All about Internet

Wetpaint

The whole world wants a website. Well, maybe not the whole world, but a lot of people do. And I do not mean just one website for all of them.

What do you do if you have a hobby or pastime that a lot of people are interested in, and you want to be able to create a site that everyone can contribute to?

The answer is wiki. At Wetpaint you can learn how to make simple and effective wiki pages in three easy steps.

Wiki is a piece of server software that allows users to freely create and edit web page content using any web browser - and whilst you do not need to use this site to achieve that goal, it takes all of the hard work out of the process so even the most technically inept surfers can take part.

Click the link to play the tutorial on the opening page for an overview. When you are ready to get started just click the big green Go.

Now just follow the steps, choosing who you want to be able to view and or edit the pages, a basic template for the design, and then inviting the people you want to participate.

It is fast, totally free, and you do not have to be a genius to make compelling pages - you just need some interesting content and a bunch of mates to help you out.

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My Classic FM

A little bit of class next. Online radio is booming, in many senses of the word. But not this site - My Classic FM is far too cultured to be booming.

The design of this website is not particularly sophisticated, but that does not really bother me as the majority of the time you are using the page you will not actually be looking at it at all.

You can of course learn about all of the shows and presenters by exploring the menus and sub menus, but the bulk of the content can be accessed through the left hand navigation panel.

Click How to Listen to launch the live broadcast feature, or listen to any of the shows you may have missed over the past seven days.

The Podcasts and Downloads section hold the keys to plenty of content for you to sign up for - and if you click on Music and then Playlists you will find a useful tool to help you find composers or tracks you have just heard.

Do be aware though, if you have a bandwidth restriction on your connection, listening to or watching anything that is streaming will really suck it up quickly.

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Ideal bite

We all want to live a life that is a little greener don't we? Now you could just decide to paint your entire house apple green, but that is not really going to help the environment - or your eyes.

Idealbite.com offers the solution for those that want to take positive action.

The premise of this nicely designed spot of the internet is to deliver a daily tip for green living into your e-mail inbox every day.

Just sign up and it is totally free - the tips claim to be convenient, inexpensive and to make you feel good, with a little sprinkling of fun thrown in for good measure.

If you do not want your in box spammed on a daily basis you can read the tips online in the website's library.

Check the top 10 tips section for the most popular bites. They include everything from the most economical use of car air-conditioning, to how to spot phantom loads on your electricity supply - such as mobile phone chargers and electrical equipment on standby.

Each daily tip has a bunch of other stuff tied to it, like quick facts and interesting titbits. It is a little nibble of what does you good every day - so go on, spoil yourself.

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Lifehacker

And talking of what does you good, the next site I'd like to recommend is full of great articles for improving your life - we could all use a little of that right?

You will find this first class blog at Lifehacker.com. Tech tips, tricks and downloads for getting things done is the blogger's tagline, and a thoroughly suitable tagline it is too.

With definite leanings towards nerdyness, Lifehacker keeps it real with a hard working editorial team publishing lots of tips each day - linking through to other bloggers, tech sites and download sites.

Basically anywhere they find something they think might interest you. Anything from how to be a great tipper to where to download software that will let you hide sensitive documents in superfast time.

Browse the site at your leisure using the section links across the top or use the search tool if you are looking for something specific.

You can even sign up for a daily tips mailer or RSS feed for life-hacking on tap.

Warning on Internet's Future

Jonathan Zittrain believes that viruses and security threats will bring about a closed network where innovation will be restricted. Meanwhile, Lee Siegel worries about the loss of originality and real democracy on the web.

You can watch the two interviews - extended versions of those broadcast on TV - by using the links below.

Jonathan Zittrain

Lee Siegel

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JONATHAN ZITTRAIN

In his book The Future of The Internet and How to Stop It, Jonathan Zittrain celebrates the freedom the PC and the internet has given people to openly create and share their innovations with us all.

He points to innovations such as the web, e-mail and the wiki which were all given to society by their creators.

But increasingly with such freedom has come viruses, security threats and malware.

Zittrain describes these as "bad code" and he fears this is starting to drive us towards closed, guarded networks where everything is watched over and approved by a gatekeeper.

"I think more people will be driven into the waiting arms of either sterile information appliances - things like the iPod, iPhone and Sony PlayStation - which don't allow outside code on the machine at all, or without the permission of the platform vendor," he explains.

"Or they will end up migrating towards the web itself and by that I mean they will find someone on the web to deliver services to them which substitute what they do on their PC.

"They'll do their documents in Google Docs, their e-mail in Google Mail, their messaging on Facebook."

Software rights

For people who just want their devices to work this might not be a problem, but for innovators working to closed platforms like Apple, Google or Facebook, it changes the game.

"The natural presence of the platform online means that Facebook gets to control it far more," says Zittrain.

"If you read the Facebook terms of service. It contains things - provided automatically by the lawyers, it's not evidence of some terrible plan by Facebook - but it contains rights that Bill Gates, Mr Proprietary, could never have dreamed of.

"[There are] rights to charge the makers of applications for the privilege of allowing that application to continue to exist on Facebook at any rate Facebook chooses. Rights to terminate any application that they don't like, for any reason."

Product lockdown

If just a few big names had played gatekeeper in the past, would applications like Skype have got off the ground?

With no money in it for operators, Zittrain fears commercial interests would have strangled free international calling over the internet.

If the music industry had easily been able to kill off the file-sharing applications used to illegally swap songs, would the BBC's iPlayer exist, which uses the same technology?

So, if we move to locked-down managed gadgets in a bid to get a more reliable service, do we risk caging innovation itself?

"I think we need, either by law or technology, to make sure that when we move to cloud computing or to tethered devices, that the tether isn't too tight that new stuff can be strangled before it's had a chance to prove its worth," says Zittrain.

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LEE SEIGEL

Lee Siegel, author of Against the Machine: Being Human in the Age of the Electronic Mob was bullied when he wrote about his views online which challenged the beliefs held by many bloggers, YouTube performers, and social networkers. It was, for him, a case of publish and be damned.

For Siegel, the online world is not so much inhabited by us as by our egos, which are slowly destroying civilization.

Humans are regressing to a "look-at-me" culture.

We are so desperate to be loved - chasing page rank, viewing figures, and "friends" we do not really know - that we are practically begging for others approval.

"It creates a culture of popularity," explains Siegal. "People look to the crowd for approval without getting in touch with their own instincts, without heeding their own conscience."

"People want to be watched, they want to be surveilled. Fame is the new wealth, obscurity is the new poverty. They want all eyes upon them," he adds.

Copycat culture

This dependence on approval is damaging originality.

Imitation is commonplace, a copycat culture where everything starts to look the same. It used to be called plagiarism, now it is celebrated and provides a quick-and-easy fix for our attention-seeking egos.

"I think life changes when a camera is put upon you," says Siegel.

"I don't think that you can have a natural, organic society when people are existing at that level of self-consciousness. They begin to perform for other people.

"They begin to market themselves. Authenticity becomes more and more rare."

Drowning voices

It is not just teenagers making videos. Many of us have carefully-crafted profiles designed to attract others on social networking sites.

Siegel believes our egos are now running riot on the web.

We have started to kick back at anyone who may try to lead us, or try to inform us. We will not be told.

Siegel points to the rise of the blog.

Strong opinions need little research or fact checking, yet the blog has quickly gained influence. He fears this trend will reduce what the truth is to whoever shouts the loudest.

"I think that's very, very dangerous because there are experts. No-one would talk of citizen heart surgeons, for example," he says. "But on the internet they talk of citizen journalists, because it seems that anyone can take up a keyboard and write a story.

"If the only truth is the result of the strongest, most emphatic assertion, what happens to the patient, soft spoken, contemplative people? They'll get drowned out."

Rational review

Lee Siegel knows his book is controversial but only because few people have questioned the net's show-offs and bullies.

"Unlike earlier transformative technologies, like radio and television, the internet has not been subjected to critical examination. It has escaped that.

"I think it's time to look rationally and level headed at this thing and talks about its dark side as well as its virtues," he says.

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A Pie from Internet

Picture sharing sites are all the rage, but do you wish you could add a little more pizzazz to your album distribution?

How about adding a banging rock tune and having the pictures animate on and off in a video you can post on YouTube? But that would be far too much work, right? Wrong.

Click Get Started to begin using this brilliant site. You will need to register to make either a 30 second short, which is completely free, or full length film, which you have to pay for.

Next, choose to upload pictures from either your computer or a photo sharing site. Fifteen shots is ideal for a 30 second short.

Uploading them might take a few minutes, depending on your connection speed, how many pictures you have chosen and what resolution they are. Once they have uploaded, use the buttons at the bottom to rotate, spotlight or add more pictures from another location.

Then add a banging tune. Click the Music tab at the side and choose either from their selection or a track off your own computer.

Now you are almost done. The next screen asks you to enter a name and some details about your video, then just click Create Video and wait while the website does the fancy bit.

You can start working on your next video while you wait, then click My Videos at the top to review your work. After playing the video you can choose to do a remix, altering the pictures and the music. A link to view it will also be e-mailed to you.

Finally, use the buttons at the bottom to distribute your film either straight to YouTube or e-mailing your friends. Later on in the beta phase they will be adding the option to download to your iPod.

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ReallyWorried

If you are fretting about something, anything at all, ReallyWorried offers to be a guiding light in the troublesome walk through life.

Here you can share your fears with the world at large, and hopefully get practical advice and information from someone who has been there before.

That is the basic premise of this website. It is not offering expert opinions from a paid entourage of staffers, but rather provides a simple yet glossy forum in which people from all over the world can offer advice and encouragement on any manner of topics big and small, from global warming to body image.

Just type what your worry is into the search box provided then see if anyone else is having the same concerns.

You will need to register if you want to post your own worries, or respond to other people's. And be warned some of the editorial can be quite grown-up as there are several conversations about adult subjects on the site.

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TSTools

If you are wondering whether you are actually getting the connection speeds to the internet that your service provider has promised, pop yourself along to TSTools and find out for yourself.

Operation could not be easier, despite the slightly scary looking front page. Just choose the download location to test from, pick a download size to test, and click it to start.

Remember to close any bandwidth hogging software such as downloads, games, software updates or streaming radio and video before you start, as this will impair your results.

The next screen tells you exactly what your download speed is. It is very useful if you think your ISP might be overloading its network and giving you poor service as a result.

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Speed Up Gmail

You have to check some very important emails on GMail, you type in the user/password on the Login page and hit submit but the Inbox either won't open at all or just take lot of time to load.

Sometimes, it can get really tough "logging into" GMail. Either the browser will stuck on an intermediate GMail login screen that says "Loading.." forever in a loop or the service simply says "Oops... the system was unable to perform your operation. Please try again in a few seconds."

Infact, my previous versions of Firefox would sometimes crash when I tried to login to GMail though 1.5.0.6 is much stable in that sense.

So in the above situations, when GMail starts misbehaving and won't let you check your important emails, try these simple hacks. They really work:

0. While the GMail Loading screen apears, press Ctrl+F5. Your Gmail inbox may load instantly without having to wait.

1. Clean your IE browser cache, temporary internet files and the cookies. This is very likely to solve your Gmail login woes but if you don't like this method, move on to the next one.

2. Instead of typing www.gmail.com, try https://mail.google.com/mail (secure URL)

3. If your browser crashes just before opening the GMail Inbox, open gmail in standard HTML view by typing http://mail.google.com/mail/h/ - You can switch to the standard view once the Gmail screen loads.

4. If you hate all the bells & whistles and want to see a very simple view of the inbox without the Google ads, type in http://m.gmail.com [GMail Mobile version] - This may try to download a file in IE so better use Firefox or Opera.

5. Bypass the default browser check by typing http://mail.google.com/gmail?nocheckbrowser - Use this when accessing Gmail on non-supported browsers.

6. When nothing helps, move to www.google.com/ig and add a GMail module there. That's the fastest way to check your gmail inbox without waiting for GMail inbox to load.

If you still have trouble accessing GMail, contact gmail support. They ask you the error message like Account gets stuck on 'Loading...', Blank white screen, Oops..unable to reach Gmail, etc indicating they are common issues.

Speed Tips that make GMail faster

» Reduce the number of GMail conversations to 25 so the browser has to serve less amount of data.

» Set you GMail view to "Standard Without Chat" and use Google Talk to chat with your gmail friends.

» Gmail seems to work faster in IE for me than Firefox. Did anyone else notice this ?

Rocking!!!! Question

Today we all know that we are developing new things more faster than the light(in every 3 second an invention is done) So No suspense that we'll make a world that has question to all things, So now i have a very old but interesting question over here!!

What wold happen if i dropped a rock through a hole that went throught the world?

Details:What would happen if there was a hollow hole through the world, and we dropped a rock in it? We all know magma that would burn it, but what if there was no magma? It can't just fall "Up" onto the other side.

Answer: If you there was no such thing as air resistance, and both sides of the hole were exactly equal distances from the center of the earth, the rock would fall all the way through, and "up" the other side, where it would reach the surface.

It would then fall back down into the hole, and "up" the original side. The rock would continue to do this yo-yo back and forth for about a bazillion years.

Assuming you have air resistance, the rock would reach terminal velocity (look it up) pretty quickly. The rock would make it to the center of the Earth and start up the other side, but it would not get very far "up" the other side. Since it was only going about 250 mph due to air resistance, the force of gravity sucks it back before it can make it up the other side. The rock will again yo-yo a bit, but each swing will get less and less, and eventually the rock will come to rest in the center of the Earth (all gravity is equal pull in all directions at the center)

Hope this makes sense!

Timepass Links!!

ReQall
I do not know about you, but I usually think of important things I need to remember to do when I am out taking a walk, or on the train, or basically anywhere that it is really inconvenient to make a note or leap into action. That is why my first recommendation is a big hit with me.

ReQall is the site that offers to be your constant companion and memory jogger, so you need never forget anything ever again.

Once you have registered, click the link to settings at the top to set up the various sections, including your notification preferences about how and when you want to receive reminders.

The idea is you input anything you want to be reminded about like birthdays, shopping lists, deadlines for work etc. The website's clever software recognises certain keywords, such as "buy" and automatically adds the reminder to the right section, like the shopping list.

You can share your ReQall database with other users, giving you the chance to gently remind your other half to pick up milk on the way home from work without seeming like you are nagging.

But it is for users in the UK, US and Canada that the site really comes into its own. Here you are offered toll free numbers to call so you can add notes while you are out and about, and they are converted to text and stored in your database as well as sent back to you by text.

You can add up to five telephone numbers linked to your account and there is even the option to put in a pin number if you need to use another number like a telephone box.

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MyGame

Games and virals are all the rage and at MyGame you can make your own viral game to send round to your friends.

For starters there is a whole bunch of ready made games here you can enjoy. Just peruse the opening page at your leisure. I really like Qink, a cunning colour puzzle game with a Japanese style.

Or even the game Stunt Pilot which had the guys in the Click office distracted for hours.

But gaming aside, if you click the tab to Create Games at the top, you can start having some very silly fun. Just chose a game from the simple templates. Upload your picture and then masque it and size it to fit the game. Chose a background, give it a name and hey presto. Silly games to amuse all.

One final touch, if you register with the site you can save your game, allowing players to show off their high scores for the world to see.

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Photoshop Disasters

And finally, a very quick look at a fun little blog recommended by Daniel Lawrence, a viewer from Finland.

Pictures in newspapers and magazines can be heavily edited, but sometimes the artist's work is not as good as it could be, and Photoshop Disasters has very helpfully taken note of all these graphical gaffs and pointed them out for us to have a good giggle at.

Just waste a few minute browsing the archives - use the links panel on the left to go back to previous months. You will find everything here from glossy ads to movie posters. Of particular note for me is the cloning used to make the famous 20th Century Fox splash page (Thursday, April 24, 2008 ). It is so obvious once it is pointed out.

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Login without password- It's Ultimate Hacking

Do You still Think that You are safe if you're using email sites like Gmail or Yahoo, and they can't be hacked!!
If so Sorry, have to update yourselves!!!
"Hackers Dont Need Passwords To enter Your Mail account"

The above thing is proved by Robert Graham (CEO Errata Security) at his presentation on Web 2.0 hijacking presentation at Black Hat 2007

Mr. Robert Graham

The audience erupted with laughter and applause when Graham used his tools to hijack someone’s Gmail account during an unscripted demo. The victim in this case was using a typical unprotected Wi-Fi Hotspot and his Gmail account just popped on the large projection screen for 500.

Rob demonstrated to a live audience how he can successfully hack into web based email programs like GMail, Yahoo Mail! or Hotmail using the IP Address and user name (login) without requiring any password.

Let's not go in the very technical details but he used some sniffing tools called Ferret (to copy the GMail cookies to his computers) and Hamster (to use the cookies in his browser). [Details at ZDNet, TG Daily]

You Can Stop persons like Graham??
So what can we do to prevent someone else from reading your mails on yahoomail and on Gmail?

Rob's method works when you are using the HTTP mode to access your email (http://www.gmail.com/). Therefore the trick is to always use Secure Login.

Here is a simple thing which you can do to safeguard your email in public wi-fi hot spots- Use https:// instead of the default http://- the entire session will be encrypted and the cloning cookies method will fail:


For GMail: https://mail.google.com/mail/
For iGoogle: https://www.google.com/ig
For basic HTML version
of GMail - https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=html

You can also install the Customize Google Firefox extension, that will always force the SSL mode in GMail incase you forget to manually type the https:// GMail URLs.

It is highly recommended also because it will also encrypt your other google services to open in SSL mode, like Google Docs, Google Reader, Google Calander, Google Web history, iGoogle and there are many more.

For Yahoo mail, it is recommended to use the "Secure" mode link, that's just beneath the 'sign in' button

Why Voice Differ???

Today, there is a well-known question about telephone that why our voice change while speaking on phone, let's see why it happens

Why do peoples voices sound different when they are talking on the phone?

One major reason for voices sounding different is that the frequency response of the telephone system is limited. The range of the human ear can extend right up 20kHz or more, especially in younger people. A connection over the telephone has a much narrower bandwidth, typically restricting the highest frequencies transmitted to a little over 3kHz in many cases.

That's adequate to convey intelligible speech, but naturally it changes the sound of the voice subtly by filtering out the highest-pitched components. It's the same sort of effect as you would get by listening to your favorite record on A.M. radio versus listening to it on F.M. or from a CD.

The telephone also reduces frequencies at the very lowest end of the audible range as well.

Hope it Helps!!!

iPhone 2.0 3G, What is new?

For all you mobile maniacs out there, here's the scoop - the 3G Apple iPhone or the iPhone 3G as it’s being called, has now been officially launched. The reports I have, all seem to state that the attendees at Steve Jobs’ Keynote speech were somewhat thrilled and relieved that the speculation and rumor mongering of what the new iPhone would look like and would incorporate was now put to rest.

Before I begin telling you all about the iPhone 3G, I’d just like to say that when it comes to quite a few of the updates – it’s about bloody time Steve! Without further ado let me clue you in on some of the more relevant features that make up the new and improved iPhone 3G.

Design
First off, Apple has refurbished the design a bit and the iPhone 3G is now slimmer than the last model. They’ve also added a new color to the line up – White - but that’s only available with the 16GB model. The other models will now have a glossy black rear casing, and I’m tempted to wonder, why go with a finger print magnet? The earphone socket has also been adjusted to accommodate normal 3.5mm pins, so users can simply plug in any headphone of their choice. Instead of a simple flat back it now also tapers a bit to give it a sleeker look and feel. Everything else design-wise hasn’t changed too much. Considering the fact that the new handset supports 3G and should support Video calling, there still doesn’t seem to be a secondary camera located in front, so i guess that's not happening anytime soon then.

Features
Not only is the new iPhone 3G going to be faster than the previous model it’s also going to have a better Battery Life, which according to Apple would be 5 hours of talk time. One of the few rumors I’m happy to say are true, is the fact that the new iPhone 3G is going to be equipped with an integrated GPS unit along with a few other location-based services to help enhance that feature especially with Google Maps live tracking and photo Geotagging.

Some of the ‘bugs’ that have been fixed include an option for deleting emails in bulk, a new Contact Search feature for looking up names in the address book and complete support for viewing Microsoft as well as iWork documents. It will also have a new scientific calculator. But the best part with the handset, at least for the business users, is the total enterprise support that the iPhone 3G comes with. Besides just that, it will also support Push email, Push contacts, Push calendar, Auto-discovery of Exchange servers, Global address lookup, and a Remote Wipe security feature. Wowee!

Firefox Goes For a Record

O.K., kids, ready to go for the record? The latest version of the free browser Firefox launched at 1 p.m. E.T. today, and organizers are hoping enough people will download it so that Guinness World Records will cite it for "most software downloaded in 24 hours." You can get Firefox 3 from the official "Download Day" site here. However, for the past few hours, Firefox's servers have been down, as a result of a crash caused by the enormous demand for the browser update. The Mozilla folks say service will be restored shortly.

Launch Day today coincides with the general availability of the latest version of the popular browser, which runs on virtually any computer. An open-source project organized by Mozilla (the descendants of the Netscape browser), Firefox is the world's second-most popular browser; Microsoft's Internet Explorer occupies the top slot. Of course, that's hardly a fair comparison, since virtually all Windows PCs ship with IE, giving it a 72% share of the browser market. Firefox, which is typically downloaded rather than factory installed, has a 17% market share, followed by Apple's Safari at 5%.

Guinness doesn't have a current record holder for most software downloaded in a day. Firefox will petition Guinness to accept its record as the one to beat.

Whether it makes Guinness or not, you ought to download this browser. I've been a Firefox user for years, and this version, which I've been beta-testing for weeks, has a number of new features that make it worth the minute or so it takes to download and install it. The most obvious improvement (and by the way, Firefox claims more than 15,000 improvements — bet you can't name 100 of them) is the "awesome bar," its update to the location bar. You can start typing a keyword in the location bar and Firefox will scan the history file of places you've visited for matching keywords. I typed "flight" in my location bar, for instance, and Firefox pulled up a variety of airline sites I've visited during the past month.

The new version is also faster (you'll notice this in places like Gmail) and more secure, with pop-ups warning users if they're visiting sites that have been flagged for phishing or malware. The best part of Firefox 3, though, is how easy it is to customize, with more than 5,000 free add-ons that change everything from how the browser looks to how it behaves. I've noticed only one problem: when I try and stream music from Rhapsody, a service I subscribe to, it crashes the browser. That said, I'm pretty certain the problem is on Rhapsody's side, since it also crashes Safari. But at least I can listen to music for an hour or so before Safari crashes; Firefox crashes within 10 min. Would someone please get on this ASAP? As of 11 a.m. E.T. Tuesday, 1,687,332 had pledged to download Firefox. "We think 5 million downloads is imminently doable," John Lilly, CEO of Mozilla Corp., told me today. That's 3.4 million more downloads than Firefox's previous record, set Oct. 24, 2006, when Firefox 2 was released. So download away.

The Best Inventions/Discoveries of the year 2007

Pretty Sweet, Its Sugar Battery

Copyright Sony Corporation

How's this for eco-friendly: a battery that runs on sugar. Sony's bio cell, unveiled in mid-2007, uses glucose-digesting enzymes to extract electrons from any sugary solution (as with other batteries, the electrons flow around the circuit to generate electricity). Connect four of the 50-milliwatt cells, and you've got enough juice to keep your MP3 player humming.
Available Prototype
sony.net

Autonomous Automobile

The trouble with most green-concept cars is that they require regular "refueling" with hard-to-get hydrogen or ethanol. The Venturi Eclectic runs solely on wind and solar power. Solar cells blanket the rooftop, and a wind turbine provides extra juice. When that's not enough, a backup electric outlet can recharge the three-seat Eclectic in five hours.
Available: 2008
http://www.venturi.fr/

Bending Reality, Crushing the LCD

Copyright Sony Corporation

Imagine a cell phone you could roll up like a sheet of paper, or a computer screen flexible enough to wrap around a pillar. This spring LG.Philips and Sony demonstrated flexible displays that can do just that. Both ultra-thin screens use organic leds that display 16.7 million colors. Flexible screens have been shown before, but these mark a step up in durability and quality, and bring us closer to a future when the unyieldingly rigid gadgets we now covet will be obsolete.
Available Prototypes
lgphilips-lcd.com

Serach Engine Optimization, A view from Google

Note:The Below article is the Thinking of Google, About Search Engine Optimization

SEO is an acronym for "search engine optimization" or "search engine optimizer." Deciding to hire an SEO is a big decision. Make sure to research the potential advantages as well as the damage that an irresponsible SEO can do to your site. Many SEOs and other agencies and consultants provide useful services for website owners, including:

• Reviewing and providing recommendations on your site content or structure
• Technical advice on website development: for example, hosting, redirects, error pages, use of JavaScript
• Content development
• Managing online business development campaigns
• Keyword research
• SEO training

Keep in mind that the Google search results page often includes paid advertising and free organic search results. It costs nothing to appear in our organic search results, and advertising with Google won't improve your ranking. Free resources such as Webmaster Tools, the official Webmaster Central blog, and our discussion group can provide you with a great deal of information about how to optimize your site for organic search. Many of these free sources, as well as information on paid search, can be found on Google Webmaster Central.

Before beginning your search for an SEO, it's a great idea to become an educated consumer and get familiar with how search engines work. We recommend starting here:

• Google Webmaster Guidelines
• Google 101: How Google crawls, indexes and serves the web.

If you're thinking about hiring an SEO, the earlier the better. A great time to hire is when you're considering a site redesign, or planning to launch a new site. That way, you and your SEO can ensure that your site is designed to be search engine-friendly from the bottom up. However, a good SEO can also help improve an existing site.

Some useful questions to ask an SEO include:

• Can you show me examples of your previous work and share some success stories?
• Do you follow the Google Webmaster Guidelines?
• Do you offer any online marketing services to complement your organic search business?
• What kind of results do you expect to see, and in what timeframe?
• What's your experience in my industry?
• How long have you been in business?

While SEOs can provide clients with valuable services, some unethical SEOs have given the industry a black eye through their overly aggressive marketing efforts and their attempts to manipulate search engine results in unfair ways. Practices that violate our guidelines may result in your site being removed from the Google index. Here are some things to consider:

• Be wary of SEO firms and web consultants or agencies that send you email out of the blue.

  Amazingly, we get these spam emails too:

  "Dear google.com,
  I visited your website and noticed that you are not listed in most of the major search engines and directories..."

  Reserve the same skepticism for unsolicited email about search engines as you do for "burn fat at night" diet pills or requests to help transfer funds from deposed dictators.

• No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google.

  Beware of SEOs that claim to guarantee rankings, allege a "special relationship" with Google, or advertise a "priority submit" to Google. There is no priority submit for Google. In fact, the only way to submit a site to Google directly is through our Add URL page or by submitting a Sitemap and you can do this yourself at no cost whatsoever.

• Be careful if a company is secretive or won't clearly explain what they intend to do.

  Ask for explanations if something is unclear. If an SEO creates deceptive or misleading content on your behalf, such as doorway pages or "throwaway" domains, your site could be removed entirely from Google's index. Ultimately, you are responsible for the actions of any companies you hire, so it's best to be sure you know exactly how they intend to "help" you.

• You should never have to link to an SEO.

  Avoid SEOs that talk about the power of "free-for-all" links, link popularity schemes, or submitting your site to thousands of search engines. These are typically useless exercises that don't affect your ranking in the results of the major search engines -- at least, not in a way you would likely consider to be positive.

• Choose wisely.

  While you consider whether to go with an SEO, you may want to do some research on the industry. Google is one way to do that, of course. You might also seek out a few of the cautionary tales that have appeared in the press, including this article on one particularly aggressive SEO: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2002002970_nwbizbriefs12.html. While Google doesn't comment on specific companies, we've encountered firms calling themselves SEOs who follow practices that are clearly beyond the pale of accepted business behavior. Be careful.

• Be sure to understand where the money goes.

  While Google never sells better ranking in our search results, several other search engines combine pay-per-click or pay-for-inclusion results with their regular web search results. Some SEOs will promise to rank you highly in search engines, but place you in the advertising section rather than in the search results. A few SEOs will even change their bid prices in real time to create the illusion that they "control" other search engines and can place themselves in the slot of their choice. This scam doesn't work with Google because our advertising is clearly labeled and separated from our search results, but be sure to ask any SEO you're considering which fees go toward permanent inclusion and which apply toward temporary advertising.

• What are the most common abuses a website owner is likely to encounter?

One common scam is the creation of "shadow" domains that funnel users to a site by using deceptive redirects. These shadow domains often will be owned by the SEO who claims to be working on a client's behalf. However, if the relationship sours, the SEO may point the domain to a different site, or even to a competitor's domain. If that happens, the client has paid to develop a competing site owned entirely by the SEO.

Another illicit practice is to place "doorway" pages loaded with keywords on the client's site somewhere. The SEO promises this will make the page more relevant for more queries. This is inherently false since individual pages are rarely relevant for a wide range of keywords. More insidious, however, is that these doorway pages often contain hidden links to the SEO's other clients as well. Such doorway pages drain away the link popularity of a site and route it to the SEO and its other clients, which may include sites with unsavory or illegal content.

• What are some other things to look out for?

There are a few warning signs that you may be dealing with a rogue SEO. It's far from a comprehensive list, so if you have any doubts, you should trust your instincts. By all means, feel free to walk away if the SEO:

• owns shadow domains
• puts links to their other clients on doorway pages
• offers to sell keywords in the address bar
• doesn't distinguish between actual search results and ads that appear in search results
• guarantees ranking, but only on obscure, long keyword phrases you would get anyway
• operates with multiple aliases or falsified WHOIS info
• gets traffic from "fake" search engines, spyware, or scumware
• has had domains removed from Google's index or is not itself listed in Google

Recover Deleted file

This is one of the major problem that one of the every three office worker is suffering form it, yes it is They just delete the important documents from their computer, today's question is about it!

Can you recover files you've deleted from your Recycing Bin?

If they're no longer in your recycle bin, you may be able to do a system restore back to the time you had the file. It "might" bring it back. Most times it's installed software that it will bring back, but I've been able to bring back entire picture files before.

Start Menu >> All Programs >> Accessories >> System Tools >> System Restore

It will allow you to choose a date that you wish to restore your computer back to. Your computer automatically does a restore date periodically, so you'll have to choose one that's closest to the date you need. For future references, before you install a program, go to System Restore and initiate a system check point. That way, if the program isn't quite as compatible as it should be, you will be able to restore your computer to the state it was before you installed the program.

Hope it Helps!!

Downloading Advice

Spyware tries to stay on your computer for a long time

Whilst many applications offered for download online are completely legitimate, some free downloads might contain spyware, or even malicious code designed to hijack your browser, or infect your PC with a virus.

But that is not to say you should panic and never download from the web.

The inclusion of spyware is quite common, as it allows the software providers to make an income by selling the data it collects from its users.

Should you wish to remove spyware, using an up-to-date spyware scanner usually proves effective - though occasionally the application you've originally downloaded may not run if it detects the embedded spyware has been removed.

You would have to be very unlucky to hit a download that contains malicious code, and taking a few basic precautions should help protect you.

What do others say?

Before commencing a download, always check the validity of the software.

Are then any reviews on reputable websites? Find out what other people are saying about it.

Open up one of the popular search engines, type the download file name, the program name, and the word "spyware" into the search box.

If others have had problems you'll find plenty of results shouting about it.

Always scan a download for viruses before you double click to execute it - as once you do, there's no turning back.

And finally, it is also a good idea to back up your data regularly, so if it does all go wrong you can at least restore your system.

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Registering online

Many websites require you to register to reach certain sections.

Giving personal details online is always a risk and you can find yourself awash with a flood of unwanted spam if you're not careful.

The golden rule here is read the privacy policy - especially if you are being asked to give more than just an email address and screen name.

Every website collecting personal details from its users is required to include a privacy policy section, and the link is usually to be found somewhere at the bottom of the registration page.

It is also worth noting that many websites will have an 'opt out' tick box for receiving data from third party advertisers.

Make sure you read all of the registration fields and make that adjustment before hitting the OK button.

As opening an email account is free, it may be worth considering using an account purely for the purposes of registering with websites.

That way you won't inundate your regular email address with unwanted emails - and in the process have a one-stop-shop for any information pertaining to the websites which you've registered with.

Making XP look likle Vista

Microsoft has set the end of January 2008 as the date when you will no longer be able to buy a new copy of Windows XP.

In its place is Windows Vista, and Microsoft are eager for you to upgrade. But do not fall for the hype on this one.

Obviously you do not have to upgrade to Vista by that date, in fact you do not have to upgrade to Vista at all, and your existing version of XP will not suddenly stop working.

New PCs are already being sold which include Vista and, of course, you can buy it as an upgrade, but there is another option you can take because I am going to show you some sneaky tricks to make Windows XP much more like Vista. It is like getting the benefits of the new operating system, but you do not have to pay for it!

INTERNET EXPLORER 7

First of all, at the heart of the internet-connected operating system is the browser. Windows Vista has Internet Explorer version 7. It is a feature they are promoting heavily.

But you can download IE7 from www.microsoft.com/ie

It features better security, tabbed browsing and RSS subscriptions, all of which appeared first in arch rival, Firefox.

POWERTOY

Vista boasts flashy graphics, particularly the updated application switcher, Flip3D. That is when you use the Alt and Tab buttons to flick through all the applications you are running.

The XP version is distinctly uninteresting by comparison, but you can update it a little by downloading the Alt-Tab Replacement PowerToy.

Once you have installed it, you will get thumbnail graphics of all your applications when you switch between them.

WINDOWS DESKTOP SEARCH

Search is another thing that is trumpeted as being new and improved in Vista. In fact you can get almost the same search features by installing Windows Desktop Search, it just does not look quite so pretty as the Vista version, but that is all.

Once it is installed, you can add it to your taskbar and as soon as you start typing, Windows searches for a match.

GADGETS

This is what Vista calls the mini-applications you can attach to the desktop. They can display your calendar, the weather or a news update. There are hundreds of them, and you can do exactly the same thing on XP by downloading something very similar from Yahoo, except they call them Widgets.

The thousands of mini-applications are also Mac compatible, because OS X uses widgets too.

Although pay attention, because this application will change your homepage to Yahoo unless you unclick this box. I have said it before, this is not something Yahoo should be doing. It is the kind of thing you would expect in Spyware, not from a respected internet company.

VISUAL TOOL TIP

Finally, one application I have been having fun with is Visual Tool Tip. Like Vista it gives you a preview of what is in your taskbar when you hover over it. But then you can take those icons and move them anywhere on the desktop, or add them to a moveable dock and even turn them around and stack them up like books. This is a bit like Mac OS X.

It is free, but consider donating to the author, Chris Salmon, if you do use it.

Tips & Tricks for the Email Users

we are going to look at how to make back-up copies of your webmail.

Why should you do this? Because free e-mail does not come with back-up support. If something does go wrong and your e-mail disappears, you have no recourse at all unless you have already made your own copy.

The easiest way to back-up your e-mail is by using something called Post Office Protocol (Pop). All the methods I am going to show you use Pop, or something very like it.

Pop enables you to receive e-mail on the software of your choice, rather than always logging into the web. And once it is in that software, you have got a copy of it.

There is a whole range of options and you are probably using one of them already.

You can have webmail available in Thunderbird, the open source mail software, or perhaps within Apple Mail, and you can even get Google Mail on a blackberry.

Hotmail

Let us start at the business end with Outlook users.

Microsoft have recently released the Outlook Connector, which allows you to get your Hotmail within the full version of Outlook, but not Outlook Express.

With the connector installed, you can access all your Hotmail in the normal way, and crucially, you can back it up like any other piece of Outlook mail.

Hotmail has gone through an on-off attitude to Pop. First it was only available on trial through Outlook Express, then only if you paid. Now it is sort of half-on.

It is not full Pop access, but it does allow you to download your mail and save it offline, and that is the point of this exercise.

The change, and why Hotmail has come back into favour with me, is the release of the replacement for Outlook Express, Windows Live Mail.

It is part of a new range of web services from Microsoft, released to compete with Google.

I would stick with just Mail and Messenger for now, and here is how you install it

If you have used Outlook Express, it is very, very similar. Except now, if you give it your Hotmail login and password, all your web e-mail is available on the desktop.

The best thing about that, is that you can save the messages you want onto your hard disc, just by dragging them out of the mail window and into a folder.

Yahoo

Backing up e-mail in Yahoo mail is simple, but it is not free. Access to Pop e-mail is only available for Yahoo users who upgrade to Mail Plus.

It is $20 (£10) a year and gives you extra features, like larger storage and no adverts.

With both of its main rivals offering free Pop access, look out for this to change in the future.

Gmail

Google Mail's had Pop access since it started, and it is free. This means you can even access your e-mail from Windows Live Mail if you want. You need to turn it on first, choose Settings, Pop and Turn on. It is a piece of cake.

The last thing you will have to do is configure your e-mail software. To do this, you will need a few settings which the webmail provider will give you.

So there you have it. If you have had a Hotmail account for a long time, now is the time to install Windows Live Mail and make those back-ups. If you are with Yahoo, you will have to pay for now, or laboriously forward all your e-mail to another address.

Remember the time to make back-ups is before you need them. Which means doing it now.

Do not forget, most webmail has an expiry period. If you do not log in after a certain time, you will lose everything.

When it comes to backing up, there are only two types of people: those that have lost data, and those that will.

Just Internet!

Gorp

It is summer here in the UK - a time when people start thinking about taking a holiday. Perhaps a little getaway to find some sunshine on distant shores? Or maybe a trip that is a little more daring.

If cave crawling in Carlsbad or fly fishing in arctic Russia sound like your idea of a perfect break, then consider Gorp your travel guru - it stands for Great Outdoor Recreation Pages.

This site is rammed to the seams with amazing ideas for adrenaline-packed adventures as far or as close to home as you care to travel.

Use the tabs across the top to access the various guides - or if you are looking for something specific - like, say, sand boarding through desert dunes - use the handy little search box just underneath.

There is a tip of the week for the hardened traveller and the gear guy offers some sound advice for those of you planning to travel off the beaten track.

Get inspiration for your next trip in the activity guides section and when you are ready to book, the site does link to various travel sites where you can organise your trip.

It is worth remembering you are under no obligation to use these though, and you might find a cheaper deal if you surf around looking for it yourself.

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TripIt

Once you have your getaway booked - flights, hotel, hire car etc - it is time to sort out your itinerary. For me this used to mean countless bits of printed paper - e-tickets, booking references - all stuffed into a folder. But not any more.

Take a look at TripIt.com.

This service is so simple yet effective, it is mind boggling. It is basically an itineriser - if there is such a thing - that takes all your travel documents and plans and combines them into one comprehensive and easily digestible itinerary.

According to the website they can work with tickets and booking forms from most travel companies and airlines.

Although it is worth remembering this website is a work in progress at the moment - it is not finished, so there may be some wrinkles yet to iron out.

Once you have registered, all you need to do is e-mail your travel documents to plans@tripit.com and the snazzy automated software will work them into an itinerary even including weather forecasts, city guides and tips on where to go and what to do once you are there.

If the website cannot work with a document you send, they will mail you a note to tell you. You can then just pop onto the website and add the details manually without too much effort.

There is even the option to get details on your mobile or PDA and have your itinerary mailed to you, so you will never have another excuse for being late for that flight.

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e Boo Boos

Many items listed for sale on the popular auction site eBay go unnoticed and are sold for a steal because of a simple spelling error.

You can pick yourself up a grammatically powered bargain by visiting e Boo Boos.

The site is simplicity itself to use. Just select the flag of the country you want to search in the yellow search box, and type the name of the item - correctly spelt - in the box below.

You can add words to exclude from your search and even specify a category section and how you want the results to be sorted - by price, or time left to run on the auction.

And you would be surprised how many people spell their auction details wrong. With no spell checker attached to eBay, items like handbags and even designer labels names like Armani can go for a steal at the minimum bid specified by the seller.

If you want inspiration on what to search for, the site even has a selection of example search words in the panel to the left.

A nice trick is if you do not find what you want on your first search, click on another flag and you can search that country's site as well.

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Free Rice

I like to test my brain on puzzles and word searches and such like. And while this site is quite simple in design I actually found the content nicely challenging. And the premise behind it gave me a warm glow inside.

The idea is you have to state the meaning of a word from a multiple choice of four. For every word you get right, the site will donate 20 grains of rice through the UN World Food programme.

You can see the donation piling up on the right and can play for as long as you like.

So if you know your cognomen from your glissade and have a few minutes to spare, why not do some good? Okay, so 20 grains of rice is not a lot, but it all adds up you know.

Get The cool Thing Out

TBS Department of Humour Analysis

The study of humour is a serious business, or so they would have you believe at TBS, where they have set up a very serious department of humour analysis.

TBS is a TV network that brought us the likes of Seinfeld, My Name is Earl and Family Guy and now they have put together an amusing, off the wall little site to promote their work.

As well as having some great content, this is a really nicely designed website.

It comprises of a humour lab full of ridiculous short films and a ludicrous video about this fictitious department, all presented and narrated by the eminently amusing John Cleese.

Once you have watched your fill, and played about with the very funky interface a bit, pop along to the survey section and add your thoughts to the mix.

It is not as boring as it sounds. These are quirky little interactive questions that will be used for absolutely nothing. All in a hard days work at the humour labs, it seems.

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Picnik.com

Picnik.com there is a wonderful online application to help you create masterpieces from your digital photographs.

Sometimes the best compositions can be ruined by red-eye or bad exposure, and this little application will not only sort out these basic issues, but is also incredibly easy to use.

Simply click Upload Photo and choose a file from your PC, or you can use one of the buttons to upload from the photo sharing websites they support.

The Edit tab allows you to make basic changes, then add special effects, shapes and text under the tab marked create. You can play around with your pictures for free, without even registering. You can even save your work to your hard drive or any of a number of popular photo sharing websites they support.

There is of course the obligatory Premium service, which allows you to pay if you want a wider selection of tools and fonts to use in an ad-free environment.

Finally, if you have used the application to make your own postcard or e-greeting, you can e-mail it on to the people of your choice, again without registration, but you will have to put in your own e-mail address.

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Navy.com

The US Navy offers a pretty cool little game. It is free and a good challenge.

NTE: Strike and Retrieve is a hefty old download - 126MB to be precise - so get the download running and go off to do something else for a while.

You will need to register so that they can analyse your performance, which the terms and conditions state is used to help them benchmark future recruitment standards.

Do not worry though, you only need to put in your e-mail address, so you will not be getting a knock on the door from a recruitment officer any time soon.

The game is a combination of tactics, skill and hand-eye co-ordination. The controls take a bit of getting used to as you pilot your sub-aqua vehicle through a hostile and treacherous terrain.

You will need to figure out the right combination of equipment to complete each mission, with a terribly annoying officer's voice giving you firm encouragement along the way.

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Deputy Dog

In the writer's own words, this is a blog about stuff. Mainly interesting architecture, clever design, geographical oddities and so on, and he does not use capital letters to define his punctuation. So get over it. Life is too short to worry about these things.

Not only is the content of this blog awe-inspiringly imaginative, but it is really well written. Topics are as wide ranging as "10 annoying brilliant offices" to the "top 10 physically modified people", with oodles of images and very readable commentary to draw you in.

Click the Popular link at the top to jump to the most highly rated entries. "Seven amazing holes" is the most peculiar subject to have dreamt up, but utterly incredible to look at and read.

I do not know where this guy gets his material but he is a true online genius. Thank you Deputy Dog, whoever you are.

What after Trillion

This is a interesting Question, Today We will see A equally timepass question
Take a Look!!

What comes After a trillion?

There is a Very simple answer trillion and one
Just Kidding

In almost all major countries
They use these terms

million = 10^6
Billion = 10^9 (i.e. 10 to the ninth power) (for Americans; not Brits!)
Trillion = 10^12
Quadrillion = 10^15
Quintillion = 10^18
Sextillion = 10^21
Septillion = 10^24
Octillion = 10^27
Nonillion = 10^30
Decillion = 10^33

For the names of numbers after Decillion also
see Wikipedia
Numbers are defined upto Googolplex=10^10^100

Hope Googolplex is easy to calculate

Super Realistic Chalk Drawings - Part 1

Today i am introducing you to the world of a artist Julian Beever, He had maded drawings with only Chalk!, no other thing is used these all art pieces are created on roads. (no camera trick or no photo editing)
Artist Julian Beever has been drawing plenty of attention with his amazing 3D pavement chalk art
See the BBC article here

So enjoy with these Super Illusionary pictures!

Fishing on street!! It's illegal?

Look at the drawing here, it's peculiar!!

Air Rescue, looks like we are in comics
What a Great Illusion!!
Really Great work Julian
Can i buy it?

Help! Help!!

Oh! i dont know that the Fly spray works on the giants also!!

END OF PART-1
Heads off to Julian Part-2 Coming soon!!!!

Adding Video To Powerpoint Presentation

You can enhance a slide by adding a video clip or sound. Inserting a video clip (also called movie clips or files), but relying on multimedia effects to carry your presentation often backfires. Too much sound and motion during a presentation is ultimately confusing to your audience. Used judiciously, however, video and sound effects can quickly catch your viewers’ attention.

Insert a video or movie clip

You can insert one or more video clips — that is, movies — into any slide. You might want to play a video quote from your product manager, for example, or run a short documentary movie for a fund-raising event. You could even create a video for product tutorials and educational materials.

Most of the movie clips stored in the Clip Organizer are simply animated .gif files, small files that contain an animated sequence of images. If you imported your own movie files into the Clip Organizer, you will find them there, too, generally stored in .avi format. You might be able to find additional movie clips on your network, intranet, or the Internet.

Tip Before you insert video clips, think about the environment you’ll be presenting in. Does the computer you’ll use have the necessary hardware (such as a sound card, speakers, and an enhanced video card) for playing the multimedia items during your presentation? You might consider adding only a few multimedia elements just in case. If the machine you give your presentation on doesn’t support them, plan an alternate way to make your presentation compelling. With this basic detail considered, you’ll find that adding video and sound is the same as adding any other item to your slides, and the special effects are truly exciting.

To insert a movie into a slide, follow these steps:
Insert a movie using Clip Organizer

1. Display the slide in which you want to add a video clip.
2. On the Insert menu, point to Movies and Sounds, and then click Movie from Clip Organizer.
You can now browse the Clip Organizer for a movie clip. PowerPoint will open the Clip Art task pane and will select the Movies option in the Results should be drop-down list. You can use the Clip Art task pane to locate a video clip stored on your computer or on the Office Online Web site.
3. Click the movie you want to add to your slide.

Note Some of the layouts you can apply to a slide (using the Slide Layout task pane) add a group of buttons to the slide for inserting various types of objects. These are known as Content Layouts or Text and Content Layouts. If you’ve applied such a layout to your slide, you can insert a video clip from the Clip Organizer by clicking the Insert Media Clip button and selecting a video clip in the Media Clip dialog box (which displays both movie and sound clips). However, the Clip Art task pane (or the freestanding Clip Organizer program) provides more features for locating and inserting a video clip and usually makes the task easier.
Insert a movie from a file

You can insert a movie from a movie file on a local disk, a shared network location, or an Internet site.

1. On the Insert menu, point to Movies and Sounds, and then click Movie from File.
2. Select the movie file in the Insert Movie dialog box, and then click the OK button.

If you selected a movie clip in animated .gif format, the animation will run automatically the entire time the slide is displayed in a slide show. If, however, you selected a movie in another format (such as .avi), PowerPoint will display a message box letting you choose when the movie will play.

* To have the movie play automatically when the slide is displayed in a slide show, click the Automatically button.
* To have the movie play only after you click the movie image, click the When Clicked button. PowerPoint will then add the clip(?) to your slide.

Resize the video image (if necessary)

1. Select the movie in the slide and then drag the sizing handles (sizing handle: One of the small circles or squares that appears at the corners and sides of a selected object. You drag these handles to change the size of the object.) that are displayed around the image.
* To maintain the image’s original proportions, drag one of the corner sizing handles.
* To change the original proportions, drag one of the sizing handles in the center of a border.
* To change the image’s size without displacing the center of the image (that is, to resize it symmetrically about the center), press CTRL while you drag a sizing handle.
* To move the video image, drag it to a new location.

Modify the way the video plays during a slide show

1. Right-click the video image in your slide.
2. Do any or all of the following:
* To adjust the volume or to change the video object display options, on the shortcut menu, click Edit Movie Object, and then select the options you want.

The Movie Options dialog box also indicates where the movie clip is stored. If it’s stored within the presentation file, the dialog box will display the location Contained In Presentation. If it’s stored in a separate linked file, it will display the file path. In the latter case, if you are going to present your slide show on another computer, you’ll need to take the linked file with you.

Tip The easiest way to copy a presentation plus all linked files to a portable medium that you can bring to another computer is to use the new Package for CD feature.
* To modify the way the video clip plays during a slide show, on the shortcut menu, click Custom Animation, and then use the controls in the Custom Animation task pane.
* To control the action that takes place when you either click the video image or move the mouse pointer over it, on the shortcut menu, click Action Settings.
* To preview the video clip, click Play Movie.