying. Danny Thornton has 7 (yup SEVEN) years of experience in mortgage industry and is an active blogger since Feb 2008. His Mortgage and More Blog provides readers with real information about mortgage industry and to do justice to the "more" in his blog's title he also posts pictures like one shown above(I know that's lovely).
5.11.08
Firefox For Mobile
Mozilla has released Alpha version of their new mobile browser and it has been codenamed Fennec. This release will initially be available only to the users of Nokia N810 and N800 Internet tablet.Fennec has a new user interface that adds touch screen support and other features that are appropriate for mobile phones and other handheld devices. As this release is currently available only for two models most of us will have to wait until it is actually made available for out mobile phones. But Mozilla provides another way of experimenting (or feeling) with Fennec for,
Just choose the correct operating system and proceed with installation. For Fennec alpha walkthrough check out this demo video.
Fennec Alpha Walkthrough from Madhava Enros on Vimeo.
Fennec comes with an Awesome Bar just like Firefox 3 that combines history, bookmarks, and search. For navigation Fennec supports a full screen mode.
According to Mozilla the Fennec offers,
- Easy navigation to Web content:
- Bookmarks, including tags
- Smart URL bar ("awesome bar")
- Tabbed browsing with thumbnail images
- Integrated Web search - built into the URL bar
- Easy access to multiple search engines
2. Web content:
- Maximize content by auto-hiding controls and URL bar
- Zoom in and out
3. Security:
- Instant Web site ID
- Password manager
- Popup blocker
- Clear private data
4. Devices services integration:
- Click on a phone number to initiate a call
- JavaScript API to get device location
- Popup blocker
- Clear private data
Also:
- Searchable download manager
- Preferences pane
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