Infinity Universe

Masinagudi...........

2011-12-15T07:43:00.000-08:00

Different Places Pictures...

2011-12-07T09:13:00.000-08:00

Beauty of alleppey again..

2011-05-13T21:41:00.000-07:00

Alappuzha - Kerala

2011-05-10T01:36:00.000-07:00

Kodaikanal...... Tamilnadu....

2011-05-04T04:30:00.000-07:00

Science Center Singapore

2010-12-07T19:33:00.001-08:00

Singapore...

2010-11-28T18:05:00.000-08:00

Animals and birds..

2010-11-28T18:00:00.000-08:00

Flowers......

2010-11-28T17:56:00.000-08:00

Birds

2010-11-23T00:56:00.000-08:00

Flowers - Home

2010-09-03T07:45:00.000-07:00

Munnar Kallar Anakkulam

2010-08-16T02:14:00.000-07:00

Some beautiful pictures---- KERALA

2010-03-02T00:51:00.000-08:00

Wayanad Again..............

2009-12-24T20:06:00.000-08:00

Beautiful Kochi................

2009-09-27T22:01:00.000-07:00

Boat trip to Kochi.....

paadam pootha kalam... nel vayal...

2009-07-23T09:41:00.000-07:00

These photos taken with my Mob.... :)

2009-07-21T07:40:00.001-07:00

These photos are taken in my mobile.. nice na.. :)
all from different part of my place

Mango mango.. mango fruty... :)

2009-07-20T08:06:00.000-07:00

Mango, it is nice na..
I like mango..do you?

Cat My Cat.... nice

2009-07-20T07:49:00.000-07:00

It is a cat, no it is my cat...
what to to sometimes he is not like me too...

Beach - My Place.... Nice

2009-07-20T06:49:00.001-07:00

Beach, beautiful beach, I took it with my camera.. still proving I am not a good photographer...

Ente naadu - my village....

2009-07-18T08:32:00.000-07:00

It is my pictures from my village... nice right?

Home Flowers - I am not a photographer :) :)

2009-07-18T08:02:00.000-07:00

It is taken by me, looks not good?? it is because of me..
I am not a good photographer!!!! he he

പട്ടിയും കുട്ടികളും

2009-06-19T06:28:00.001-07:00

Took it with my phone...

FTD Divinity Basket

2009-05-25T02:23:00.000-07:00

A radiant basket in white...

Get Well Soon Spa - WebGift

2009-05-25T02:21:00.000-07:00

Make the road to recovery a relaxing one...

Buy beautiful flowers

2009-05-25T02:16:00.000-07:00

Hanging Ivy

A hanging ivy plant in a wicker basket adds a touch of elegance to any setting....

Some interesting zoozooz pictures

2009-05-05T04:15:00.000-07:00

VADAFONE

Kerala SSLC 2009 Result

2009-05-04T21:20:00.000-07:00

you can see SSLC 2009 kerala result on this site. It is expecting 6th may 2009.

keralaresults.nic.in

http://sslcexamkerala.gov.in/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=61&Itemid=76

Are you anxious?

2009-05-04T05:21:00.000-07:00

Is worrying one of your characteristics? Well, stop! It is okay to

worry, but at the right time.

Psychologists at the University of Pennsylvania tell patients who

suffer from anxiety to regularly do a daily twenty minute “worry

session,” always at the same time and in the same place. Collect your

head full of worries during the day (don’t suppress them!) and then

pour them out during your daily worry session.

Exaggerate your worries to the point of absurdity - knit your

brows, make faces, let the sweat flow, shake and cower as much as

you like. In other words, make a caricature of the part of yourself that

is always worried, and in so doing exorcise it.

Eliminating worry will help prevent numerous psychosomatic

illnesses, which result from living in a state of permanent anxiety.

From the editors of

“PRACTICAL HEALTH GUIDES”

How to fight aging

2009-05-04T05:05:00.000-07:00

Did you know that just walking for 30 minutes, 3 or 4 times a

week is enough to combat aging?

According to researchers at the University of California, one of

the principle causes of deterioration of the human organism’s physical

faculties is its diminished ability to metabolize glucose. And they

showed that even leisurely exercise, like taking a walk, plays an

important role in keeping glucose metabolism functioning smoothly.

Do you spend the whole day sitting at your desk or in front of a

computer screen? Why not get up occasionally and do a few minutes

of physical exercise? Don’t worry about what other people think.

In some Japanese companies, it is even become a collective

habit. Every twenty minutes a bell sounds, and everybody gets up to

do some stretching exercises, after which they sit down again as if

nothing had happened. Japanese managers are convinced that their

employees are more productive when they are relaxed.

From the editors of

“PRACTICAL HEALTH GUIDES”

Losing weight: The Pakistani method

2009-05-04T04:40:00.000-07:00

Pakistani women have an amazing trick they use to stay slim: they

keep a string permanently tied around their forearms. According to

Dr. Drupas, a gentle but constant pressure on the nerves in the

forearm stimulates certain glands, particularly those involved in

weight control (thyroid, suprarenals).

Why don’t you try it? Find two ordinary rubber bands and place

them around your right forearm, one third of the way up between your

wrist and elbow.

The rubber bands should exert noticeable pressure without cutting

off blood circulation and should not slip or slide when you move

your arm. This is not a tourniquet!

For best results, you have to wear the rubber bands constantly,

even at night when you sleep. It is also recommended not to wear any

other jewelry on the right arm.

From the editors of

“PRACTICAL HEALTH GUIDES”

My Cam Pictures..

2009-05-03T08:10:00.000-07:00

Infinity Universe..

2009-05-01T23:42:00.001-07:00

I don't know why I selected this name for my blog. May be because I thought to write anything in my blog. From any field, in any laguage :)
First I started my posts by copying data from other sites and give their reference links, but it was not a good job, because all the sites have written privacy. If anything happen, then it will be not good for me. Then I stopped it. That time I was writing programming related articles.

Second time I changed my mind and then started computer related articles, that are also copying from some other sites but there also I gave reference links (better right :) ). Actually I started my blog in 2007. But I didn't get time to maintain it. Now I am thinking to write my own articles (I don't know it will be a success or not :) )
anyway I am trying to write something.

Yes it is infinity Universe. From my point of view write anything., yes I will write anything in my mind, in any language. let me try to start my own articles, ideas, thoughts. Its all for you!!!

Please give me support for writing more and more.

I have experience in SEO and affiliate marketing. If you have any doubts in that you can ask me. I will give you replays asap.

Thanks.

ഇനി ഞാന്‍ എന്നെ കുറിച്ച് പറയാം

2009-04-28T07:02:00.000-07:00

ഞാന്‍ ഒരു പാവം നട്ടുംപുരതുകാരന്‍. ഒത്തിരി ഒത്തിരി മോഹങ്ങള്‍ ഉണ്ടായിരുന്നു പക്ഷെ എന്ത് ചെയ്യാം മനുഷ്യന്‍റെ കാര്യം അല്ലെ നമ്മള്‍ വിചാരിക്കുന്നതു പോലെ നടക്കണം എന്നില്ലല്ലോ. ശരി ഞാന്‍ എന്നെ പറ്റി പറയാം. പാവം ഒരു അച്ഛനും അമ്മയ്ക്കും ഉണ്ടായ രണ്ടു മക്കളില്‍ ഒരാള്‍. ഒത്തിരി മോഹങ്ങള്‍ ആയിരുന്നു എനിക്ക് ചെറുപ്പത്തില്‍. പക്ഷെ ഒന്നും നടന്നില്ല എന്ന് തന്നെ അല്ലെ വിചാരിച്ചതിലും വളരെ വളരെ മാറ്റമുള്ള ഒരടുതാണ് എത്തിപെട്ടത്. എല്ലാം ദൈവത്തിന്‍ കളികള്‍ മാത്രം. അതിനെ കുറിച്ച് പറഞ്ഞു തുടങ്ങാം. അതായതു എന്തെ ജീവിത യാത്ര.......

ചിത്രങ്ങളില്‍ തുടങ്ങാം

2009-04-28T04:35:00.001-07:00

ചിത്രങ്ങള്‍ എനിക്ക് എന്നും ഇഷ്ടം ആയിരുന്നു. അതിനായി ഞാന്‍ ഒത്തിരി യാത്രകളും നടത്തിയിട്ടുണ്ട്. അതില്‍ നിന്നും ചിലത് നിങ്ങല്‍കായി.

Windows XP tips

2008-07-15T04:29:00.000-07:00

Get rid of drab arrows
Tired of looking at the default Windows mouse pointer? Go to Start, click on Control Panel, select Mouse. Click on the Pointers tab. Choose a scheme from the Scheme area. Check the schemes and the kind of pointers they include. Select the one you like and click on OK to bring it into effect.

Super fast shutdown
Normal shutdown can take a lot of time. More so, if you have programs or background services open on your system. To shut down quickly, save all your open documents, open the Task Manager by pressing Ctrl + Alt + Delete, press Shut Down from the menu and choose Turn Off.

Create personalized icons
Creating your own icons in Windows XP is a breeze. Here's how to go about it.

Create an image first which you can use as an icon. Click Start, click All Programs , go to Accessories, and then click Paint. On the Image menu, click Attributes. Type 32 , 42 or 62 for both the Width and Height of the document, selecting Pixels under the Units. Click OK to create a new icon.

Have fun adding type, colour etc, to your image. You can also shrink an image to create an icon. Save the image by opening the File menu and clicking on Save As.

Scroll the `Save in' box to select the location where you want your icon to be saved. Give your icon a name followed by .ico (without the quotes), Now scroll down the `Save as' type box and select 24.bit Bitmap. Click Save.

Now create a new folder, right-click on the folder, click Properties, go to Customize and click on Change Icon. Browse and select the icon you have just created and select OK. You have a folder icon just created all by yourself.

Block websites
It's very simple to block out certain websites that you do not want to open up on your computer: Click the Start button and select Run. Type the following: c:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\hosts

Windows might ask you which program should be used to open this application. Click on Wordpad.

It will open up a new window on your screen showing some text information. At the end of the last line of the file, press the Enter key. Type 127.0.0.1 and the name of the website you want to block.

For example: 127.0.0.1 knowiz.com

Save the file. The websites that you have put in this list will not open up on your system.

In case you want to open them, go back to the text file using the same commands and remove the names you have typed. Save the file.

Making menu text larger
When you change your screen resolution to a higher setting, the menu becomes too small to read. You can fix this, while retaining the new resolution. Right click on the desktop and click Properties. Click on the Appearances tab and click on Large Fonts or Extra Large Fonts to make the menu items readable. If you don’t like the color scheme of the menus and icons, you can click on the Color scheme drop down menu and chose any other. Similarly click on Effects to get a more snazzy Windows interface. Not satisfied? Explore the Advanced button here and you can have your own personalized Windows interface.

Reach Run quickly
Here’s a quicker way to reach the Run dialog box, if you don’t want to go through the Start menu. Just hit the Windows key + R.

Looking for a better screen font display?
Enable ClearType, Microsoft’s trademark font display technology, for a drastic improvement in screen font rendering. Right-click anywhere on your desktop. Now select Properties. Under the Appearance tab, click Effects. Check the box for Use the following method to smooth edges of screen fonts, and in the drop-down menu, select ClearType. Press OK, and apply the change.

Change your mouse pointer scheme
Bored of the same old arrow? To change your mouse pointer scheme, in the Control Panel, select Mouse and go to the Pointers tab. Scroll through the available schemes, pick one that you like and click Apply.

Check that your Windows Firewall is turned on
To make sure your Windows Firewall hasn’t been accidentally disabled, go to your Control Panel and click Windows Firewall. Make sure the radio button for On (recommended) is selected. Add exceptions to your Firewall by going to the Exceptions tab and adding the programs that you think should have access to the Internet to the list of exceptions.

Instantly activate your screensaver
In XP, you can put a short cut of your favourite screensaver on your desktop to instantly start your screen saver. Here’s how. Go to Start on your desktop and click on Search. In the help box, click on All files and folders. and then type in *.scr. Select your screen saver file and right click. Then select Send To, and then Desktop.

Put your Monitor to sleep
Right click on the desktop and click on Properties. In the dialog box that appears, click on the Screen Saver tab. Click on Power and in the dialog box that appears click on the Turn off Monitor list. Select a time to automatically after which the monitor will be turned off. Click OK twice and you’re set.

Using your Windows Key
Your Windows key can be used to for many short cuts. If you want to open your Windows Explorer quickly just press your Windows key and E. If you want to open the Run dialog box, just press the Windows key and R. If you want to open your search dialog box, press your Windows key and F.

Instantly lock your PC
If you have password protected your Windows, here is a quick way to lock it. Press the Windows key and L together.

Change the look of folder icons
If you don’t like the look of the folder icons on your desktop, you can change them. Right click on the folder, select Properties. Click on the Customize tab, and under the Folder icons area, click on the Change Icons button. Select the icon of your choice and select OK.

Minimize a Window to your taskbar
If you’re tired of using the mouse over and over again to minimize a window, here’s a handy tip. To minimize a window using just the keyboard, press Alt, Spacebar and N together.

Display album art in your music folder thumbnails
If your music files are in WMA format, XP automatically picks up the album art and displays it, both in the folder thumbnail as well as in the Windows Media Player display. If your files are in MP3 format, you can download the album art from the Internet and then customize each folder to display it. But this takes a lot of time. A faster way around is to save each image as ‘folder.jpg’ and put it in the correct folder. Once you do this, XP will pick up that image and use it as the thumbnail for the folder, and also use the image to display in Windows Media Player while playing songs from the album.

How to stop Windows Media Player from accessing your information
You may be uncomfortable with the idea of Windows Media Player collecting your information and sending it to various websites. You can stop this. Go to the Tools menu of Windows Media Player. Select Options and then go to the Player tab. Look for the check box that says "Allow Internet sites to uniquely identify your player?" and make sure it is not selected.

Opening folders with a single click
If you’d rather not have to double-click everything to open it, here’s the way out. Go to My Computer, and select Options in the Tools menu. Choose Folder options. In the dialog box that opens, select the check box that says ‘Single-click to open an item (point to select)’, and click OK.

Making web pages available offline
You may occasionally need to refer to a website, and you may not be able to connect to the Internet at the time. An easy way out of the situation is to go to the Favourites tab in Internet Explorer, and click Add to Favourites. In the dialog box that is displayed, select the Make available offline check box, and press OK.

MSN...

Recycle your computer

2008-07-15T04:26:00.000-07:00

When new software or a new PC model hits the market, the urge to upgrade is palpable. Estimates suggest that most PC owners upgrade to a new computer within three to four years, hardly considering the fact that the old PC has as much computing power as before, and is far away from its end of life.

Estimates also show that manufacturing one PC requires about 240 kg fossil fuels, 1.8 tonnes of materials, 22 kg chemicals and about 1,500 liters of water. That’s one of the most environmental-resource-intensive production processes.

What’s more, disposing of a computer, without causing harm to the environment or to those involved in the disposal process, is a very expensive job. A computer is made of several precious metals and chemicals. Many of its components contain toxic substances and carcinogens, such as cadmium, lead, chromium, flame-retardants and mercury. Unsafe methods of disposing of computer components include landfills, burning to extract metals such as copper from printed circuit boards, or breaking and throwing components such as CRT monitors. In all these methods, toxins are released into the air, soil, and groundwater.

Considering the cost to the environment of both producing and disposing of computers, it makes complete sense to use each computer to its optimum, and to think of destroying it only when it is really useless.

A great way to do this is to encourage reuse and to put in place recycling processes for safe and effective disposal of e-waste. In parallel, production processes need to be redesigned to reduce environmental costs.

Several Western countries export their e-waste to countries in Asia, because the labor and cost of recycling is lower. Though this is a profitable activity and there are several licensed companies that recycle computers and their components; there are also many other companies who are not authorized, and which subject their workers to very hazardous environments while recycling computer parts.

Many leading computer-manufacturing firms accept all parts of PCs for recycling at a much lower cost. Countries like China, Korea, Japan and Taiwan have taken the responsibility to recover and recycle e-waste. India, however, lags far behind in this area.

To reduce the environmental cost of computers, they should be recycled only when there is no further use for them. Computers that are displaced due to upgrades often have more than enough computing power and can be used for several years. Such PCs can be donated to government-aided schools or institutions, to help impart computer skills and IT literacy to students, who wouldn’t be able to learn it otherwise. Such initiatives require the support of people and corporates, without which the problem of e-waste cannot be solved.

MSN

For safer browsing

2008-07-15T04:23:00.001-07:00

The main responsibility for online security lies with your browser. It’s the browser’s security and privacy settings that keep malicious code such as Trojans or spyware out, warn you when you visit potentially unsafe websites or download content from a suspicious source, and protect you from online fraud and identity theft.

By default, Internet Explorer (IE) comes preset with security levels that are good for most browsing and online transactions. But you can also tweak these settings if you require a higher security level. What’s more, you can assign a slightly low security level to websites that you trust and more stringent security for those that you visit for the first time. Similarly, you can work out the privacy settings that suit your browsing needs.

Changing security settings

The default security settings in IE block the entry of malicious code and also prevent websites from installing add-ons or other programs on your computer without your knowledge.

To view these settings for IE6, open IE, go to Tools > Internet Options, and click the Security tab. You will see four zones here—Internet, local intranet, trusted sites, and restricted sites—each of which has a default security setting assigned. The default level for the Internet zone, which includes all the websites that you browse, is Medium. Click Custom Level to see specific security settings. It is advisable to use at least this level of security for browsing. You can move the slider on the Security tab to set a higher level of security, for instance, if you plan to visit some lesser known sites for the first time.

If your machine is connected to an intranet where you view local sites, you may want to assign a lower security level. Click Local Intranet and then Default Level to set the security to Medium-Low. Otherwise, click Custom Level to set your own security preferences.

As a Netizen, you will have visited certain sites that you trust implicitly—sites that can cause no potential harm to your computer. If you are extremely sure of this, you can add these sites to the Trusted Sites zone and set a lower security level for them. To add sites, the first step is to get the exact URL—you can do this by opening the site in IE and copying (CTRL+C) the URL from the address bar. Then, go to Tools > Internet Options. Click the Security tab, click Trusted Sites and then click Sites. Paste (CTRL +V) the URL in the box titles ‘Add this Web Site to this zone’ and click Add. If you add sites whose URLs begin with http: and not https:, uncheck the check box against ‘Require server verification (https:) for all sites in this zone.’ However, be very sure that the site you’re adding is trustworthy. Click OK when you’re done. Now, you can customize the level of security for the Trusted Sites zone by clicking Custom Level. For instance, you could disable alerts when you download something from a trusted site.

Changing privacy settings

These deal with blocking cookies and the Pop-Up Blocker.

Cookies are used by websites to gather some information about you, mainly for the purpose of providing you a personalized and consistent experience whenever you visit that website again. For instance, shopping sites use cookies to store items in your shopping cart as you visit various sections of the website. Some cookies could help you go to a site directly, without having to sign in each time. However, some cookies are harmful, and could be used to track your online behavior for malicious purposes.

Settings for this are available by clicking the Privacy tab in Tools > Internet Options.

It’s not a good idea to block all cookies, because that may prevent some sites from functioning properly on your machine. The default setting in IE is Medium here, which you can increase to Medium-High by using the slider. For even more safety, you could select to block all cookies; when you visit websites that attempt to use cookies, you will be alerted and you can select to accept cookies from websites that you trust. A word of caution here: first-party cookies (those used by the website that you visit) are usually safer than third-party cookies (those used by banner or pop-up ads on the website).

Another way of managing cookies is to select sites from which you want to block or allow cookies at all times. For this, click Sites in the Privacy tab, and enter the URLs of the concerned sites.

The Pop-Up Blocker is a strong safety measure for unknown sites, so it should not be turned off completely. To tweak its settings, click Settings under Pop-Up Blocker in the Privacy tab. You can change the Filter Level to Low, Medium, or High here. You can also add sites from which you always want to allow pop-ups. Click Apply and OK when you’re done.

MSN

Laptop security guidelines

2008-07-15T04:20:00.000-07:00

A laptop epitomizes convenient computer usage. You can carry it along, work on it anywhere and at any time, and connect it to public wireless networks to communicate with your office or home.

The downside of this is the attendant security hazards. Since people travel with their laptops outside office, others can access it; it’s not uncommon for laptops to get stolen either—many companies have lost sensitive information and confidential data this way. Using laptops on public wireless networks gives hackers ample opportunity to break into not only the machine, but also into the corporate network to which the machine is connected. In fact, when a laptop with wireless capabilities is connected to a wired network, it can allow hackers to exploit vulnerabilities in the wireless setup to break into the wired network.

Here are five tips to ensure that your laptop and the data on it don’t fall into the wrong hands.

Prevent physical access
As far as possible, you should avoid leaving your machine unattended when you’re outside office. You should also not let anybody use your machine, for however short a period of time, unless it is a co-worker who has legitimate reasons for doing so.
Guard against spyware
Spyware is the prime cause of data theft from laptops and corporate networks that are accessed through infected laptops. You should not install any peer-to-peer (P2P) program or shareware on the laptop, as these are known to spread spyware. When you download anything from the Internet, be sure to read the End User License Agreement (EULA) carefully, to ensure that you are not downloading any spyware alongside. Pirated software is a way to get spyware on to your machine – stay away from them.
Take regular backups
It is extremely important to take regular backups of the work you do on the laptop. Since the risk of hacker attacks over wireless networks and even physical theft of the laptop is higher, it becomes critical for you to backup the data frequently.
Use full-disk encryption
Many encryption utilities, freeware and otherwise, enable you to encrypt the data on your hard drive and even on USB pen drives. Using encryption ensures that even in the worst-case scenario of your laptop getting stolen, the thief cannot access your confidential data.
Use a firewall
A firewall, along with anti-virus and anti-spyware software, is very essential to a laptop, because you may be connecting to the Internet via public hot spots, which make your laptop more vulnerable to hacker attacks.

MSN

Tips for new bloggers

2008-06-16T08:14:00.000-07:00

To create and retain a loyal readership, give your readers the value they deserve.

Anyone can start a blog. The problem is, with so many people across the globe blogging regularly, why would anyone want to read what you write? Some people write for the pure pleasure of it, or because for them, a blog is the equivalent of a personal diary. And they are content with a small but dedicated readership of fans or followers. But if you are not a celebrity and writing for a global audience, it can be hard to retain your readers’ interest considering the sheer volume of content that is available online. If you do a little research before beginning writing, you are likely to find that someone somewhere has already said what you want to. And at the same time, now that everyone can be published, a lot of poor quality writing is also doing the rounds online.

But there are things you can do to capture and retain the interest of your readers, improve the overall quality of your writing and ensure that your blog does not sink into the vast seas of repetitive, largely unread online content. Here are some basic guidelines to follow.

1. Define your topic
Decide what you want to write about and stick to it. This will give your writing a sense of direction and purpose. Most people will not be interested in the infinitesimally tiny details of your personal life, however interesting your own thoughts may seem to you. If you have multiple interests, create separate blogs to cover each of these, so you can avoid the verbal equivalent of trying to sell a sledgehammer to a watchmaker. Define your bounds from the start and stay strictly within them; also make them unambiguous and easily identifiable to readers.

2. Make sure you have your story straight
To do justice to your readers, you must be up-to-date with all the latest happenings in the field of your interest. When citing figures or quoting someone, don’t just make an empty statement - be sure to credit the source. Your credibility as a consistent blogger can only be built through knowledge and understanding of the subject matter, and not merely through giving the appearance of knowledge and understanding. This can only happen through dedicated study and sustained interest in the subject. When expressing a personal opinion, explain clearly that it is your personal opinion. Other people may go on to quote you, so be fair to them. Make sure your theories really hold water, and that you are not wasting your readers’ time by stating shaky opinions founded on inadequate research.

3. Get to the point
Your readers’ time is precious. Don’t waste it by giving them lengthy, useless introductions. Before you start writing, make sure you have a point, and focus on introducing it as early as you can. Each sentence should be used to focus and drive your central point. Remember, you have a very short span of time before your reader decides that he/she is uninterested in what you are saying and moves on to the next blog. Use that time as well as you can. State your case clearly and quickly and avoid the use of redundant, repetitive words. Steer clear of adjectives and long-winded descriptions - provide facts as far as possible, and let people judge for themselves. Avoid jargon and long words/sentences where simpler ones will suffice. This will let people relate to your writing with greater ease. Make each word count. Also, remember that people across the globe are going to be reading what you write; in terms of content and style, aim for global rather than local.

4. Be original
Give your readers the value they deserve. They don’t need you to reiterate opinions held by masses of people across the world, or rewrite news items faithfully without diverting from the original content of the story. Look for what people will care about and mould your content to build their interest, but don’t forget to add your own voice and personality to the content you publish.

5. Provide visual relief
Avoid large, intimidating, impossible-to-read blocks of text. Use subheads to break up your text, or insert pictures, graphs or quotes. Ensure that every element is informative, relevant and unambiguous in meaning.

6. Encourage dialogue
The concept of blogging revolves around people exchanging ideas. If you don’t allow people to comment, you lose out on the ability to find out about the large variety of alternative opinions out there. Let people come back to you with what they think, and respond to them. Respect your readers’ opinions even if you don’t agree with them.
This will help you to grow and learn as a writer and person.

7. Stick to a schedule
Figure out how much time you can invest in blogging each week/month. Try to post as frequently as you can, but stay realistic when setting expectations. Don’t overcommit and then disappear for weeks at a time. Apologise to your readers each time you come back after an absence.

8. Spellcheck!
Everyone is prone to the occasional embarrassing typo, and unless you are in the habit of reading your text over several times before you publish, it’s nearly unavoidable. Running a spellcheck before you publish can save you a lot of trouble later.

Happy posting!

MSN

Understanding IP addresses in computers

2008-06-13T21:08:00.000-07:00

Internet Protocol or IP addresses are common in today's world of networked computers. That's because every computer connected to a single network has an IP.

An IP address is a number that uniquely identifies a computer on a network. Every computer that's connected to a network, whether that network is the Internet or a private home or office network, has a unique IP address.

IP addresses consist of four sets of numbers, with each set separated by a period (dot), such as 192.168.100.111. Every domain name, such as www. microsoft.com, maps to a particular IP address.

IP addresses are meted out either as static or dynamic. A static IP address never changes. It's the type used by most major websites. A dynamic IP address is automatically assigned to a computer when you log on to a network. Most Internet Service Providers (ISPs) assign dynamic IP addresses to their customers.

There are two types of IP addresses, internal and external.

An internal IP address is also typically referred to as "non routable". That means that it's an IP address which usually is not exposed to the outside world. Each computer in a home or office network has an internal IP address, and it's that address that you would use to make one computer in an office network, for example, talk to talk to another computer within the same network.

To find your internal IP address, open the Windows Start menu, and select Run. On Windows Vista, simply press Windows Key-R. The Run dialog box opens. Type "cmd," without the quotation marks, in the Run dialog box, and press Enter. A DOS command prompt opens.

From the command prompt, type "ipconfig," without the quotation marks, and press Enter. In a second, Windows will return a small report labelled "Windows IP Configuration." Note that one of those lines, labelled "IP Address," provides your internal IP address. Write those numbers down. To exit the command window, type "exit," and press Enter.

Note that if your computer is configured to obtain an IP address automatically, as many are, this number could change periodically, especially if you must unplug the network cable and then plug it in to another outlet somewhere in a corporation or your home. Therefore, remember this procedure for retrieving your IP address.

An external IP address has also assigned by your ISP to the computer or router that's connected to the ISP.

An IP address is normally no secret. Websites, your Internet Service Provider (ISP), and others can track your IP address, allowing or forbidding access to certain resources if they wish.

You can hide your IP address, however, by using one of the many so-called cloaking services available on the Internet. Cloaking services use what's known as a proxy server to conceal your identity online by providing you with a temporary fake IP address.

To use a cloaking service, you typically log on to the cloaking site and use a form field to type in the address of the website you'd like to visit. Once you click "go," you're taken to the website through the cloaking service, and your IP address is hidden. It not only disguises your IP but also allows you to determine the level of security you'd like.

MSN

Is your PC crashing? Help is here

2008-06-13T21:04:00.000-07:00

Eight simple steps to keep your PC healthy

For most of us now, the PC is our life. It is where we work, conduct financial transactions, listen to music and watch movies and chat with friends online. So what happens when your PC crashes?

The work that you do is now lost. All the information that you stored is gone. Almost everyone who owns a computer has had to face this grim reality at least once in his or her PC-owning life. What can you do to make sure it doesn’t happen again?

Follow these steps to make sure that your computer stays healthy:

1. Scan Your Computer Regularly: Using Scandisk to scan your computer every week is extremely important. Scanning corrects errors on the hard disk of your computer.

2. Install Anti Virus: Viruses can wreak havoc on computers. It is among the main causes of system crashes. Installing an anti-virus goes a long way in keeping your PC safe and secure. It is also important to bear in mind that installing an anti virus is not enough, you need to carry out regular anti virus scanning of your computer, and keep the virus definitions updated.

3. Install a Firewall: If you are in the habit of logging on to the Internet regularly, you need to install a firewall. A firewall acts as a barrier preventing any unauthorised intrusion into your computer. It also alerts you if any program is being downloaded onto your computer without your knowledge. A firewall is essential to make sure that your computer is not compromised by spyware or adware. Windows XP and Vista come with their own built in firewall that you just need to turn on.

4. Defrag Your Computer: Defragmentation basically reorganizes your hard disk in a way to make sure your files are stored contiguously. It saves up disk space, improves the performance of your computer and prevents overloading. If you install many programs and uninstall them, or delete files often, you need to defrag the hard disk.

5. Perform Disk Cleanup: Another important thing to do to make sure your PC is running at an optimum level is to perform Disk Cleanup. This deletes the remnants of the files you have already deleted. It also compresses old files. You will be surprised to know how much disk space is freed up by performing a disk cleanup.

6. Download as little from the Internet as possible to prevent malware: Many people download free software from the Net. Many download music illegally from peer to peer sites. A lot of the so-called free software that you download can contain spyware.

7. Uninstall Programs You Don’t Use: Use the Add/Remove in the Control Panel to remove programs that you don’t use anymore. It cleans up disk space and improves the performance of your hard disk.

8. Clean the Computer Regularly: Make sure dust does not accumulate inside your computer. Clean your computer once a month with a dry cloth. Also make sure that your air vent is not facing a wall, as it is important to keep your computer properly ventilated to keep it cool.

MSN

Cellphones greater threat than smoking

2008-06-06T05:01:00.000-07:00

This, however, does not mean that smoking is better for health than using cellphones.

A top Australian neurosurgeon of Indian origin says that cell phones use is a greater threat to human health than smoking, which kills 5.4 million people each year. Dr Vini Khurana, a neurosurgeon at the Canberra Hospital, told UK’s Independent newspaper that there is growing evidence that using handsets for 10 years or more can double the risk of brain cancer.

Dr Khurana says that the cellphone threat is greater because far more people use cellphones than smoke worldwide, some of them starting use at the age of 3 years.

Over 3 billion people use cellphones, which is three times higher than the one billion people who use tobacco. In India, 250 million people use cellphones, second only after US’s 256 million users.

"The threat came from cell phone radiation having the potential to heat the side of the head or thermo-electrically interact with the brain, while Bluetooth devices and unshielded headsets could convert the user’s head into potentially self-harming antenna," said Dr Khurana.

He said that there have been increased reports of brain tumours associated with heavy and prolonged mobile phone use, particularly on the same side as the person’s “preferred” ear for making calls.

"Since cell phones were often a necessity," he says, "people should use them as little as possible and called on the phone industry to make them safer."

The World Health Organisation says that cellphones are safe but admits there are “gaps in knowledge” that need further research about health impact in the longterm. Three large international reviews have investigated and found no conclusive link between use of cell phones and brain cancer, tumours of the brain or leukaemia, and other cancers.

Microsoft's Zune Gets Video Store

2008-05-06T09:30:00.001-07:00

Microsoft rolled out a spring update for the Zune this morning--updating the MP3 player's software and social networking site, Zune Social, and rolling out portable Zune cards, store subscriptions, and an all-new video store.

On the software side, Microsoft is offering closer integration between Zune Social and the player's client software. The company is also releasing various other updates that "customers have been asking for through the Zune Forums and other feedback channels," such as auto playlists and meta data editing.

Currently home to some 2 million users, according to Microsoft, Zune Social is also getting a facelift, including new interaction, recommendation, and review features. And Zune Social's Zune Card playlists are now portable, letting users import music recommendations to their own players.

Microsoft is also introducing a subscription element to the music store, letting users download unlimited music for a monthly fee, similar to Rhapsody and Napster. Marketplace is also getting video beginning today, featuring content from providers such as Comedy Central, FUNimation Entertainment, MTV, NBC Universal, , Nickelodeon, Starz Media (including Manga Entertainment), Turner Broadcasting, Ultimate Fighting Championship, and VH1.

Facebook: Pakistan's Favorite Dating Destination

2008-05-06T09:28:00.000-07:00

Young Pakistan is increasingly looking for love and companionship through social networking Web site Facebook, according to a Press Trust of India (PTI) report.

Facebook is now the eighth most surfed portal in Pakistan, coming next only to Google and YouTube - in that order, as per Alexa, a US-based research Web site.

In a conservative country where it is still relatively difficult for members of the opposite sex to interact with each other, Facebook does come in handy for scores of youngsters who're increasingly searching for love and friendship through such Web sites.

Meanwhile, the older generation who isn't quite accustomed to these newer and hipper ways of wooing and romancing, cannot but relate to the Facebook phenomenon. In turn they're closely monitoring their children who they think spend too much time Facebooking. Even educational institutions are taking steps to ensure that students don't waste their time on such Web sites. For instance, the prestigious Beaconhouse National University in Lahore has blocked Facebook in its computer labs saying it is a big 'distraction' for students.

Memo to Jerry Yang: How to make Yahoo great again

2008-05-06T09:26:00.001-07:00

Now that Yahoo appears to be on its own path, it's time for the company to find in its past what could again make it great.

Contrary to popular opinion, the key to the future isn't becoming a technological marvel to rival Google. Instead, Yahoo should home in on what it made it special before the dot-com bust: The Yahoooooo! (cowboy twang inserted) of yesteryear.

Yahoo was an Internet media pioneer. The company built or bought every massively popular feature on the Web today--think Broadcast.com (video), Launch (music) and Groups (social networks). It also developed an advertising engine that could deliver on the dream campaign of any marketer with the data to back up that promise. You could argue Yahoo failed to take advantage of many of those assets in recent years, but the shortcomings haven't been in vision, they've been in execution.

So how does Yahoo move forward? It needs to rebrand itself an Internet media company, quit chasing Google on Web search, and get damn good at selling brand advertising to Madison Avenue once again. And it has to get it done before Google figures out how to turn the creative ad process over to robots. Does technology play a role in that future? Of course. But the emphasis should be on technology that makes ad sales possible, not ad sales that make the technology possible.

"Yahoo was basically built for brand advertisers before brand advertisers came online in a big way. Now that they have come online, Yahoo has to have better technology to allow for better targeting and scale," said Rishad Tobaccowalo, CEO of the futures-consulting company Denuo, a unit of advertising agency holding company Publicis.

Yahoo certainly has been selling technology, but not in the way Tobaccowalo is talking about. Earlier this year, executives started beating the drum about getting back to the technology roots with new products like advanced e-mail, mobile-search technology, and a universal log-on for Yahoo members across services like Flickr, Mail and Address Book.

Those initiatives are worthwhile, but Yahoo should be selling a bigger story to Madison Avenue, particularly as Google tries to build a division for selling brand advertising alongside search. Sure, Yahoo has advertising platforms like Panama, but the company still isn't reaping the full value of its media network. Quite simply, it isn't showing the swagger of its younger years among advertisers. (Note: avoid the cockiness that turned some advertisers off in the early years.)

Ad executives say Yahoo should combine Web search and brand advertising, and sell marketers a new package on the Web. "No one has properly integrated their platforms of search and display advertising. Even though Yahoo has integrated those ad sales teams, no one is treating it as a 'solution,'" according to an entertainment advertising executive who asked to remain anonymous.

That means Yahoo and its rivals are missing the chance to up-sell marketers on more ads, with better use of historical Web data. "The interactive promise is that you take this great amount of data and bake it into a pie, but that's not happening," the executive said.

Despite its talks with Google, Yahoo could easily stay independent on Web search. Several major advertisers have said the company's search marketplace performs almost as well as Google's. More importantly, Yahoo and Microsoft counterbalance Google's dominance and pricing power in the market.

(Credit: Dan Farber/CNET News.com)

No doubt, search is essential to the Web economy, but the next major phase of growth for Internet advertising will come from major brand advertising. If smart, Yahoo should be in the cat bird's seat with a network that reaches half a billion people worldwide annually.

In 2007, U.S. online advertising spending was at $21 billion, up a whopping 26 percent year over year compared with a 7 percent decline in newspaper advertising or 3 percent drop in radio ads, according to data from Pricewaterhouse Coopers and the IAB. That spending is still only around 9 percent of the $469 billion spent on advertising in the United States across newspapers, television, radio, and direct mail.

The gap between what the top 100 U.S. advertisers spend online is even greater. In 2006, the most recent year of data on ad spending from research firm TNS, the biggest brands in this country put only 3.1 percent of their ad budgets online.

One reason is that agencies and advertisers are slow to follow audiences. Last year, people devoted about 29 percent of their media hours on the Internet, but advertisers spent only 8 percent of their budgets on the Web, according to a January report from Forrester Research. In contrast, people spent about 37 percent of their media time watching television; and with roughly equal measure, advertisers spent about 36 percent of their budgets on TV.

Newspaper ad spending was out of whack in the reverse. People devoted 8 percent of their media time to reading the paper last year. But advertisers spent 20 percent of their budgets on the medium. Put another way: advertisers are spending an average of $288 to reach a household via the Internet, vs. $818 via newspapers.

But that is changing quickly, advertisers say. Brand advertisers are quickly trying to figure out their online strategies and how they can reach the most people with the fewest number of media outlets. And they need companies like Yahoo and AOL more than ever, because portals like Yahoo can help brand advertisers reach hundreds of millions of people much like a TV audience.

Brand advertisers have a problem with search because it has inherent limits in inventory. Search makes more sense for direct marketers. Brand advertisers want video and engaging content that they can wrap their logos around, and that content online is now with the television networks and the YouTubes of the world.

Yahoo certainly has engaging content. Among the top most visited Web sites, Yahoo's audience spent an average of three hours and 12 minutes with the site in March, according to Nielsen Online. AOL's audience spent nearly four hours on its site; and Google's visitors racked up only one hour and 15 minutes. Microsoft: 44 minutes. YouTube: 50 minutes.

Brand advertisers also want the reach without the uncertainty of a social network, where their brands can appear in an unsavory context.

"A lot of the newer sites like MySpace and Facebook prove that not everything that's important can be monetized, because they haven't proved to be major places for advertising yet," said David Hallerman, senior analyst at eMarketer. "People equate declining importance of portals with non-importance, but portals are important for brand advertisers because they get their most valuable reach and that's not going away."

"That's why we're so far from the end story on Yahoo even with Microsoft bowing out," he said.

Despite recent proclamations of a technology focus, Yahoo has always been a media company, or a cultural curator to the Internet. Its historical talent has been in aggregating content from across the Web and creating compelling destination sites around news, finance and entertainment that keep people coming back. Technology was more of the engine, rather than the driver.

Yahoo was also one of the first companies to promote a data-mining group designed to use all those virtual tracks people left across its network to pinpoint how, when and what type of brand advertisements they would respond to next. Of course, Google came along and proved more immediate value in search.

Now it's time for Yahoo to pick up the brand advertising story once again, helping to lift up pricing of sponsorships and branded campaigns.

Yahoo's former sales chief Wenda Harris Millard, who's now the IAB's chairperson and president of media for Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, said it well at a recent IAB event: "We must educate one and all about the value our digital offerings provide marketers and not trade our advertising space like pork bellies."

In short, Jerry, it's all about the ads.

"Yahoo will rebound in a different form. They have to decide who are they talking to and what value they are adding. They still have a sales force plugged into agencies and Panama that seems to be working. It also has a new open model," Tobaccowala said.

"Everyone in Silicon Valley has a strange self-esteem problem, if they don't think they're hot, they think they're not," he added. "My sense is that internal Yahoo people don't think they're hot in this game."

McAfee deal aims to make Yahoo search safer

2008-05-06T09:25:00.001-07:00

Yahoo and McAfee announced a partnership Tuesday under which potentially unsafe Web sites appearing in Yahoo search results will be flagged as risky.

The deal, an exclusive for Yahoo, uses McAfee SiteAdvisor technology to label a variety of potentially dangerous Web sites with red warning text and links to McAfee information about what risks the site poses. Among the triggers for a red warning message are sites that host spyware, adware, or virus-infected downloads; sites that have links to other Web sites with dangerous material; and sites that have a track record of harvesting e-mail addresses later used to send spam, the companies said.

Google offers Hinglish translation

2008-05-06T09:23:00.000-07:00

TO MAKE Google more acceptable amongst the Hindi speaking population of India, the internet search company has included Hindi in its popular Google translate application, which will allow automated translation between Hindi and English text.

The Google translator is popular for providing translation services to the net users, and its addition of Hindi is much to the delight of Indians. It is worthwhile that there is a huge population in India, which does not understand the Queen’s language, but access the net for gathering information.

Now, users can translate text, web page and issue a query in Hindi in order to obtain the information they desire. The results will also be translated in Hindi and the link for this application is http://www.google.com/translate_t.

The most interesting thing is that a user can type Hindi words using a regular keyboard. Suppose, a person wants to type ’america’, he can type it in English and after hitting the space bar, the word amercia is converted to Hindi language.

With the help of this application, Hindu users can also add iGoogle gadget to their homepage. Not only Hindi, but other regional languages like Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam may also be used easily on the net.

Bloggers might also use this new application to create blogs in select regional languages.

How to speed up your website.

2008-01-29T03:22:00.000-08:00

Reduce the number of colors in your graphics

Reduce the number of colors in your graphics in order to lower the size of your graphics.

Avoid using flash as much as possible

Avoid using flash as much as possible because, usually, flash loads harder due to their sizes.

Remove the HTML comments from your pages

Yes, comments can slow your website down. Big or small, comments have something to say when it comes to page size.

Use caching

Set the browser?s cache expiration. This can be easily done using PHP in order to send some headers. For example, let's take a js file called scripts.js. In order to use caching we will create a new file called scripts.js.php and add the following code at the very beginning of it which will set the cache to expire in 3 days:

By using this method you will not speed the first (initial) download but it will have some impact on the overall experience when you're browsing multiple pages or for returning visitors since the content will be already cached.

Combine multiple files into one

Your browser has a limited number of open connections with a certain website. You can use a script to combine multiple .js or .css files into one and reduce the HTTP requests.

Read this article if you want to go deeper into this technique and do some advanced stuff:
Web page optimizer

Choosing the Right DOCTYPE

A page that was built using the Strict doctype will load faster than one that was built using the Traditional doctype or much faster than one that was built with no doctype at all. Of course, it's not a good idea to go ahead and change your doctype without knowing some facts.

Do not use images to display text

Why should you use images to display text? Think of all those HTTP requests again. We talked about the limited number of open requests a browser can have with a certain website. A very good solution is to use stylesheets instead of images. Having all your stylesheets into one file solves many many problems. You result with one request for a lot of needs. Here's an example that creates a mouseover effect on a button using nothing more than css:

a:link
{
color: #ffffff;
background: #ff9900;
text-decoration: none;
padding: 0.2em;
border: 4px solid;
border-color: #99f #008 #008 #99f
}

a:hover
{
color: #ffffff;
background: #ffaa11;
text-decoration: none;
padding: 0.2em;
border: 4px solid;
border-color: #008 #99f #99f #008
}

Use CSS to call images used for decoration

Browsers usually download the background images after everything else. By loading your background files using css you have a huge advantage because the text content will be displayed first and, in most cases, this is the content that your visitor is interested in. They will start reading your text much faster and, in the meantime, your page will download the rest of the content. Here's an example of a css based background:

And this CSS:

.background-image
{
background: url(filename.gif);
width: 200px;
height: 100px
}

You may want to enjoy the alt attribute and here's a way to do it:

where something.gif can be a 1px x 1px transparent image.

Use contextual selectors

This is inefficient:

This is a sentence

This is another sentence

This is yet another sentence

This is one more sentence

.text
{
color: #03c;
font-size: 2em
}

Instead of assigning a value to each individual paragraph, we can nest them within a

tag and assign a value to this tag:

This is a sentence

This is another sentence

This is yet another sentence

This is one more sentence

.text p
{
color: #03c;
font-size:2em
}

This second CSS example basically says that every paragraph within class="text" should be assigned a colour value of #03c and a font size of 2em. At first glance this doesn't look too important, but if you can apply this properly throughout your document you can easily knock off 20% of the file size. You may have noticed the color values are shorter than normal. #03c is a shortened version of #0033cc - you can assign this abbreviated value to any colour value like this.

Use shorthand CSS properties

You can use the following shorthand properties for the margin CSS command.

Use:

margin: 2px 1px 3px 4px (top, right, bottom, left)

...instead of

margin-top: 2px;
margin-right: 1px;
margin-bottom: 3px;
margin-left: 4px

Use relative url's

An absolute url like is much bigger than and this will have a huge effect on the file size again.

Remove unnecessary META content

Most META tags have no importance at all. For SEO purposes we can talk about the keywords and description tags but, due to abuse, I don't believe they're so important any more. Anyways, if you're gonna use it, my advice is to keep it under 200 characters to reduce the overall size and also keep some sort of balanced keyword density.

Use a trailing slash at the end of directory links

By placing a simple trailing slash at the end of your link you can tell the server that you're pointing to a directory and not a file. Your server will have more time to take care of other important aspects. Here's an example:
Instead of this:

Do this:

Try to have less HTTP Requests

I think this is the most important step of all. The most time consuming task a browser has to do is to satisfy all the HTTP requests in order to display the full page by downloading all the images, stylesheets, javascript files, flash etc. Reducing this requests will have a massive effect when it comes to user experience. You don't have to cut the whole page and leave out important stylesheets or javascript files. Read this whole article and you will learn how to combine multiple files (css, js), use css to display images and lots of other tricks to keep your page as simple as possible, fast and functional.

Use image maps to combine multiple images into a single image

Image maps combine multiple images into a single image. The overall size is about the same, but reducing the number of HTTP requests speeds up the page. Image maps only work if the images are contiguous in the page, such as a navigation bar. Defining the coordinates of image maps can be tedious and error prone.

CSS Sprites are the preferred method for reducing the number of image requests. Combine all the images in your page into a single image and use the CSS background-image and background-position properties to display the desired image segment.

Inline images use the data: URL scheme to embed the image data in the actual page. This can increase the size of your HTML document. Combining inline images into your (cached) stylesheets is a way to reduce HTTP requests and avoid increasing the size of your pages.

Turn on Http Keepalives

If Http Keepalives are not turned on, you can get 30% to 50% improvements just by turning this on. Keepalives allow multiple HTTP requests to go over the same TCP/IP connection. Since there is a performance penalty for setting up new TCP/IP connections, using Keepalives will help most websites.

Use CSS to keep the important stuff at beginning of your source

Even if this technique won't have so much of an effect on your website's speed it will play a huge role in the user experience. You need to find a way to display the text content (or whatever your visitor is there for) at first and let the browser work in the background in order to finish downloading the rest of the content. Let's take for example a simple page with menu at top, categories on the left and text content on the right. We're interested in the text content but we have to wait for the browser to download and display the top navigation and the left categories until it reaches what we're there for. Well...not necessarily. We can float the categories at the left and the text content at the right and in the source, we can place the text content before the left categories as it will have the same result when it comes to source code but, you achieve something very important: the text will show up first.

Use a Content Delivery Network

This might not be a good solution for small websites since it's not so cheap to use a content delivery network (CDN). Not everyone can own a CDN or pay a provider such as Akamai or Limelight in order to deliver the content from the server with the smallest response BUT, if you think it will worth the investment, this is a big step in optimizing your website for speed and we're talking about 10% - 15%.

Add an Expires Header

"The Expires HTTP header is an instruction to the client about the document's validity and persistence. If cached, the document may be fetched from the cache rather than from the source until this time has passed. After that, the cache copy is considered "expired" and invalid, and a new copy must be obtained from the source."

The expires HTTP header tells all browsers how long an object is active (fresh) for and after that amount of time caches should check back with the server for changes, if any. The expires HTTP header are very good for caching static images like the ones used for navigation or buttons where can be set a big amount of time as expiry in order to make the website much more responsive to it's visitors.

This trick is very important for your returning visitors and for those that browse multiple pages of your site because setting an expires header somewhere in the future will tell the browser to cache the content (scripts, css, images) for that amount of time as it won't change during this period. This way, you avoid sending informations to the browser by a http request and increase the number of cached components. Let's take for example firefox which has, by default, a storage quota of 50Mb for cached content. That's a lot of space which can hold a lot of content which, otherwise, needs to be downloaded.

When you're setting an expires header far in the future and decide to make changes to the cached files you might wanna change the name of the file as well. For example a file that is named myfile.js and is cached via expires header for a long period should be renamed somewhat when we change the content in order to tell the browser that we updated it. A good idea would be to keep versions (myfile1.js, myfile2.js) or timestamps (myfile_11352617289.js) in it's name.

Gzip Components

Gzip is a very popular compression utility that is used on most websites, designed as a replacement for compress and adopted by the GNU project. Gzip is very very handy if you ask me since it manages to reduce the size of the response by nearly 60% - 70%, accelerates the browsing experience and also can cut down the bandwith used with more than a half.

Servers choose what to gzip based on file type, but are typically too limited in what they decide to compress. Most web sites gzip their HTML documents. It's also worthwhile to gzip your scripts and stylesheets, but many web sites miss this opportunity. In fact, it's worthwhile to compress any text response including XML and JSON. Image and PDF files should not be gzipped because they are already compressed. Trying to gzip them not only wastes CPU but can potentially increase file sizes.

It's not such a good idea to gzip files that are smaller than 1k since you might end up with the same result or worse. Anything that is bigger than 1k should be faster than not gzipping it at all. Also try to remember that the result might be a faster web page but a bigger load on the server. The balance is in your hands.

Try to remember that Apache 1.3 uses mod_gzip while Apache 2.x uses mod_deflate so you also depend on versions to benefit from this compression method. You can get the same benefits by adding some very simple PHP code to your web pages.

Gzip can be the real deal when you have your page mostly on text/html, it won't have such a big effect on image-based websites and it might fail on some plugins and PDF files since they're already compressed.

Ayways, you can define in apache what files should and shouldn't be compressed.

Multiple Servers:

As we've seen already, most browsers support a limited number of open connections (http requests) with a server and everything that passes this limit should wait for them to finish a certain task. Let's take for example a browser that has a limit of open connections of 4 and a webpage that is composed of 16 images. 16 / 4 equals 4 so we end up with 4 downloads. What if....we put 4 images on server1, another 4 on server2, another 4 on server3 and the rest on server4? We might notice a huge speed improvement by almost 4 times since the browser will open 4 connections at a time with each server in part since they're different.

You might notice that some websites use different servers for storing images and static content. Of course this limit can be changed by tweaking the browser's settings but you can't ask your visitors to do that for a "better browsing experience" on your website.

AJAX:

Ajax won't necessarily speed your website but has a huge effect when it comes to responsiveness and user experience. Keeping the visitor on the same page and displaying content only on demand/on action makes the page load faster and more interactive. A lot of Java and Flash based websites have switched to Ajax for the same result but in less bytes.

Put CSS at the Top

When a new visitor reaches our website is very important to show him that we have a progressive website that loads fast. Putting CSS at the top helpes the browser to render the page in a progressive way and not wait for the whole page to load in order to figure out how the display should be. This is a huge advantage when we use external stylesheets, tableless layouts, stylesheet based backgrounds etc. Since the css is placed in the header of the pages and, along with it, the structure of the page, the browser knows from the very beginning how the page should look and where should be what. It also increases the browsing experience by showing the visitor the progress of the page (think at a file transfer....if the computer fails to show you the load bar you might think that the transfer failed even if it's not because you see no true progress...think of an ajax indicator - load bar - that tells you to wait until it finishes).

Move Scripts to the Bottom

If moving the stylesheet file in the document head will help the browser show a progressive rendering, it's the other way around with the scripts. When the browser reaches scripts it will stop the progressive rendering of the page until that script is loaded. This method might not work in all cases since there are situations over situations where a script could and should be used but there are workarounds. It's a very good idea to try this small trick when you have a lot of javascript for transitions and various effects etc.

Avoid CSS Expressions

CSS expressions allows you to set the properties in a dynamic way and can be used in a big number of situations. For example a background color that changes every hour by using a Javascript expression:

background-color: expression( (new Date()).getHours()%2 ? "#B8D4FF" : "#F08A00" );

This way of setting the properties is problematic because it evaluated by the browser at very simple events such as scrolling, resizing or even when we move the mouse over the content.

One way to reduce the number of times your CSS expression is evaluated is to use one-time expressions, where the first time the expression is evaluated it sets the style property to an explicit value, which replaces the CSS expression. If the style property must be set dynamically throughout the life of the page, using event handlers instead of CSS expressions is an alternative approach. If you must use CSS expressions, remember that they may be evaluated thousands of times and could affect the performance of your page.

Make JavaScript and CSS External

At a simple evaluation, the advantage is huge since an external css file or javascript file can be cached by the browser avoiding the precious http requests on the future. When using inline styles and declarations, we force the browser to download and evaluate them on each request. The result is obvious...

Reduce DNS Lookups

Each time you type in your addressbar a website, the browser contacts the DNS resolver which is supposed to respond with the server's IP address. Nothing takes place until this task is over which, usually, takes between 20 and 120 milliseconds. This operation is called a DNS lookup. The good news is that it can be cached by the operating system's DNS cache and sometimes by the browser.

Going back to the part when we talked about the advantage of using multiple servers you might say that these 2 methods are not so "brother and sister" since it's an advantage in using more servers to allow more http requests but a disadvantage since it creates more DNS Lookups. You should always have a balance in mind when using them. I won't recommend using more than 3 - 4 servers.

Don't use regular expressions where you don't have to

"In computing, a regular expression is a string that is used to describe or match a set of strings, according to certain syntax rules."
Regular expressions are almost a whole language. Very complex and doing real wonders where anything else would fail but they come with a big price: time. Yes they need time to perform the complex operations. There are many situations where you could replace preg_replace and eregi_replace which perform operations based on regular expressions with str_replace which "Replace all occurrences of the search string with the replacement string". My advice is to use them with care and only if you have to.

Minify JavaScript

A good idea would be to remove the comments from your js files, the unnecessary characters from code, white space etc. in order to reduce the size of the files and the time needed to download them. This process is called minification and is an alternative (or vice versa) to obfuscation which also removes comments and whitespace from files but also obfuscates (makes it difficult to be reversed) it. While minification can be a safe process, obfuscating your files can damage them irreversibly. You should always keep backup files before obfuscating.

Avoid Redirects

There are many ways of doing redirects (meta refresh, php's header location, javascript etc.) but all of them take time to be processed since the file needs to be read by the browser in order to understand your message. The best way of redirecting the user to another page is to use the traditional 301 or 302 status codes in a .htaccess file like in the following example:

HTTP/1.1 301 Moved Permanently
Location: http://someurladdress.com/newpage
Content-Type: text/html

or:

Redirect permanent /forum/discussion/17/ http://www.someuri.com/17.html

Another advantage in using this method is that the content won't be cached unless instructed so and we still have a functional back command in the browser that will take us to the previous page.

Remove Duplicate Scripts

This usually happens when a certain website is developed in a team and there's some lack of communication between individuals or when the webmaster/developer is not paying attention to this fact that forces the browser to execute the same piece of code twice or more no matter if it's cached or not and some times even worse when it also needs a new HTTP request to execute it.

Configure ETags

An Etag is a small string that represents the HTTP response header returned by an HTTP/1.1 compliant web server used to uniquely identify the version of a page component (image, stylesheet, script etc.) when compared with what's already cached in the browser. Among other informations the Etag will return the "Last-modified" time and content length of the specific component.

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Last-Modified: Tue, 12 Dec 2006 03:03:59 GMT
ETag: "10c24bc-4ab-457e1c1f"
Content-Length: 12195

The problem with ETags is that they typically are constructed using attributes that make them unique to a specific server hosting a site. ETags won't match when a browser gets the original component from one server and later tries to validate that component on a different server, a situation that is all too common on Web sites that use a cluster of servers to handle requests. By default, both Apache and IIS embed data in the ETag that dramatically reduces the odds of the validity test succeeding on web sites with multiple servers.

If you're not taking advantage of the flexible validation model that ETags provide, it's better to just remove the ETag altogether. The Last-Modified header validates based on the component's timestamp. And removing the ETag reduces the size of the HTTP headers in both the response and subsequent requests. This Microsoft Support article describes how to remove ETags. In Apache, this is done by simply adding the following line to your Apache configuration file:

FileETag none

Use CSS For Faster Pages

I sense a huge struggle in today's design to avoid using tables which can be a mistake. It's ok to use them for rendering tubular data and it's not ok to use them for design purposes but making a tableless website just because everyone seems to claim that you're not a real designer unless you cut down all the tables might give you headaches due to the bad results.

It's again about the cached content in an external css file placed in the header of your page which is supposed to hold the structure of your page and all it's properties. This is the real advantage because, using tables for design purposes, you force the browser to parse the whole table until it knows how should the page look. Using nested tables is much worse but that's another chapter.

Use External Scripts

Supposing that you have a script to animate your menu that is present on every page. It's very small. You might think that it won't be such a good idea to create a whole new file to make it execute from that file. That's a bad idea. If you have no external javascript file to add it too you still have an advantage: the file will be cached on the next visit or page, and, if you already have js files, you can add it at the end of one but make sure you won't generate conflicts and the code will remain functional.

In the worst case, this method will create a new http request but will save you tons in size and speed since it will be cached and reused directly from the browser.

Remove Anything You Don't Really Need

Yes...I know...it's obvious. So obvious that everyone is leaving behind. A good website is not one that is full of cool javascript effects, shining colors, sliding divs and whatever fancy idea you might have. In my opinion, you should keep only what's functional and needed to enhance the browsing experience. While making a website some while ago for someone, I was asked to put a certain song on the homepage to make it cool. The result was a loaded page, hated by many since the song was always starting unless otherwise instructed by the visitor (another wish of my client) and imagine yourself at night with 5-6 websites in your tabs and one of them starting to sing....auuughh!! Do you really need such things?! Keep it simple and functional....in balance with a nice design if you can and not loaded with all your dreams, full of your talent and creation.

Avoid Nested Tables

Content and presentation should be separate. As said above, tables are good to render tubular data but a bad idea when it comes to building a layout based on them since the browser can't show any progress (like we've talked on the CSS part) until it finishes to read that table...what happens when that table has another table inside which has another...? I'm sure you guessed: NOTHING...until everything is read!

Avoid Full Page Tables for Faster Rendering

If you use tables, try avoiding the whole page being one big table. The browser won't show anything until it's read the whole thing that way. For a faster loading webpage, either try multiple tables (not nested) or having stuff above the main table to make your content in the first table show up faster. That way your visitors will have something to read while the rest of your page loads. It may not really make you page faster, but it will feel like it to your visitors.

Split Up Long Pages

This method will make the content show up faster and won't scare readers away with a huge scroll bar on the right. Use pagination or something to split your pages in readeble lengths. Don't make every article like this one :)

Remove Excess "Whitespace"

Yes white space is still space and needs space. Space means time, time means angry visitors and that's the chain as I see it. You can remove white spaces, tabs, line returns and tabs.

It may not be such a good looking code but this is not our goal. We don't build pages to have nice code. We need good code. By removing line returns you will end up with 9% - 11% reduction in your file size and that's a lot. The browser does not care how good looking is your code as long as it can read it correctly. Here's an example:

something

here

for demo

will become:

something

here

for demo

The disadvantage is human. The code becomes harder to edit and follow.

Keep Your Code Clean

Many wysiwyg editors add useless code to your pages like empty tags ( ) and other elements. Remove those for a faster page that also validates cleaner.

Don't Go Overboard On Images

CSS can do many effects that could easily replace many images used on websites. Don't use so many images unless you have to and, again, don't use images where you could use text to obtain the same result.

Height And Width Tags

If you have the height and width tags already defined, at the time of loading, the browser will know the sizes already and will know where everything will be, how much space to allow, how to render the page etc. It's the same rule for tables as well. Try to specify a width and height tag...it will help.

Faster Images? Reduce Their File Size

There are many tools out there that will optimize your images and make them smaller and web ready, they will also keep the transparency and animations in gif's. You will notice an increase in speed. Look at the bottom of this articles for more resources.

Properly Save Your Images

Photoshop and fireworks have a nice feature that says: "save for web". Why do you think it's there? Use this feature when you save a picture for use in your documents. As above, don't use a rich color palette as it will increase the size of your picture. Experiment the websnap feature that will try to cut down similar colors from the palette.

Compression

To decrease the size of your files you could try compressing them. There are many solutions on the net that will compress javascript, css or php eliminating comments, white space, tabs and breaks...anything that is not needed usually. Try to keep in mind that you might end up with non functional results, the result will most likely be very hard to read and follow and that you should in all cases keep the original documents as backup.

Global Loadbalancing:

If you have already invested in some kind of simple loadbalancing technology and are still having performance problems, start investigating in global loadbalancing which allows you to deploy multiple servers around the world and use intelligent loadbalancing devices to route client traffic to closest web server. If your organization can?t afford to setup multiple websites around the world, investigate global caching services like Akamai

Webserver Log Analysis:

The logs that your webserver keep are an open book to teach where and when errors occur. I think the most important part in the logs are the 404 and 500 errors that represent a missing page. It means that a visitor or a web crawler requested that page and it's missing. This again does not have so much of an effect when it comes to speed but it's a good idea to try and repair the bottlenecks at least for the sake of user experience. Almost any web hosting provider offer a log analizer such as awstats.

GIF vs JPG vs PNG

GIF's usually load quicker while JPG's tend to be better for photos and PNG's (optimized) have lossless compression but be aware of the PNG transparency that is not supported in IE6 and below.

Oracle income jumps on software sales

2007-12-29T01:46:00.000-08:00

Oracle fared far better than analysts anticipated in its fiscal second quarter, easing worries that the sagging U.S. economy will curtail corporate spending on technology and drag down the business software maker.

Relieved investors drove up Oracle's (ORCL, Fortune 500) stock price by more than 6 percent late Wednesday after the results were released.

The Redwood Shores-based company it earned $1.3 billion, or 25 cents per share, for the three months ended Nov. 30, a 35 percent increase from net income of $967 million, or 18 cents per share, at the same time last year.

If not for stock option expenses and the costs incurred in recent acquisitions, Oracle said it would have earned 31 cents per share - four cents per share above the average estimate among analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.

Revenue totaled $5.31 billion, a 28 percent improvement from $4.16 billion last year. Analysts, on average, had projected revenue of $5.04 billion.

Even more important to Wall Street, Oracle's sales of software licenses climbed by 38 percent to $1.67 billion. Analysts had predicted gains in the 20 percent range.

Software sales are closely watched because new licenses establish a pipeline for future revenue from product upgrades and maintenance.

"The strength of the quarter comes down to the fact that we are selling more products to more customers in more industries," Safra Catz, Oracle's chief financial officer, said during a conference call with analysts.

Signaling that its recent momentum will carry into 2008, Oracle forecast software sales will rise 15 percent to 25 percent in the current quarter, which ends in February. Oracle made the same projection for the second quarter and then soared well beyond it.

Excluding stock option expenses, Oracle expects to earn 29 cents or 30 cents per share in the fiscal third quarter. The average analyst estimate for the quarter was 29 cents per share.

Oracle shares fell 49 cents to finish Wednesday's regular trading at $20.76, then rebounded by $1.37, or 6.6 percent in extended trading after its quarterly results were released.

"It was a very strong quarter, based on just about every metric you can think of," said Global Equities Research analyst Trip Chowdhry.

Larry Ellison on Bill Gates, potential purchases, and the good old days

Oracle has been on a roll through most of the past two years, reaping the benefits of a shopping spree that has turned it into a one-stop shop for database software and applications that automate a wide variety of business operations.

By spending more than $25 billion snapping up its smaller rivals since 2004, Oracle has created the software industry's equivalent of a Costco warehouse, said Cowen and Company analyst Peter Goldmacher.

"Oracle looks to be better positioned than just about all its competitors," Goldmacher said. That list of rivals includes other technology heavyweights like IBM Corp., SAP AG and Microsoft Corp.

Larry Ellison, Oracle's hard-charging chief executive officer, remains on the prowl for other takeovers. In October, he offered $6.7 billion for another Silicon Valley software maker, BEA Systems (BEAS), only to be rebuffed. Echoing recent public comments, Oracle reiterated it's unlikely to buy BEA unless there's a change in the makeup of the San Jose-based company's board of directors.

Oracle's second-quarter showing and upbeat outlook may revive hopes that the technology sector will be able to overcome the threat of a looming recession and grow solidly next year.

With informal surveys indicating that a substantial number of companies plan to spend less on technology next year, some analysts are bracing for a downturn and their only question is the depth of the drop.

But there's a theory that Oracle and a few other industry leaders won't be hurt if the economic uncertainty causes businesses to concentrate their tech spending on products made by well-established vendors.

"Customers are going with proven technologies with proven value," Chowdhry said. "That bodes well for Oracle and Microsoft. It doesn't necessarily bode well for the rest of the software industry." To top of page

Opera complains to EU about Microsoft

2007-12-29T01:37:00.000-08:00

Web browser developer Opera Software ASA said Thursday it had complained to the European Commission about Microsoft Corp., calling on regulators to make the company give users a choice of Internet software with its Windows operating system.

The small Norwegian company also alleged that Microsoft was holding developers back from making programs that work with each other "by not following accepted Web standards."

Microsoft (Charts, Fortune 500) said its Internet Explorer browser had been a part of Windows for over a decade and supported a wide range of Web standards.

"We will of course cooperate with any inquiries into these issues, but we believe the inclusion of the browser into the operating system benefits consumers, and that consumers and PC manufacturers already are free to choose any browsers they wish," Microsoft said.

A complaint can - but does not always - trigger an antitrust investigation by EU regulators.

Some of the claims echo complaints from years ago, when Microsoft was accused of using its monopoly position to wipe out Netscape by bundling its free Explorer browser with Windows.

Google to press feds on public records

Opera said it was asking EU regulators to apply the principles of their landmark antitrust ruling against Microsoft - upheld by an EU court in September - to Internet software.

That ruling required Microsoft to market a version of Windows without its media player program, even though there were few takers when it went on sale a year after the antitrust order.

EU antitrust chief Neelie Kroes had warned Microsoft that the order set a precedent for its future behavior in other areas - such as its Office software and its new Vista operating system.

"Microsoft should bear this in mind," Kroes said. "The shop is still open, I can assure you ... there are a couple of other cases still on our desk."

EU officials last year cited possible problems with Vista's integrated security software, Internet search, and digital rights management tools used to protect copyrights and software that would create fixed-document formats comparable to Adobe Systems Inc.'s Portable Document Format, or PDF.

YouTube opens ad program to amateurs

Opera is claiming that Microsoft abused its monopoly power as the supplier of software to most of the world's personal computers by giving away its Internet Explorer with Windows and not offering alternative programs.

It "requests the Commission to obligate Microsoft to unbundle Internet Explorer from Windows and/or carry alternative browsers preinstalled on the desktop," it said in a statement.

Opera also said it was asking Microsoft to adhere to its own public pronouncements to support open Web standards. It said the European Commission should require Microsoft to follow "fundamental and open Web standards accepted by the Web-authoring communities."

"Microsoft's unilateral control over standards in some markets creates a de facto standard that is more costly to support, harder to maintain, technologically inferior and that can even expose users to security risks," Opera said.

This touches on an earlier complaint filed by a group of Microsoft rivals, the European Committee for Interoperable Systems, that alleges that Microsoft's XAML markup language - which it said was positioned to replace the current Web page language HTML - was designed "from the ground up to be dependent on Windows."

Opera CEO Jon von Tetzchner said the company was championing open Web standards and "cannot rest until we've brought fair and equitable options to consumers worldwide."

The company now focuses on making browsers for mobile devices, an area where Microsoft is not a major player.

ECIS endorsed the complaint. "Browsers are the gateway to the Internet. Microsoft seeks to control this gateway," said its legal counsel Thomas Vinje.

The group has made complaints of its own against Microsoft, alleging that the new Vista operating system is the company's attempt to extend its monopoly to the Internet and the company uses Windows to extend its market dominance into other areas, including Web-based computing.

Tech Predictions for 2008

2007-12-29T01:30:00.000-08:00

Every year at this time I venture forth with my predictions for the New Year. Early in my career, I would foolishly try and predict as much as ten years out, but in a world where technology changes so fast, ten-year predictions are almost worthless these days.

I have become more pragmatic in my old age, and now I try to focus on what I think will be the key industry issues or trends for the next year or two. How accurate am I? Check out my predictions from last year or the previous year or for 2005.

If you read any of my previous predictions, you will notice that they are relatively accurate. This is not to brag, but to point out that the technologies I research typically have their biggest impact 12 to 18 months out.

With that in mind, here are my predictions for 2008:

1. Smartphones Get Smarter and Gain Market Share.
This is not a new prediction, as I have mentioned it in one form or another for the last two years. However, there are two key changes in 2008's prediction. First, we now believe smartphones will get even smarter, thanks to increased processing power, mobile operating systems that gain more functionality (including full Web browsers), and connections to faster wireless networks. Apple has already shown us that you can put the Internet in your pocket via something as small as a smartphone, and the competition is going to school on Apple—big time. In fact, when we look back at 2008, I believe one of the major industry themes will be how the creation of mobile devices that deliver the Internet in your pocket caused a paradigm shift in mobility and drove major changes in the way even mainstream consumers view personal mobility.

The second key change is that even mainstream cell phones will gain more intelligence and help expand the market share of smartphones. Thanks to Google's Android platform, as well as vendors like Palm, RIM, Motorola, and others making their mainstream cell phones more intelligent, we believe that by the end of 2008 smartphones will represent as much as 15 percent of the overall 1.2 billion cell phones sold worldwide in the course of the year, up from a market penetration of around 8 percent today. And by the end of 2009, we now believe smartphones will make up as much as 25 percent of all cell phones sold.

2. Flash-Based Laptops Arrive.
There are a lot of rumors swirling about Apple introducing a flash-based laptop at MacWorld in January. While I have no clue if that is actually going to happen, I do believe that we will see at least one flash-based laptop of some type come from each of the major PC vendors. More important, these new clamshell laptops will introduce a new concept in ultraportables. Although flash memory is coming down in price, I believe most of these new flash-based ultraportables will have only 16GB, 32GB, or, at best, 64GB hard drives on them to keep prices down. This means that people will have to use them differently, and we could see a new class of laptop computers emerge that I call mobile companions. Hard drives in most of today's laptops start at 80GB, although many now sport 120GB and even 180GB.

Given the capacities of these new flash-based clamshell laptops, it's unlikely that they will provide access to full applications or provide rich Web browsing—they'll have limitations much like those of today's BlackBerrys or smartphones. They will require some type of UI that lets you tell your main PC what files you want to take with you, and then enables syncing each time your laptop and your main PC are reconnected. To make this work, you will also need a built-in GoToMyPC-like Internet connection to your PC back home in case you need something while on the road. Look for at least five new flash-based mobile companions to be on the market by the end of 2008, and expect them to be one of the industry's hot topics in the coming year.

3. The Introduction of the "Basic PC."
Next year we will see a real push to create "basic PCs," bare-bones computers priced around $275 to $350 and targeted at emerging markets. We've already seen similar products, such as the XO-1 laptop by the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) initiative and the ASUS Eee PC 4G, but they represent the tip of the iceberg in this category. And don't be surprised if this type of PC gets serious attention as a second, third, or even fourth PC for consumer homes.

4. Social Networks Are Targeted by Botnets.
As social networks gain in popularity, I expect them to become the next major target for security threats. Botnets will find their way into these networks and inflict all kinds of new security problems, including identity theft. McAfee, Symantec, Microsoft, and even Apple are aware of these threats and are working hard to prevent them, but social networks will suffer invasion.

5. Smartphones Become Targets for Viruses and Identity Theft.
As smartphones gain market share, become more popular and powerful, and deliver greater Web access, they will attract the criminal element. I believe that in 2008 they will also become major targets for botnets, viruses, and identity theft. This will be a big problem, as there aren't a lot of great security tools for these smart mobile platforms. All of the security software vendors see this coming, but right now they're creating their tools only for use within the Windows, Linux, Unix, and Mac environments. Soon they will have to deal with at least five major smartphone OS platforms as well.

Computer Tricks

2007-12-29T00:16:00.000-08:00

Hide File In Image

1. Gather the file you wish to bind, and the image file, and place them in a folder. I will be using C:\New Folder
-The image will hereby be referred to in all examples as fluffy.jpg
-The file will hereby be referred to in all examples as New Text Document.txt

2. Add the file/files you will be injecting into the image into a WinRar .rar or .zip. From here on this will be referred to as (secret.rar)

3. Open command prompt by going to Start > Run > cmd

4. In Command Prompt, navigate to the folder where your two files are by typing
cd location [ex: cd C:\New Folder]

5. Type [copy /b fluffy.jpg + secret.rar fluffy.jpg] (remove the brackets)

Congrats, as far as anyone viewing is concerned, this file looks like a JPEG, acts like a JPEG, and is a JPEG, yet it now contains your file.

In order to view/extract your file, there are two options that you can take

a) Change the file extension from fluffy.jpg to fluffy.rar, then open and your file is there
b) Leave the file extension as is, right click, open with WinRar and your file is there

Speed Up Ur PC

Cleaning Ur RAM
U may recognize that ur system gets slower and slower when playing and working a lot with ur pc. That's cause ur RAM is full of remaining progress pieces u do not need any more.

So create a new text file on ur desktop and call it .. uhm.. "RAMcleaner" or something...

Type

FreeMem=Space(64000000)
in this file and save it as RAMcleaner.vbs [ You may choose the "All Files" option when u save it ]

Run the file and ur RAM may be cleaned :>
Of course u can edit the code in the file for a greater "cleaning-progress".

FreeMem=Space(128000000)

just try it out.. it worked for me

Block websites without any software

Steps

1] Browse C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc

2] Find the file named "HOSTS"

3] Open it in notepad

4] Under "127.0.0.1 localhost" Add 127.0.0.2 www.orkut.com , and that site will no longer be accessable.

5] Done!

example :

127.0.0.1 localhost

127.0.0.2 www.yahoo.com-

www.orkut.com is now unaccessable

For every site after that you want to add, just add "1" to the last number in the internal ip (127.0.0.2) and then the addy like before.

ie:

127.0.0.3 www.yahoo.com

127.0.0.4 www.msn.com

127.0.0.5 www.google.com

This also works with banner sites, just find the host name of the server with the banners and do the same thing with that addy.

Hope this small tutorial could keep you going in simple way of blocking websites..

Start a movie in paint!

Start movie in Paint!
* First start a movie in any player.

* Then open Paint.

* Now, in the player when the movie is being played, press "Print screen" button on your key board.

* Now, Press ctrl+v in Paint

* Leave the movie player open and don't minimize it.

* Open Paint now and see the movie in the Paint!

Hacking Rapidshare:

Tired of waiting for another few minutes after downloads try dis
It works

While waiting for download, type javascript:c(countdown = 0); in the browser addressbar to eliminate the rapidshare countdown (waiting) feature. If this trick doesn't work, try the alternative below:

javascript:var%20counta=0;var%20countb=0

;var%20countc=0;var%20countd=0;var%20countd=0

(Just copy and paste this code in your address bar)

another method(Works only if u hv dynamic Ip)

Then, follow the steps below to get a new IP:

1. Go to Start->Run and type in "cmd" without quotes to bring up the command prompt. Hit Enter.

2. Type in "ipconfig /flushdns" without quotes and hit Enter.

3. Type in "ipconfig /release" without quotes and hit Enter.

4. Type in "ipconfig /renew" without quotes and hit Enter. You should now have a new IP address. Check your IP address at IP Chicken again and compare it to the one you got earlier.

5. Now, erase your browser's cache and cookies.

6. Try downloading the Rapidshare

Now enjoy unlimited download from rapidShare..

Yahoo with multiple login IDs

Multiple Login in Yahoo! by regedit

Follow these steps : ->

* Go to Start ==> Run ==>> Type regedit,hit enter

* Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER -> Software -> Yahoo -> pager -> Test

* On the right pane ==>> right-click and choose new Dword value .

* Rename it as Plural.

* Double click and assign a decimal value of 1.

* Now close registry and restart yahoo messenger.

* For signing in with new id open another messenger .

See who is invisible in Yahoo:

See who is invisible in yahoo messenger.

download this[100% working]

http://
rapidshare.com/files/61785563/BuddySpySetup.exe

If you r scanning for a person be sure that he/she is in your friends list
If he/she is not in your friends list then you may not get right result

enjoy

Lock Computer

we'll make a "Lock Computer" Shortcut on your Desktop so you can lock your computer by simply double-clicking on an icon.
On an empty space on your desktop, right click and select "New" then "Shortcut".
You'll see this shortcut wizard Server.
Paste the following line into the "Type the location of this item" box. Click "Next".

%windir%\System32\rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation
This next dialog box will ask for a name for this shortcut. Type in "Lock Computer" or something that makes sense to you. Click "Finish".
Now you'll have an icon on your desktop that allows you to quickly lock your computer without having to go through the process of "control-alt-delete" -> "Lock Computer".

Useful Shortcut:
Start + M: Minimizes all open windows
Start + Shift + M: Maximizes All Windows
Start + E: Runs Windows Explorer
Start + R: Open the RUN Dialog Box
Start + F: Open the Search Results Dialog box
Start + CTRL + F: Opens the Search Results-Computer dialog Box (if the computer is connected to a network)
Start + Pause (Break): Opens the System Properties Dialog Box

Windows System Key Combinations:

F1: Help
CTRL + ESC: Open Start menu
ALT + TAB: Switch between open programs
ALT + F4: Quit program
SHIFT + DELETE: Delete item permanently

Email Templates

2007-12-16T22:31:00.000-08:00

If you have creating email templates use this.

function Merge_template($message,$temparray) // merging function.
{
$melen=strlen($message);
$k=0;
for($j=0;$j<$melen;)
{
if($message[$j]=='#' && $message[$j+1]=='#')
{
$j=$j+2;
while($message[$j] != '#')
{
$test=$test.$message[$j];
$j++;
}
$pattern[$k]=$test;
$test='';
$k++;
}
$j++;
}
$length=count($temparray);
$i=0;
$outputtem=$message;
while($i<$length)
{
$pattern[$i];
$replacement=$temparray[$pattern[$i]];
$test= '/##'.$pattern[$i].'#/';
$outputtem=preg_replace($test,$replacement,$outputtem);
$i++;
}
return $outputtem;
}

$message = "The following account status changed by ##staffname#. Please take necessary action.
##description#
Reference No: ##ref_no#
Customer Name: ##customer_name#
Date : ##date#";

$date=date("d-m-Y");
$staffname="Thomas";
$description = " Test Description";
$ref_no = "238764";
$customer_name="Arnold";

$temparray=array("date"=>$date,"staffname"=>$staffname,
"description"=>$description,"ref_no"=>$ref_no,"customer_name"=>$customer_name);

$mail_body= Merge_template($message,$temparray);

?>

Output

The following account status changed by Thomas. Please take necessary action.
Test Description
Reference No: 238764
Customer Name: Arnold
Date : 17-12-2007

Simple image resize code using PHP

2007-11-08T21:27:00.002-08:00

if($_POST['submit'])
{
// This is the temporary file created by PHP
$uploadedfile = $_FILES['uploadfile']['tmp_name'];

// Create an Image from it so we can do the resize
$src = imagecreatefromjpeg($uploadedfile);

// Capture the original size of the uploaded image
list($width,$height)=getimagesize($uploadedfile);

// For our purposes, I have resized the image to be
// 600 pixels wide, and maintain the original aspect
// ratio. This prevents the image from being "stretched"
// or "squashed". If you prefer some max width other than
// 600, simply change the $newwidth variable
$newwidth=100;
$newheight=($height/$width)*100;
$tmp=imagecreatetruecolor($newwidth,$newheight);

// this line actually does the image resizing, copying from the original
// image into the $tmp image
imagecopyresampled($tmp,$src,0,0,0,0,$newwidth,$newheight,$width,$height);

// now write the resized image to disk. I have assumed that you want the
// resized, uploaded image file to reside in the ./images subdirectory.
$filename = "images/". $_FILES['uploadfile']['name'];
imagejpeg($tmp,$filename,100);

imagedestroy($src);
imagedestroy($tmp); // NOTE: PHP will clean up the temp file it created when the request
// has completed.
}
?>

add html code here

form
input type=file name=uploadfile
input type=submit name=submit
form close

AJAX E-Books Links Collection

2007-10-31T21:14:00.000-07:00

Cool AJAX tutorials

* AJAX Patterns
* AJAX :: A new approach to web applications
* Rasmus' 30 second AJAX tutorials
* AJAX Tutorial with Prototype
* AJAX on Rail
* AJAX: Usable Interactivity with Remote Scripting
* AJAX Links
* Dynamic HTML and XML: The XMLHttpRequest Object
* XMLHttpRequest Call
* On-Demand JavaScript
* Programming AJAX

Frameworks:-

* Prototype JavaScript Framework
* Script.aculo.us!!
* Rico :: JavaScript for Rich Internet Applications
* Bihaviour :: Better, Smarter Javascript
* SAJAX :: Simple AJAX Toolkit
* AJAX Frameworks page @AJAX Pattern

PHP E-Books Links Collection

2007-10-31T21:07:00.001-07:00

* PHP :: Basics:-
o The PHP Manual
o Introduction to PHP3
o w3school's PHP Tutorial
o PHP Introduction and Examples
o Ben's PHP Tutorial
o Microcyb's CyberCMS PHP Tutorials
o GimpsterDotCom PHP Tutorial
o tizag.com PHP Tutorial
o Troubleshooter.com PHP Tutorial
o PHP Tutorial (From freewebmasterhelp.com)
o JuicyStudio PHP Tutorial
o PHP Knowledge Base
o Object Oriented Programming with PHP
o PHP for PDF
o Themed Website Using PHP
o PHP Tips and Tutorials

* PHP & Database:-
o MySQL
+ PHP/MySQL Tutorial
+ PHP MySQL Tutorial (From freewebmasterhelp.com)
+ Building a Database Driven Website Using PHP and MySQL
o PHP and PostgreSQL Tutorial

* PHP :: FAQs:-
o The PHP FAQs

How to insert data using AJAX , Both GET and POST method (PHP)

2007-10-21T23:40:00.000-07:00

Ajax - Browser Specific Code, just copy and paste below code. This code is for browser specific.

var request = false;
var xmlString;
var microsoft = true;
var updatePage;

function initAjax()
{
try
{
request = new XMLHttpRequest(); // Ajax Class for Mozilla based browsers
microsoft = false;
}
catch (trymicrosoft)
{
try
{
request = new ActiveXObject("Msxml2.XMLHTTP"); // Ajax Class for IE
}
catch (othermicrosoft)
{
try
{
request = new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP"); // Ajax Class for Mozilla based browsers
}
catch (failed)
{
request = false;
}
}
}

This code is must for all AJAX based coding.

Ajax - onreadystatechange Property

Before we even think about sending data to the server, we must first write a function that will be able to receive information. This function will be used to catch the data that is returned by the server.

The XMLHttpRequest object has a special property called onreadystatechange. onreadystatechange stores the function that will process the response from the server. The following code defines an empty function and sets the onreadystatechange property at the same time!

We will be filling this function in throughout the lesson, as you learn more about the XMLHttpRequest object.

I am writing this as a function.

function updatePage()
{
if (request.readyState== 4 || request.readyState=="complete")
{
if(request.status == 200)
{
var obj = document.getElementById('success');
xmlString = request.responseText;
obj.innerHTML=xmlString;
}
else
{
alert("Error :" + request.status );
}
}
}

For GET Method

function addStaff()
{

initAjax();
var obj = document.getElementById('success');
obj.innerHTML="";
var url = "add_data.php";

var name = document.getElementById("name").value;
var password = document.getElementById("password").value;

request.open("GET", url+"?bustcache="+new Date().getTime()+"&name="+name+"&password="+password,true);

request.onreadystatechange = updatePage1;
request.send(null);

}

For POST Method

function submitForm()
{

initAjax();

var name = document.getElementById("name").value;
var password= document.getElementById("password").value;
var obj = document.getElementById('success1');
obj.innerHTML="";

var url = "ajax_output.php";
var passData = '&name='+name+'&password='+password;

request.open("POST", url, true);
request.setRequestHeader("Content-type", "application/x-www-form-urlencoded");
request.onreadystatechange = updatePage;
request.send(passData);

}

Php installation in windows/Linux etc...

2007-08-17T03:21:00.000-07:00

These are some method to install apahe/php/mysql/phpMyadmin into your system

This is a built in web server that is automatically configured when you install it.

Go through below links

For windows

http://www.wampserver.com/en/index.php

and

http://www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp-windows.html

XAMPP for linux also

http://www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp-linux.html

and for other OS

http://www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp.html

Some Nice Site for PHP,MySql,Ajax etc for Beginners

2007-08-16T21:19:00.000-07:00

Php,MySql, Ajax,XML,JavaScript, etc

http://www.w3schools.com/

http://www.tizag.com/

For PHP

http://php.net/

For pear

http://pear.php.net/

For Smarty

http://smarty.php.net/

Image to Flash convert code using PHP

2007-08-16T05:40:00.000-07:00

convery.php

require("class.imageconverter.php");

$img = new ImageConverter("image.jpg","swf");

?>

class.imageconverter.php

class ImageConverter {

var $imtype;
var $im;
var $imname;
var $imconvertedtype;
var $output;

function imageConverter() {

/* parse arguments */
$numargs = func_num_args();
$imagefile = func_get_arg(0);
$convertedtype = func_get_arg(1);
$output = 0;
if($numargs > 2) $this->output = func_get_arg(2);

/* ask the type of original file */
$fileinfo = pathinfo($imagefile);
$imtype = $fileinfo["extension"];
$this->imname = basename($fileinfo["basename"],".".$imtype);
$this->imtype = $imtype;

/* create the image variable of original file */
switch ($imtype) {
case "gif":
$this->im = imageCreateFromGIF($imagefile);
break;
case "jpg":
$this->im = imageCreateFromJPEG($imagefile);
break;
case "png":
$this->im = imageCreateFromPNG($imagefile);
break;
case "wbmp":
$this->im = imageCreateFromWBMP($imagefile);
break;
/*
mail me if you have/find this functionality bellow */
/*
case "swf":
$this->im = $this->imageCreateFromSWF($imagefile);
break;
*/
}

/* convert to intended type */
$this->convertImage($convertedtype);
}

function convertImage($type) {

/* check the converted image type availability,
if it is not available, it will be casted to jpeg :) */
$validtype = $this->validateType($type);

if($this->output) {

/* show the image */
switch($validtype){
case 'jpeg' :
case 'jpg' :
header("Content-type: image/jpeg");
if($this->imtype == 'gif' or $this->imtype == 'png') {
$image = $this->replaceTransparentWhite($this->im);
imageJPEG($image);
} else
imageJPEG($this->im);
break;
case 'gif' :
header("Content-type: image/gif");
imageGIF($this->im);
break;
case 'png' :
header("Content-type: image/png");
imagePNG($this->im);
break;
case 'wbmp' :
header("Content-type: image/vnd.wap.wbmp");
imageWBMP($this->im);
break;
case 'swf' :
header("Content-type: application/x-shockwave-flash");
$this->imageSWF($this->im);
break;
}

} else {
/* save the image */
switch($validtype){
case 'jpeg' :
case 'jpg' :
if($this->imtype == 'gif' or $this->imtype == 'png') {
/* replace transparent with white */
$image = $this->replaceTransparentWhite($this->im);
imageJPEG($image,$this->imname.".jpg");
} else
imageJPEG($this->im,$this->imname.".jpg");
break;
case 'gif' :
imageGIF($this->im,$this->imname.".gif");
break;
case 'png' :
imagePNG($this->im,$this->imname.".png");
break;
case 'wbmp' :
imageWBMP($this->im,$this->imname.".wbmp");
break;
case 'swf' :
$this->imageSWF($this->im,$this->imname.".swf");
break;

}

}
}

/* convert image to SWF */
function imageSWF() {

/* parse arguments */
$numargs = func_num_args();
$image = func_get_arg(0);
$swfname = "";
if($numargs > 1) $swfname = func_get_arg(1);

/* image must be in jpeg and
convert jpeg to SWFBitmap
can be done by buffering it */
ob_start();
imagejpeg($image);
$buffimg = ob_get_contents();
ob_end_clean();

$img = new SWFBitmap($buffimg);

$w = $img->getWidth();
$h = $img->getHeight();

$movie = new SWFMovie();
$movie->setDimension($w, $h);
$movie->add($img);

if($swfname)
$movie->save($swfname);
else
$movie->output;

}

/* convert SWF to image */
function imageCreateFromSWF($swffile) {

die("No SWF converter in this library");

}

function validateType($type) {
/* check image type availability*/
$is_available = FALSE;

switch($type){
case 'jpeg' :
case 'jpg' :
if(function_exists("imagejpeg"))
$is_available = TRUE;
break;
case 'gif' :
if(function_exists("imagegif"))
$is_available = TRUE;
break;
case 'png' :
if(function_exists("imagepng"))
$is_available = TRUE;
break;
case 'wbmp' :
if(function_exists("imagewbmp"))
$is_available = TRUE;
break;
case 'swf' :
if(class_exists("swfmovie"))
$is_available = TRUE;
break;
}
if(!$is_available && function_exists("imagejpeg")){
/* if not available, cast image type to jpeg*/
return "jpeg";
}
else if(!$is_available && !function_exists("imagejpeg")){
die("No image support in this PHP server");
}
else
return $type;
}

function replaceTransparentWhite($im){
$src_w = ImageSX($im);
$src_h = ImageSY($im);
$backgroundimage = imagecreatetruecolor($src_w, $src_h);
$white = ImageColorAllocate ($backgroundimage, 255, 255, 255);
ImageFill($backgroundimage,0,0,$white);
ImageAlphaBlending($backgroundimage, TRUE);
imagecopy($backgroundimage, $im, 0,0,0,0, $src_w, $src_h);
return $backgroundimage;
}
}
?>

Currency Converter Using PHP

2007-08-16T05:32:00.000-07:00

below function used to convert one currency to another

function get_conversion($cur_from,$cur_to){
if(strlen($cur_from)==0){
$cur_from = "USD";
}
if(strlen($cur_to)==0){
$cur_from = "PHP";
}
$host="finance.yahoo.com";
$fp = @fsockopen($host, 80, $errno, $errstr, 30);
if (!$fp)
{
$errorstr="$errstr ($errno)
\n";
return false;
}
else
{
$file="/d/quotes.csv";
$str = "?s=".$cur_from.$cur_to."=X&f=sl1d1t1ba&e=.csv";
$out = "GET ".$file.$str." HTTP/1.0\r\n";
$out .= "Host: www.yahoo.com\r\n";
$out .= "Connection: Close\r\n\r\n";
@fputs($fp, $out);
while (!@feof($fp))
{
$data .= @fgets($fp, 128);
}
@fclose($fp);
@preg_match("/^(.*?)\r?\n\r?\n(.*)/s", $data, $match);
$data =$match[2];
$search = array ("']*?>.*?'si","'<[\/\!]*?[^<>]*?>'si","'([\r\n])[\s]+'","'&(quot|#34);'i","'&(amp|#38);'i","'&(lt|#60);'i","'&(gt|#62);'i","'&(nbsp|#160);'i","'&(iexcl|#161);'i","'&(cent|#162);'i","'&(pound|#163);'i","'&(copy|#169);'i","'&#(\d+);'e");
$replace = array ("","","\\1","\"","&","<",">"," ",chr(161),chr(162),chr(163),chr(169),"chr(\\1)");
$data = @preg_replace($search, $replace, $data);
$result = split(",",$data);
return $result[1];
}//else
}//end get_conversion

$value =2;
$x = get_conversion('USD','EUR');
$x = $x * $value;

echo "Conversion Result : ".$x."";
?>

$value means 1,2 etc that means 1 USD = -- EUR
etc

below are the currency names

Installing Apache PHP and MySQL

2007-08-16T05:26:00.001-07:00

PHP and MySQL are usually associated with LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP). However, most PHP developer ( including me ) are actually using Windows when developing the PHP application. So this page will only cover the WAMP ( Windows, Apache, MySQL, PHP ). You will learn how to install Apache, PHP, and MySQL under Windows platform.

The first step is to download the packages :

You should get the latest version of each packages. As for the example in this tutorial i'm using Apache 2.0.50 ( apache_2.0.50-win32-x86-no_ssl.msi ), PHP 4.3.10 ( php-4.3.10-Win32.zip ) and MySQL 4.0.18 ( mysql-4.0.18-win.zip ).

Now let's start the installation process one by one.

Go through below links for more details : -

http://www.php-mysql-tutorial.com/install-apache-php-mysql.php

Enable curl with XAMPP on Windows XP

2007-08-16T05:25:00.000-07:00

To enable curl library with XAMPP we need to modify the php.ini files in our xampp folder.

1) Locate the following files:
C:\Program Files\xampp\apache\bin\php.ini
C:\Program Files\xampp\php\php.ini
C:\Program Files\xampp\php\php4\php.ini

2) Uncomment the following line on your php.ini file by removing the semicolon.

;extension=php_curl.dll

3) Restart your apache server.

4) Check your phpinfo if curl was properly enabled.

YouTube user removes clip mocking Thai king

2007-04-05T21:23:00.000-07:00

The anonymous creator of a 44-second video clip mocking Thailand's revered king removed it from the YouTube video-sharing Web site on Thursday after torrents of abuse from outraged Thai viewers.

The relevant page on YouTube said simply the video had "been removed by the user".

However, Communications Minister Sitthichai Pookaiyaudom said Bangkok's army-backed administration would continue to block YouTube (www.youtube.com) as two images deemed offensive remained.

"We want those photos off the site too," he told Reuters.

Earlier, Sitthichai accused YouTube, owned by Internet search engine Google Inc, of being heartless and culturally insensitive for refusing to remove the file.

"We have told them how deeply offended Thais were by the clip, but they said there was much worse ridicule of President Bush on the site and they kept that there," he said.

"I don't think they really care how we feel. Thailand is only a tiny market for them."

The video showed grainy pictures of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the world's longest-reigning monarch whom many of Thailand's 63 million people regard as a semi-divine "father of the nation", with crude graphics superimposed on his face.

The most offensive image to Thais was the imposition of a pair of woman's feet, the lowest part of the body, on his head.

YouTube, which has dominated the user-generated online video market since it was founded in February last year, said it was disappointed by Bangkok's move and was "looking into the matter".

"YouTube reaches a wide global audience and strives to provide a community where people from around the world can express themselves by sharing videos in a safe and lawful manner," the company said in an e-mail response to Reuters.

Criticising or offending royalty is a serious crime in Thailand. Those found guilty of lese majeste can be jailed for up to 15 years.

Last week, a 57-year-old Swiss man was sentenced to 10 years in jail for spraying graffiti on pictures of the king on his birthday in December, a rare prison term for a foreigner.

However, the generals who ousted elected Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in a coup last September have also used the lese majeste laws to stifle criticism of themselves or their actions.

Several Web sites calling into question the southeast Asian nation's 18th coup in 75 years of on-off democracy have been shut down by the army-installed government.

When reports of the offending royal YouTube clip emerged in Thailand, the number of views rocketed by 50,000 in less than 24 hours, according to the site's own data.

It generated a lively debate about freedom of expression although the main reaction from Thais was shock and outrage - and torrents of abuse at the clip's creator, "paddidda", who is based in the United States.

Google turns to users for online maps

2007-04-05T21:11:00.000-07:00

Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) is calling upon its millions of users to chart a new direction for its online maps. As part of an initiative being launched Thursday, the Internet search leader will provide free tools designed to make it easy for people to share their knowledge about their neighborhoods and other favorite places by creating customized maps that can assemble information from a variety of sources. The map creators will be given the option to make the content public or keep it private. Thousands of hybrid maps, often called 'mashups,' are already available on the Web, documenting everything from local housing markets to active volcanos. But cobbling together an online map typically requires some computer coding skills. Google has tailored its tools for a mass audience, making map mashups as easy to produce as pointing and clicking a computer mouse. The Mountain View-based company is hoping the simplicity will generate millions of highly specialized maps that can be stored in its search index. Until now, Google's two-year-old maps had primarily been used for driving directions and finding local businesses. The more personal maps should open up new avenues as users share insights about their favorite vacation spots or a wide range of academic subjects, said Jessica Lee, product manager of Google maps. 'This is a big change,' Lee said. 'Even if we cut loose all our developers, we could never create maps with the same depth and quality as our users can.' While testing the new tools, Google's own engineers created maps focused on U.S. Route 66, the Hawaiian island of Kauai, Major League Baseball stadiums and voting patterns in the 2004 presidential election. If Google succeeds in its effort to build a vast storehouse of customized maps, its Web site could become an even more popular Internet destination. Achieving that goal would give Google even more opportunities to display the online ads that accounted for most of its $3.1 billion profit last year. The feature also could drive more traffic to Google's YouTube because the new toolkit also includes an option to embed video into the customized maps. Google's maps already are a big draw, with 22.2 million U.S. visitors during February, according to the most recent data available from comScore Media Metrix. That ranked Google maps third in its category, trailing AOL's Mapquest (45.1 million visitors) and Yahoo (NASDAQ:YHOO) (29.1 million visitors). The concept of mapping mashups was popularized by a computer animation engineer, Paul Rademacher, who charted apartment listings from Craigslist. Google has since hired Rademacher to work in its mapping department. Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

CNN

Warming 'already changing world'

2007-04-05T21:08:00.000-07:00

Climate change is already having major impacts on the natural world, a UN report is set to announce.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) believes there is also a discernible, though less marked, impact on human societies.

The IPCC is to release a summary of its report on Friday but talks on wording have continued late into the night.

Officials said there were differences between various countries on the strength of the language.

"The Europeans want to send a strong signal. The US does not want as much quantification," one official told the French news agency AFP.

China and Russia had also raised concerns over some passages of the 21-page summary, the official said.

The last-minute wrangling is likely to affect the degree of certainty in the final version, the BBC's Richard Black reports, but not the overall direction.

Water shortages

Draft versions seen by BBC News warn it will be hard for societies to adapt to all the likely climate impacts.

The report is set to say that a temperature rise above 1.5C from 1990 levels would put about one-third of species at risk of extinction.

More than one billion people would be at greater risk of water shortages, primarily because of the melting of mountain glaciers and ice fields which act as natural reservoirs.

The scientific work reviewed by IPCC scientists includes more than 29,000 pieces of data on observed changes in physical and biological aspects of the natural world.

Eighty-five percent of these, it believes, are consistent with a warming world.

Growing certainty

Since the IPCC's last global assessment in 2001, the amount of scientific work on observing and collating changes to the natural world has vastly increased.

In parallel, computer models which project the Earth's climatic future have grown ever more sophisticated, though there are still uncertainties in their forecasts and they remain unable to model some physical processes accurately.

The combination of more observational evidence and better models allows scientists to paint a much more detailed picture of what is happening in different regions of the world, and what they believe is likely to happen in the future.

"What we find is that evidence of the impacts of climate change is much sharper, much more reliable," said IPCC chair Rajendra Pachauri.

"Many of the uncertainties have been resolved; and they confirm that the poorest of the poor are most likely to be hit by the impacts of climate change."

Fresh water is perhaps the most serious issue for human societies.

The world's great mountain ranges, such as the Himalayas, Rockies, Andes and Alps, act as natural reservoirs, trapping winter rain and snowfall as ice, and releasing it gradually in the summer.

Evidence suggests that glaciers are shrinking in all of these ranges. One recent study predicted that 75% of Alpine glaciers would have vanished by the end of this century.

As the ice disappears, spring and autumn floods become more likely, with an increased risk of drought in summer. The IPCC is expected to say there is "very high confidence" that these trends are already occurring.

It will also project a higher risk of flooding for many major cities on or near the coast.

Carbon cuts

Some observers of climate issues have long maintained that action on climate change should focus on protecting societies and natural systems against impacts such as floods and drought, rather than on curbing greenhouse gas emissions.

Dealing with drought

Enlarge Image

The IPCC, however, is set to conclude that "adaptation alone is not expected to cope with all the projected effects of climate change, and especially not over the long run as most impacts increase in magnitude".

Poorer societies are likely to be hardest hit, as they lack the resources to set up protective measures and change their economic base.

Adapting to climate impacts, in the IPCC's view, should go hand in hand with reducing emissions.

This is the second in a series of IPCC reports coming out this year, together making up its fourth global climate assessment.

The first element, on the science of climate change, was released in February, concluding it is at least 90% likely that human activities are principally responsible for the warming observed since 1950.

The third part, which comes out in May, will focus on ways of curbing the rise in greenhouse gas concentrations and temperature.

BBC

1000 Hyderbad IT professionals fired!

2007-02-19T00:15:00.000-08:00

It is sleepless nights for Hyderabad's IT employees. About a 1000 lost their jobs overnight after they failed their employers' background checks. CNBC-TV18 gives the details.

It has been a harrowing week for Satyam's staff, as 500 of their work mates have already been fired overnight. That is after the company conducted background checks on its middle and junior-level employees to curb fraud and minimise the risk of data theft.

But Satyam is not alone. HSBC too fired over 350 employees at its call centre in Hyderabad over the past week. Officials from Satyam say it is conducting checks at all its facilities in India and if an employee is found to have falsified any certification, he or she is being asked to leave immediately.

Satyam officials say they will not file criminal proceedings, but other IT and ITeS companies have begun similar checks. They hope to make their companies virtually fraud free.

Amnesty honour for Jennifer Lopez

2007-02-15T21:57:00.000-08:00

Hollywood star Jennifer Lopez has been honoured by human rights group Amnesty International for her latest film.

Bordertown is set in the Mexican town of Ciudad Juarez, which has witnessed a grisly decade of unsolved rapes and murders of young women.

Lopez, who produced the movie, stars as an investigative journalist reporting on the serial killings.

She was awarded the Artists for Amnesty prize ahead of the film's premiere at the Berlin Film Festival on Wednesday.

The actress, 37, said she was "very humbled" as she was given the award by East Timor's Prime Minister Jose Ramos-Horta, a Nobel peace laureate.

'Shocking'

No-one knows how many murders have been committed in Ciudad Juarez since the killings began in 1993, but Amnesty says it is more than 400.

Police have made several arrests, and the murders have been variously attributed to serial killers, drug cartels and domestic violence.

Several gangs have also been mentioned as the perpetrators.

But every time the police trumpet an arrest or conviction, the murders continue.

Lopez described the situation as "one of the world's most shocking and disturbing, underreported crimes against humanity."

Also at the Amnesty ceremony in Berlin was Norma Andrade, whose 17-year-old daughter was found murdered in February 2001.

Following her daughter's death, she co-founded Our Daughters Back Home (Nuestras Hijas de Regreso a Casa), a legal support group for victims' parents.

"She's a remarkable woman and a true inspiration," Lopez said.

Bordertown also stars Antonio Banderas and Martin Sheen. It does not yet have a release date.

Valentine's Day: The Good, The Bad, The Lovely

2007-02-12T22:26:00.000-08:00

Once again, St. Valentine's universal day of affection has arrived. It is traditionally a day of euphoria, during which recipients of Cupid's arrows go about their day lulled by the warmth of romantic love and bubbly floating hearts that fill the air.

Reality check: It's freezing outside, and for many, Valentine's Day is not always the stereotypical love-fest it is sometimes made out to be. As these students prove, some of the most amusing stories are those of romance gone awry.

Premature proposal

Debbie Reedy's boyfriend could not wait until Valentine's Day to propose to his girlfriend of nearly a year, so he popped the question on Feb. 1 of this year.

Reedy, a sophomore early childhood education major, said she never even suspected he was going to ask her to marry him.

"I had just got out of the bath tub and he came in, and I was like wait a minute I'm not ready yet!" she said. "He was like, 'Don't make me yell at you before I propose to you.'"

Reedy's boyfriend did not have to yell, but instead told her he wanted to be her "only Valentine."

"I cried and said yes," Reedy said.

Too much love?

The men's chorus at Kent State University has traditionally provided a singing telegrams service on Valentine's Day. Sometimes members of the group practice their skills on unsuspecting victims.

Sophomore nursing major Lindsey Eble was one such victim. Two members of the chorus happened to be resident assistants in the hall she was living in.

"I got serenaded by my RAs in the middle of the Student Center," she said. "They were trying to advertise for it (singing telegrams). It was a little embarrassing."

Motherly love

Valentine's Day is known to be a day of love, but it doesn't always have to be romantic. For some, it can be about love between friends and family as well.

"My mom's always been my Valentine," said Patrice DeLeon, Kent State alumnus and volunteer for the university health center.

DeLeon said it started with a bad week she had during her senior year of high school. She failed a test, was a having problems with a guy she liked and was nervous for her brother, who was competing in an upcoming wrestling tournament — all during the week of Valentines Day.

"My mom actually bought me a half dozen roses and a Scooby Doo twin bed set that glowed in the dark," she said.

Now her mom calls her every Valentine's day, she said.

No "yolking"

Differing beliefs can be a big hurdle in relationships, but for Nik Kolenich, a freshman interior design major, and his ex-girlfriend, it was a deal breaker.

Kolenich's girlfriend of six months was a Christian who came from a Christian family. He was not.

"I took her out to this fancy Valentine's Day dinner, and I could tell there was some tension," he said.

During the dinner Kolenich' girlfriend broke up with him, citing their conflicting beliefs as their biggest problem.

"She said, 'We're not evenly yoked,'" Kolenich said. "It had something to do with religion, but all I could think about was scrambled eggs."

Bitter irony

Maddie Richards, freshman justice studies major, knows all too well that Valentine's Day can prove to be a painful experience.

"Last Valentine's Day I got a broken nose," she said.

Richards said another girl had a crush on Richards' boyfriend and was jealous of their relationship.

"She came over to his place while I was there," she said. "I told her to leave because it was my day with him."

Richards said the girl jumped on her, punched her in the face and then left.

Richards called the police, but when they arrived she was dealt another blow: Her boyfriend, who had a warrant out for his arrest, walked away from their celebration in handcuffs.

http://media.www.stateronline.com

Giving Flowers This Valentine's Day? Read This First

2007-02-12T02:41:00.000-08:00

Flowers and Valentine's Day are a cherished tradition, whether you're sending a dozen roses, an elaborate flower arrangement, or hand-delivering a bouquet of daisies. And, as if you needed additional reasons to send flowers this Valentine's Day, new research shows that the mere presence of flowers can change people's moods for the better.A behavioral study conducted at Harvard University shows people feel more compassionate toward others, have less worry and anxiety and feel less depressed when flowers are present in their home."Other research has proven that flowers make people happy when they receive them," says Nancy Etcoff, Ph.D., who conducted the study. "What we didn't know is that spending a few days with flowers in the home can affect a wide variety of feelings."

To help those good feelings last as long as possible, check out the Flower Doctor's hotline sponsored by The Flower Promotion Organization at (888) FLOWRMD (356-9763) for tips on keeping cut flowers looking their best. Throughout the month of February, the hotline plays recorded tips by horticulturist Dr. Bridget Behe, a professor of horticulture at Michigan State University, on the care and handling of cut flowers.The hotline will be live from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. CST on Feb. 14 and 15, with cut flower experts on hand to answer questions. Dr. Behe also answers e-mail questions from flower lovers through www.flowrmd.com and www.flowerpossibilities.com year-round.Here are some pointers for your Valentine's Day blooms:Q. How do I keep my fresh cut flowers alive as long as possible?A. Re-cut the stems -- about one additional inch -- with floral clippers or sharp knife. Dissolve commercial flower preservative in warm water and immediately place the flowers in the solution. Keep them out of direct sunlight and away from drafts.Q. When re-cutting, is it better to cut in warm or cold water?A. Warm water is best.Q. Which cut flower lasts longest?A. Flower life is a function of genetics and environment. Generally, though, chrysanthemums and carnations last the longest.Q. Does removing leaves harm the flowers?A. No. In fact, removing leaves that will be under water will help reduce bacteria and fungi growth that can harm the stems and shorten your enjoyment period.Q. Is a vinegar and water solution better than floral food?A. No. Nothing extends the life of a cut bloom as well as a measured amount of commercial floral preservative dissolved in warm water.The Flower Promotion Organization also offers recipes for creative floral arrangements on its Web site, www.flowerpossibilities.com. This Valentine's Day, consider something unique, like this recipe for romance:

Roses To Go

Materials - for small take-out container:

Directions:

Ref : http://www.thebostonchannel.com/valentines/

Grammy Awards honour music stars

2007-02-11T20:22:00.000-08:00

R&B singer Mary J Blige and rock band the Red Hot Chili Peppers have won three prizes each at this year's Grammy Awards in Los Angeles.

American Idol star Carrie Underwood and country band The Dixie Chicks also took home three awards apiece.

The ceremony was opened by reformed pop group The Police - one day before they are expected to announce a world tour.

Sting, Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland played their 1979 hit Roxanne to a standing ovation from 12,000 fans.

Sting began with the words: "Ladies and gentlemen, we are The Police and we are back."

Mary J Blige's awards included best R&B album

The band are expected to confirm their tour at a press conference on Monday.

The Grammy Awards are the most prestigious honours in the global music calendar, with 108 categories ranging from pop to jazz to gospel to polka.

Blige went into the show with the most nominations, with eight, followed by the Red Hot Chili Peppers with six.

Blige's night kicked off with awards for best R&B song and best female R&B vocal performance for her track Be Without You.

And her album The Breakthrough was named best R&B album. "I thank you so much," she said, accepting her first trophy.

The Dixie Chicks have bounced back from political controversy

"For so many years I have been talked about negatively but this time I'm being talked about positively by so many people. This is a great night for me."

But she was beaten to the best song prize by Not Ready to Make Nice by country group The Dixie Chicks.

That song was written in response to death threats the female group received after they said in 2003 they were "ashamed" the US President was from their home state of Texas.

"For the first time in my life I'm speechless," singer Natalie Maines said at the podium.

The trio also won best country album and best country performance by a duo or group.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers' single Dani California scooped both best rock song and best rock performance by a duo or group.

Beyonce won best contemporary R&B album for B'Day

Carrie Underwood, who won TV talent show American Idol in 2005, was named best new artist - beating R&B prodigy Chris Brown and British singers James Blunt, Corinne Bailey Rae and Imogen Heap.

Underwood also took best country song and best female country vocal performance for her song Jesus, Take the Wheel.

Justin Timberlake picked up best dance recording for Sexy Back and best rap/sung collaboration for My Love, featuring TI.

TI also won best solo rap performance for What You Know, while best rap song went to Ludacris featuring Pharrell for Money Maker.

Gnarls Barkley's smash hit Crazy was named best urban/alternative performance, while their album St Elsewhere was judged best alternative album.

Bruce Springsteen also won two awards, scooping best traditional folk album for We Shall Overcome - The Seeger Sessions and best long form video for Wings For Wheels: The Making of Born To Run.

Madonna picked up best dance/electronic album for Confessions On A Dance Floor, while Christina Aguilera, John Mayer and The Black Eyed Peas took home pop prizes.

BBC

Shilpa wows Britain's bold and beautiful

2007-02-11T20:16:00.000-08:00

The brouhaha over racism in the "Celebrity Big Brother" house has died down, but Indian actress Shilpa Shetty continues to make news by sashaying across Britain and holding forth on the British bold and the beautiful, including on Prime Minister Tony Blair.

After Shetty distracted the attention of MPs in the House of Commons by sitting in the visitors' gallery and meeting Blair on Thursday, she travelled to Leicester, a city in the east Midlands with a large minority of Indian origin.

By all accounts, she is clearly enjoying her post-reality show peregrinations across Britain.

For much of the time this week, she has been chaperoned by Keith Vaz, Labour MP from Leicester of Goan origin. In the process, Vaz invited snide remarks in political circles of basking in reflected glory, appearing alongside Shetty in television appearances and elsewhere.

Ratan Tata may have recently taken over Corus in a multi-billion pound deal, but ask any anyone on the streets of Britain and you will be told that Shetty is the only Indian they know of. Every news media outlet, including the mass circulation 'Sun', has been devoting blanket coverage to Shetty's interaction with leading lights in Britain's political and social circles.

In between, Shetty and her mother Sunanda grapple with the continuing stream of sponsorship and other offers, many of them running into hundreds of thousands of pounds, including to present television shows in Britain.

In Leicester, she was expected to be given a rousing welcome, not only because her treatment on the reality show touched a raw nerve among the large minority of Asians there, but also because most of them voted for her victory. And Asians there did not disappoint her.

A large number of her fans screamed for her as she made a fashionably late entrance in the Indian-dominated Belgrave area as she was whisked out of a sports car in front of the adoring crowds. Many had waited for hours in freezing temperatures before she finally arrived at the Peepul Centre.

Dozens of photographers and cameramen, including many who had flown in from India, clamoured to see Shilpa as she arrived with mother Sunanda and Vaz, who was literally on home ground and was clearly the master of ceremonies.

Sabras Radio, a popular local radio station, claimed to be the first in the UK to interview her, while a minor scuffle among fans outside the radio station had the local police all worked up. The visit raised 5,000 pounds for her new charity foundation to increase awareness of HIV and AIDS in India.

Reports from Leicester say that she "dealt with the public and media scrum with her trademark dignified calmness". Her first reaction was: "Oh my gosh. I feel like I've come to a mini-India. Can I stay in Leicester?

"Big Brother hasn't changed me, but it's taught me never to do a reality show again. Also it's taught me how important it is to be dignified in any situation."

Local resident Krita Thakrar, 42, who works at the Shenton Primary School in Spinney Hill, said pupils had learned from Shilpa's dignified behaviour. She said: "The children have just taken her on like a role model."

But not every Shilpa Shetty story in the news media is celebratory. The Sun claimed that she faced accusations in a court in India of underpaying women workers at her family's factory.

The newspaper reported: "Investigators claim staff at the bottle-top plant were paid just Rs.86 - one pound - a day. The minimum wage is Rs.110. Men were also being paid more than female workers, which breaks employment laws.

"If the Bollywood star is found guilty, she faces a fine of between Rs.500 and Rs.2,000 for each worker. Shilpa, dad Surendra and mum Sunanda are directors of Esco Closures and have been named in papers filed by investigators.

"The family has run the plant since 1982. They employ 16 staff, including 10 women, 40 miles from Mumbai. Authorities said the family had failed to reply to correspondence about the probe and could face arrest".

Valentine's Day :: Not Like it Used To Be

2007-02-09T20:07:00.000-08:00

February 14 is Valentine's Day. Although it is celebrated as a lovers' holiday today, with the giving of candy, flowers, or other gifts between couples in love, it originated in 5th Century Rome as a tribute to St. Valentine, a Catholic bishop.

For eight hundred years prior to the establishment of Valentine's Day, the Romans had practiced a pagan celebration in mid-February commemorating young men's rite of passage to the god Lupercus. The celebration featured a lottery in which young men would draw the names of teenage girls from a box. The girl assigned to each young man in that manner would be his sexual companion during the remaining year.

In an effort to do away with the pagan festival, Pope Gelasius ordered a slight change in the lottery. Instead of the names of young women, the box would contain the names of saints. Both men and women were allowed to draw from the box, and the game was to emulate the ways of the saint they drew during the rest of the year. Needless to say, many of the young Roman men were not too pleased with the rule changes.

Instead of the pagan god Lupercus, the Church looked for a suitable patron saint of love to take his place. They found an appropriate choice in Valentine, who, in AD 270 had been beheaded by Emperor Claudius.

Claudius had determined that married men made poor soldiers. So he banned marriage from his empire. But Valentine would secretly marry young men that came to him. When Claudius found out about Valentine, he first tried to convert him to paganism. But Valentine reversed the strategy, trying instead to convert Claudius. When he failed, he was stoned and beheaded.

During the days that Valentine was imprisoned, he fell in love with the blind daughter of his jailer. His love for her, and his great faith, managed to miraculously heal her from her blindness before his death. Before he was taken to his death, he signed a farewell message to her, "From your Valentine." The phrase has been used on his day ever since.

Although the lottery for women had been banned by the church, the mid-February holiday in commemoration of St. Valentine was still used by Roman men to seek the affection of women. It became a tradition for the men to give the ones they admired handwritten messages of affection, containing Valentine's name.

The first Valentine card grew out of this practice. The first true Valentine card was sent in 1415 by Charles, duke of Orleans, to his wife. He was imprisoned in the Tower of London at the time.

Cupid, another symbol of the holiday, became associated with it because he was the son of Venus, the Roman god of love and beauty. Cupid often appears on Valentine cards.

http://www.theholidayspot.com/valentine/

Shilpa outraged by Bobby Khan, Jazz Barton's fraud

2007-02-09T19:50:00.000-08:00

Actress Shilpa Shetty's elation at her international triumph vanishes when she speaks about the two people - Bobby Khan and Jazz Barton, who allegedly exploited her name and position as the "Celebrity Big Brother" winner to make illegal deals on her behalf.

She is a mixture of grief and indignation.

"They've completely taken advantage of the fact that I wasn't allowed to speak to the press after I came out of 'Big Brother'. Yes, I've filed a defamation case against them. I believe in doing what's right. I considered Bobby a friend," Shilpa told sources.

At the same time Shilpa acknowledges Bobby's hand in her current status.

"I never denied that the 'Big Brother' deal came through him. I give him complete credit for that. I paid 6,000 pounds to Jazz. She was the common factor between me and Endemol (the company that produced 'Big Brother')."

She is honest enough to admit others were approached first for the reality show.

"They wanted a Bollywood actor. They first approached a couple of other actors. Then, finally, I did it. The next thing I know, when I come out of 'Big Brother' Jazz had signed a huge deal on my behalf with the British newspaper The Sun! How could she? Nobody has the power of attorney to do that.

"I've best PR people and agent in Britain, people who've handled Beatles, Jimi Hendrix and David Beckham. Who are Bobby and Jazz springing into the picture to claim they're my agents? They just want to make a quick buck."

Shilpa accuses Jazz of making a fool of herself on the BBC.

"These are people who've called themselves my friends. They're now shaming my country and me. What will people think? I was saddened by the loose statements Bobby made about my family and my mother in particular. How dare he even think of speaking like that about her? I was very hurt."

The hurt to the family precipitated the legal action.

"I can't take any slander against my family. Hit out at me, not my family. Even the money that I received as the last instalment for 'Big Brother' has gone to Jazz's account. I didn't stop that. I don't know how they can claim that Shilpa duped them. We don't belong to that class of people who deprive others of their rightful money."

MM

Cool millions for YouTube founders

2007-02-09T04:16:00.000-08:00

The investors and founders of YouTube received hundreds of millions of dollars in Google shares as a result of the deal between the two companies late last year, according to new documents.

The big payout was revealed Wednesday in a regulatory filing Google made with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The paperwork offered a more detailed account than previously disclosed of the sale's beneficiaries.

The $1.76 billion acquisition of the video-sharing Web site was the biggest in Google's history, and took place less than two years after YouTube was founded. The startup had about 70 employees when the deal was announced in October.

In total, online search leader Google Inc. registered about 3.23 million Class A shares to issue to former YouTube stockholders, according to the filing.

YouTube's three founders and Sequoia Capital, its main financial backer, received the biggest windfalls.

Chad Hurley, YouTube's chief executive, was paid in Google shares with a current indicated value of more than $345 million. He received 694,087 shares and an additional 41,232 in a trust.

Another founder, Steven Chen, received 625,366 shares and another 68,721 in a trust, for more than $326 million. Jarwed Karim, the third co-founder, received 137,443 Google shares, with an indicated value of $64.6 million.

Sequoia Capital, the sole venture capital backer of YouTube, received 941,027, valued at about $442 million.

At least two dozen YouTube employees received lesser share amounts. Shares were also divided up among dozens of limited partner investors in Sequoia Capital.

Since its Web site first began to catch on about a year ago, YouTube has relied on a mix of homemade and pirated videos to expand its audience.

Although YouTube has promptly removed pirated videos whenever copyright owners complained about violations, questions have continued to linger about the site's vulnerability to legal claims for distributing content owned by other media.

Google executives also have repeatedly vowed to protect the rights of copyright holders.

CNN