DriverMax v1.2
DriverMax can help back up and reinstall all of your Windows drivers. If you need to reinstall Windows driver/s, install all your driver/s from the backup without having to insert or search for your original driver CDs.
You can choose to back up/install all your drivers or only selected drivers based on several filters or by manual selection. DriverMax can also display a complete report of all drivers (versions, release dates) installed on your system. This feature can be quite useful when you want to analyse the differences between the drivers installed on different machines. The 24080 KB DriverMax v1.2 can be downloaded at http://innofiles.com/soft/dmx/drivermax.exe
(Source: Lockergnome )
WorkTime Express
WorkTime Express, a timesheet manager, can compute the total time spent on different projects. It has an explorer type interface and consists of 2 modules: Administration and Encoding: Treeview of projects (including several levels of sub-projects), Personnalisation of the user, the tasks and costs by projects; Definition of justificatory of absence; Managing of costs and amounts to invoice; Encoding of services, Encoding of costs linked to a task; Encoding in real time, by second (chrono); Detection of overlapping; Printing of different reports in Excel, Word, XML et PDF and email, and To do list by project. The 20483 KB WorkTime Express v1.07r for Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista(P3), 512 Mb Ram minimum, at http://www.fawax.com/files/wex.zip
ContactKeeper
A simple information manager to store names, addresses, emails, and additional details of your friends, family, or other contacts. The interface is easy to use, and provides fields for the name, address, phone numbers and email addresses, as well as a notes field that can be used for all other information that you want to associate with the contact/s. The program also has a search feature, and a built-in birthday calendar with a reminder option to generate alerts on upcoming birthdays. ContactKeeper allows you to print contact information, however, lacks import and export functions. A freeware solution to address organisation woes, the 1.9 MB ContactKeeper v1.3.0, at http://www.vani.be/contactkeeper/download/ContactKeeper130.exe, could be the program for you.
Free File Wipe
Free File Wipe helps to delete/erase/wipe any file from any media easily and securely. Its developers claim that when you delete a file with File Wipe the information is gone forever, and its retrieval is just not possible. This tool could be very useful when you must delete/erase some data or file forever. Just follow these steps: Download the software, Unzip it, Run Free File Wipe, Choose disk, directory and file, and Click Delete File button, that's all to it!
The Free File Wipe 1.5 can be downloaded at http://recovery-review.com/download/220.html
GOM Player
GOM is a media player with popular audio & video codecs built-in, includes many codecs (XviD, DivX, FLV1, AC3, OGG, MP4, H263 and more). No need to install separate codecs for most videos. Incase a codec is required the player can direct to a place to download a open source version of the codec. The GOM player can play broken AVI Files. These can’t be played if the index is broken, or the file isn’t completely downloaded. However, the GOM player helps to view files with broken index or that are still being downloaded. Subtitle Support - GOM Player supports SMI, SRT, RT, SUB(with IDX) files for subtitle - You can specify margin, location, size, resolution, font and others. Screen Capture- lets you to take a screenshot of your video directly from the player.
The 4039 MB GOM Player, v2.0.12.3375, at http://www.gomplayer.com/download.html
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Mobile WiMAX
WiMAX is still to happen in a big way in India and already a new mobile version of the same is ready. Here, we look at this new avatar and the product line-ups expected around it next year
Sometime last December, mobile WiMAX was made formally possible with the IEEE ratifying the 802.16e standard. There are two specifications, one called the 802.16-2004 or 802.16d and the other being 802.16-2005 or the 802.16e. The first spec involves WiMAX devices that are fixed, while the 2005 spec extends WiMAX capability to mobile devices. 802.16-2004 devices can be upgraded to the 2005 standard via a simple software upgrade. Well, since December 2005, there has been hectic activity in the Mobile WiMAX space and here's a snapshot of the technologies and products that have come out.
New baseband chip
Intel launched a new baseband chip named the WiMAX Connection 2250 as we were going to press. This chip complies with both the 802.16d and 802.16e specifications. This chip can be coupled with the Intel Discreet Tri-band WiMAX radio to get an all-frequency mobile wireless solution that can be used globally. The processor is backward (pin) compatible with the earlier released Intel PRO/Wireless 5116 broadband chip, which uses the 802.16d technology.
This means deployments that have already happened using the 5116 can now be easily upgraded to the new standard. Products based on this chip are expected over the next year. These products are expected to be WiMAX modems and gateways for IP voice, video and data communications.
Mobile WiMAX and 3G European countries are planning to set aside the 3.4 to 3.5 GHz spectrum for WiMAX operations, with the 2.3 to 2.5 GHz band for 3G networks. But, industry analysts are complaining that this is too narrow a band to ensure a drop-free connection.
Also, when you consider that this standard is designed to be used with devices that are on the move, like in cars, trains and so on, there would be a lot of frequency hopping and jamming occurring as users move from one area to another or even roam onto other networks.
The narrow bandwidth of just 0.1 GHz is therefore too small to accommodate such traffic. 3G network operators in the EU use the 2.3 to 2.5 GHz. This spectrum is not used in the USA or Asia and therefore the 3.4-3.5 GHz band battle is not spilling over this region.
cource: PCQUEST
Sometime last December, mobile WiMAX was made formally possible with the IEEE ratifying the 802.16e standard. There are two specifications, one called the 802.16-2004 or 802.16d and the other being 802.16-2005 or the 802.16e. The first spec involves WiMAX devices that are fixed, while the 2005 spec extends WiMAX capability to mobile devices. 802.16-2004 devices can be upgraded to the 2005 standard via a simple software upgrade. Well, since December 2005, there has been hectic activity in the Mobile WiMAX space and here's a snapshot of the technologies and products that have come out.
New baseband chip
Intel launched a new baseband chip named the WiMAX Connection 2250 as we were going to press. This chip complies with both the 802.16d and 802.16e specifications. This chip can be coupled with the Intel Discreet Tri-band WiMAX radio to get an all-frequency mobile wireless solution that can be used globally. The processor is backward (pin) compatible with the earlier released Intel PRO/Wireless 5116 broadband chip, which uses the 802.16d technology.
This means deployments that have already happened using the 5116 can now be easily upgraded to the new standard. Products based on this chip are expected over the next year. These products are expected to be WiMAX modems and gateways for IP voice, video and data communications.
Mobile WiMAX and 3G European countries are planning to set aside the 3.4 to 3.5 GHz spectrum for WiMAX operations, with the 2.3 to 2.5 GHz band for 3G networks. But, industry analysts are complaining that this is too narrow a band to ensure a drop-free connection.
Also, when you consider that this standard is designed to be used with devices that are on the move, like in cars, trains and so on, there would be a lot of frequency hopping and jamming occurring as users move from one area to another or even roam onto other networks.
The narrow bandwidth of just 0.1 GHz is therefore too small to accommodate such traffic. 3G network operators in the EU use the 2.3 to 2.5 GHz. This spectrum is not used in the USA or Asia and therefore the 3.4-3.5 GHz band battle is not spilling over this region.
cource: PCQUEST
Friday, January 26, 2007
New-age farmer: Foreign return, hi-tech
RAJKOT: There’s a new kind of green revolution sweeping western India. We’re not talking contract farming. Some farmers in the wild, wild west have gone hi-tech. Can’t believe? Pack up and drive down the Bhuj-Ratual highway in Kutch.
Tucked away in a farm along the highway is the dates farm of Rahul Gala, a 28-year-old new-age farmer. Back from Australia, where he completed his graduation in horticulture from Queensland University, Gala grows dates with the help of computers.
How? He feeds data on his personal computer and the rest-right from sprinkling of fertilisers to watering of crops-would be taken care of by the system. A few kilometres away, 25-year-old Vimal Nisar has been growing mangoes by using modern horticulture methods. Nearby, another young farmer, Prakash Savla (28), is grows aloe vera using scientific methods.
The three represents a growing breed of confident youngsters who are not only willing to take up farming as a career, but are changing the rules of the game. No wonder, many traditional farmers are falling for modern farming technologies.
Gala plans to export dates to Europe and Saudi Arabian countries. He feeds data for a week and the installed system works according to the command. "Here electricity is a major problem, otherwise I could feed data for few months. It’s faster and highly mechanised farming for today’s agriculture," says Gala.
This six-month old installed technology gives him sufficient time and scope to study other crops. Here, he’s grown ‘barhi’ (a fresh variety of dates) over 12 acres of land and sown 600 date plants. Each plant is ex-pected to produce 50 to 70 kg of dates. He plans to grow grapes, pome-granate and fig (anjir).
source: Economic Times
Tucked away in a farm along the highway is the dates farm of Rahul Gala, a 28-year-old new-age farmer. Back from Australia, where he completed his graduation in horticulture from Queensland University, Gala grows dates with the help of computers.
How? He feeds data on his personal computer and the rest-right from sprinkling of fertilisers to watering of crops-would be taken care of by the system. A few kilometres away, 25-year-old Vimal Nisar has been growing mangoes by using modern horticulture methods. Nearby, another young farmer, Prakash Savla (28), is grows aloe vera using scientific methods.
The three represents a growing breed of confident youngsters who are not only willing to take up farming as a career, but are changing the rules of the game. No wonder, many traditional farmers are falling for modern farming technologies.
Gala plans to export dates to Europe and Saudi Arabian countries. He feeds data for a week and the installed system works according to the command. "Here electricity is a major problem, otherwise I could feed data for few months. It’s faster and highly mechanised farming for today’s agriculture," says Gala.
This six-month old installed technology gives him sufficient time and scope to study other crops. Here, he’s grown ‘barhi’ (a fresh variety of dates) over 12 acres of land and sown 600 date plants. Each plant is ex-pected to produce 50 to 70 kg of dates. He plans to grow grapes, pome-granate and fig (anjir).
source: Economic Times
Tata iKS Launches
At an event held in Mumbai today, Tata Technologies iKS, the global leader in engineering knowledge transformation technology, announced the worldwide launch in India of its major version release of its revolutionary product, 'igetit'.
The new version of igetit, which is the complete online resource for engineers, features a revolutionary change in packaging, pricing, and positioning and is uniquely powered by Google technology.
The company said that igetit is the most innovative web application available today, created specifically for the world's 15 million design engineering professionals helping them to acquire, distribute, verify, and certify 'Engineering Knowledge' (best practices and design process methodology).
The new igetit provides 100,000 hours of comprehensive PLM learning content while effectively removing critical barriers to knowledge transformation viz. price, hardware, and installation.
Speaking on the occasion, Kevin Noe, President, Tata Technologies iKS, said, "The igetit web application will make it possible for every engineer on the planet to have access to relevant information and knowledge that will help them become better at design innovation and knowledge reuse, at a nominal cost."
Commenting on igetit, David Fedler, Vice President, Tata Technologies iKS, explained, "Figures indicate that engineers increasingly are seeking answers from one another through various web technologies such as Instant Messaging, Forums, and Blogs. As a result, the development objective of igetit was to go above and beyond traditional online learning, and create a web application that offers a specialized social networking site for engineers, adding even more value."
"And the latest release of igetit seamlessly integrates social features with learning mechanisms to help engineers connect to other engineers and enables the site to be their main source of information," added Fedler.
According to the company, igetit has incorporated some of the best technology available in the world today in order to provide a rich user experience. It now features integrated search query powered by Google Search Appliance.
Elaborating on this, Noe, said, "We are the first company in the world to offer the Google Search Appliance as a productivity tool for design engineering professionals. Now there is no limit to what engineers can search for and find."
Meanwhile, igetit has broken the price barrier with three extremely affordable options. Engineers can subscribe annually as an 'igetit Engineer', which will be free for all. And for greater value, they can sign up for 'igetit Professional' account, which will cost $25 (Rs 1,105 approx), or 'igetit Team' account costing $95 (Rs 4,200 approx). All subscriptions and account upgrades are available through online transactions.
Besides, the new igetit will be showcased in front of the best engineering minds during the IIT Techfest 2007, to be held between January 26 and January 28 this year in Mumbai
Roaming Charges Down by 56%
According to reports, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has announced reduction in roaming charges from 22 percent to 56 percent as compared with the current market rates.
TRAI has fixed roaming charges ceiling on mobile services at Rs 2.40 per minute, and has removed all surcharges and rent during the roaming period.
TRAI has also fixed maximum permissible charges per minute at Rs 2.40 for outgoing National Long Distance (NLD) calls, and minimum at Rs 1.40 for outgoing local calls.
Announcing the cut, TRAI said that there would be a single charge system for roaming. The new roaming charges for cellular phone subscribers will be Rs 1.40 for outgoing local calls, Rs 2.40 for outgoing STD calls, and Rs 1.70 for incoming calls.
Currently, a consumer is charged a rental of Rs 50 for national roaming services. For a GSM subscriber, the charge of an outgoing call can be up to Rs 3.99 per minute, while a CDMA user is charged anywhere between Re 1 and Rs 3.99. And for both users, service operators charge a maximum of Rs 4 for SMS within the country.
TRAI further said that it also wants to do away with the Rs 50 rental and 15 percent surcharge in addition to pruning airtime charges that are currently higher than local mobile call charges. However, charges for SMS continue to be under forbearance.
Reacting to TRAI's move, Dayanidhi Maran, IT and Communications Minister, said that the reduction in roaming charges was essential, and that the companies should pass on the benefits to end consumers.
In a statement, Nripendra Misra, Chairman of TRAI, said that TRAI would closely monitor market developments on roaming, and if perceptible competition evolves in the market, it would revisit the issue and even consider forbearing roaming tariffs. And the competition in the market was not forthcoming, so the regulator had to intervene, as they were sensitive to cost.
TRAI had, earlier this month, held an Open House Discussion in Delhi with all the stakeholders, including national operators and other regional players on "Review of Ceiling Tariffs for Roaming Services".
Meanwhile, the new charges, which would be applicable to all prepaid and postpaid GSM and CDMA mobile customers, will come into effect from February 15 this year.
source" Tech tree
TRAI has fixed roaming charges ceiling on mobile services at Rs 2.40 per minute, and has removed all surcharges and rent during the roaming period.
TRAI has also fixed maximum permissible charges per minute at Rs 2.40 for outgoing National Long Distance (NLD) calls, and minimum at Rs 1.40 for outgoing local calls.
Announcing the cut, TRAI said that there would be a single charge system for roaming. The new roaming charges for cellular phone subscribers will be Rs 1.40 for outgoing local calls, Rs 2.40 for outgoing STD calls, and Rs 1.70 for incoming calls.
Currently, a consumer is charged a rental of Rs 50 for national roaming services. For a GSM subscriber, the charge of an outgoing call can be up to Rs 3.99 per minute, while a CDMA user is charged anywhere between Re 1 and Rs 3.99. And for both users, service operators charge a maximum of Rs 4 for SMS within the country.
TRAI further said that it also wants to do away with the Rs 50 rental and 15 percent surcharge in addition to pruning airtime charges that are currently higher than local mobile call charges. However, charges for SMS continue to be under forbearance.
Reacting to TRAI's move, Dayanidhi Maran, IT and Communications Minister, said that the reduction in roaming charges was essential, and that the companies should pass on the benefits to end consumers.
In a statement, Nripendra Misra, Chairman of TRAI, said that TRAI would closely monitor market developments on roaming, and if perceptible competition evolves in the market, it would revisit the issue and even consider forbearing roaming tariffs. And the competition in the market was not forthcoming, so the regulator had to intervene, as they were sensitive to cost.
TRAI had, earlier this month, held an Open House Discussion in Delhi with all the stakeholders, including national operators and other regional players on "Review of Ceiling Tariffs for Roaming Services".
Meanwhile, the new charges, which would be applicable to all prepaid and postpaid GSM and CDMA mobile customers, will come into effect from February 15 this year.
source" Tech tree
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Now, swipe your mobile to shop
Forget your credit card or even your wallet. By this time next year, you may be able to shop and pay your restaurant or hotel bills by swiping your mobile phone on a terminal.
This is part of a plan by leading Indian telecommunications companies like Hutch, Airtel and Reliance Communications to initiate a global pilot project to offer mobile phones embedded with a credit card chip.
Based on radio frequency identification (RFID) technology, the phone will work like a credit or debit card. It can be swiped through a “near field” communications terminal placed in shops and establishments. Payment statements can then be sent with a common phone bill.
NTT DoCoMo has already launched a wireless credit card in Japan with considerable success with terminal technology developed by Sony and Philips.
Encouraged by this, the Cellular Operators’ Association of India has approached the GSM Association - the global body of operators using global systems for mobile communications technology -for a pilot project to enable international transactions on credit cards.
Describing the project as a “technology demonstrator,” Cellular Operators’ Association of India Secretary General TV Ramachandran said the market might initially be small but the potential to spread the plastic card culture to the masses was huge.
He pointed out that mobile phone companies had the potential to leverage large customer networks to lower distribution costs and build critical mass in a business dominated by banks.
source: MSN
This is part of a plan by leading Indian telecommunications companies like Hutch, Airtel and Reliance Communications to initiate a global pilot project to offer mobile phones embedded with a credit card chip.
Based on radio frequency identification (RFID) technology, the phone will work like a credit or debit card. It can be swiped through a “near field” communications terminal placed in shops and establishments. Payment statements can then be sent with a common phone bill.
NTT DoCoMo has already launched a wireless credit card in Japan with considerable success with terminal technology developed by Sony and Philips.
Encouraged by this, the Cellular Operators’ Association of India has approached the GSM Association - the global body of operators using global systems for mobile communications technology -for a pilot project to enable international transactions on credit cards.
Describing the project as a “technology demonstrator,” Cellular Operators’ Association of India Secretary General TV Ramachandran said the market might initially be small but the potential to spread the plastic card culture to the masses was huge.
He pointed out that mobile phone companies had the potential to leverage large customer networks to lower distribution costs and build critical mass in a business dominated by banks.
source: MSN
Use your voice for taking out cash, sending SMS
If you find it laborious punching out your text messages on the small keys of a mobile phone or the numerous buttons on an ATM machine while withdrawing cash, here is a new technology that will enable you to do both by just using your voice.
BSNL floats tender
State-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd, for instance, has floated a tender to procure the technology that will enable its 20 million mobile users across the country to send SMS by using their voice. Bharti Airtel, Aircel, Reliance Communications and Spice have also launched the service in some of their operating circles. Group messaging is also possible through this system.
Similarly, when you withdraw cash at an ATM, you may not be required to use your card. With just a fingerprint or through a PIN, you could be talking to the ATM on the amount you would like to withdraw or to know your cash balance. You would have the machine talking to you giving you all the details.
IBM technology
IBM India Research Lab is deploying the voice-based interface with some of the banks in India.
"Based on our research, we find that consumers prefer voice-based interface. There have been concerns on the extent to which the technology can be relevant for mobile phones because they have wider applications, however in ATMs, due to its limited applications, it would ensure higher accuracy," said Dr Ashish Verma, Research member, IBM India Research Lab.
IBM is also using the technology to enable users to write letters on a computer without having to use the keyboard.
Mr Saket Agarwal, COO, Cellebrum (operates voice based messaging for Spice), said that the technology is more useful for illiterate people, though the uptake in the mobile segment is yet to happen due to interoperability issues. Analysts estimate that the revenue from the speech technology market would be greater than $3 billion by 2009.
source: Hindu
BSNL floats tender
State-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd, for instance, has floated a tender to procure the technology that will enable its 20 million mobile users across the country to send SMS by using their voice. Bharti Airtel, Aircel, Reliance Communications and Spice have also launched the service in some of their operating circles. Group messaging is also possible through this system.
Similarly, when you withdraw cash at an ATM, you may not be required to use your card. With just a fingerprint or through a PIN, you could be talking to the ATM on the amount you would like to withdraw or to know your cash balance. You would have the machine talking to you giving you all the details.
IBM technology
IBM India Research Lab is deploying the voice-based interface with some of the banks in India.
"Based on our research, we find that consumers prefer voice-based interface. There have been concerns on the extent to which the technology can be relevant for mobile phones because they have wider applications, however in ATMs, due to its limited applications, it would ensure higher accuracy," said Dr Ashish Verma, Research member, IBM India Research Lab.
IBM is also using the technology to enable users to write letters on a computer without having to use the keyboard.
Mr Saket Agarwal, COO, Cellebrum (operates voice based messaging for Spice), said that the technology is more useful for illiterate people, though the uptake in the mobile segment is yet to happen due to interoperability issues. Analysts estimate that the revenue from the speech technology market would be greater than $3 billion by 2009.
source: Hindu
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Your personal computer, on the web
Here’s another option for road warriors that believe in travelling light: Operating systems that run within the confines of your web browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox). With such a service, you could access your data from any internet-connected device, anywhere in the world since everything would be online.
An online operating system (OLOS), also known as webOSs, is one that runs inside your web browser and can contain various features and functions within it, like online storage space, chat clients, calendar, MP3 player, RSS reader and so on. Most of these online operating systems are built using Flash, which makes the whole experience very intuitive.
Here are three of the most promising ones:
DesktopTwo: Though DesktopTwo (www.desktoptwo.com) is in the beta stage, you will be astonished with the features it offers. What you have at your disposal is 1 GB of online space, website editor, and support for POP email, blogging and MP3 player to name a few.
You can also read your documents, including file formats such as pdf, doc (Word files), xls and ppt (PowerPoint files) and chat directly with other DesktopTwo users using the chat client, Live.
Once you sign up at the site you can straightway make use of your new email address, @desktoptwo.com. To access your page, simply log in. Here you can choose to either go in for a windowed, full screen or a current window view.
Unfortunately, each time we tried to log in while using both Firefox and IE, we were greeted only by an error message.
Glide: Glide (www.glidedigital.com) is another Flash-based online OS that offers features almost similar to DesktopTwo.
As far as registration goes there are different options to choose from, including ones that will cost you money. The free plans include the ‘Free Individual’ and the ‘Free Family’ plans. While the former offers 300 MB of online space, the latter offers 1 GB of online space and supports four users. The plans go all the way up to ‘Family Premium yearly’, where you are offered 8 GB of online space and support for up to eight users for $149.95 a year. For free users, during the registration process, you will need to provide your cellphone number on which you will receive a six-digit code via SMS.
Goowy: As the site (www.goowy.com) mentions, the creators chose to call this webOS Goowy so that it can be playful and easy to remember at the same time. This is another neat looking web-based operating system with useful applications and games. Other features include file-uploading facility, RSS reader, instant messaging, bookmarks and so on.
To register, you simply need to fill in a few details on the main page. The whole process is real quick and within seconds you can access your online OS page.
Of all the three online OSs we took a look at, we found this one to be most rich and easy to operate. But there are a few interface glitches that hopefully will be fixed soon.
source: Economic Times
An online operating system (OLOS), also known as webOSs, is one that runs inside your web browser and can contain various features and functions within it, like online storage space, chat clients, calendar, MP3 player, RSS reader and so on. Most of these online operating systems are built using Flash, which makes the whole experience very intuitive.
Here are three of the most promising ones:
DesktopTwo: Though DesktopTwo (www.desktoptwo.com) is in the beta stage, you will be astonished with the features it offers. What you have at your disposal is 1 GB of online space, website editor, and support for POP email, blogging and MP3 player to name a few.
You can also read your documents, including file formats such as pdf, doc (Word files), xls and ppt (PowerPoint files) and chat directly with other DesktopTwo users using the chat client, Live.
Once you sign up at the site you can straightway make use of your new email address, @desktoptwo.com. To access your page, simply log in. Here you can choose to either go in for a windowed, full screen or a current window view.
Unfortunately, each time we tried to log in while using both Firefox and IE, we were greeted only by an error message.
Glide: Glide (www.glidedigital.com) is another Flash-based online OS that offers features almost similar to DesktopTwo.
As far as registration goes there are different options to choose from, including ones that will cost you money. The free plans include the ‘Free Individual’ and the ‘Free Family’ plans. While the former offers 300 MB of online space, the latter offers 1 GB of online space and supports four users. The plans go all the way up to ‘Family Premium yearly’, where you are offered 8 GB of online space and support for up to eight users for $149.95 a year. For free users, during the registration process, you will need to provide your cellphone number on which you will receive a six-digit code via SMS.
Goowy: As the site (www.goowy.com) mentions, the creators chose to call this webOS Goowy so that it can be playful and easy to remember at the same time. This is another neat looking web-based operating system with useful applications and games. Other features include file-uploading facility, RSS reader, instant messaging, bookmarks and so on.
To register, you simply need to fill in a few details on the main page. The whole process is real quick and within seconds you can access your online OS page.
Of all the three online OSs we took a look at, we found this one to be most rich and easy to operate. But there are a few interface glitches that hopefully will be fixed soon.
source: Economic Times
Skype founders bring free TV to the internet
The founders of revolutionary Internet telephony firm Skype unveiled a test version of an online television service on Wednesday that will be free to users.
Niklas Zennstrvm and Janus Friis said they "combined the best of TV and the best of the Internet" in a venture called Joost to enable people to watch television online with "choice, control and flexibility."
Joost was a "piracy-proof" Internet platform based on the open-source Mozilla web browser and was crafted to guarantee copyright protection for creators and owners of content, according to its founders.
"People are looking for increased choice and flexibility in their TV experience, while the entertainment industry needs to retain control over their content," said Joost chief executive Fredrik de Wahl.
"With Joost, we've married that consumer desire with the industry's interests."
Luxembourg-based Joost claimed to be the first global television distribution platform that brought content owners, advertisers, and audiences together in an interactive, community-driven environment.
source: Economic times
Niklas Zennstrvm and Janus Friis said they "combined the best of TV and the best of the Internet" in a venture called Joost to enable people to watch television online with "choice, control and flexibility."
Joost was a "piracy-proof" Internet platform based on the open-source Mozilla web browser and was crafted to guarantee copyright protection for creators and owners of content, according to its founders.
"People are looking for increased choice and flexibility in their TV experience, while the entertainment industry needs to retain control over their content," said Joost chief executive Fredrik de Wahl.
"With Joost, we've married that consumer desire with the industry's interests."
Luxembourg-based Joost claimed to be the first global television distribution platform that brought content owners, advertisers, and audiences together in an interactive, community-driven environment.
source: Economic times
Friday, January 19, 2007
WiMAX now in Bangalore
BANGALORE: Bangalore has joined the elite club of cities enjoying high-speed wireless Internet services, popularly called WiMAX.
Aircel Business Solutions (ABS) on Thursday launched the WiMAX service in the city. Base stations (towers) have been set up at Electronics City, Airport Road, St. John's Road, Jayanagar, Rajajinagar and Koramangala, each covering a radius of 5 km to 6 km. More will come up shortly, said Ram Shinde, Business Head, ABS, part of Chennai-based Aircel.
ABS would also create Wi-Fi (wireless internet) hotspots in the city where Internet services would be available through the use of pre-paid cards. Online registration would also be possible, Mr. Shinde said.
Those opting for WiMAX would be able to access the Internet anywhere in the city, he said.
Big corporates
Initially, WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) will be made available to big corporates and small and medium enterprises at a cost of Rs. 20 lakh.
Individuals will have to wait three months for WiMAX because the modem required for the connection is not readily available, and has to be imported. Aircel is mass-producing the modems and will supply them free of cost in three months. Imported modems known as customer premises equipment (CPE) cost $ 400 (Rs. 18,000).
The payment for WiMAX will be on a monthly basis, and there will be the option of using pre-paid cards. It will eventually cover Mangalore, Mysore and Belgaum.
Mr. Shinde said the charges would be on a par with those offered by BSNL. In the near future, 26 more cities including Coimbatore, Hyderabad, Pune, Delhi, Cochin and Ahmedabad will get WiMAX.
WiMAX is more efficient in preventing virus attacks. Connections would be given within 48 hours after applications were submitted, Mr. Shinde said. The connectivity would be upgraded so as to enable access to Internet through mobile phones while on the move even at the speed of 60 kmph.
source: Hindu
Aircel Business Solutions (ABS) on Thursday launched the WiMAX service in the city. Base stations (towers) have been set up at Electronics City, Airport Road, St. John's Road, Jayanagar, Rajajinagar and Koramangala, each covering a radius of 5 km to 6 km. More will come up shortly, said Ram Shinde, Business Head, ABS, part of Chennai-based Aircel.
ABS would also create Wi-Fi (wireless internet) hotspots in the city where Internet services would be available through the use of pre-paid cards. Online registration would also be possible, Mr. Shinde said.
Those opting for WiMAX would be able to access the Internet anywhere in the city, he said.
Big corporates
Initially, WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) will be made available to big corporates and small and medium enterprises at a cost of Rs. 20 lakh.
Individuals will have to wait three months for WiMAX because the modem required for the connection is not readily available, and has to be imported. Aircel is mass-producing the modems and will supply them free of cost in three months. Imported modems known as customer premises equipment (CPE) cost $ 400 (Rs. 18,000).
The payment for WiMAX will be on a monthly basis, and there will be the option of using pre-paid cards. It will eventually cover Mangalore, Mysore and Belgaum.
Mr. Shinde said the charges would be on a par with those offered by BSNL. In the near future, 26 more cities including Coimbatore, Hyderabad, Pune, Delhi, Cochin and Ahmedabad will get WiMAX.
WiMAX is more efficient in preventing virus attacks. Connections would be given within 48 hours after applications were submitted, Mr. Shinde said. The connectivity would be upgraded so as to enable access to Internet through mobile phones while on the move even at the speed of 60 kmph.
source: Hindu
Satellites injected into space by PSLV-C7 functioning well
Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 15: All the four satellites injected into space by PSLV-C7 from Sriharikota on January 10, including India's Cartosat-2 and SRE-1, are functioning well, ISRO chairman G Madhavan Nair said on Monday.
"The performance of cameras and other equipment in the satellites are excellent. The functioning of all the systems are satisfactory," he told reporters at the airport here.
He said the INSAT-4B would be launched from French Guyana in the first week of March.
Nair said the ISRO was planning to establish a space centre at Thiruvananthapuram to train young space scientists.
It would be decided later whether the centre should be set up as a space institute or a deemed university, he said.
Top ISRO officials were present at the airport to receive Nair
Also see the follwoing link to know more about PSLV.
http://www.isro.org/pslv-c7/pg1.html
"The performance of cameras and other equipment in the satellites are excellent. The functioning of all the systems are satisfactory," he told reporters at the airport here.
He said the INSAT-4B would be launched from French Guyana in the first week of March.
Nair said the ISRO was planning to establish a space centre at Thiruvananthapuram to train young space scientists.
It would be decided later whether the centre should be set up as a space institute or a deemed university, he said.
Top ISRO officials were present at the airport to receive Nair
Also see the follwoing link to know more about PSLV.
http://www.isro.org/pslv-c7/pg1.html
Thursday, January 18, 2007
NASA, Google aim for virtual space travel on Web
Web surfers may soon be able to explore the canyons of Mars and experience a virtual flight over the surface of the moon thanks to a deal announced on Monday between Web search company Google Inc. and the NASA Ames Research Center.
The Space Act Agreement is the first in a series of collaborations between the Mountain View, California-based Internet company and the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
NASA and Google said they will work together on a wide range of technical problems and will make NASA's space exploration work, much of which is currently scattered across the Web, more accessible to the public.
One project would let viewers see details of Mars and Earth's moon in a format similar to satellite picture views of the world made popular by applications such as Google Earth.
Eventually, they aim to offer real-time weather visualization and forecasting, high-resolution 3-D maps of the moon and Mars and real-time tracking of the International Space Station and the space shuttle from the screen of any computer with Internet access, they said in a statement.
Google and NASA first partnered last year to build a new campus at NASA's research center in Silicon Valley. The deal called for Google to develop up to 1 million square feet (93,000 square meter) of real estate within the Moffett Field research park.
Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
The Space Act Agreement is the first in a series of collaborations between the Mountain View, California-based Internet company and the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
NASA and Google said they will work together on a wide range of technical problems and will make NASA's space exploration work, much of which is currently scattered across the Web, more accessible to the public.
One project would let viewers see details of Mars and Earth's moon in a format similar to satellite picture views of the world made popular by applications such as Google Earth.
Eventually, they aim to offer real-time weather visualization and forecasting, high-resolution 3-D maps of the moon and Mars and real-time tracking of the International Space Station and the space shuttle from the screen of any computer with Internet access, they said in a statement.
Google and NASA first partnered last year to build a new campus at NASA's research center in Silicon Valley. The deal called for Google to develop up to 1 million square feet (93,000 square meter) of real estate within the Moffett Field research park.
Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
BSNL's 2 Mbps broadband @ Rs 250 a month
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd, the state-owned telecom service provider, will provide broadband up to 2 MB at Rs 250 per month.
The speed has been increased by almost 8 times whereas the download has been increased by 2.5 times at almost half the cost, said a company press release.
Under the new plan all the existing 820,000 customers are also being upgraded for the speed up to 2 Mbps depending upon technical feasibility.
The year 2007 has already been declared as the 'Year of Broadband.' BSNL plans to add a 5 million port capacity to the existing network of 1 million ports during 2007. The telecom services provider has a market share of 44% in this segment.
BSNL plans:
BSNL has a very ambitious plan to add large capacity during 2007.
More than 1000 cities / towns and 20000 villages will come under the broadband map.
10,000 exchanges in urban 20,000 exchanges in rural would be broadband enabled.
All the telephone exchanges with more than 1000 lines will be covered under this expansion plan.
By the year 2008, all gram panchayats will have Broadband coverage.
Broadband coverage for all secondary and higher secondary schools and all public health centres by December 2007.
BSNL is in the process of launching broadband access through WiMAX technology in about 1,000 block headquarters with support from the government which will cover an area of about 20-25 km in each block.
BSNL is already in the process of launching triple play services over broadband in Pune and subsequently in Chennai and Bangalore.
BSNL will also to start on-line gaming services over broadband very shortly under two categories -- Standard and Premium packages -- with monthly fixed charges of Rs 100 and Rs 200, respectively.
The company release said that:
Till now the minimum bandwidth available to broadband customers was 256 Kbps. BSNL has now decided that all the Home and Business Plans will offer data rates up to 2 Mbps, subject to technical feasibility.
Further, the downloading limits in Home 250 and Business 700 plans have been enhanced to 1 GB and 4 GB from 400 MB and 2 GB, respectively. The limits in other plans have been suitably enhanced. With the increase in downloading limit, a Plan 250 customer will get a benefit of Rs 840 per month for 1 GB limit and Business Plan 700 customer will get a benefit of Rs 2400 per month for limits up to 4GB.
BSNL has also decided to bring down the per MB downloading rates from 1.40 per MB to Rs.0.90 per MB in Home 250 plan and the rates have also been lowered in other plans.
BSNL has also decided to reduce the fixed monthly charges from ADSL modems from Rs 100 to Rs 60 per month which would benefit about 800,000 customer of BSNL. The reduction is applicable with effect from December 1, 2006.
source: Rediff
The speed has been increased by almost 8 times whereas the download has been increased by 2.5 times at almost half the cost, said a company press release.
Under the new plan all the existing 820,000 customers are also being upgraded for the speed up to 2 Mbps depending upon technical feasibility.
The year 2007 has already been declared as the 'Year of Broadband.' BSNL plans to add a 5 million port capacity to the existing network of 1 million ports during 2007. The telecom services provider has a market share of 44% in this segment.
BSNL plans:
BSNL has a very ambitious plan to add large capacity during 2007.
More than 1000 cities / towns and 20000 villages will come under the broadband map.
10,000 exchanges in urban 20,000 exchanges in rural would be broadband enabled.
All the telephone exchanges with more than 1000 lines will be covered under this expansion plan.
By the year 2008, all gram panchayats will have Broadband coverage.
Broadband coverage for all secondary and higher secondary schools and all public health centres by December 2007.
BSNL is in the process of launching broadband access through WiMAX technology in about 1,000 block headquarters with support from the government which will cover an area of about 20-25 km in each block.
BSNL is already in the process of launching triple play services over broadband in Pune and subsequently in Chennai and Bangalore.
BSNL will also to start on-line gaming services over broadband very shortly under two categories -- Standard and Premium packages -- with monthly fixed charges of Rs 100 and Rs 200, respectively.
The company release said that:
Till now the minimum bandwidth available to broadband customers was 256 Kbps. BSNL has now decided that all the Home and Business Plans will offer data rates up to 2 Mbps, subject to technical feasibility.
Further, the downloading limits in Home 250 and Business 700 plans have been enhanced to 1 GB and 4 GB from 400 MB and 2 GB, respectively. The limits in other plans have been suitably enhanced. With the increase in downloading limit, a Plan 250 customer will get a benefit of Rs 840 per month for 1 GB limit and Business Plan 700 customer will get a benefit of Rs 2400 per month for limits up to 4GB.
BSNL has also decided to bring down the per MB downloading rates from 1.40 per MB to Rs.0.90 per MB in Home 250 plan and the rates have also been lowered in other plans.
BSNL has also decided to reduce the fixed monthly charges from ADSL modems from Rs 100 to Rs 60 per month which would benefit about 800,000 customer of BSNL. The reduction is applicable with effect from December 1, 2006.
source: Rediff
Original VCD/DVD for Rs 28 – Rs 34
Moser Baer, India's largest and world’s second largest optical storage manufacturer today announced its launch of a new initiative in content distribution in Chennai, which would mark the extension of the company's maiden foray into the entertainment industry through the Indian home video market. It may be recalled that the Moser Baer Home Entertainment division was announced in December 2006 to an appreciative market.
The company will release video content on DVD and Video CD formats using its proprietary and patented technology which enhances quality and significantly reduces cost. This will enable Moser Baer to revolutionize the quality-price parity and offer unprecedented value for the consumers.
The launch in Chennai is full-fledged with living legend, “Ulaga Nayagan” Kamal Hassan launching the first title of the over 101 Tamil titles at the event. These titles come from a library of over 1,000 titles, both from catalogue and also some new films. This is the first time that a launch of such an unprecedented scale of titles is happening in Tamil Nadu. While all the titles are being introduced in VCD format, 12 key titles are introduced in DVD format. On this occasion, the company is also launching a new hit Tamil film – Ullam Ketkume in both VCD and DVD format.
Kamal Hassan will be releasing the first title and will also unveil the entire catalogue range display shelf, which will be installed at key retail outlets by Moser Baer.
Moser Baer's new division is in final negotiations to acquire copyrights/exclusive license of more than 7000 titles in all major Indian languages which comprises a third of all movies produced till date in India. With world-class packaging, wide distribution reach and global quality production standards in each product, customers will be given a compelling value proposition which has hitherto fore not been seen in India.
According to, Harish Dayani, CEO, Entertainment Business, “This initiative represent an excellent opportunity to leverage our optical media strengths in patented and proprietary technology, capacity and costs enabling us to offering high quality titles at very attractive price points between Rs 28 – Rs 34 for VCD/DVD. I believe that at these price points, we will redefine the home video market in India.”
The new initiative will release titles in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Bhojpuri, Marathi, Bengali, Gujarati and Punjabi languages. With 18 CFAs, 400 distributors and a dedicated sales force, this division will also set up owned and branded outlets at about 300 locations in addition to its alliances with large format stores.
source: Moser Baer
Sunday, January 14, 2007
calling cards for India
Nowadays it became very cheap to call India from US, UK and some other countries. It seems like the same charge wat we are paying for the interstate calls. There are lot of calling cards availlable in net, but most of the things wont work better(like billing and the pulse rate wont match wat they said in the ad) and the service (voice quality and not easy to get the line) will be very worst.
I prefer two calling cards which will work good for us to call india.Reliance providing the Reliance India call service which is good and cheap tough.Airtel also launched their call home service from last month with some special offers (double talk time for 1st 2 recharges) and also as cheap as ever for 7c per min when comparing to 12c per min form Reliance.By seeing this reliance also slashed their rate to 7c with the comparative airtel.As i heared the service of the Airtel is poor like getting line and no response from customer service. As airtel is the no.1 telecom provider in india,I think this is bcoz of the initial stage but in future we beleive they will resolve all these issues and come up with good service. Hope it will help the guys travelling abroad for first time.
Reliance having some good features like quick call, smart calling, simultaneous calling and at the same time u can have track of your call timings and the call rates. To know more about the products click the below links.
https://www.relianceindiacall.com
https://www.airtelcallhome.com
I prefer two calling cards which will work good for us to call india.Reliance providing the Reliance India call service which is good and cheap tough.Airtel also launched their call home service from last month with some special offers (double talk time for 1st 2 recharges) and also as cheap as ever for 7c per min when comparing to 12c per min form Reliance.By seeing this reliance also slashed their rate to 7c with the comparative airtel.As i heared the service of the Airtel is poor like getting line and no response from customer service. As airtel is the no.1 telecom provider in india,I think this is bcoz of the initial stage but in future we beleive they will resolve all these issues and come up with good service. Hope it will help the guys travelling abroad for first time.
Reliance having some good features like quick call, smart calling, simultaneous calling and at the same time u can have track of your call timings and the call rates. To know more about the products click the below links.
https://www.relianceindiacall.com
https://www.airtelcallhome.com
Saturday, January 13, 2007
Web searches: new avenues
SEARCHING THE net is an essential component of one's online life and a variety of tools meant for it are in place. The distinct feature of the search tools arena is the incessant inflow of new tools.
Before settling down with a tool, one finds another one appearing on the scene. Even savvy netizens find it challenging to keep up with the developments in this realm. This edition of NetSpeak provides a brief description of the latest products in this genre.
SearchMash
Anyone dealing with web search products has to make sure that any new offerings from Google are explored. One will never be disappointed.
Google has recently launched (http://www. searchmash.com/about/privacy. html) a test search service called SearchMash (http://www.searchmash. com/).
Alongside the usual search output (results are similar to those of Google, but each is numbered), the service provides options to get search output from blog, image and video sites as well.
An advantage of SearchMash is the `More Results' option available at the bottom of the output page for showing the next set of results in the same page.
Another notable feature is `Hide Details,' which lets you hide the details displayed along with each web page - thus helping you to view more results per page.
Google Notebook search
Google Notebook helps us easily clip web content, add notes or comments and store it online. Also, one can make her notebook public and share the contents with others. Now, Google has started a search service for finding information available on public notebooks.
With Google Notebook search service (http://www.google.com/notebook/search), you may find lots of valuable information.
However, this search service has generated some controversy as many people store private information on notebooks and share it without realising the implications.
Decipho (http://decipho. com/) is another search service explored by this author. Besides the normal web search, this service has additional features contributed by its users.
When you invoke a search, you can specify whether it is for shopping or research or both. Another feature is the subject-specific clustering of the results. For instance, if you start a search on statistics, the service presents you categories such as `Statistics online,' `Glossary of statistics,' `Stats' and `Math Statistics.'
The search engine Hakia (http://www.hakia.com/), scheduled to activate its full operation sometime in 2007, seems to be a promising search tool. The beta version is available for testing its potential.
One distinction of this service relates to question/answer facility. By framing good questions, you could obtain appropriate answers.
In this regard, you can use the service along with other question/answer services such as Brainboost. Also, for certain queries, Hakia provides categorised results.
CometQuery (http://www. cometquery.com/) is yet another addition to the search tool landscape.
With each of the links in the output, the service displays its screenshot as well.
source: Hindu
Before settling down with a tool, one finds another one appearing on the scene. Even savvy netizens find it challenging to keep up with the developments in this realm. This edition of NetSpeak provides a brief description of the latest products in this genre.
SearchMash
Anyone dealing with web search products has to make sure that any new offerings from Google are explored. One will never be disappointed.
Google has recently launched (http://www. searchmash.com/about/privacy. html) a test search service called SearchMash (http://www.searchmash. com/).
Alongside the usual search output (results are similar to those of Google, but each is numbered), the service provides options to get search output from blog, image and video sites as well.
An advantage of SearchMash is the `More Results' option available at the bottom of the output page for showing the next set of results in the same page.
Another notable feature is `Hide Details,' which lets you hide the details displayed along with each web page - thus helping you to view more results per page.
Google Notebook search
Google Notebook helps us easily clip web content, add notes or comments and store it online. Also, one can make her notebook public and share the contents with others. Now, Google has started a search service for finding information available on public notebooks.
With Google Notebook search service (http://www.google.com/notebook/search), you may find lots of valuable information.
However, this search service has generated some controversy as many people store private information on notebooks and share it without realising the implications.
Decipho (http://decipho. com/) is another search service explored by this author. Besides the normal web search, this service has additional features contributed by its users.
When you invoke a search, you can specify whether it is for shopping or research or both. Another feature is the subject-specific clustering of the results. For instance, if you start a search on statistics, the service presents you categories such as `Statistics online,' `Glossary of statistics,' `Stats' and `Math Statistics.'
The search engine Hakia (http://www.hakia.com/), scheduled to activate its full operation sometime in 2007, seems to be a promising search tool. The beta version is available for testing its potential.
One distinction of this service relates to question/answer facility. By framing good questions, you could obtain appropriate answers.
In this regard, you can use the service along with other question/answer services such as Brainboost. Also, for certain queries, Hakia provides categorised results.
CometQuery (http://www. cometquery.com/) is yet another addition to the search tool landscape.
With each of the links in the output, the service displays its screenshot as well.
source: Hindu
Friday, January 12, 2007
Types of US visa
A Visas (Official Visas)-
A-1: For Ambassadors, public ministers & consular officers
A-2: For immediate family members of A-1
A-3: Attendants & servants of A-1 and A-2 holders
B (Business/Visitor) Visa -
B-1 Temporary visitor for business
B-2 Temporary visitor for leisure
C & D Visa (For Aliens in transit) -
C-1,2: Alien in transit directly through US
C-3: Family of C-1,C-2 in transit
C-4: Transit without Visa(TWOV)
D-1: Sailors departing on vessel of arrival
D-2: Sailors departing by other means
E - Visa (For Traders/Investors) -
E-1 Treaty Trader, spouse and children
E-2 Treaty Investor, spouse and children
F Visa (Students) -
Want to study or research at a U.S. college? Then F is the visa for you -
F-1: Academic Student
F-2: Spouse or child of F-1
H (Temporary Worker) Visa -
H-1B: Persons in a specialty occupation
H-2B: Seasonal nonagricultural workers
H-3: Trainees other than medical/academic; also training of handicaps
H-4: Dependants of H visa holders
I Visa (Mediapersons) -
Are you a reporter, film person, Editor? Then you require an I-visa -
Essential docs: Your press ID, a letter from the editor.
J & Q Exchange Visitor Visa -
J-1 exchange visitors may be academics, scientists, businesspeople or students.
J-1: Visas for exchange visitors
J-2: Spouse or 'child' of J-1 under 21
Fiance(e) of US Citizen -
K-1 Fiance(e)
K-2 Minor child of K-1
K-3 Spouse of a U.S. Citizen (LIFE Act)
K-4 Child of K-3 (LIFE Act)
Docs: Marriage certificate & Photos, Intent of marrying within 90 days in US(for K1).
L Visa (Intracompany Transferees)-
L-1A Executive, managerial
L-1B Specialized knowledge
L-2 Spouse or child of L-1
Vocational and Language Students -
M-1 Vocational student or other non-academic student
M-2 Spouse or child of M-1
O -Visa (For Prodigies) -
O-1: For a Genius in Sciences, Arts, Education, Business, or Athletics.
O-2: Alien's (support) accompanying O-1
O-3: Spouse or child of O-1 or O-2
Athletes and Entertainers-
P-1: Athletes & Entertainment groups
P-2: Entertainers in exchange programs
P-3: Entertainers in cultural programs
P-4: Spouse or child of P-1, 2, or 3
-Visa (Religious Workers)
R-1 Religious workers
R-2 Spouse or child of R-1
A-1: For Ambassadors, public ministers & consular officers
A-2: For immediate family members of A-1
A-3: Attendants & servants of A-1 and A-2 holders
B (Business/Visitor) Visa -
B-1 Temporary visitor for business
B-2 Temporary visitor for leisure
C & D Visa (For Aliens in transit) -
C-1,2: Alien in transit directly through US
C-3: Family of C-1,C-2 in transit
C-4: Transit without Visa(TWOV)
D-1: Sailors departing on vessel of arrival
D-2: Sailors departing by other means
E - Visa (For Traders/Investors) -
E-1 Treaty Trader, spouse and children
E-2 Treaty Investor, spouse and children
F Visa (Students) -
Want to study or research at a U.S. college? Then F is the visa for you -
F-1: Academic Student
F-2: Spouse or child of F-1
H (Temporary Worker) Visa -
H-1B: Persons in a specialty occupation
H-2B: Seasonal nonagricultural workers
H-3: Trainees other than medical/academic; also training of handicaps
H-4: Dependants of H visa holders
I Visa (Mediapersons) -
Are you a reporter, film person, Editor? Then you require an I-visa -
Essential docs: Your press ID, a letter from the editor.
J & Q Exchange Visitor Visa -
J-1 exchange visitors may be academics, scientists, businesspeople or students.
J-1: Visas for exchange visitors
J-2: Spouse or 'child' of J-1 under 21
Fiance(e) of US Citizen -
K-1 Fiance(e)
K-2 Minor child of K-1
K-3 Spouse of a U.S. Citizen (LIFE Act)
K-4 Child of K-3 (LIFE Act)
Docs: Marriage certificate & Photos, Intent of marrying within 90 days in US(for K1).
L Visa (Intracompany Transferees)-
L-1A Executive, managerial
L-1B Specialized knowledge
L-2 Spouse or child of L-1
Vocational and Language Students -
M-1 Vocational student or other non-academic student
M-2 Spouse or child of M-1
O -Visa (For Prodigies) -
O-1: For a Genius in Sciences, Arts, Education, Business, or Athletics.
O-2: Alien's (support) accompanying O-1
O-3: Spouse or child of O-1 or O-2
Athletes and Entertainers-
P-1: Athletes & Entertainment groups
P-2: Entertainers in exchange programs
P-3: Entertainers in cultural programs
P-4: Spouse or child of P-1, 2, or 3
-Visa (Religious Workers)
R-1 Religious workers
R-2 Spouse or child of R-1
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Google to help build telescope
Washington, Jan 09: Google has already planted its flag on Earth, the Moon and Mars. The universe could be next.
The Internet search company has struck a partnership with scientists building a huge sky-scanning telescope, with hopes of helping the public access digital footage of asteroids, supernovas and distant galaxies.
"Frankly, I could see the day when they would be our sort of window to the general public," said Donald Sweeney, manager of the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, or LSST, on Friday.
Officials also say Google`s technical expertise and vast data processing capacity will be an invaluable help, even for a project that has access to some of the country`s leading research institutions.
The 8.4-meter LSST is expected to begin surveying the sky in 2013, from a mountaintop in Chile. Its goal is to continuously scan space, taking a series of 15-second exposures that allow it to cover the sky every three nights.
Officials say the telescope will open "a movie-like window" on nearby asteroids and far-off exploding stars, and help explore the mysterious "dark energy" believed to fuel the universe`s expansion.
Google`s stature should also bring the project more attention, which could be crucial as the $350 million telescope competes for public and private money.
In that respect, LSST officials may have learned a lesson from projects that have captured broader public imagination, such as the Hubble Space Telescope, said W. Henry Lambright, professor of public administration at the Maxwell School at Syracuse University.
"If they want to finance this thing and keep it going and maintained, they`ve got to make this not just the astronomers` telescope, but the people`s telescope," he said.
The project has attracted at least $25 million in private donations and a four-year, $12 million grant from the National Science Foundation. Some of the 20 project partners also have supplied money, including about $1 million each from a half-dozen universities, Sweeney said.
Google`s involvement hasn`t been completely defined yet, Sweeney said. But the company that already offers detailed online maps of the Earth, the Moon and Mars could help analyze massive amounts of data -- up to 30 terabytes a night -- generated by the telescope.
But Google`s involvement raises questions about whether it sees the resulting space images as a cash cow, said Stephen Maran, spokesman for the American Astronomical Society. He said, "Maybe they`ll be selling ads next to the Orion Nebula or something."
Officials said there is no clear revenue stream for Google in the project, and said the company also isn`t putting up money to help build the telescope itself.
"There is no licensing, there is no quid pro quo here," Sweeney said. "There`s no financial incentive to them or to us."
Google spokesman Jon Murchinson said, "I don`t think we entered into this partnership ... with an eye on how do we monetize our participation"
source: zeetv
The Internet search company has struck a partnership with scientists building a huge sky-scanning telescope, with hopes of helping the public access digital footage of asteroids, supernovas and distant galaxies.
"Frankly, I could see the day when they would be our sort of window to the general public," said Donald Sweeney, manager of the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, or LSST, on Friday.
Officials also say Google`s technical expertise and vast data processing capacity will be an invaluable help, even for a project that has access to some of the country`s leading research institutions.
The 8.4-meter LSST is expected to begin surveying the sky in 2013, from a mountaintop in Chile. Its goal is to continuously scan space, taking a series of 15-second exposures that allow it to cover the sky every three nights.
Officials say the telescope will open "a movie-like window" on nearby asteroids and far-off exploding stars, and help explore the mysterious "dark energy" believed to fuel the universe`s expansion.
Google`s stature should also bring the project more attention, which could be crucial as the $350 million telescope competes for public and private money.
In that respect, LSST officials may have learned a lesson from projects that have captured broader public imagination, such as the Hubble Space Telescope, said W. Henry Lambright, professor of public administration at the Maxwell School at Syracuse University.
"If they want to finance this thing and keep it going and maintained, they`ve got to make this not just the astronomers` telescope, but the people`s telescope," he said.
The project has attracted at least $25 million in private donations and a four-year, $12 million grant from the National Science Foundation. Some of the 20 project partners also have supplied money, including about $1 million each from a half-dozen universities, Sweeney said.
Google`s involvement hasn`t been completely defined yet, Sweeney said. But the company that already offers detailed online maps of the Earth, the Moon and Mars could help analyze massive amounts of data -- up to 30 terabytes a night -- generated by the telescope.
But Google`s involvement raises questions about whether it sees the resulting space images as a cash cow, said Stephen Maran, spokesman for the American Astronomical Society. He said, "Maybe they`ll be selling ads next to the Orion Nebula or something."
Officials said there is no clear revenue stream for Google in the project, and said the company also isn`t putting up money to help build the telescope itself.
"There is no licensing, there is no quid pro quo here," Sweeney said. "There`s no financial incentive to them or to us."
Google spokesman Jon Murchinson said, "I don`t think we entered into this partnership ... with an eye on how do we monetize our participation"
source: zeetv
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Ms. Dewey search engine
Well, the new Ms. Dewey search engine certainly makes you laugh, but is it useful?
There is a new search engine in town, and it is seriously alluring.Ms. Dewey is a young, black librarian doing her best to help you find what you are looking for, but who gets bored if you don’t ask her the right question.Yes, you heard us! This is a fully animated search engine, based on a lot of video footage of our librarian in a futuristic city landscape (that’s Ms. Dewey on the left).
Slow, but entertaining, searching
You enter your search term in a search form, as normal, and regular search results will appear in a pop up window — eventually, but first the lady will try to tell you the answer.
That often takes a lot of thinking on Ms. Dewey’s side. She looks bored, mischievous, sad, happy or embarrassed, which is all very funny. And the intros (which vary) can be pure entertainment.
However, as a search tool, we’re afraid this does not work at all. The response time is very slow, at times extremely slow. The results are close to unreadable. And there are no advanced search features. To put it this way: If you ever go back to this site, it is to show your friends how cool it is.
Making Microsoft look sexy
But who’s behind it? The site doesn’t say, but it is actually Microsoft! Which is strange, as it is very unlike Microsoft. However, the search results are clearly powered by the Microsoft Windows Live Search search engine (now, isn’t that a mouthful!).
source: pandia
There is a new search engine in town, and it is seriously alluring.Ms. Dewey is a young, black librarian doing her best to help you find what you are looking for, but who gets bored if you don’t ask her the right question.Yes, you heard us! This is a fully animated search engine, based on a lot of video footage of our librarian in a futuristic city landscape (that’s Ms. Dewey on the left).
Slow, but entertaining, searching
You enter your search term in a search form, as normal, and regular search results will appear in a pop up window — eventually, but first the lady will try to tell you the answer.
That often takes a lot of thinking on Ms. Dewey’s side. She looks bored, mischievous, sad, happy or embarrassed, which is all very funny. And the intros (which vary) can be pure entertainment.
However, as a search tool, we’re afraid this does not work at all. The response time is very slow, at times extremely slow. The results are close to unreadable. And there are no advanced search features. To put it this way: If you ever go back to this site, it is to show your friends how cool it is.
Making Microsoft look sexy
But who’s behind it? The site doesn’t say, but it is actually Microsoft! Which is strange, as it is very unlike Microsoft. However, the search results are clearly powered by the Microsoft Windows Live Search search engine (now, isn’t that a mouthful!).
source: pandia
Net 4 Offers ISD Calls for Re 1
Net 4, one of the leading IP communications provider in India, claims to have become the first ISP to launch 'One World' plan, offering calls to more than 40 countries worldwide in just one rupee. The company said that this is clearly a breakthrough in the VoIP market, facilitating voice calls from a PC to phone or mobile globally by using Net4 'One World' calling card.
In a statement, Jasjit Sawhney, Chief Executive Officer of Net4, said, "With 2007 coined as the Broadband year, we are all set to capitalize on it, and go to market with a New Year gift for our consumers. This offering will prove beneficial to not only the home user but also to corporates, SMEs, and the BPO segment in reducing their ISD bills by nearly 95 percent." "As a major call center destination, India stands to gain a lot from voice communication over Internet. Our 'One World' plan will be a cost effective solution for small BPO outfits where significant amount of work depends on outbound calls. Net4 has been active in the VoIP space in the pasters, by end of this calendar year we are looking at adding 1,50,000 subscribers," Sawhney said.
Net4 offers prepaid calling cards such as One World, Homeland, Gulf Gold, and Unlimited. 'One World' calling cards are available in denominations of Rs 250, Rs 500, and Rs 1,000. 'One World' card in denomination of Rs 100 is available online on www.phonewala.com. Gulf Gold is another product, which allows connecting with more than 150 Gulf and European countries at a flat rate of Rs 8 per minute. The home and SOHO users who wish to make calls to the US and Canada can go for Homeland calling card available in the denomination of Rs 599. Other than these end-consumer Internet telephony products, Net4 has also launched corporate products. These products include Unlimited US, UK, and Canada calling plans, and are available in different denominations to suit the calling consumption patterns of various levels of businesses. And in order to make a call, one can connect either by downloading a free dialer from the Web site or by using a telephone adapter instead. The process is that one has to log on to www.phonewala.com, download the dialer, and then enter the user ID and pin. Meanwhile, one can make calls to the following countries at Re 1 per minute. The call rate is applicable to all landline numbers. In six countries (with heavy ILD call traffic from India) - US, Canada, China, Singapore, Thailand, and Hong Kong, one can call up both landline and mobile destinations at Re 1 per minute. The other countries which are included in the 'One World' plan are Argentina, Greece, Portugal, Armenia, Guam, Puerto Rico, Australia, Austria, Hungary, Spain, Belgium, Ireland, Sweden, Italy, Switzerland, Chile, Japan, Taiwan, Luxembourg, Cyprus, Malaysia, the UK, Czech Republic, Monaco, Denmark, Netherlands, the US Virgin Islands, Estonia, New Zealand, Vatican City, Finland, Norway, Venezuela, France, Panama, Germany, and Poland.
source: Techtree
Tuesday, January 9, 2007
IIT- study materials
IIT's the perstigious and world class instutions in India, which are well known for its technical education. IITians have achieved success in a variety of professions, resulting in the establishment of the widely recognised Brand IIT. IITs are the knowledge pool which serves us for the past 50 yrs, one should be a so luckiest person to have a seat in these institutions. Now they came online to serve us with their most valuable resources (course materials) for free of cost. You can download the materials and make use of it.
The IITs have taken up an initiative of starting online teaching and thus have started offering course materials online for every engineering stream.
-Many professors from all the IITs have provided course materials for each chapter and each subject.
-One has to register at the link provided below and can access the course material.
-Every Chapter has been described with diagrams and charts.
- Please spread this message to everyone, as many can benefit from this program taken up by the government and IIT.
This is just a trial period going on and hence everyone can register at the link given.
1] Go to http://nptel.iitm.ac.in/
2] Click on Courses
3] Sign up as a NEW USER
4] And one can access any course material.
Please spread the word, so that this initiative benefits as many people as possible.
The IITs have taken up an initiative of starting online teaching and thus have started offering course materials online for every engineering stream.
-Many professors from all the IITs have provided course materials for each chapter and each subject.
-One has to register at the link provided below and can access the course material.
-Every Chapter has been described with diagrams and charts.
- Please spread this message to everyone, as many can benefit from this program taken up by the government and IIT.
This is just a trial period going on and hence everyone can register at the link given.
1] Go to http://nptel.iitm.ac.in/
2] Click on Courses
3] Sign up as a NEW USER
4] And one can access any course material.
Please spread the word, so that this initiative benefits as many people as possible.
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