My world

SPAM!!!!

2009-07-04T11:56:00.000-07:00

Every quarter Google and Postini take a joint look at the state of the spam industry, its undulations and upheavals. And the results for the most recent quarter, ended June 30, are in.

In many ways, the results are unsurprising: Spam is up again, with levels 53 percent higher than the first quarter of the year, but just 6 percent higher than the second quarter of 2008. (Spam levels were uncommonly low last quarter following the shut-down of the ISP McColo, a notorious haven for spammers. Those spammers have largely found other services to host their activities, and spam levels have since rebounded.)

But rising spam levels are not exactly a surprise. The big news in the latest figures is the return of spammers to traditional, almost "old school" methods.

One of the big ones is the sudden reemergence of image spam, a very simple form of spam in which the advertisement or message is embedded into an image inside an email. Image spam became common in 2007 because spam filters at the time where focused on filtering certain keywords, so spammers responded by recreating those words as graphics, which would sail through the filters. Spam filters have since adapted to this technique, but now it's coming back. Why? Hard to say, but my hunch is that so many email messages contain images now -- both commercial and personal -- that unilaterally filtering out image content is no longer an effective strategy. I know when I receive an email that contains mostly hidden images, I almost always choose to "show images" in my email client; there's just no other way to figure out whether it's something useful or not.

The Google/Postini report also offers some other possible explanations, including the likelihood that spammers are "testing" spam filters, or trying out their replacement ISPs with older techniques before advancing on to something more sophisticated.

Another old-school spam technique on the rise: Viruses sent as email attachments. Again, this is an attack that has fallen out of favor in recent years because so many attachments are blocked at the server. Spammers of late have instead sought to direct victims to malicious web links, which are tougher to filter out.

But now virus attachments are making a comeback, another return to the methods that worked in the past. (Though I think these virus attachments will have considerably less success than revisiting image spam techniques.)

All of which just goes to show: Never get complacent when it comes to PC security, because you never know what they're going to try to hit you with.

Top 10 hidden (and not-so-hidden) gems in iPhone Software 3.0

2009-06-20T10:01:00.003-07:00

Sure, you already know about cut-and-paste, picture messaging (one AT&T gets around to supporting it, that is) and "Find My iPhone"—but have you heard about the "shake to undo" feature, auto-fill for Safari, and the new way to quit from a frozen app? Get the scoop right here.

We've had iPhone Software 3.0 for almost a day now (there's also a version for the iPod Touch, although it'll cost you $9.95 to download), and all the big new features have been thoroughly poked and prodded by now. Meanwhile, some of the most sought-after features—such as MMS, a.k.a. picture message—and laptop tethering have yet to be supported by AT&T (later this summer, we've been told).

So instead of simply rehashing such features as universal Spotlight search and voice memos (really, Apple, what took you so long?), I've compiled a list of my favorite little features in Software 3.0—along with a couple of bigger ones that I find particularly enticing.

The list isn't meant to be comprehensive—these are just the tips and tricks that I've found most useful so far. Have some that you'd like to share? Then by all means, post them in the comments below for all to see. (For a complete list of new 3.0 features, such as copy-and-paste and universal search, check out Apple's Web site, along with some of my earlier posts here and here.)

And without further ado, here we go…

Call a number directly from a calendar entry
Now, here's an IPhone feature I've really been longing for. If you have an address or phone number in the "Notes" field of a calendar entry, you can now tap them to either map the address or call the number. And if the address and/or phone number isn't getting hotlinked properly, you can always just copy and paste.

Force quit a frozen app
Now you don't have to do a hard reset on your iPhone (performed by pressing and holding the Sleep and Home buttons) if a third-party app goes haywire. Instead, you can just kill the errant process in a couple simple steps. First, press and hold Sleep and Home as if you're doing a hard reset; next, press and hold the Home button. Within a few seconds, you'll be back at the Home screen.

Shake to shuffle or undo
Again, nothing new (especially for owners of some of the newer Sony Ericsson music phones), but cool nonetheless. Listening to a playlist and want to change things up? Just give your iPhone a quick shake; you'll hear a little "beep-bap-boop" sound, and you'll be in shuffle mode. Also: Not thrilled with the sentence you just typed? Shake the phone, and a pop-up will appear, asking whether you'd like to undo your typing.

Log into your YouTube account
Yep, other smartphones have been able to do this for a long time now, but better late than never. Just More and then My Videos or Subscriptions, and you'll be prompted for your YouTube username and password; once that's done, you'll be able to access your clips and subscriptions (natch), rate or comment on videos, subscribe to new channels, and so on.

Compose an email, a text message, or a note with landscape keypad
One of the biggest complaints about the iPhone has finally been fixed—yes, you can now tap on a landscape version of the iPhone's touch keypad from just about any app. Simply turn your handset on its side whenever you're tapping out a new e-mail, SMS, or a sticky, and the landscape keypad will appear.

Auto-fill your info
Shopping on the iPhone just got a lot easier with this 3.0 feature. Tap Settings, Safari, and AutoFill; then, if you want iPhone to automatically fill in Web forms with your contact info, switch the On/Off slider to On and select your own contact card from the address book. You can also set Safari to remember usernames and passwords if you with.

Rent a movie or buy a TV show over Wi-Fi
OK—not exactly a "hidden gem" as 3.0 features go, but as a movie freak I can't resist. At last, you can directly download movie rentals, purchases, or TV episodes over the air; just click on the iTunes app to get started. The bad news is that AT&T's 10MB cap on iTunes downloads over its 3G network still applies, which basically means you'll need Wi-Fi access to grab a 1GB movie rental at the airport. The good news, though, is that all iPhone users get free access to AT&T hotspots, including those at Starbucks—which, as luck would have it, are easy to find at airports. Plan on sipping that latte slowly, however; even over my speedy Wi-Fi connection, it took a good half hour to download a 1.2GB movie like Robert Rodriguez's "Planet Terror." (And yes, you can transfer movie rentals back to your Mac/PC if you wish.)

Keep a closer eye on the market
The iPhone's (Yahoo!-powered) Stocks app gets a bit more useful in Software 3.0. When you tap on a specific ticker symbol, you'll still see the daily, month, or yearly price chart on the bottom half of the screen; now, though, you can swipe it for recent headlines or volume, market cap, 52-week high and low info, and more.

Forward or delete a text message
I've always liked how the iPhone displays SMS conversations in a "threaded" format, but until now, there wasn't a way to forward pithy texts or delete specific messages (besides simply wiping an entire conversation). Now, you can; just tap Edit in an SMS conversation, then select the messages you'd like to forward or zap.

Get "push" notifications
Again, probably not the most "hidden" feature in 3.0, but I like it so much that I'm including it anyway. The iPhone still lacks true multitasking (as found on the Palm Pre), but with "push notification"—new to Software 3.0—developers of third-party apps can "push" alerts, sounds, and icon badges to your phone even when the given app isn't running. For example, the Associated Press app will push you a pop-up window with a sound alert when a bulletin hits the wire (I just got one for a Supreme Court ruling on DNA testing), while Tap Tap Revenge will ping you whenever one of your Tap Tap pals wants to challenge you to an over-the-air duel. (MacRumors has a list ofearly push-supported apps here.) Don't worry—you can configure push notification in the Settings menu, or turn it off entirely if you wish. (Also, keep in mind that turning push notification on may put a dent in your battery life.)

What are your favorite new feature in iPhone Software 3.0? Post 'em below.

Source: Yahoo

Windows XP life extended yet again to (possibly) 2011

2009-06-20T08:25:00.000-07:00

Like Michael Corleone in The Godfather Part III, just when you think Windows XP is out... they pull it back in.

Once again -- and I've now lost count on this one -- Microsoft is officially extending the life of the venerable Windows XP operating system. Based on the company's new rules, the OS can be pre-installed on machines for up to 18 months after the general availability of Windows 7 -- or until Windows 7 Service Pack 1 is released, whichever is sooner.

Assuming Windows 7 ships in October as planned, that means XP may be alive and well until April 2011. On the other hand, Microsoft has been releasing Service Packs more quickly of late, and 18 months would be an awfully long time for Windows to go without a patch.

The move was apparently a response to Gartner's Michael Silver, who lambasted the company's previous policy, which would create only six months of overlap between XP and Windows 7, and which he saw as not enough time for large enterprises to manage the transition from one OS to the other. (And let's get real: No one is going to upgrade to Vista in the meantime.)

In response, Silver called the new policy "good" but "still not great."

His beef? Microsoft's Service Pack clause, which is as nebulous a term as one can fathom. Service Packs are really nothing more than bundled up collections of bug fixes, and there are no guidelines about how serious those fixes need to be or how many of them one needs in order to justify putting out a Service Pack of them. Microsoft could release Windows 7 Service Pack 1 a week after it was released -- citing whatever reasons it wanted -- and abruptly yank XP from the market. What's worse is that Service Packs can arrive without much warning, which would give businesses even less time to prepare for XP going off market.

As a side note, remember that XP is already technically at its end of life: It's no longer available at retail, and only extended support plans are available. Technically only businesses are supposed to be able to buy it. Microsoft will stop patching XP, as well, in April 2014 -- and that includes all security updates.

Unless it changes its mind. Again.

source:Yahoo!!!

Is Moore's Law about to die?

2009-06-20T07:46:00.000-07:00

It's one of the most famous maxims in the technology world: Moore's Law, originally conceived by Intel's Gordon Moore in 1965, posits that the number of transistors on a circuit will double every 1 1/2 to 2 years. That has held true -- like a rock -- since it was envisioned, from the 2,300 transistors on an Intel 4004 to the 2 billion or so transistors on a quad-core Itanium produced today.

But even Moore has cautioned that the Law won't be sustainable forever. The limits of physics -- the size and characteristics of electrons that have to move through these circuits, for example -- mandate that at some point, we'll either have to stop shrinking transistors (which is how you fit more and more of them on a chip) or move to another form of CPU that doesn't rely on traditional silicon. Either way, Moore's Law would no longer apply. Intel itself has predicted the imminent end of Moore's Law on many occasions, though its most recent prediction is that there is "no end in sight."

Research group iSuppli would beg to differ with that opinion, and says that not only is the end in sight, it's right around the corner: By 2014, the company says Moore's Law will cease to drive chip design, and for a reason unrelated to physics. Rather, it's economics that will kill Moore's Law as we know it.

The big shift comes, says iSuppli, when companies shrink transistor nodes to below 20nm. The problem has nothing to do with the chips themselves, but the equipment that will have to be built in order to make the chips. Since that equipment is really only useful during the lifetime of a single chip generation, it has to be depreciated over the life of that generation. At the 20nm point, equipment "costs will be so high, that the value of their lifetime productivity can never justify it," according to the company.

We still have a bit of time for that economic reality to alter itself. Today, chips utilizing 45nm connectors are standard, with 32nm on the horizon (Intel could have these chips out in 2010), and 22nm the next step after that. 16nm (or possibly 18nm) would mark the following step in the progression, a point at which we'd then be in the world of "nanoelectronics" where individual atoms may have to be manipulated to construct a CPU. And some companies, including Toshiba, already have early production plans announced at this level, though on a limited scale in comparison to Intel.

Given the current state of the tech industry, economic reality is indeed a tough thing to get past, but it would be sad if money alone stopped chip advances dead in their tracks. Anyone want to take up a collection? Save Moore's Law!

source:Yahoo

Today's diet!!

2009-05-23T05:16:00.000-07:00

BF:
nothing, woke up late...!! got WILD in dreams :P.. Repaired my bicycle...
Had a head massage, it will be wonderful 4 geeks 2 have massage!

then cycled to office...!

Had LUNCH:
PURI, Mutter masala, chicken soup, Dal, Buttermilk!! Had stomach fulll!!! owehhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!

Abt Padi's testi in orkut!!!

2009-05-22T08:02:00.000-07:00

A Classic geek!

An ADOBE lover!!!

A Template monster!!!!

A veteran script kiddie!!

An Orchid7 certified Hacker!!!!!

Our Quest Chief Tech Architet!!!!!!

Digg2Hero Omner!!!!!!!

Only guy in college who tried to install MAC LeopordX(Of course adjusted with theme)!!!

A hip hop raper!!!

A cool Sapper!!!!

Only guy in college who can throw chess ball in cricket!!!!

Co-founder of unknown search engine which uses Suffix arays, works better than google!!! Google utterly failed to get those patents!!! but this fr3ak dont kno Suffixes [:P]

6-packer, hey sorry 12 packer [:P]

Mess topper!!!!!

hez da only person i envy in my class when it comes to geekyness...!!

Hack-in-Hack-out winner!!!!!

A good Skater!!!

hey u kno, this is a smal attempt from me to get a small autograph from him, after few yrs or so.... kidding!!! not exactly....!!!

missing ur slow pysco smile raa!!

Today's diet!!!

2009-05-22T07:36:00.001-07:00

BF:
Fruit Salad..!!!
One class Plain milk!!!

Lunch:
Chicken Biryani!!!
3 roti!!
Vanila and chocolate icecream!!
Veg manchuria 4 cups!! :P
Dal, Capsicum Masala, buttermilk!!

Evening at Gym:
burnt 83 Kcal cycling for 15 min!!!
burnt 104 Kcal jogging for 15 min!!!
cardio's for 30 min!!!

Dinner:
1 set dosa....!!
2 spoons puligora(thats how kannada ppl call pulihora).
One apple...!!
carrot and keera!!!!

HorrorScope

2009-05-22T05:18:00.000-07:00

Others could be trying to take advantage of your kindness today. Try to find that balance between being generous and being na ve. Your kindness may get you a few points with others, but if you get taken advantage of your mood will certainly be spoiled and your faith in humanity may be questioned!

ha ha ha.... am i kind???? lets C.... balance between generous and naive :-P
I m jus a geek!!!!

Luving Wolfram!!!!

2009-05-22T05:09:00.000-07:00

Wonderful knowledge engine!!!!

this answers almost every puzzle or problem!!!
http://www.wolframalpha.com/

ha ha ha...!! getting addicted to it!!!

my craziness:
tried to find out "3+6+9+..................."
Crap isn't it?????

but it answered beautifuly.....

check out ur craziness and get amazed by its interpretation...!!!!!!!!!!

2009-05-22T05:04:00.000-07:00

So many flash games!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@
http://www.games68.com

It helped to embed games in my site!!!

TT battle!!

2009-05-22T04:55:00.000-07:00

Today played at around 4 games... today i got some nick!! Smashed 4!!

game --- 17,
game --- 16 with kiran

and

game --- 6,
game --- 8 with sunitha.. :)

Jus completed 2 games with Kiran, its 11:20pm now..!!! this is what i call as life in Y!!! Beds to sleep... TV's (54" Bravia) to watch DC vs DD.... Y! rocks!!!! coming to game,
19---Game...!!
game---16!!
game---11!!!

then i played with Anil....
this is game.... ego's inside, displaying game out... fighting to win....!!
finally he won...!!! but i loved the way i fought!! He played wonderfully!!
Its deuce!!!
he won!!!

My first Offer screwed up!!!!

2009-05-22T04:46:00.000-07:00

"Capgemini is a leader in consulting, technology and outsourcing services"

????

What da ....????????????????

I thought of this capGemini as a good service based company.... hmm... big big mistake guys...!!

These service based companies sucks!!!

This company came @ around august 2008 for campus recruitment, hired 20 odd students and telling now that it will call around 2nd Quarter of 2010, not even specific about it..!!

capGemini SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thought of it as a good brand!!!

IT SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Improve your Website page ranking through reciprocal linking!!!

2009-04-05T21:56:00.000-07:00

The aim of a reciprocal linking strategy is usually twofold: First to attract visitors from the linking partner to your own site and, secondly, to improve your page ranking with the search engines. A higher page ranking, especially with Google, indicates more relevance when inquiries are made on a given keyword. Relevance encourages the search engines to send free, targeted traffic to your website.

Important Considerations

1. Build online relationships. Exchanging links with other relevant websites is a great way to start building partnerships with other website owners and may open the door for future joint venture requests.

2. Build your link popularity. Most search engines view sites that have many links to them as being important. So, the more sites that link to your site, the higher your site might rank. But again, make sure that all reciprocal links are relevant to your site or the search engines will penalize you.

3. Avoid exchanging links with sites that have a huge link directory. If your site is listed on page 43 in your category of another site's link directory, few people will ever see your link. Although a link will be generated to your site for the search engines, you will not receive much traffic from the link exchange. Try to exchange links with sites where your link will be displayed on the first, or at the most, the second page of another site's link directory.

4. Don't exchange links with everybody that asks. What advantage is there in exchanging links with a site that sells wedding favors when your site is about dog training? Anyone that visits the wedding favor site will be looking for information concerning weddings, not dog training, and very few will click on your link regardless of how high the page rank is for the wedding site. The key here is to exchange links only with sites that are relevant to your site or to your keywords.

5. The main goal of any linking strategy is to get more traffic to a website. Reciprocal linking can work for or against you in this matter depending on the site that you exchange links with. If you exchange links with sites that receive a lot of traffic, some of that traffic may be diverted to your site. On the other hand, if you exchange links with a low traffic site, you may divert some of your traffic to the other site without seeing a similar return. The solution is to exchange reciprocal links with a site with a page rank no lower than one level below yours and to try to exchange links with many sites with a higher page rank. Ideally, you would seek to exchange links with sites that have at least a PR 4.

How To Set Up A Link Page

The optimum way to set up a link page is to enter all links manually. Yes, it is time consuming but when you are starting out, this is the best way to do it.

You would first need to set up a page on your website just for your link categories. You can call this page anything you like such as Links, My Partners, Link Partners, My Link Partners, etc. Set up this page with the major categories and subcategories that are relevant to your site. Then, set up a page for each subcategory that will contain the actual links. Test to be sure that whenever anyone clicks on a subcategory that they are taken to the appropriate link page.

Prepare a short 3 - 5 line ad about your website or your product and include the URL to your website. This should be in HTML code for easy uploading. Each linking company has their own procedure, but generally, each time you ask to exchange links, you'll need to copy and paste the other website's HTML code onto your link page under the correct category and subcategory. You will then need to upload the updated page to your website.

Once this is done, let the other website know on which of your pages they can find their link. If the other website owner approves the link exchange, they should add your link to their link page and inform you on exactly what page you can find it.

Check to make sure that your link has been added to their site. If they have not added your link, you have the option of contacting the website owner as to why or of removing their link from your site.

Mention reciprocal linking on any internet marketing forum and you will be sure to get a barrage of heated replies. There is a continual debate about the advantages and disadvantages involved in reciprocal linking and both sides make convincing statements.

If you do decide to get involved in reciprocal linking, join only well established link exchanges that allow you to approve or disapprove the link. Avoid link farms or link exchanges that will automatically exchange your link with their entire database regardless of the relevancy to your website.

sachin mania

2009-03-20T22:37:00.001-07:00

Sachin Tendulkar scored his 42nd Test century and gave Seddon Park a batting masterclass as India established a stranglehold on proceedings on the third day. Having started the day one run in arrears, they piled up 242 in two sessions before dismissing both New Zealand openers and Kyle Mills, the night-watchman, in 31 overs before stumps. With Harbhajan Singh getting sharp turn and Munaf Patel hinting at some reverse swing, New Zealand's prospects of saving the game were decidedly slim.

Tendulkar's hundred took just 168 balls and his positive intent never allowed the bowlers to settle. India lost Yuvraj Singh to an error of judgement but though Mahendra Singh Dhoni was initially subdued, a 115-run partnership gave India an advantage that weren't likely to relinquish.

Over the past few months, there have been several glimpses of the Tendulkar of old, the peerless strokemaker who just came out and played without a thought for the cares of the world. That was in evidence again in the morning, with some magnificent strokes played all around the wicket. The tone for the day was set in the very first over with a lovely cover-drive after Yuvraj had clipped Chris Martin off the pads twice for fours.

In Martin's next over, Tendulkar played a gorgeous back-foot cover-drive, and when Iain O'Brien was glanced and then cut for four, he was into the 90s. The partnership was beginning to look ominous when Martin gave New Zealand some respite. Coming round the wicket, he got the ball to nip back a smidgen off the seam. Yuvraj watched it all the way and just shouldered arms. The ball took off stump.

Dhoni edged the first ball he faced just short of third slip, but all eyes were on Tendulkar. A wonderful stroke through cover off O'Brien took him to 99, and a wristy tuck on to the onside when James Franklin came on to bowl had the crowd on its feet, to acclaim a man whose feats are unlikely ever to be matched.

The punishment was far from over though. Jesse Ryder had been miserly on day two, but 24 hours later, Tendulkar greeted him with an on-drive, a deft swish behind point and a nonchalant clip off the pads. Of the 66 runs scored before drinks, he had made 47.

Dhoni was watchful at the other end, with only a fluent cover-drive off Franklin offering a glimpse of the strokes at his disposal. Daniel Vettori came on and bottled one end up, unlucky perhaps not to get an lbw decision against Tendulkar, but the slumping body language of his team-mates said it all.

It only got worse after lunch. Tendulkar swept Vettori for four and was ruthless in his execution of the cut when Martin dropped short and wide. When he tapped one down to third man, he had his 18th score of 150 or more, and the century partnership came up soon after as Dhoni unleashed a withering off-drive off Martin.

It was the impressive O'Brien that gave his beleaguered team some respite. The third umpire was needed to make sure that Ryder hadn't caught Dhoni at gully after another fierce cut, but India's captain was on his way three balls later after gloving a short-pitched delivery behind. Then, after an immaculate punch down the ground off O'Brien, Tendulkar's 260-ball effort ended with an edge to first slip, after he tried to fend a bouncer down towards fine leg.

By then, the lead was 164 and though Vettori took a smart diving catch at mid-off to end Harbhajan Singh's cameo, there was further punishment from Zaheer Khan, who hit the ball through and over the covers with the ease of a frontline batsman. The hapless Mills went for three fours in an over, and the 500 came up right after Daniel Flynn had put Zaheer down off Franklin's bowling. Zaheer celebrated that chance with two whiplashes through cover, and a risky single soon after gave him 50 from 45 balls and added insult to considerable injury.

Vettori was tidy while O'Brien and Martin toiled hard but the lack of quality from the back-up bowlers was glaring, especially against the tail. There were bound to be changes for Napier, but as they headed for the dressing room after Munaf holed out, all thoughts were on surviving Hamilton.

When New Zealand batted a second time, Tim McIntosh lasted just three balls. There were doubts over whether the edge off Zaheer carried to Tendulkar at first slip and the fielder himself went off with a badly jammed and bleeding finger. Tendulkar later clarified that his finger was sore, but had not been broken. Martin Guptill and Flynn slowly set about building the innings with Guptill playing some glorious strokes through the covers and working the ball neatly off his pads. The shot of his innings was undoubtedly a swivel-pull for six off Ishant Sharma.

All the good work was undone in the final few minutes though. Guptill was just two short of a half-century on debut when he played a lazy drive at Harbhajan for Virender Sehwag to take a tumbling catch at mid-off and Munaf then trapped Mills in front with the last ball of the day. The shouts of celebration reverberated around the ground, and the Indians took their time to walk off after a day when pretty much everything had gone their way.

6yr-old Indian-American boy's IQ is greater than that of Einstein

2009-03-13T04:41:00.000-07:00

Chicago, March 13 (ANI): An Indian-American boy has an IQ greater than that of Albert Einstein at the tender age of six.

Pranav Veera has an IQ of 176, while Einstein's IQ was believed to be about 160.

The little boy can recite the names of the U.S. presidents in the order they served in office, and is able to say the alphabet backward.

Given a date back to 2000, Pranav can even tell which day of the week that was.

He is highly competitive at playing Wii video games, and likes to play outside.

Pranav's parents have revealed that he seemed unusually intelligent while playing with alphabet sets, when the boy was just four-and-a-half years old.

He could even recall which letters were certain colours, they say.

"That kind of puzzled us. You have to have not a normal memorization, but some other means of recall," the Chicago Sun-Times quoted his father Prasad Veera as saying.

The little boy's mother, Suchitra Veera, has revealed that he presently loves all kinds of alphabets.

"He loves to collect them, like different colors, different sizes, different materials," she said.

Pranav's parents decided to have his IQ tested at Powers Educational Services in Hyde Park three months ago

"I said, 'Let's try it out, because he seems to do a lot of stuff kind of not quite normal for his age. He tested 176," his father said.

Pranav's teacher Marci Taylor, at McCormick Elementary in the Milford School District, calls him "an amazing child".

"He knows so much, yet he's probably more excited about learning than any child I've ever seen. He shakes with excitement," she said.

What she finds impressive about Pranav is the fact that he knows so many incredible things at the age of 6.

"He loves to go play at recess and climb on the monkey bars," Taylor said.

When asked what he wants to be when he grows up, Pranav says: "An astronaut." (ANI)

source:ANI

Improve Your site performance

2009-03-13T04:09:00.000-07:00

Minimize HTTP Requests

tag: content

80% of the end-user response time is spent on the front-end. Most of this time is tied up in downloading all the components in the page: images, stylesheets, scripts, Flash, etc. Reducing the number of components in turn reduces the number of HTTP requests required to render the page. This is the key to faster pages.

One way to reduce the number of components in the page is to simplify the page's design. But is there a way to build pages with richer content while also achieving fast response times? Here are some techniques for reducing the number of HTTP requests, while still supporting rich page designs.

Combined files are a way to reduce the number of HTTP requests by combining all scripts into a single script, and similarly combining all CSS into a single stylesheet. Combining files is more challenging when the scripts and stylesheets vary from page to page, but making this part of your release process improves response times.

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

Image maps combine multiple images into a single image. The overall size is about the same, but reducing the number of HTTP requests speeds up the page. Image maps only work if the images are contiguous in the page, such as a navigation bar. Defining the coordinates of image maps can be tedious and error prone. Using image maps for navigation is not accessible too, so it's not recommended.

Inline images use the data: URL scheme to embed the image data in the actual page. This can increase the size of your HTML document. Combining inline images into your (cached) stylesheets is a way to reduce HTTP requests and avoid increasing the size of your pages. Inline images are not yet supported across all major browsers.

Reducing the number of HTTP requests in your page is the place to start. This is the most important guideline for improving performance for first time visitors. As described in Tenni Theurer's blog post Browser Cache Usage - Exposed!, 40-60% of daily visitors to your site come in with an empty cache. Making your page fast for these first time visitors is key to a better user experience.

top | discuss this rule

Use a Content Delivery Network

tag: server

The user's proximity to your web server has an impact on response times. Deploying your content across multiple, geographically dispersed servers will make your pages load faster from the user's perspective. But where should you start?

As a first step to implementing geographically dispersed content, don't attempt to redesign your web application to work in a distributed architecture. Depending on the application, changing the architecture could include daunting tasks such as synchronizing session state and replicating database transactions across server locations. Attempts to reduce the distance between users and your content could be delayed by, or never pass, this application architecture step.

Remember that 80-90% of the end-user response time is spent downloading all the components in the page: images, stylesheets, scripts, Flash, etc. This is the Performance Golden Rule. Rather than starting with the difficult task of redesigning your application architecture, it's better to first disperse your static content. This not only achieves a bigger reduction in response times, but it's easier thanks to content delivery networks.

A content delivery network (CDN) is a collection of web servers distributed across multiple locations to deliver content more efficiently to users. The server selected for delivering content to a specific user is typically based on a measure of network proximity. For example, the server with the fewest network hops or the server with the quickest response time is chosen.

Some large Internet companies own their own CDN, but it's cost-effective to use a CDN service provider, such as Akamai Technologies, Mirror Image Internet, or Limelight Networks. For start-up companies and private web sites, the cost of a CDN service can be prohibitive, but as your target audience grows larger and becomes more global, a CDN is necessary to achieve fast response times. At Yahoo!, properties that moved static content off their application web servers to a CDN improved end-user response times by 20% or more. Switching to a CDN is a relatively easy code change that will dramatically improve the speed of your web site.

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Add an Expires or a Cache-Control Header

tag: server

There are two things in this rule:

For static components: implement "Never expire" policy by setting far future Expires header

For dynamic components: use an appropriate Cache-Control header to help the browser with conditional requests

Web page designs are getting richer and richer, which means more scripts, stylesheets, images, and Flash in the page. A first-time visitor to your page may have to make several HTTP requests, but by using the Expires header you make those components cacheable. This avoids unnecessary HTTP requests on subsequent page views. Expires headers are most often used with images, but they should be used on all components including scripts, stylesheets, and Flash components.

Browsers (and proxies) use a cache to reduce the number and size of HTTP requests, making web pages load faster. A web server uses the Expires header in the HTTP response to tell the client how long a component can be cached. This is a far future Expires header, telling the browser that this response won't be stale until April 15, 2010.

      Expires: Thu, 15 Apr 2010 20:00:00 GMT

If your server is Apache, use the ExpiresDefault directive to set an expiration date relative to the current date. This example of the ExpiresDefault directive sets the Expires date 10 years out from the time of the request.

      ExpiresDefault "access plus 10 years"

Keep in mind, if you use a far future Expires header you have to change the component's filename whenever the component changes. At Yahoo! we often make this step part of the build process: a version number is embedded in the component's filename, for example, yahoo_2.0.6.js.

Using a far future Expires header affects page views only after a user has already visited your site. It has no effect on the number of HTTP requests when a user visits your site for the first time and the browser's cache is empty. Therefore the impact of this performance improvement depends on how often users hit your pages with a primed cache. (A "primed cache" already contains all of the components in the page.) We measured this at Yahoo! and found the number of page views with a primed cache is 75-85%. By using a far future Expires header, you increase the number of components that are cached by the browser and re-used on subsequent page views without sending a single byte over the user's Internet connection.

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Gzip Components

tag: server

The time it takes to transfer an HTTP request and response across the network can be significantly reduced by decisions made by front-end engineers. It's true that the end-user's bandwidth speed, Internet service provider, proximity to peering exchange points, etc. are beyond the control of the development team. But there are other variables that affect response times. Compression reduces response times by reducing the size of the HTTP response.

Starting with HTTP/1.1, web clients indicate support for compression with the Accept-Encoding header in the HTTP request.

      Accept-Encoding: gzip, deflate

If the web server sees this header in the request, it may compress the response using one of the methods listed by the client. The web server notifies the web client of this via the Content-Encoding header in the response.

      Content-Encoding: gzip

Gzip is the most popular and effective compression method at this time. It was developed by the GNU project and standardized by RFC 1952. The only other compression format you're likely to see is deflate, but it's less effective and less popular.

Gzipping generally reduces the response size by about 70%. Approximately 90% of today's Internet traffic travels through browsers that claim to support gzip. If you use Apache, the module configuring gzip depends on your version: Apache 1.3 uses mod_gzip while Apache 2.x uses mod_deflate.

There are known issues with browsers and proxies that may cause a mismatch in what the browser expects and what it receives with regard to compressed content. Fortunately, these edge cases are dwindling as the use of older browsers drops off. The Apache modules help out by adding appropriate Vary response headers automatically.

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

Gzipping as many file types as possible is an easy way to reduce page weight and accelerate the user experience.

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Put Stylesheets at the Top

tag: css

While researching performance at Yahoo!, we discovered that moving stylesheets to the document HEAD makes pages appear to be loading faster. This is because putting stylesheets in the HEAD allows the page to render progressively.

Front-end engineers that care about performance want a page to load progressively; that is, we want the browser to display whatever content it has as soon as possible. This is especially important for pages with a lot of content and for users on slower Internet connections. The importance of giving users visual feedback, such as progress indicators, has been well researched and documented. In our case the HTML page is the progress indicator! When the browser loads the page progressively the header, the navigation bar, the logo at the top, etc. all serve as visual feedback for the user who is waiting for the page. This improves the overall user experience.

The problem with putting stylesheets near the bottom of the document is that it prohibits progressive rendering in many browsers, including Internet Explorer. These browsers block rendering to avoid having to redraw elements of the page if their styles change. The user is stuck viewing a blank white page.

The HTML specification clearly states that stylesheets are to be included in the HEAD of the page: "Unlike A, [LINK] may only appear in the HEAD section of a document, although it may appear any number of times." Neither of the alternatives, the blank white screen or flash of unstyled content, are worth the risk. The optimal solution is to follow the HTML specification and load your stylesheets in the document HEAD.

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Put Scripts at the Bottom

tag: javascript

The problem caused by scripts is that they block parallel downloads. The HTTP/1.1 specification suggests that browsers download no more than two components in parallel per hostname. If you serve your images from multiple hostnames, you can get more than two downloads to occur in parallel. While a script is downloading, however, the browser won't start any other downloads, even on different hostnames.

In some situations it's not easy to move scripts to the bottom. If, for example, the script uses document.write to insert part of the page's content, it can't be moved lower in the page. There might also be scoping issues. In many cases, there are ways to workaround these situations.

An alternative suggestion that often comes up is to use deferred scripts. The DEFER attribute indicates that the script does not contain document.write, and is a clue to browsers that they can continue rendering. Unfortunately, Firefox doesn't support the DEFER attribute. In Internet Explorer, the script may be deferred, but not as much as desired. If a script can be deferred, it can also be moved to the bottom of the page. That will make your web pages load faster.

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Avoid CSS Expressions

tag: css

CSS expressions are a powerful (and dangerous) way to set CSS properties dynamically. They're supported in Internet Explorer, starting with version 5. As an example, the background color could be set to alternate every hour using CSS expressions.

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

As shown here, the expression method accepts a JavaScript expression. The CSS property is set to the result of evaluating the JavaScript expression. The expression method is ignored by other browsers, so it is useful for setting properties in Internet Explorer needed to create a consistent experience across browsers.

The problem with expressions is that they are evaluated more frequently than most people expect. Not only are they evaluated when the page is rendered and resized, but also when the page is scrolled and even when the user moves the mouse over the page. Adding a counter to the CSS expression allows us to keep track of when and how often a CSS expression is evaluated. Moving the mouse around the page can easily generate more than 10,000 evaluations.

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

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Make JavaScript and CSS External

tag: javascript, css

Many of these performance rules deal with how external components are managed. However, before these considerations arise you should ask a more basic question: Should JavaScript and CSS be contained in external files, or inlined in the page itself?

Using external files in the real world generally produces faster pages because the JavaScript and CSS files are cached by the browser. JavaScript and CSS that are inlined in HTML documents get downloaded every time the HTML document is requested. This reduces the number of HTTP requests that are needed, but increases the size of the HTML document. On the other hand, if the JavaScript and CSS are in external files cached by the browser, the size of the HTML document is reduced without increasing the number of HTTP requests.

The key factor, then, is the frequency with which external JavaScript and CSS components are cached relative to the number of HTML documents requested. This factor, although difficult to quantify, can be gauged using various metrics. If users on your site have multiple page views per session and many of your pages re-use the same scripts and stylesheets, there is a greater potential benefit from cached external files.

Many web sites fall in the middle of these metrics. For these sites, the best solution generally is to deploy the JavaScript and CSS as external files. The only exception where inlining is preferable is with home pages, such as Yahoo!'s front page and My Yahoo!.
Home pages that have few (perhaps only one) page view per session may find that inlining JavaScript and CSS results in faster end-user response times.

For front pages that are typically the first of many page views, there are techniques that leverage the reduction of HTTP requests that inlining provides, as well as the caching benefits achieved through using external files. One such technique is to inline JavaScript and CSS in the front page, but dynamically download the external files after the page has finished loading. Subsequent pages would reference the external files that should already be in the browser's cache.

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Reduce DNS Lookups

tag: content

The Domain Name System (DNS) maps hostnames to IP addresses, just as phonebooks map people's names to their phone numbers. When you type www.yahoo.com into your browser, a DNS resolver contacted by the browser returns that server's IP address. DNS has a cost. It typically takes 20-120 milliseconds for DNS to lookup the IP address for a given hostname. The browser can't download anything from this hostname until the DNS lookup is completed.

DNS lookups are cached for better performance. This caching can occur on a special caching server, maintained by the user's ISP or local area network, but there is also caching that occurs on the individual user's computer. The DNS information remains in the operating system's DNS cache (the "DNS Client service" on Microsoft Windows). Most browsers have their own caches, separate from the operating system's cache. As long as the browser keeps a DNS record in its own cache, it doesn't bother the operating system with a request for the record.

Internet Explorer caches DNS lookups for 30 minutes by default, as specified by the DnsCacheTimeout registry setting. Firefox caches DNS lookups for 1 minute, controlled by the network.dnsCacheExpiration configuration setting. (Fasterfox changes this to 1 hour.)

When the client's DNS cache is empty (for both the browser and the operating system), the number of DNS lookups is equal to the number of unique hostnames in the web page. This includes the hostnames used in the page's URL, images, script files, stylesheets, Flash objects, etc. Reducing the number of unique hostnames reduces the number of DNS lookups.

Reducing the number of unique hostnames has the potential to reduce the amount of parallel downloading that takes place in the page. Avoiding DNS lookups cuts response times, but reducing parallel downloads may increase response times. My guideline is to split these components across at least two but no more than four hostnames. This results in a good compromise between reducing DNS lookups and allowing a high degree of parallel downloads.

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Minify JavaScript and CSS

tag: javascript, css

Minification is the practice of removing unnecessary characters from code to reduce its size thereby improving load times. When code is minified all comments are removed, as well as unneeded white space characters (space, newline, and tab). In the case of JavaScript, this improves response time performance because the size of the downloaded file is reduced. Two popular tools for minifying JavaScript code are JSMin and YUI Compressor. The YUI compressor can also minify CSS.

Obfuscation is an alternative optimization that can be applied to source code. It's more complex than minification and thus more likely to generate bugs as a result of the obfuscation step itself. In a survey of ten top U.S. web sites, minification achieved a 21% size reduction versus 25% for obfuscation. Although obfuscation has a higher size reduction, minifying JavaScript is less risky.

In addition to minifying external scripts and styles, inlined <script> and <style> blocks can and should also be minified. Even if you gzip your scripts and styles, minifying them will still reduce the size by 5% or more. As the use and size of JavaScript and CSS increases, so will the savings gained by minifying your code.

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Avoid Redirects

tag: content

Redirects are accomplished using the 301 and 302 status codes. Here's an example of the HTTP headers in a 301 response:

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

The browser automatically takes the user to the URL specified in the Location field. All the information necessary for a redirect is in the headers. The body of the response is typically empty. Despite their names, neither a 301 nor a 302 response is cached in practice unless additional headers, such as Expires or Cache-Control, indicate it should be. The meta refresh tag and JavaScript are other ways to direct users to a different URL, but if you must do a redirect, the preferred technique is to use the standard 3xx HTTP status codes, primarily to ensure the back button works correctly.

The main thing to remember is that redirects slow down the user experience. Inserting a redirect between the user and the HTML document delays everything in the page since nothing in the page can be rendered and no components can start being downloaded until the HTML document has arrived.

One of the most wasteful redirects happens frequently and web developers are generally not aware of it. It occurs when a trailing slash (/) is missing from a URL that should otherwise have one. For example, going to http://astrology.yahoo.com/astrology results in a 301 response containing a redirect to http://astrology.yahoo.com/astrology/ (notice the added trailing slash). This is fixed in Apache by using Alias or mod_rewrite, or the DirectorySlash directive if you're using Apache handlers.

Connecting an old web site to a new one is another common use for redirects. Others include connecting different parts of a website and directing the user based on certain conditions (type of browser, type of user account, etc.). Using a redirect to connect two web sites is simple and requires little additional coding. Although using redirects in these situations reduces the complexity for developers, it degrades the user experience. Alternatives for this use of redirects include using Alias and mod_rewrite if the two code paths are hosted on the same server. If a domain name change is the cause of using redirects, an alternative is to create a CNAME (a DNS record that creates an alias pointing from one domain name to another) in combination with Alias or mod_rewrite.

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Remove Duplicate Scripts

tag: javascript

It hurts performance to include the same JavaScript file twice in one page. This isn't as unusual as you might think. A review of the ten top U.S. web sites shows that two of them contain a duplicated script. Two main factors increase the odds of a script being duplicated in a single web page: team size and number of scripts. When it does happen, duplicate scripts hurt performance by creating unnecessary HTTP requests and wasted JavaScript execution.

Unnecessary HTTP requests happen in Internet Explorer, but not in Firefox. In Internet Explorer, if an external script is included twice and is not cacheable, it generates two HTTP requests during page loading. Even if the script is cacheable, extra HTTP requests occur when the user reloads the page.

In addition to generating wasteful HTTP requests, time is wasted evaluating the script multiple times. This redundant JavaScript execution happens in both Firefox and Internet Explorer, regardless of whether the script is cacheable.

One way to avoid accidentally including the same script twice is to implement a script management module in your templating system. The typical way to include a script is to use the SCRIPT tag in your HTML page.

      <script type="text/javascript" src="menu_1.0.17.js"></script>

An alternative in PHP would be to create a function called insertScript.

      <?php insertScript("menu.js") ?>

In addition to preventing the same script from being inserted multiple times, this function could handle other issues with scripts, such as dependency checking and adding version numbers to script filenames to support far future Expires headers.

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Configure ETags

tag: server

Entity tags (ETags) are a mechanism that web servers and browsers use to determine whether the component in the browser's cache matches the one on the origin server. (An "entity" is another word a "component": images, scripts, stylesheets, etc.) ETags were added to provide a mechanism for validating entities that is more flexible than the last-modified date. An ETag is a string that uniquely identifies a specific version of a component. The only format constraints are that the string be quoted. The origin server specifies the component's ETag using the ETag response header.

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

Later, if the browser has to validate a component, it uses the If-None-Match header to pass the ETag back to the origin server. If the ETags match, a 304 status code is returned reducing the response by 12195 bytes for this example.

      GET /i/yahoo.gif HTTP/1.1
      Host: us.yimg.com
      If-Modified-Since: Tue, 12 Dec 2006 03:03:59 GMT
      If-None-Match: "10c24bc-4ab-457e1c1f"
      HTTP/1.1 304 Not Modified

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

The ETag format for Apache 1.3 and 2.x is inode-size-timestamp. Although a given file may reside in the same directory across multiple servers, and have the same file size, permissions, timestamp, etc., its inode is different from one server to the next.

IIS 5.0 and 6.0 have a similar issue with ETags. The format for ETags on IIS is Filetimestamp:ChangeNumber. A ChangeNumber is a counter used to track configuration changes to IIS. It's unlikely that the ChangeNumber is the same across all IIS servers behind a web site.

The end result is ETags generated by Apache and IIS for the exact same component won't match from one server to another. If the ETags don't match, the user doesn't receive the small, fast 304 response that ETags were designed for; instead, they'll get a normal 200 response along with all the data for the component. If you host your web site on just one server, this isn't a problem. But if you have multiple servers hosting your web site, and you're using Apache or IIS with the default ETag configuration, your users are getting slower pages, your servers have a higher load, you're consuming greater bandwidth, and proxies aren't caching your content efficiently. Even if your components have a far future Expires header, a conditional GET request is still made whenever the user hits Reload or Refresh.

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

      FileETag none

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Make Ajax Cacheable

tag: content

One of the cited benefits of Ajax is that it provides instantaneous feedback to the user because it requests information asynchronously from the backend web server. However, using Ajax is no guarantee that the user won't be twiddling his thumbs waiting for those asynchronous JavaScript and XML responses to return. In many applications, whether or not the user is kept waiting depends on how Ajax is used. For example, in a web-based email client the user will be kept waiting for the results of an Ajax request to find all the email messages that match their search criteria. It's important to remember that "asynchronous" does not imply "instantaneous".

To improve performance, it's important to optimize these Ajax responses. The most important way to improve the performance of Ajax is to make the responses cacheable, as discussed in Add an Expires or a Cache-Control Header. Some of the other rules also apply to Ajax:

Gzip Components
Reduce DNS Lookups
Minify JavaScript
Avoid Redirects
Configure ETags

Let's look at an example. A Web 2.0 email client might use Ajax to download the user's address book for autocompletion. If the user hasn't modified her address book since the last time she used the email web app, the previous address book response could be read from cache if that Ajax response was made cacheable with a future Expires or Cache-Control header. The browser must be informed when to use a previously cached address book response versus requesting a new one. This could be done by adding a timestamp to the address book Ajax URL indicating the last time the user modified her address book, for example, &t=1190241612. If the address book hasn't been modified since the last download, the timestamp will be the same and the address book will be read from the browser's cache eliminating an extra HTTP roundtrip. If the user has modified her address book, the timestamp ensures the new URL doesn't match the cached response, and the browser will request the updated address book entries.

Even though your Ajax responses are created dynamically, and might only be applicable to a single user, they can still be cached. Doing so will make your Web 2.0 apps faster.

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Flush the Buffer Early

tag: server

When users request a page, it can take anywhere from 200 to 500ms for the backend server to stitch together the HTML page.
During this time, the browser is idle as it waits for the data to arrive.
In PHP you have the function flush().
It allows you to send your partially ready HTML response to the browser so that
the browser can start fetching components while your backend is busy with the rest of the HTML page.
The benefit is mainly seen on busy backends or light frontends.

A good place to consider flushing is right after the HEAD because the HTML for the head is
usually easier to produce and it allows you to include any CSS and JavaScript
files for the browser to start fetching in parallel while the backend is still processing.

Example:



      ... <!-- css, js -->
    </head>
    <?php flush(); ?>
    <body>
      ... <!-- content -->

Yahoo! search pioneered research and real user testing to prove the benefits of using this technique.

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Use GET for AJAX Requests

tag: server

The Yahoo! Mail team found that when using XMLHttpRequest, POST is implemented in the browsers as a two-step process:
sending the headers first, then sending data. So it's best to use GET, which only takes one TCP packet to send (unless you have a lot of cookies).
The maximum URL length in IE is 2K, so if you send more than 2K data you might not be able to use GET.

An interesting side affect is that POST without actually posting any data behaves like GET.
Based on the HTTP specs, GET is meant for retrieving information, so it
makes sense (semantically) to use GET when you're only requesting data, as opposed to sending data to be stored server-side.

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Post-load Components

tag: content

You can take a closer look at your page and ask yourself: "What's absolutely required in order to render the page initially?".
The rest of the content and components can wait.

JavaScript is an ideal candidate for splitting before and after the onload event. For example
if you have JavaScript code and libraries that do drag and drop and animations, those can wait,
because dragging elements on the page comes after the initial rendering.
Other places to look for candidates for post-loading include hidden content (content that appears after a user action) and images below the fold.

Tools to help you out in your effort: YUI Image Loader allows you to delay images
below the fold and the YUI Get utility is an easy way to include JS and CSS on the fly.
For an example in the wild take a look at Yahoo! Home Page with Firebug's Net Panel turned on.

It's good when the performance goals are inline with other
web development best practices. In this case, the idea of progressive enhancement tells us that JavaScript, when supported, can
improve the user experience but you have to make sure the page works even without JavaScript. So after you've made sure the page
works fine, you can enhance it with some post-loaded scripts that give you more bells and whistles such as drag and drop and animations.

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Preload Components

tag: content

Preload may look like the opposite of post-load, but it actually has a different goal.
By preloading components you can take advantage of the time the browser is idle and request components
(like images, styles and scripts) you'll need in the future.
This way when the user visits the next page, you could have most of the components already in
the cache and your page will load much faster for the user.

There are actually several types of preloading:

Unconditional preload - as soon as onload fires, you go ahead and fetch some extra components.
Check google.com for an example of how a sprite image is requested onload. This sprite image is
not needed on the google.com homepage, but it is needed on the consecutive search result page.

Conditional preload - based on a user action you make an educated guess where the user is headed next and preload accordingly.
On search.yahoo.com you can see how some extra components are requested
after you start typing in the input box.

Anticipated preload - preload in advance before launching a redesign. It often happens after a redesign that you hear:
"The new site is cool, but it's slower than before". Part of the problem could be that the users were visiting your old site with a
full cache, but the new one is always an empty cache experience. You can mitigate this side effect by preloading some
components before you even launched the redesign. Your old site can use the time the browser is idle and request images and scripts
that will be used by the new site

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Reduce the Number of DOM Elements

tag: content

A complex page means more bytes to download and it also means slower DOM access in JavaScript. It makes a difference
if you loop through 500 or 5000 DOM elements on the page when you want to add an event handler for example.

A high number of DOM elements can be a symptom that there's something that should be improved with the markup
of the page without necessarily removing content.
Are you using nested tables for layout purposes?
Are you throwing in more <div>s only to fix layout issues?
Maybe there's a better and more semantically correct way to do your markup.

A great help with layouts are the YUI CSS utilities:
grids.css can help you with the overall layout, fonts.css and reset.css
can help you strip away the browser's defaults formatting.
This is a chance to start fresh and think about your markup,
for example use <div>s only when it makes sense semantically, and not because it renders a new line.

The number of DOM elements is easy to test, just type in Firebug's console:

document.getElementsByTagName('*').length

And how many DOM elements are too many? Check other similar pages that have good markup.
For example the Yahoo! Home Page is a pretty busy page and still under 700 elements (HTML tags).

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Split Components Across Domains

tag: content

Splitting components allows you to maximize parallel downloads. Make sure you're using
not more than 2-4 domains because of the DNS lookup penalty.
For example, you can host your HTML and dynamic content
on www.example.org
and split static components between static1.example.org and static2.example.org

For more information check
"Maximizing Parallel Downloads in the Carpool Lane" by Tenni Theurer and Patty Chi.

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Minimize the Number of iframes

tag: content

Iframes allow an HTML document to be inserted in the parent document.
It's important to understand how iframes work so they can be used effectively.

<iframe> pros:

Helps with slow third-party content like badges and ads

Security sandbox

Download scripts in parallel

<iframe> cons:

Costly even if blank

Blocks page onload

Non-semantic

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No 404s

tag: content

HTTP requests are expensive so making an HTTP request and getting a useless response (i.e. 404 Not Found)
is totally unnecessary and will slow down the user experience without any benefit.

Some sites have helpful 404s "Did you mean X?", which is great for the user
experience but also wastes server resources (like database, etc).
Particularly bad is when the link to an external JavaScript is wrong and the result is a 404.
First, this download will block parallel downloads. Next the browser may try to parse
the 404 response body as if it were JavaScript code, trying to find something usable in it.

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Reduce Cookie Size

tag: cookie

HTTP cookies are used for a variety of reasons such as authentication and personalization.
Information about cookies is exchanged in the HTTP headers between web servers and browsers.
It's important to keep the size of cookies as low as possible to minimize the impact on the user's response time.

For more information check
"When the Cookie Crumbles" by Tenni Theurer and Patty Chi.
The take-home of this research:

Eliminate unnecessary cookies

Keep cookie sizes as low as possible to minimize the impact on the user response time

Be mindful of setting cookies at the appropriate domain level so other sub-domains are not affected

Set an Expires date appropriately. An earlier Expires date or none removes the cookie sooner, improving the user response time

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Use Cookie-free Domains for Components

tag: cookie

When the browser makes a request for a static image and sends cookies together with the request,
the server doesn't have any use for those cookies. So they only create network traffic for no good
reason. You should make sure static components are requested with cookie-free requests. Create
a subdomain and host all your static components there.

If your domain is www.example.org, you can host your static components
on static.example.org. However, if you've already set cookies on the top-level domain
example.org as opposed to www.example.org, then all the requests to
static.example.org will include those cookies. In this case, you can buy a whole new domain, host your static
components there, and keep this domain cookie-free. Yahoo! uses yimg.com, YouTube uses ytimg.com,
Amazon uses images-amazon.com and so on.

Another benefit of hosting static components on a cookie-free domain is that some proxies might refuse to cache
the components that are requested with cookies.
On a related note, if you wonder if you should use example.org or www.example.org for your home page, consider the cookie impact.
Omitting www leaves you no choice but to write cookies to *.example.org, so for performance reasons it's best to use the
www subdomain and
write the cookies to that subdomain.

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Minimize DOM Access

tag: javascript

Accessing DOM elements with JavaScript is slow so in order to have a more responsive page, you should:

Cache references to accessed elements

Update nodes "offline" and then add them to the tree

Avoid fixing layout with JavaScript

For more information check the YUI theatre's
"High Performance Ajax Applications"

by Julien Lecomte.

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Develop Smart Event Handlers

tag: javascript

Sometimes pages feel less responsive because of too many event handlers attached to different
elements of the DOM tree which are then executed too often. That's why using event delegation is a good approach.
If you have 10 buttons inside a div, attach only one event handler to the div wrapper, instead of
one handler for each button. Events bubble up so you'll be able to catch the event and figure out which button it originated from.

You also don't need to wait for the onload event in order to start doing something with the DOM tree.
Often all you need is the element you want to access to be available in the tree. You don't have to wait for all images to be downloaded.

DOMContentLoaded is the event you might consider using instead of onload, but until it's available in all browsers, you
can use the YUI Event utility, which has an onAvailable method.

For more information check the YUI theatre's
"High Performance Ajax Applications"

by Julien Lecomte.

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Choose <link> over @import

tag: css

One of the previous best practices states that CSS should be at the top in order to allow for
progressive rendering.

In IE @import behaves the same as using <link> at the bottom of the page, so it's best not to use it.

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Avoid Filters

tag: css

The IE-proprietary AlphaImageLoader filter aims to fix a problem with semi-transparent true color PNGs in IE versions < 7.
The problem with this filter is that it blocks rendering and freezes the browser while the image is being downloaded.
It also increases memory consumption and is applied per element, not per image, so the problem is multiplied.

The best approach is to avoid AlphaImageLoader completely and use gracefully degrading PNG8 instead, which are fine in IE.
If you absolutely need AlphaImageLoader, use the underscore hack _filter as to not penalize your IE7+ users.

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Optimize Images

tag: images

After a designer is done with creating the images for your web page, there are still some things you can try before you
FTP those images to your web server.

You can check the GIFs and see if they are using a palette size corresponding
to the number of colors in the image. Using imagemagick it's easy to check using

identify -verbose image.gif

When you see an image useing 4 colors and a 256 color "slots" in the palette, there is room for improvement.

Try converting GIFs to PNGs and see if there is a saving. More often than not, there is.
Developers often hesitate to use PNGs due to the limited support in browsers, but this is now a thing of the past.
The only real problem is alpha-transparency in true color PNGs, but then again, GIFs are not true color and don't
support variable transparency either.
So anything a GIF can do, a palette PNG (PNG8) can do too (except for animations).
This simple imagemagick command results in totally safe-to-use
PNGs:

convert image.gif image.png

"All we are saying is: Give PiNG a Chance!"

Run pngcrush (or any other PNG optimizer tool) on all your PNGs. Example:

pngcrush image.png -rem alla -reduce -brute result.png

Run jpegtran on all your JPEGs. This tool does lossless JPEG operations such as rotation and can also be used to optimize
and remove comments and other useless information (such as EXIF information) from your images.

jpegtran -copy none -optimize -perfect src.jpg dest.jpg

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Optimize CSS Sprites

tag: images

Arranging the images in the sprite horizontally as opposed to vertically usually results in a smaller file size.

Combining similar colors in a sprite helps you keep the color count low, ideally under 256 colors so to fit in a PNG8.

"Be mobile-friendly" and don't leave big gaps between the images in a sprite. This doesn't affect the file size as much
but requires less memory for the user agent to decompress the image into a pixel map.
100x100 image is 10 thousand pixels, where 1000x1000 is 1 million pixels

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Don't Scale Images in HTML

tag: images

Don't use a bigger image than you need just because you can set the width and height in HTML.
If you need

<img width="100" height="100" src="mycat.jpg" alt="My Cat" />

then your image (mycat.jpg) should be 100x100px rather than a scaled down 500x500px image.

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Make favicon.ico Small and Cacheable

tag: images

The favicon.ico is an image that stays in the root of your server.
It's a necessary evil because even if you don't care about it the
browser will still request it, so it's better not to respond with a 404 Not Found.
Also since it's on the same server, cookies are sent every time it's requested.
This image also interferes with the download sequence, for example in IE when you request
extra components in the onload, the favicon will be downloaded before these extra components.

So to mitigate the drawbacks of having a favicon.ico make sure:

It's small, preferably under 1K.

Set Expires header with what you feel comfortable (since you cannot rename it if you decide to change it).
You can probably safely set the Expires header a few months in the future.
You can check the last modified date of your current favicon.ico to make an informed decision.

Imagemagick can help you create small favicons

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Keep Components under 25K

tag: mobile

This restriction is related to the fact that iPhone won't cache components bigger than 25K.
Note that this is the uncompressed size. This is where minification is important
because gzip alone may not be sufficient.

For more information check "Performance Research, Part 5: iPhone Cacheability - Making it Stick" by Wayne Shea and Tenni Theurer.

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Pack Components into a Multipart Document

tag: mobile

Packing components into a multipart document is like an email with attachments,
it helps you fetch several components with one HTTP request (remember: HTTP requests are expensive).
When you use this technique, first check if the user agent supports it (iPhone does not).

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Power of YAHOO!!!!

2009-03-13T04:04:00.000-07:00

USERS GET THEIR NEWS FROM THEIR YAHOO!
Almost three times as many people (41 million) get their news from My Yahoo! than visit the New York Times’ website (15.08 million).
- comScore World Metrix, December 2008

YAHOO! SHOPPING IS A SHOPAHOLIC’S REFUGE
There are 16 million more people on Yahoo! Shopping (29.7 million users) than people who purchased an iPhone in 2008 (13 million).
- comScore Media Metrix, U.S., December 2008

USERS ARE GLOBE TROTTING WITH YAHOO! TRAVEL
If all Yahoo! Travel users (7 million) took a trip together, it would take almost 47,000 planes to fly everyone (average A320 aircraft takes 150 passengers).
- comScore Media Metrix, U.S., December 2008

MONEY MATTERS ON YAHOO! FINANCE
There are more than twice as many Yahoo! Finance users (20 million) than people that live in the San Francisco Bay area (7.2 million).
- comScore Media Metrix, U.S., December 2008

WE’VE GOT MAIL
There are more Yahoo! Mail users (279 million) than there are homes the U.S. Post Office delivers mail to (148 million).
- comScore World Metrix, December 2008

OUR HOMEPAGE IS EVERYONE'S HOME
Yahoo! homepages around the world have more visitors monthly (327 million) than people living in the United States (305.7 million).
- comScore World Metrix, December 2008

NEWS? WE'VE GOT IT COVERED
Yahoo! News has 43 million users in the U.S., over 18 times more readers than USA Today (circulation is 2.3 million).
- comScore Media Metrix, U.S., December 2008

Yahoo’s Newspaper Consortium Keeps Growing

2009-03-10T21:13:00.000-07:00

Even as Google is cancelling its experiment with newspaper advertising, Yahoo is expanding its newspaper consortium. Today, Yahoo is announcing that it is adding two new members: The Boston Globe and the St. Petersburg Times. That brings the consortium up to 38 media companies, representing 793 total newspapers, up from 635 newspaper partners a year ago, and 176 at launch in November, 2006

Yahoo’s newspaper strategy has seen success because, unlike Google, it never tried to get into the business of selling print ads. Instead, Yahoo focused on helping newspapers get more traffic to their Websites. One way it does this is by showing article headlines from partner newspapers across Yahoo-owned properties, including the home page, Yahoo News, and Yahoo Mobile. Over the past year and a half, these links have delivered 200 million clicks or views to the partner newspaper sites, including some that have reached a million views for an individual story, such as this one about puppies saving a three-year old. (Puppies sell newspapers).

HotJobs is being used by 600 of those newspaper Webistes. And Yahoo also helps 120 of the newspapers with online ad management, through its Apt ad management system, which allows the newspapers to tap into Yahoo’s advertising inventory when they cannot sell the the inventory themselves. This won’t save the newspaper industry, but at least it is a bright spot. Or is Yahoo simply taking share in a dying business?

An Essay by einstein!!

2009-03-07T21:13:00.000-08:00

"How strange is the lot of us mortals! Each of us is here for a brief sojourn; for what purpose he knows not, though he sometimes thinks he senses it. But without deeper reflection one knows from daily life that one exists for other people -- first of all for those upon whose smiles and well-being our own happiness is wholly dependent, and then for the many, unknown to us, to whose destinies we are bound by the ties of sympathy. A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life are based on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving...

"I have never looked upon ease and happiness as ends in themselves -- this critical basis I call the ideal of a pigsty. The ideals that have lighted my way, and time after time have given me new courage to face life cheerfully, have been Kindness, Beauty, and Truth. Without the sense of kinship with men of like mind, without the occupation with the objective world, the eternally unattainable in the field of art and scientific endeavors, life would have seemed empty to me. The trite objects of human efforts -- possessions, outward success, luxury -- have always seemed to me contemptible.

"My passionate sense of social justice and social responsibility has always contrasted oddly with my pronounced lack of need for direct contact with other human beings and human communities. I am truly a 'lone traveler' and have never belonged to my country, my home, my friends, or even my immediate family, with my whole heart; in the face of all these ties, I have never lost a sense of distance and a need for solitude..."
"My political ideal is democracy. Let every man be respected as an individual and no man idolized. It is an irony of fate that I myself have been the recipient of excessive admiration and reverence from my fellow-beings, through no fault, and no merit, of my own. The cause of this may well be the desire, unattainable for many, to understand the few ideas to which I have with my feeble powers attained through ceaseless struggle. I am quite aware that for any organization to reach its goals, one man must do the thinking and directing and generally bear the responsibility. But the led must not be coerced, they must be able to choose their leader. In my opinion, an autocratic system of coercion soon degenerates; force attracts men of low morality... The really valuable thing in the pageant of human life seems to me not the political state, but the creative, sentient individual, the personality; it alone creates the noble and the sublime, while the herd as such remains dull in thought and dull in feeling.

"This topic brings me to that worst outcrop of herd life, the military system, which I abhor... This plague-spot of civilization ought to be abolished with all possible speed. Heroism on command, senseless violence, and all the loathsome nonsense that goes by the name of patriotism -- how passionately I hate them!

"The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science. Whoever does not know it and can no longer wonder, no longer marvel, is as good as dead, and his eyes are dimmed. It was the experience of mystery -- even if mixed with fear -- that engendered religion. A knowledge of the existence of something we cannot penetrate, our perceptions of the profoundest reason and the most radiant beauty, which only in their most primitive forms are accessible to our minds: it is this knowledge and this emotion that constitute true religiosity. In this sense, and only this sense, I am a deeply religious man... I am satisfied with the mystery of life's eternity and with a knowledge, a sense, of the marvelous structure of existence -- as well as the humble attempt to understand even a tiny portion of the Reason that manifests itself in nature."

Download Google Earth 5: Explore the Oceans

2009-03-07T19:10:00.001-08:00

The latest version of Google Earth 5.0 is released and promises to provide breathtaking views beneath the seas and oceans of the world. Download Google Earth and check out where the deep oceans lead to.

Google Earth provides amazing satellite imagery, maps, terrain, and 3D buildings. From galaxies in outer space, now you can dive beneath the surface and visit the deepest part of the ocean till the Mariana Trench, go exploring the ocean with top marine experts including National Geographic and BBC, learn about ocean observations, climate change, and endangered species and discover new places including surf, dive, and travel hot spots and shipwrecks.

The new Google Earth 5 also features historical imagery from around the globe, which lets you move back and forth in time to reveal imagery from years and even decades past, revealing changes over time. Its also allows simplified touring with audio and voice recording. Here is an introductory video.

Download Google Earth and start by opening the “Ocean” folder in the Layers panel to explore the 20 content layers from over 100 partners. Double click on the “Explore the Ocean” layer and it will fly you to my Ocean Overview video and ten focus areas with National Geographic video clips.

Micro-USB Universal Mobile Chargers for Cell Phones by 2012

2009-03-07T19:08:00.000-08:00

Why do you need a different mobile charger for Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Nokia, Motorola mobile phones? Now GSMA and 17 leading mobile operators and manufacturers have agreed to implement a cross-industry standard for a universal charger for new mobile phones by 2012.

They promise the universal charging solution (UCS) will be widely available worldwide and will use Micro-USB as the common universal charging interface. They promise that by January 2012, majority of all new mobile phone models available will support a universal charging connector.

How does a Universal mobile charger benefit you? A universal charger will let you use the same charger for future handsets, and be able to charge your mobile phone anywhere from any available charger!

Universal Chargers have Environmental Impact - UCS chargers will be energy efficient and will come with a 4-star or higher efficiency rating, which will be three times more energy-efficient than an unrated charger. Since it would drastically reduce the number of manufactured chargers by 50 per cent, it will also help to reduce greenhouse gases in manufacturing and transporting replacement chargers.

You can thank GSMA - The GSM Association represents the interests of the worldwide mobile communications industry and unites 750+ world’s mobile operators, and 200+ companies including handset makers, software companies, equipment providers etc. It was with their initiative only that some of the world’s largest mobile operators and manufacturers (3 Group, AT&T, KTF, LG, mobilkom austria, Motorola, Nokia, Orange, Qualcomm, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Telecom Italia, Telefónica, Telenor, Telstra, T-Mobile and Vodafone) have agreed UCS.

This is great news and will surely simplify mobile phone usage. Till this becomes a reality, I guess we will have to continue with our multiple chargers f0r different cell phones or get a multi-phone adapter.

Download apples Latest Browser

2009-03-07T19:06:00.000-08:00

Now you can download the latest Apple Safari 4 web browser. Launching its latest beta version, Apple calls it the world’s fastest web browser for Mac and Windows computers.

Apple Safari 4 powered by the new Nitro JavaScript engine claims to execute JavaScript 30 times faster than IE 7 and 3 times faster than Firefox 3; it loads HTML web pages 3 times faster than IE 7 or Firefox 3.

Safari 4 includes HTML 5 support for offline technologies so web-based applications can store information locally without an Internet connection, and is the first browser to support advanced CSS 3 Effects that enable highly polished web graphics using reflections, gradients and precision masks.

Safari 4 also claims to be the first browser to pass the Web Standards Project’s Acid3 test, which examines how well a browser adheres to CSS, JavaScript, XML and SVG web standards that are specifically designed for dynamic web applications.

Some new innovative features in Safari 4 include: Top Sites, a display of frequently visited pages; Full History Search; Cover Flow, makes searching web history or bookmarks fun; Tabs on Top, for better tabbed browsing; Smart Address Field, that automatically completes web addresses; Smart Search Field, where users fine-tune searches with recommendations from Google Suggest; Full Page Zoom, for a closer look at any website; built-in web developer tools to debug, tweak and optimize a website; new Windows-native look in Safari for Windows. Here are 150 Safari features to check out.

System requirements - Safari 4 for Mac OS X requires Mac OS X Leopard version 10.5.6 and Security Update 2009-001 or Mac OS X Tiger version 10.4.11, 256MB of memory, and is designed to run on any Intel-based Mac or a Mac with a PowerPC G5, G4 or G3 processor. Safari 4 for Windows requires Windows XP SP2 or Windows Vista, 256MB of memory and at least 500 MHz Intel Pentium processor.

Download Apple Safari 4 (beta) for Mac and Windows.

Microsoft MVP Award

2009-03-07T19:05:00.001-08:00

It’s an honor to become a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional or MVP, but how can you apply to become a MVP in India. If you are a top blogger, tech expert or outstanding technical community leader, its easy to become a MVP.

Microsoft Most Valuable Professionals or MVPs are well known for their exceptional technical community leadership skills, and selfless sharing of their expertise in offline and online technical communities. These experts share a deep commitment to community and willingness to help others.

Become Microsoft MVP India

Visit the MVP India website to get the latest news and information. MVP candidates are nominated by self, other MVPs, Microsoft employees, and other members of technical communities.

To qualify to become a MVP, you need to be above 18 years of age and your community contribution should be exemplary, regardless of your profession. Your technical knowledge on any Microsoft Product should be good and you should show willingness to help the community with your expertise and passion for technology. Your community participation can extend to blogs, wikis, forums or offline as for book authors, speakers or technical leaders etc., and not necessarily Microsoft hosted communities. For more information, download the MVP program guide (.pdf).

Apply by downloading the MVP nomination form (.doc), fill it and email it to them. MVP applications are reviewed by a panel of Microsoft personnel and only very few make the MVP award based on your past year activities. The MVP awards are given every quarter and they accept nominations throughout the year. However, to maintain the standards, an MVP Award is valid only for a year, after which you need to reapply.

MVP benefits

So why would you want to become a MVP. Here are some exclusive India MVP benefits to motivate you-

- Executive Recognition Letter

- Exclusive MVP “thank you” Gift each year

- MVP Certificate proclaiming your status as an MVP

- $150 voucher to the Microsoft Company Store

- Exclusive Chats/ Webcasts with Product Teams

- Share expert, real world insight and feedback as Tech Reviews

- MVP Academy offers instructor led online training

- Choose an annual subscription to either MSDN or TechNet

- Provided with a copyrighted, official logo to display

- MVP profile shared across the Microsoft.com web properties

- Invited to the MVP summit with sponsorship.

- MVP Lead keeps each MVP plugged in with latest updates

- MVP Private Newsgroups for stronger relationships

- Access to Microsoft Product Alphas and Betas

- Receive early access to product information from Microsoft.

Check out the Indian MVPs and you will find the best tech experts in the country; apply now and you could be one of them.

Google Analytics Test

2009-03-07T19:03:00.000-08:00

Are you a Google Analytics expert? Take the Google Analytics Individual Qualification (IQ) Test, a new skills qualification program, and test your expertise in interpreting and using Google Analytics.

Google Analytics is a powerful tool for comprehensive analysis of web site traffic, and helps you optimize your site to get more traffic. The Google Analytics IQ program is tailored for agencies who want to develop employees who are knowledgeable about Web analytics, and for individuals who seek ways to improve their job prospects.

Visit the Conversion University and take the free Google Analytics Online course. Learn with free analytics tutorials and prepare yourself for the Google Analytics Individual Qualification (IQ) test. Help yourself become a expert Google Analytics user.

Google Analytics Individual Qualification is available in US English only. The Google Analytics IQ test costs $50, requires a passing score of 75%, and you need to answer 70 questions in 90 minutes. After passing the test, you will receive a proof of qualification.

Are you ready to take the Google Analytics Challenge?

Koobface, Other Worms Target Facebook Friends (NewsFactor)

2009-03-06T21:52:00.000-08:00

As Facebook works to make itself more relevant and timely for its growing member base with a profile page makeover, attackers seem to be working overtime to steal the identities of the friends, fans and brands that connect though the social-networking site.

Indeed, Facebook has seen five different security threats in the past week. According to Trend Micro, four new hoax applications are attempting to trick members into divulging their usernames and passwords. And a new variant of the Koobface worm is running wild on the site, installing malware on the computers of victims who click on a link to a fake YouTube video.

The Koobface worm is dangerous. It can be dropped by other malware and downloaded unknowingly by a user when visiting malicious Web sites, Trend Micro reports. When attackers execute the malware, it searches for cookies created by online social networks. The latest variant is targeting Facebook, but earlier variants have also plagued MySpace.

Koobface's Wicked Agenda

Once Koobface finds the social-networking cookies, it makes a DNS query to check IP addresses that correspond to remote domains. Trend Micro explains that those servers can send and receive information about the affected machine. Once connected, the malicious user can remotely perform commands on the victim's machine.

"Once cookies related to the monitored social-networking Web sites are located, it connects to these Web sites using the user log-in session stored in the cookies. It then navigates through pages to search for the user's friends. If a friend has been located, it sends an HTTP POST request to the server," Trend Micro reports.

Ultimately, the worm's agenda is to transform the victim's computer into a zombie and form botnets for malicious purposes. Koobface attempts to do this by composing a message and sending it to the user's friends. The message contains a link to a Web site where a copy of the worm can be downloaded by unsuspecting friends. And the cycle repeats itself.

An Attractive Face(book)

Malware authors are investing more energy in Facebook and other social-networking sites because that effort pays off, according to Michael Argast, a security analyst at Sophos. Facebook alone has more than 175 million users, which makes it an attractive target.

"Many computer users have been conditioned not to open an attachment from an e-mail or click a link found within, but won't think twice about checking out a hot new video linked to by a trusted friend on Facebook," Argast said.

Argast called the Koobface worm a mix of something old and something new. The new is using social networks as a method to spread malware. The old is using fake codec Trojans linked to a saucy video to induce the user to install the malware.

Argast said people can protect themselves by running up-to-date antivirus software, restricting which Facebook applications they install, thinking twice before clicking on links from friends and never, never installing a codec from some random Web site in the hopes of catching some celebrity in a compromised situation.

"I would expect to see more attacks on Facebook," Argast said. "As long as this is a successful propagation method, the bad guys will double down and invest more. They are entirely motivated by financial gain. If it pays, they'll continue to romp in your social playgrounds."

7 decades of wacky dieting trends

2009-03-04T22:45:00.000-08:00

They may be called
fad diets, but, man, these weight-loss ideas sure stick around
longer than leggings and platform wedges. The Cookie Diet may have
earned some street cred when Jennifer Hudson was associated with
trying it, but the plan got its start in the ’70s. And that Master
Cleanse Beyoncé reportedly used to slim down? It’s probably older
than your mom. Read on for more ways women have fought fat for the
past century. Note: Some are really bizarre and
unhealthy.

1930s-’40s diet trends: Smoking and the Master
Cleanse Models and celebrities must have gotten the idea
that smoking keeps you thin from somewhere, right? It turns out a
1920s-’30s ad campaign is to blame. Cigarette brand Lucky Strike
used the line “Reach for a Lucky Instead of a Sweet.” Ugh! Do we
even need to remind you of all the reasons—infertility, heart
disease, lung cancer—smoking is one of the unhealthiest habits for
you? Women looking for a quicker fix opted for the lemonade diet,
or Master Cleanse. Developed by Stanley Burroughs, the diet allowed
only lemon juice, cayenne pepper and maple syrup. Nearly 70 years
later, Beyoncé reportedly used the same program to shed pounds for
her role in 2006’s Dreamgirls. Talk about staying
power!

Don't try these other scary celeb diet tricks!

1950s diet trend: Prayer

Want to drop pounds? Pray for weight loss. The idea may sound nutty
to some, but in the 1950s, the Christian dieting industry exploded.
After losing 100 pounds, Reverend Charlie Shedd wrote the book
Pray Your Weight Away, which was published in 1957. The
best-seller set the trend for future titles such as I Prayed
Myself Slim (1960), Help Lord, The Devil Wants Me
Fat! (1978) and The Weigh Down Diet (1997), which
advised readers not to confuse physical hunger for what was really
spiritual hunger. Think this trend has died? Think again. In 2002,
Don Colbert, M.D., published What Would Jesus Eat? and

The What Would Jesus Eat Cookbook.

1960s diet trend: Support groups and cabbage
soup

The ’60s were all about sharing the love, and the concept even
applied to dieting. Dieters began forming support organizations.
Early in the decade, a group of compulsive eaters formed Overeaters
Anonymous. And in 1961, Jean Nidetch invited friends into her New
York City home to talk about weight loss. Two years later, after
losing 72 pounds, she launched Weight Watchers. But dieting wasn’t
always so friendly. The Cabbage Soup Diet was published in a book
during this time. It promised dieters they would lose 17 pounds,
but users mentioned the gassy side effects—not exactly conducive to
close encounters, huh?

Need to lose weight fast? Try these healthy "crash"
diets.

1970s diet trend: Diet pills The era touted the
miracle of diet pills. Some claimed to stop the body’s absorption
of carbs. In essence, they promised you could stuff your face with
pizza and bread without consequences. After reports of vomiting and
abdominal pain, however, the FDA pulled the pills in 1983 to
investigate the long-term side effects. This turned out to be a
good thing because researchers found that the undigested starch was
going straight to the colon—yikes! Dexatrim was another pill of the
era. The appetite suppressant contained the drug PPA
(phenylpropanolamine), and in 2000, it too was pulled from the
market. The pill was eventually reincarnated as Dexatrim Natural
Ephedrine-Free, though some critics still aren’t convinced it’s
safe. Our take: Unless they’re prescribed by your doctor, pills are
almost never a good idea.

Reasons why men worship your body just the way you
are.

1980s diet trend: Scarsdale Diet The 1980s swung
away from easy fixes and back to hardcore discipline with the
Scarsdale Diet. It was a two-week high-protein, low-carb and
super-low-calorie diet (1,000 calories or fewer per day!). Author
Herman Tarnower, M.D., claimed that by going on and off the diet
every two weeks, followers could lose up to 20 pounds per week
without any long-term deprivation of any vitamins or minerals. But
the food list was restrictive: no butter, no salad dressing (except
lemon and vinegar) and no alcohol. Your snack choices were either
raw carrots or celery—that’s it. If losing 20 pounds a week sounds
too good to be true, it is. For most people, consuming fewer than
1,200 calories a day is considered a starvation diet.

1990s diet trend: Low-carb Atkins Throughout the ’80s,
people became aware of red meat’s association with heart disease,
so they thought carbohydrates were the answer to a longer life,
says Gabriella Petrick, PhD, a food historian at New York
University. “The medical knowledge at any given time gets reflected
in diets prescribed,” she says. “In the ’80s, the popularity of
lean chicken also exploded. And in the ’90s, the Atkins diet was a
reaction against ideas in the 1980s that said you need a high-carb
diet.” People who had ballooned from all the carbs fell in love
with Dr. Atkins. Although he’d been around before the ’90s, his
popularity soared after the book Dr. Atkins’ New Diet
Revolution was released in 1992.

Nice Story

2009-03-04T03:38:00.000-08:00

One day a father took his young son on a trip to the country with the firm purpose to show him how poor people can be. They spent a day and a night in the farm of a very poor family . when they got back from their the father asked his son ,

"how was the trip?"
"very good , dad!"

"did you see how the poor people ca be ?" the father asked.

"yeah!"

"and what did u learn?"

The son answered ,"I saw that we have a dog at home, and they have four.we have a pool that reaches to the middle of the garden, they have a creek that has no end. We have imported lamps in the garden , they have the stars. Our patio reaches to the front yard, they have a whole horizon."

When the little boy was finishing , his father was speechless.

His son added,"thanks, dad, for showing me how poor we are!"

Isn't it true that it all depends on the way u look at things? If you have love, friends, family, health, good humour and a positive attitude toward life, you�ve got everything!

You can't buy any of these things. You can have all material possessionsyou can imagine, provisions for the future, etc. , but if you are poor of spirit, you have nothing!

Nvidia Launches Its Fastest Laptop GPU (PC World)

2009-03-04T00:27:00.000-08:00

- Nvidia has launched a new graphics chip for laptop computers that it says is its fastest to date.

The GeForce GTX 280M gives a 50 percent performance boost over previous Nvidia GPUs, said Brian Burke, an Nvidia spokesman. It includes 128 cores and delivers 562 gigaflops of performance, the company said. It was announced at the CeBIT trade show in Hanover, Germany.

The performance may have been helped by an improved manufacturing process, said Jon Peddie, president of Jon Peddie Research. The chip is manufactured using a 55-nanometer process, compared to the 65-nanometer process employed for other recent Nvidia chips.

The new process may also help the GPU draw less power, Peddie said. To further extend battery life, the 280M can switch between using a separate graphics card and an integrated graphics processor, Nvidia said.

The GTX 280M is aimed at gaming enthusiasts and those who use demanding multimedia applications. It supports SLI (Scalable Link Interface), which allows two GTX 280M-based cards in a laptop to work together to scale graphics performance, Burke said.

The GPU will be available in laptops through PC makers, Nvidia said. It is designed to work with Windows, Linux and Macintosh systems.

The company also launched the GeForce GTX 260M and GeForce GTS 160M GPUs for laptops, which have fewer cores. All the cards support SLI and Nvidia's PhysX technology. The company did not provide pricing.

Apple colours!!

2009-03-04T00:21:00.000-08:00

Well, so much for that rumored March 24th event. Apple has gone ahead and announced its refreshed desktop line—including a new Mini—all with faster processors, bigger hard drives, and more memory. Also: Modest updates for Airport wireless base stations.

Now, if you were hoping for major design changes from the desktop iMacs and the Mini, prepared for disappointment—most of the improvements are under the hood. Same goes for the new Airport Extreme, Airport Express, and Time Capsule Wi-Fi devices, which boast a couple of additional features but look more or less the same as the previous versions.

So, here we go:

iMacs:
Ranging in size (as before) from 20 to 24 inches, the new iMacs all come with processor and graphics bumps, with the 24-inch iMac now priced the same as the old 20-inch model ($1,499). The new 20-inch iMac ($1,199) now comes with a 2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB of RAM, a 320GB hard drive and Nvidia 9400M graphics, while the 24-inch version delivers a 3.06GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 4GB of memory, a 640GB or 1TB hard drive, and Nvidia options ranging from 9400M integrated graphics to GeForce GT130 or ATI Radeon HD 4850 discrete graphics for "ultimate performance" (as Apple puts it).

MacMINI:
Yes, it's back, and it looks like all those spy shots were real after all. The new, $599 (for starters) Mini indeed comes with five rear USB 2.0 ports, as well as a Mini DisplayPort and a mini-DVI port. Specs for the revamped mini start with a 2GHz Intel Core Duo 2 processor, up to 4GB of RAM, a 320GB hard drive, a FireWire 800 port, and a DVD-burning SuperDrive. Apple also crows that the Mini burns less than 13 watts when it's idling, making it "the most energy efficient desktop in the world."

Mac Pro:

The beefy Mac Pro has always been the alpha male of the Mac desktop line, and the new version flexes its muscles with new Intel "Nehalem" Xeon processors, running at speeds up to 2.93GHz, along with Nvidia GeForce GT120 discrete graphics or an optional ATI Radeon HD 4870 graphic card. The new Mac Pros (starting at $2,499) also come with Mini DisplayPorts and DVI ports, five USB 2.0 ports, and four FireWire 800 ports.

Airport Extreme, Airport Express, and Time Capsule:
Apple's line of wireless base stations, along with the Wi-Fi enabled, hard drive-equipped Time Capsule (designed to work with the "Time Machine" backup feature in Mac OS X Leopard) get a couple of new features, but not much else. First up: Simultaneous dual-band Wi-Fi on the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands, good for boosting overall wireless performance and range. Next: Guest networking, a feature that lets you create limited-access guest accounts on your protected Wi-Fi network without exposing all your private directories. The main Airport Extreme base station sells for $179, the portable Express is $99, and Time Capsule is $299 for the 500GB model, $499 for the 1TB version.

No iPhones, iPods at Bill Gates's house

2009-03-04T00:20:00.000-08:00

Bill Gates's sprawling Washington state compound is, as you might expect, packed to the gills with bleeding-edge gear, from the heated floors and 20-seat home theater to the X-ray machine (for screening the mail, of course) and miles of fiber-optic cabling. But here's what you definitely won't find at chez Gates: an iPhone.
In the latest issue of Vogue, Bill's wife, Melinda Gates, reveals that among the "very few things" on "the banned list in our household" are—you guessed it—iPods and iPhones.

Brutal, yes—especially for Bill and Melinda's three kids (two daughters and a son, aged 12, six, and nine, respectively), who'll just have to grin and bear it as their little pals make merry with the latest and greatest iPod.

And even Melinda herself admits to an occasional pang of Apple envy: "Every now and then I look at my friends and say, 'Ooh, I wouldn't mind having that iPhone.'" (Ouch!)

Then again, what else did we expect from Microsoft founder Bill Gates? The man has his pride, not to mention scores of Windows Mobile and Zune team members who'd probably feel a tad bit hurt if Bill Jr. was running around with an iPhone.

So, which phones and MP3 players are on the Gates's "good-to-go" list? Well, there's always the Zune for music and video—not the sexiest MP3 player out there, mind you, but at least it's got Wi-Fi and a snazzy interface.

And of course, there are plenty of Windows Mobile handsets to choose from; personally, I'd go for the Palm Treo Pro (if I had to get a Windows Mobile phone, that is), although it's not exactly a barrel of fun for the teens. Or how about the HTC Touch Pro? That's a pretty cool phone … I guess (as I pat the iPhone 3G in my jeans pocket).

Abt Yahoo

2009-03-02T21:01:00.000-08:00

It’s our 14th birthday! Take a moment to celebrate and look at the traditions that make us uniquely Yahoo!.

From humble beginnings in a trailer to our more than 70 offices around the world today, Yahoo! has certainly grown a lot since we started in 1994. As we celebrate our birthday today, we wanted to take a moment to look back at our history and get answers to the Yahoo! traditions you’ve always wondered about.

Q: Where did the Yahoo! name come from?

When Jerry and David started compiling their web directory in early 1994, it was called “Jerry’s Guide to the World Wide Web.” In June 1994, when the site had moved beyond their circle of friends and started becoming popular, they decided it needed a shorter, catchier name. They agreed that the first two letters should be YA because the names of several software tools they had used as computer science students began with those letters. YA- names were usually acronyms, denoting “Yet Another” (as in YACC – Yet Another Compiler, Compiler”). So they hit Webster’s dictionary for ideas. When they got to the word “yahoo,” something clicked. It stood for someone who was rude, unsophisticated and vulgar, traced to Jonathan Swift’s 1726 book, Gulliver’s Travels, wherein a Yahoo was “any of a race of brutish, degraded creatures… having the form and all the vices of man.” Bingo! Just the kind of self-effacement Jerry & David appreciated. Then they needed an acronym… and came up with Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle.

Q: Why does Yahoo! have an exclamation point?

The earliest renditions of Yahoo! had no exclamation point. It was added in early 1995, when we created our first logo, known as “the Jumping Y Guy.” The exclamation point was added to punctuate the sense of excitement someone had when they found what they were looking for. Filo purportedly didn’t like it very much, but agreed that the logo looked better with it. The exclamation point first appeared only on Yahoo! business cards, but was used in other places shortly thereafter.

Q: Did we ever think about changing our name to something else?

Yes – but it wasn’t a very long consideration. In April 1995, when Jerry and David accepted their first $1 million investment from Michael Moritz, partner at Sequoia Capital, they asked him whether they should consider changing the name to something more appropriate to doing business. They had concerns that Yahoo! might not be taken seriously as the company attempted to generate revenue from more traditional companies. Mike was horrified at the notion and immediately said he’d take back the check if they ever considered changing the name. And that was that.

Q: How were purple and yellow chosen as our official colors?

Folklore has it that purple came about as a result of a paint mix up. When Yahoo! took up residence in its first official office at 110 Pioneer Way in Mountain View after Jerry & David left the Stanford trailer, it was very much in need of some renovation and repair. David, known by then as Cheap Yahoo, was sent out to buy paint. He returned with several gallons of what was thought to have been gray paint. However, once everyone had painted most of a large wall under dim fluorescent lighting, it became obvious that David had instead purchased lavender. Left with gallons of purple paint, they decided that between the sunk costs and their efforts on the already-painted wall, it was just easiest to stick with purple. Some speculate that purple subsequently became associated with the brand as a result of this mishap.

The colors purple and yellow (as well as blue) were chosen when our first logo was designed. After a color book showed the combination conveyed “energy and happiness” – it was a fit! As Yahoo! began to formalize marketing efforts, we narrowed the colors down to purple and yellow because the two colors contrasted well, were bright and fun, and captured our brand personality well. The colors weren’t used on the site (red was selected instead), but “read” well everywhere else – on cubes, stickers, t-shirts, Frisbees, yo-yos, kazoos, cars, trains, parachutes, taxis, etc.

Q: Why do we have stars as our nameplates?

Our cube stars stem from Yahoo!’s long tradition of celebrating achievement. Back in August 1996, when Yahoo! was just 100 employees, Yahoo! introduced Yahoo! Los Angeles, the second of a series of local city guides. In honor of the launch, a grass-roots team created a “Hollywood Walk of Fame” in the halls of 3400 Central Expressway in Santa Clara (Yahoo!’s third office), placing large gold stars on the floor with every employee’s name on it. At the end of the day, everyone spontaneously picked up their star and hung it in or outside their cube. Et voila! A new company tradition was born. Ever since, every new Yahoo has started their first day with a gold star outside their cube wall.

Q: What are the origins of the Yahoo! yodel? Why a yodel?

In early 1996, our original marketing team conducted consumer research on the Yahoo! brand with help from Black Rocket, our first advertising agency. They found that people who weren't familiar with what Yahoo was could at least easily remember the name. The team therefore tried to come up with ways to use the name distinctively to resonate with people across all age groups, languages, and cultures (as opposed to, say, a cowboy "yahoo!" shout). With a miniscule advertising budget and the inability to execute massive brand marketing campaigns, they knew they’d have to rely on a clever mnemonic device that could stick in people's minds to maximize recall. One of the creative partners at Black Rocket therefore recommended a yodel to capture Yahoo!’s fun, open and iconoclastic spirit. We then hired yodeling cowboy Wylie Gustafson to record the yodel, which aired as part of our “Do You Yahoo!?” tagline in our first television commercial, “Pond,” in May 1996.

Q: Where were our first offices and what were they like?

Once Jerry and David incorporated Yahoo! and started hiring employees, they took up residence in Mountain View (110 Pioneer Way). Our first building was modest and not exactly spacious, high-end real estate. Every time it rained, water would pour through the roof into buckets and trash cans and employees were three to an office with one phone between them. They later moved to a location in Sunnyvale (609 Vaqueros Avenue), less than a mile from our current location. However, there was still a shortage of available space. The options for holding a meeting were the sole conference room, the lobby, the outside patio, or the garage/storage room. Apparently having enough conference rooms has always been a Yahoo! issue.

Q: Is there a story behind the candy buckets in our lobbies?

Indeed – a cute one. In April 1996, when Yahoo! For Good Scrum Product Manager Erin Moore joined the company as our receptionist in our 609 Vaqueros Ave. office in Sunnyvale (Yahoo!’s second official office), she found herself isolated from the 50 other Yahoos crunching away on building and maintaining the Yahoo! site. To lure them to the front desk for conversation, she put out a bowl of candy, knowing all Yahoos are suckers for an afternoon sugar rush. First, it was jelly beans because it was Easter; then later she put out chocolate, gum and mints. This proved to be a very successful tactic, and she found she was no longer lonely. When she moved to a new role within the company and therefore no longer supplied the candy, there was an employee uprising. Seems the sugar fix had become part of the Yahoo! day and a much expected perk. Ever since, the company has provided candy buckets at every one of its global reception desks – apparently as much for employees as guests!

Q: When and how did the free coffee tradition start?

Yahoos in many offices are well caffeinated today as a result of a well-timed delay in Jerry & David’s 1997 holiday gift. In January 1998, the company bought an espresso machine and hired a barista to make coffee drinks as a treat for employees at the 3400 Central Expressway headquarters (our third office). Yahoos, well-trained at this point to be very frugal, were hot and bothered that the company would hire someone full-time to brew up lattes. To squelch complaints, Jerry and David decided to extend the free coffee service to employees as a belated holiday gift, which they hadn’t had time to get together the month before. The free coffee service therefore became the official 1997 holiday gift and set the groundwork for the espressos, lattes, mochas, etc. Yahoos would subsist on for years to come.

Q: How long have Jerry and David been giving holiday gifts?

Jerry and David have been delivering holiday gifts to Yahoos since 1996. The first gift was hand-delivered to more than 100 employees… and the most recent was sent to more than 7,600 worldwide. Here are the items Jerry and David carried in their holiday sacks over the years:

o 1996 - Purple fleece jacket

o 1997 – Free coffee drinks

o 1998 – Purple blanket

o 1999 – Yahoo!opoly game

o 2000 – Purple sleeping bag

o 2001 – Compaq MP3 player

o 2002 – Gray fleece jacket

o 2003 – Blue wool "snowflake" blanket

o 2004 – Purple gym bag

o 2005 – Silver jacket

o 2006 – $100 to match to the charity of your choice

o 2007 – Black fleece jacket

o 2008 – $50 to the charity of your choice

Q: How did tchotchkes become so popular at Yahoo!?

When a company doesn’t have deep marketing pockets, it has to get creative! Our various tchotckes over the years stemmed from a desire to generate consumer awareness in unique, memorable and, most importantly, frugal ways. Some early examples include oval stickers produced for nearly every vertical property, yoyos, license plate frames, t-shirts for just about everything, etc. Some tchotchkes found their way to unusual places, thanks to enterprising Yahoos. For example, when Yahoos would travel, they would place strategically place product and Do You Yahoo!? stickers in conspicuous places to help generate buzz. One Yahoo! traveling in Australia reported seeing a sticker on the back of a semi on a dusty highway, long before Yahoo! had reached the continent.

Q: Why do we have Sheepshead on Yahoo! Games?

Sheepshead is a German card game similar to pinochle and euchre that is popular in Wisconsin. David Filo’s family has roots in Wisconsin and Sheepshead is a beloved tradition in the extended Filo family. However, with family members scattered across the country, they found it difficult to find others with whom to play the game. David therefore taught the Yahoo! Games engineers team how to play Sheepshead and had them add it to our roster of online card games.

Q: How long have we been celebrating Oktoberfest?

Oktoberfest became a Yahoo! tradition in 1996, when David Filo brought in sausages from Louisiana and barbecued them for the 100 or so employees and everyone was given a glass mug for sampling the suds. The party planners were exceedingly clever and ordered mugs that said “First Annual Oktoberfest” in order to ensure that the party would become an annual event.

Q: Why do we have a purple cow in our headquarters lobby?

Visitors to Lobby D reception in Sunnyvale are first greeted by a purple and yellow cow saddled with a computer monitor and keyboard. The cow, known as Yahoo! Moo Mail, was an entry into the CowParade, the world’s largest public art event. Known as the world's first Internet-connected cow, she first appeared CowParade New York in 2000, allowing visitors to South Street Seaport to check their Yahoo! Mail accounts. Now a permanent resident at Yahoo! headquarters, she was given temporary furlough to participate in CowParade Atlanta in 2003.

Q: Did Yahoo! have sports teams in the early days?

In addition to the ever-present foosball tournaments, early Yahoos were fans of competitive sports to blow off steam. We had bowling teams, ultimate Frisbee teams, a softball team, etc. In fact, on night in 1997, the Yahoo! softball team played against Excite, who brought along two ringers: Barry and Bobby Bonds. While Barry hit a home run, Senior Lead Surfer Michelle Heimburger, Yahoo! pitcher and employee number 112, struck Bobby Bonds out and we eventually won the game 15-14.

Q: Speaking of foosball, how did that tradition get started?

When we were at our first Sunnyvale office (609 Vaqueros), Yahoos used to throw darts to blow off steam. After we went "corporate" following the IPO and were preparing to move to our larger Santa Clara facilities (3400 Central Expressway), someone in HR decided darts might not be the best leisure activity for the new building. Privacy Manager Joe MacFarland jokingly suggested before the move that Yahoo! invest in a foosball table instead. Lo and behold, there it was! Once that table (a cheap, plastic model) became too well-used to play anymore, he convinced the powers-that-be to buy a real, new Tornado foosball table -- which has become the staple for Yahoo! offices in the U.S.

Q: When was the first time a headline ran on the home page?

In 1995, we posted the news story on the home page that the Grateful Dead’s Jerry Garcia had passed away. Fast forward to today when we’re now the #1 news site on the Web.

Yahooz bringing old one with new ideas!!!

2009-02-26T18:29:00.000-08:00

Discover

Broadcast

Connect

????

WTF!!!

Yahoo released MyBlogLog yesterday!!!

Its damn cool guys.....!!!

Need a blog??

Need a blog to which u can update from messenger???

Need a blog to see who r seeing ur blog??

Need a blog to share online activities????

Need a blog to have blog communities??

Need a blog with cool interface????

Wanna create ur own stuff using yahoo API???

Then go for http://www.mybloglog.com/

Have fun Guys!! It rocks!!!

Yahoo's comeback!!!

2009-02-25T02:17:00.001-08:00

Excerpted from Breaking Views/The New York Times on February 20, 2009

Yahoo! is strengthening its hand. The Internet company has now increased its search market share for five months running. And it just updated its search result listings.

That should make Microsoft and Google lose some sleep. Yahoo!’s comeback makes Microsoft need it more, and shows the search king that its dominance isn’t unassailable.

Yahoo! has been in a free fall since its failed courtship with Microsoft last year. Its stock has dropped to five-year lows and it has undergone a management shake-up in which Jerry Yang, its chief executive, was replaced by Carol Bartz.

Much of its problems can be attributed to the decline of its search business. Yahoo!’s share of the United States search market fell from 30 percent in August 2006 to a low of 19.6 percent last August, according to comScore. But it has risen every month since then, hitting 21 percent in January. Even better, its gains last month seem to have come at the expense of Google.

Yahoo! also just became the first major search company to add images and videos to its paid search listings. That should play to its strength in display advertising.

The company’s search revival puts Microsoft on its heels. It wants to win a part of Google’s cash-cow business, and Yahoo! is showing how a company can do so. Should Microsoft approach the deal table again, Yahoo! will have more leverage. Google should also be wary. The company’s share of the American search market is 63 percent. But Yahoo!’s gains — and its new search technologies — show that the game isn’t over yet. Advertisers are eager for a competitor to Google, and that could spell trouble.

Of course, Yahoo!’s problems are far from over. But at least they don’t seem to be getting any worse.

My bicycle!!!

2009-02-24T21:29:00.000-08:00

I thought of having a bicycle after i got my first salary!! hmmm.... "geek going to yahoo on bicycle" was the best critic!! i never mind it!! afterall i m being myself!!! here is the one i got on feb 7th!!

Its great feeling riding this one!

2009-02-24T04:45:00.000-08:00

The Ten Most Universally Loved Performers

Now just by claiming that these performers are universally
loved means that everyone who doesn't love them will come out and let us all
know. But the general point here is that unlike the Grateful Dead who have their
loyal followers and their loyal haters, the musicians listed below have all
achieved an admirable level of success and don't inspire the same kind of
contempt or animosity. Sure, plenty of people may be sick of hearing some of
their music, but they don't disrespect it. Just about everyone has at least one
Beatles song they like--and even if they're not fans of the group can still
admire their accomplishments and acknowledge their abilities.

10) AC/DC: Probably the most arguable on the list,
AC/DC excite their audiences with their whiplash power chords and the
banshee-howls ignite concertgoers to a frenzy. A great baseball pitcher like
Trevor Hoffman has used "Hells Bells" to announce his entry into the game and
the group's tough hard rock sound has been assimilated into the culture in ways
few would have expected several decades ago when they started. Sure, they're
not everyone's cup of preferred tea, but they don't enrage anyone either. If
anything, even people who don't like their music seem to get a kick out of
watching Angus Young in his schoolboy uniform headbang and moonwalk across the
stage. That's entertainment!

9) Led Zeppelin: Since the band played so many
different types of music, there's a little something for everyone. And while
many people may be tired of them thanks to the excessive radio exposure, the band
triumphs with their pure musical skills. Robert Plant may sing a little "high"
for some people's tastes, but aside from dogs who are sensitive to such
pitches, it doesn't seem to be enough to make people clear the room.

8) Neil Young: Oh, plenty of people don't care for
this old croaker. They think his voice is whiny and maybe he plays too loud,
but after five decades of public service, people have gotten used to having ol'
Neil around and nearly everyone admires the man's energy and dedication to
rocking the free world at the going free-market rates.

7) Stevie Wonder: Stevie's talents are undeniable. He
comes across as humble and good-natured and you'd have to be a real Scrooge to
find fault with the way the man expresses what's in his heart. Does the fact
that he's blind elicit a sympathy vote? Perhaps. You can never rule out a
certain amount of human empathy. But if his music sounded like he was skinning
a cat, people wouldn't care what the man's situation was. They would beg for
him to stop. But his music isn't like that yet. (You never know, maybe he'll
team up with Trent Reznor next.)

6) Aretha Franklin: Her new hat has won people over
for good. But her incredible vocal pipes aside, there has always been a
vulnerability to Aretha that has enraptured people and swung them over to her
side. She has something that goes beyond the usual charisma of a popular
performer. There's a realness there that no amount of studio trickery can hide
or replicate. Would the music business have the patience to bring along a
talent like hers today? Is there a music business to do such a thing?

5) The Rolling Stones: Oh sure, everyone makes the
Geritol or the Viagra jokes and Allen Klein knows they haven't made a decent
album in years, but their classics, the albums and singles that made their
reputation are pretty much universal anthems now. And more bands have copied
the Keith Richards sound if not the Keith Richards lifestyle to suggest that he
should do like Oprah, Martha Stewart and Rachel Ray and come out with his own
magazine and his own line of kitchen supplies. Mick can do make-up.

4) Jimi Hendrix: No matter how poorly his estate has
been handled, no matter how many bizarre reissues mutate the man's initial
essence, there doesn't seem to be anyone dumb enough to suggest that Hendrix
didn't have talent and couldn't play the electric guitar. Sure, some of the
fashions look a tad overdone and odd these days and some of the stoned raps
from the stage make for a good warning that posterity is not for acidheads, but
the actual music silences its potential detractors.

3) Elvis Presley: Now, not everyone loves Elvis, but
even those who don't still deal with him better than, say, Neil Diamond, Barbra
Streisand, Cher and any number of show
business veterans. Even all those horrible movies he was in can't generate any
true negativity. Pity? Perhaps. Sorrow at the wasted talent? Sure. But Chuck D
aside, I haven't heard too many people get down on the man.

2) The Ramones: This really amazes me. Because there
was a time when the Ramones were strongly disliked if not outright hated by
certain factions of the rock community. But these days kids and their parents
and their grandparents and even their great-grandparents all do a "Gabba Gabba
Hey!" with a feeling of pride and accomplishment. How can you hate a band that
enjoyed being a cartoon? You gonna tell me Fred Flinstone wasn't cool?

1) The Beatles: You might be tired of some of their
songs. You might not like some of those tunes. "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" doesn't
exactly inspire me to be a better person, but the band recorded so much
different music that like an All-You-Can-Eat Chinese-American-Italian Buffet
there really is something for everyone. People even have their favorite member.
And for some it's even Ringo. And he was the drummer and drummers can tell you

how little respect they get. Most of them get stuck carrying their own drums!

source:IY!

Cricketing legends about sachin!!

2009-02-23T22:13:00.000-08:00

Allan Donald(Southafrican bowling legend):

Sachin Tendulkar has often reminded me of a veteran army colonel who has many medals on his chest to show how he has conquered bowlers all over the world. Which is why I find it amusing when critics suggest that he plays well only at home. Do they realise that they are talking about a guy who has scored centuries in almost all the Test-playing countries?

He only played at the start of his career in Pakistan and has not played too much in either Zimbabwe or Bangladesh - the two new entrants in Test cricket, otherwise I have no doubt he would have reached three figures in these countries as well. As far as I am concerned, he is by far the best I have seen or played against.

I must admit that I was not entirely convinced that Tendulkar had something special about him when I first heard about him. It was prior to South Africa's return to world cricket that the "Tendulkar buzz" was heard around the county circuit. He played a season for Yorkshire, but did not really get going. However, he did score one century in a Sunday League, the rerun of which I saw on television. There was a lot of Sunil Gavaskar in his style, and he also had the balance that nobody else possessed. But these were glimpses of potential and I did not think he would be consistently good for a long period of time.

How wrong I was. Tendulkar got better and better with each passing year and today he is the most frightening batsman as far as bowlers across the world are concerned. Everybody is king at home, and scoring heavily in your backyard has never really impressed me. However, Tendulkar has 16 centuries outside India, which is more than half of all his centuries. Many quality batsmen end up with that many centuries in their entire career, so that number is a clear indication that we are talking about a freak player - someone who is as good and as consistent abroad as he is at home.

As a bowler you have to have your gameplan ready before bowling to Tendulkar. Sachin looks to leave a lot of balls in the beginning, and as a bowler your best chance against him is in the first 20 minutes. During our team meetings, we often speak about the importance of the first 12 balls to Tendulkar. If you get him then you can thank your stars, otherwise it could mean that tough times lie ahead.

Consistency is the factor that makes Tendulkar special. He is often spoken about in the same breath as Brian Lara, but as far as I am concerned, the comparison does not even begin. Lara is not half as consistent as Tendulkar and lacks the discipline of the latter. The left-hander plays in a more loose manner and is not that controlled or patient during the first 20 minutes of his innings. Lara was unbelievable in 1994, but he has never been able to recreate that magic consistently after that.

Which is why I rate my dismissal of Tendulkar at Durban in 1996 as the best ball I've ever bowled in Test cricket. I remember that over very clearly. Tendulkar had just hit me for two boundaries, but I decided to stick to my outside-the-off-stump line. The ball just nipped back sharply and claimed his off-stump. It was a perfect ball and, more importantly, exposed a tiny chink in the army colonel's armour. Since then we have worked on bowling that ball against Tendulkar and have had some degree of success with it.

I don't know Tendulkar too well, but one of the main reasons for his success is that he is able to motivate himself all the time. He seems to be constantly assessing his game and setting new goals for himself. There's a certain passion about the game that is unique to him and nothing excites him more than representing his country.

At 29, Tendulkar is at the middle of his career and from hereon he can score another 15 to 20 centuries, taking him close to the 50-century mark. He will continue to terrorise bowlers for another six to eight years, and, hopefully, he will be able to keep the motivation going.

Great players often decide to retire out of the blue. This is particularly common among those who are family men because they find it increasingly difficult to spend time away from their near and dear ones. I've heard that Tendulkar is deeply attached to his children and might face such a crisis. However, like many admirers all over the world, I certainly hope that he succeeds in keeping his focus on the game for many more years. I think he owes it to the game and to his admirers.

Great Glenn Mcgrath:

The year 1989 was crucial for me because I had just moved from the country into Sydney to play first-class cricket. That was the time I heard of a teenager called Sachin Tendulkar, who had burst on to the scene and was being annointed as successor to the great Sunil Gavaskar. Three years elapsed, and after a century at Perth, he was being earmarked as the next best thing to Sir Don Bradman.

Australia is a country where they love sportsmen of high quality, and I have no doubt that outside of India, you will find Tendulkar's greatest admirers among my countrymen. His centuries in Sydney and Perth in India's 1991-1992 series, at age 19, ensured that his career would be one that all cricket lovers in Australia would follow closely.

Interestingly, I did not witness either innings, but many of my team mates did swear that it was batsmanship of the highest quality -- high praise for a bloke who had not celebrated his 20th birthday.

By the time I made my international debut Tendulkar was already being counted among the best batsmen in the world. Most bowlers knew that his was the crucial wicket in an Indian batting line-up that boasted of many talented batsmen.

I enjoyed some beginner's luck against the little man when I first bowled against him. It was at Sharjah, in 1994, when I first claimed Tendulkar, who chased a short ball and pulled it straight to mid-wicket, where Mark Taylor took the catch. It was not a brilliant ball but the jubilation among my team mates made me realise it did not matter. When Tendulkar is out, you don't quibble about the means; you just celebrate the end result.

That was the first of many contests we have had. It is interesting to note that every India-Australia match is heralded as a Warne versus Tendulkar duel. This has worked to my advantage because I am away from the spotlight and this has helped me get the champion's wicket on quite a few occasions. However, I have by no means got Tendulkar's number and I think the scoreline of our encounters is 50-50. I might have a slight edge in Australia, but in India Tendulkar is truly unstoppable.

I have never made a secret of the fact that I rate Tendulkar the best batsman in the business. As far as I am concerned he is technically the most sound player I have ever bowled to. Add to that the manner in which he plays, always trying to dominate the bowler. Among his contemporaries, Steve Waugh, Brian Lara and Inzamam-ul Haq are often compared to the little maestro. Each has his trademark, but Tendulkar combines all of their qualities to make him the best of the lot. Steve is all about determination and making the bowler earn his wicket. Inzamam possesses a good eye and his lazy elegance makes him one of the best players to watch. Lara has flamboyance, and when he gets in, he always scores big centuries.

But Tendulkar possesses determination, a good eye and has a very high rate of consistency as far as centuries go. This puts him on top of my list along with Waugh. Mind you, Steve is at the top by virtue of his performances in the last nine years, that is between age 28 and 37. Tendulkar has just entered that phase of his career.

As I have mentioned earlier, Tendulkar and I have had many interesting encounters. Of these, I rate his dismissal at Adelaide as the most controversial one so far. It may be recalled that Tendulkar, anticipating a bouncer, had ducked into a ball that kept low, and was hit on the shoulder. Umpire Daryll Harper had no hesitation in giving the batsman out, lbw. I did feel for Tendulkar because I had meant to bowl a bouncer, but the ball had pitched on an odd spot and kept really low.

Since Tendulkar is not the tallest guy around and because he was not offering a stroke, he was out in my opinion. Had he been standing up, the ball would have crashed into his pads and there would have been no controversy. But the world's greatest batsman had been hit on the shoulder and commentators and journalists debated on the decision for the rest of the tour. The incident became infamous as the shoulder-before-wicket dismissal, but Tendulkar never made a fuss about it and went on to score a century in the next Test.

Another interesting episode was during the India-Australia one-dayer in Kenya during the last ICC Mini World Cup. Tendulkar was really pumped up and was going after me from the start of the innings. For a change I was not doing the talking! The little champion was hitting me all over the place and giving me a verbal dose as well. I remember being hit for two sixes over my head, but what surprised me more was that Tendulkar, who is normally unflappable, gave me quite a mouthful between the two shots. I could tell he was really pumped up and determined have to have a go at me. That was the first and last time I saw him take on a bowler verbally.

Even though we have played a fair bit of each other in the last three years, I have hardly ever spent any time with Tendulkar outside of a cricket field. Like me, he has a son and a daughter though my kids are a little younger. From all accounts, he is a family man like me, who spends every minute he can at home. It's not easy to be a cricket icon in India, where cricketers are idolized more than filmstars are. I can't even start to think how I'd have coped with the kind of attention Tendulkar draws. That is what makes his humility and patience with fans even more admirable.

Tendulkar now has 30 centuries in 99 Tests, which makes it a hundred in a little over every three Tests. Assuming he plays another 70 Tests - that is the bare minimum knowing what the itineraries are like these days - he will score 20 more centuries. It's not just a mathematical deduction that makes me certain he'll get 50 hundreds.

I've bowled to the man in almost all parts of the world and I am convinced that for him the impossible number is attainable.

Sachin

2009-02-23T01:58:00.000-08:00

I love cricket!! it is my passion!!! My friends kno abt it, how desperate i will be while playing cricket!! My blog with out sachin's gratitude is useless!!! here is info abt my god!!

Dad's Name : Ramesh Tendulkar

Sister's Name : Savitai Tendulkar

Brother's Name : Nitin Tendulkar & Ajit Tendulkar
Wife's Name : Anjali Tendulkar
Daughter's Name : Sarah
Son : Arjun

Tendulkar was born in a Rajapur Saraswat Brahmins family in Mumbai . His father, Ramesh Tendulkar,
who was a Marathi novelist, named him after his favorite music director, Sachin Dev Burman.
Tendulkar's elder brother, Ajit, encouraged him to play cricket. Tendulkar has two other
siblings: brother, Nitin, and sister, Savitai.
Tendulkar attended Sharadashram Vidyamandir (High School), where he began his cricketing
career under the guidance of his coach and mentor, Ramakant Achrekar. During his school
days he attended the MRF Pace Foundation to train as a fast bowler, but Australian fast bowler
Dennis Lillee, who took a world record 355 Test wickets, was unimpressed,
suggesting that Tendulkar focus on his batting instead

Tendulkar's Dream
Young Sachin had aspired of being a fast bowler. It was this dream that made him undertake trials at Chennai
based MRF pace academy, but his small stature proved to be a major hindrance to his aspiring career. ( THANK
GOD !!! else the WORLD would have been deprived of such a genius batsman. )
First step towards cricket
Tendulkar's sensational journey to cricket stardom sparked of when his brother Ajit made him meet Mr. R.
Achrekar ( Cricket Coach ). Sachin failed to perform in the first go which made him very nervous but his brother's persuasion led Mr. Achrekar give him another chance.

Tendulkar attended Sharadashram Vidyamandir (High School), where he began his cricketing
career under the guidance of his coach and mentor, Ramakant Achrekar. During his school days,
he attended the MRF Pace Foundation to train as a fast bowler, but the fast bowling trainer there,
Dennis Lillee, suggested to him to "just focus" on his batting.
When Tendulkar was young, he would practice for hours with his coach. He would often get bored
of practicing. So his coach would put a one-Rupee-coin on the top of the stumps.
The bowler who dismissed Sachin would get the coin. If Sachin passed the whole session without
getting dismissed, the coach would give him the coin. Sachin says today that the
13 coins he won then are his most prized possessions.

Sachin and his best pal Vinod Kambli hold the World Record of 664 runs stand for Shardashram School in
inter-school tournament in 1988. Tendulkar candidly admits that the total would have never assumed mammoth
proportion had he and Kambli not ignored the man waving from the boundary with the coach's message to
declare.

Tendulkar's Idol
Tendulkar's idol is the American Tennis superstar-John McEnore. During his young age, he argued and fought for
McEnore with his colony friends who supported Swedish Bjorn Borg. Sachin sported a head-band, sweat-band
and a tennis racquet showing his staunch loyalty towards his idol.
Family Quirks
Sachin's wife Anjali tends to become nervous while he bats, whereas his brother has become so superstitious
that he allows the family members to only watch the match recording.

His reactions to his dismissals
On pre-mature and early exits, Sachin likes to take out his anger somewhere. He prefers to be left alone, till he
cools down.

God's Importance in his life
Tendulkar is a God fearing person, a staunch devotee of Sai Baba, Ganpathi and frequently visits temples during
night when it's calm and quiet. He visualizes God in his parents. Religion to him is what his parents have
inculcated in him, his upbringing and his way of life. Sachin strongly believes in the concept of re-birth, existence
of Hell and Heaven. He loves celebrating Ganesh Chaturthi at home with his family and believes that it firms his
ties with his loved ones.

Favourites of Tendulkar
Ground : Sydney cricket ground
Movie : Coming to America
Music : Pop
Hobby : Collecting CD's.
Car : Maruti
Actors : Amitabh Bacchan, Nana Patekar
Actresses : Madhuri Dixit
Cricket Heroes : Gavaskar, Viv Richards, Imran Khan and Sandeep Patil
Other Fav. Stars : Maradona, Borris Becker
Drink : Orange / Apple juice and water
Food : Steak
Pastime : Listening to peaceful music with friends
Clothes : Official jacket and tie, else jeans and T-shirt
Magazine : Sportstar
Newspapers : Times of India, Mid-day, Afternoon Dispatch
Restaurant : Bukhara, Maurya Sheraton
Holiday Resort : Yorkshire, Headingley
Hotel : Park Royal Darling Harbour, Sydney
Other Sports : Tennis

Funniest Moment
Once I (Sachin) was batting with Vinod Kambli for a school match. Vinod dropped his bat in the middle of the
game and started to fly a kite. It was so funny, I really can't forget that day in whole of my life.

Other's
Major Teams : India, Mumbai and Yorkshire
Memorable Day : Beating Pakistan in the 1992 World Cup
Worst Day : Losing the fist ODI in RSA in 1992
Greatest Influence : Family
Ambition : To be number one in the world
Dream Woman : My wife
Current Players Admired : Vinod Kambli, Brian Lara and Jonty Rhodes
Embarrasing Moment : People asking for my autograph and then asking me my name
Hate : Rumors
Any Changes you desire to have : None

Rahamania!!

2009-02-22T20:37:00.000-08:00

Danny abt my god in Music:

Rahaman after winning Oscar:

“I have nothing but my mother and she is there with me. I thank her for making me coming all this way with her blessings”

Oscars

2009-02-22T20:26:00.000-08:00

Source:CNN -- Who is walking away with Oscars this year? The following is a list of nominees and winners as they are announced at the 81st annual Academy Awards.

Best picture

WINNER: "Slumdog Millionaire"
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
"Frost/Nixon"
"Milk"
"The Reader"
"Slumdog Millionaire"

Director
WINNER: Danny Boyle, "Slumdog Millionaire"
Stephen Daldry, "The Reader"
David Fincher, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
Ron Howard, "Frost/Nixon"
Gus Van Sant, "Milk"

Actor
Richard Jenkins, "The Visitor"
Frank Langella, "Frost/Nixon"
Sean Penn, "Milk"
Brad Pitt, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
Mickey Rourke, "The Wrestler"

Actress
Anne Hathaway, "Rachel Getting Married"
Angelina Jolie, "Changeling"
Melissa Leo, "Frozen River"
Meryl Streep, "Doubt"
Kate Winslet, "The Reader"

Supporting actor
Josh Brolin, "Milk"
Robert Downey Jr., "Tropic Thunder"
Philip Seymour Hoffman, "Doubt"
WINNER: Heath Ledger, "The Dark Knight"
Michael Shannon, "Revolutionary Road"

Supporting actress
Amy Adams, "Doubt"
WINNER: Penelope Cruz, "Vicky Cristina Barcelona"
Viola Davis, "Doubt"
Taraji P. Henson, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
Marisa Tomei, "The Wrestler"

Animated feature
"Bolt"
"Kung Fu Panda"
WINNER: "WALL-E"

Adapted screenplay
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," screenplay by Eric Roth, screen story by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord
"Doubt," written by John Patrick Shanley
"Frost/Nixon," screenplay by Peter Morgan
"The Reader," screenplay by David Hare
WINNER: "Slumdog Millionaire," screenplay by Simon Beaufoy

Original screenplay
"Frozen River," written by Courtney Hunt
"Happy-Go-Lucky," written by Mike Leigh
"In Bruges," written by Martin McDonagh
WINNER: "Milk," written by Dustin Lance Black
"WALL-E," screenplay by Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon; original story by Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter

Art direction
"Changeling," James J. Murakami; set decoration: Gary Fettis
WINNER: "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Donald Graham Burt; set decoration: Victor J. Zolfo
"The Dark Knight," Nathan Crowley; set decoration: Peter Lando
"The Duchess," Michael Carlin; set decoration: Rebecca Alleway
"Revolutionary Road," Kristi Zea; set decoration: Debra Schutt

Cinematography
"Changeling," Tom Stern
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Claudio Miranda
"The Dark Knight," Wally Pfister
"The Reader," Chris Menges and Roger Deakins
WINNER: "Slumdog Millionaire," Anthony Dod Mantle

Costume design
"Australia," Catherine Martin
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Jacqueline West
WINNER: "The Duchess," Michael O'Connor
"Milk," Danny Glicker
"Revolutionary Road," Albert Wolsky

Documentary feature
"The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)"
"Encounters at the End of the World"
"The Garden"
WINNER: "Man on Wire"
"Trouble the Water"

Documentary short
"The Conscience of Nhem En"
"The Final Inch"
WINNER: "Smile Pinki"
"The Witness -- From the Balcony of Room 306"

Film editing
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall
"The Dark Knight," Lee Smith
"Frost/Nixon," Mike Hill and Dan Hanley
"Milk," Elliot Graham
WINNER: "Slumdog Millionaire," Chris Dickens

Foreign language film
"The Baader Meinhof Complex," Germany
"The Class," France
WINNER: "Departures," Japan
"Revanche," Austria
"Waltz with Bashir," Israel

Makeup
WINNER: "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Greg Cannom
"The Dark Knight," John Caglione Jr. and Conor O'Sullivan
"Hellboy II: The Golden Army," Mike Elizalde and Thom Floutz

Original score
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Alexandre Desplat
"Defiance," James Newton Howard
"Milk," Danny Elfman
WINNER: "Slumdog Millionaire," A.R. Rahman

"WALL-E," Thomas Newman

Original song
"Down to Earth" from "WALL-E," music by Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman, lyrics by Peter Gabriel
WINNER: "Jai Ho" from "Slumdog Millionaire," music by A.R. Rahman, lyrics by Gulzar
"O Saya" from "Slumdog Millionaire," music and lyrics by A.R. Rahman and Maya Arulpragasam

Animated short
WINNER: "La Maison en Petits Cubes"
"Lavatory -- Lovestory"
"Oktapodi"
"Presto"
"This Way Up"

Live-action short
"Auf der Strecke (On the Line)"
"Manon on the Asphalt"
"New Boy"
"The Pig"
WINNER: "Spielzeugland"

Sound editing
WINNER: "The Dark Knight," Richard King
"Iron Man," Frank Eulner and Christopher Boyes
"Slumdog Millionaire," Glenn Freemantle and Tom Sayers
"WALL-E," Ben Burtt and Matthew Wood
"Wanted," Wylie Stateman

Sound mixing
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Mark Weingarten
"The Dark Knight," Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo and Ed Novick
WINNER: "Slumdog Millionaire," Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke and Resul Pookutty
"WALL-E," Tom Myers, Michael Semanick and Ben Burtt
"Wanted," Chris Jenkins, Frank A. Montaño and Petr Forejt

Visual effects
WINNER: "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton and Craig Barron
"The Dark Knight," Nick Davis, Chris Corbould, Tim Webber and Paul Franklin
"Iron Man," John Nelson, Ben Snow, Dan Sudick and Shane Mahan

search people on the net!!!

2009-02-18T21:42:00.000-08:00

http://people.yahoo.com/

U can serach people by mail, by address, by first and last names..!! cool app from yahooo!!! very few know abt it!!!

Great Ebooks FTP site

2009-02-18T21:30:00.001-08:00

All CSE branded books here..!!

ftp://194.44.214.3/pub/e-books/

no rapid share, Xshare's... direct ftp downloads!!!

Feeling Low??? watch this!!!

2009-02-09T01:08:00.000-08:00

I dont have words, only drops from my eyes, after watching this!!!

Take the message from Kamlesh seriously guys!!!

Immpossible is nothing!!!!

Windows 7 version lineup revealed: Prepare for disappointment

2009-02-07T23:30:00.000-08:00

Remember when Vista was announced, and Microsoft decided to release six different versions of the operating system, much to the confusion, disappointment, and ridicule of potential buyers? Well guess what? Microsoft is back with the Windows 7 strategy. What has it learned in the last three years? Pretty much nothing.

While Microsoft is touting the "two primary editions" of Windows 7 -- a Home Premium edition and a Professional (intended for business) edition -- the fact is it's sticking with the same six different versions (or SKUs, stock-keeping units) that it had for Vista.

The real difference is that Windows 7 Home Basic -- the much-reviled stripped-down version of Vista that was designed for bare-bones PCs -- is now being shunted to emerging markets only, though it will still exist. But to confuse matters, a Windows 7 Starter edition, which will run only three applications simultaneously, will also be available.

Also a glimmer of hope: Home Premium will have most of the same features you're used to in Vista Home Premium, but the new Windows 7 Professional is a nice improvement over Vista Business Edition in that Windows 7 Pro will include all of the features from Home Premium (including Media Center and gaming capabilities), plus some other business-centric extras. If there's a bright spot in this news, it's that the Pro version finally looks enticing, unlike the neutered business version of Vista that was pawned off on workplaces two years ago.

But Microsoft blows it again with two more SKUs, again offering an Enterprise and Ultimate version of Windows 7, both containing features that ought to be included off the shelf in Windows 7 Professional. That means nickel-and-diming buyers once again in order to get the BitLocker encryption system.

Microsoft touts the new SKU structure as a "streamlining" of its product line, but I'm having trouble seeing how the Windows 7 lineup is much of an improvement. Things seemed to work pretty well with XP's two versions -- and the Mac folks get along fine with just one. But in an attempt to wring every last dollar out of every last customer, Microsoft again sticks us with a complicated version nightmare that no one's going to like. Is the honeymoon over already? Dang.

Engadget has a helpful comparison guide to the six versions here.

Microsoft's CRAP

2009-02-07T01:14:00.000-08:00

"We're unable to complete your request

Windows Live ID is experiencing some technical difficulties while creating your account. To start using Windows Live today, get support now, click here ,choose Windows Live ID and copy paste the code below into the form.
LEFKPK~OIONRNYUQVY^U[["

This is page i got when i try to register for HOTMAIL......

am i supposed to copy and paste????
crap....
is this they call user friendlines...?? WOW!!!
Wow hatoff MICROSOFT....

These PC guys will never change.....!!!

God must help them.......!!

They are using get method:
https://accountservices.passport.net/reg.srf?roid=2&bk=1233997991&cru=http://login.live.com/login.srf&sl=1&vv=650&lc=1033

what i got??
reg.srf and the variables they are using!!!

Yahoo! Launches ‘UnCANNIES’

2009-02-06T21:37:00.000-08:00

Think you have churned out creative work that you would like to show off to the world? Here's your chance to show everyone (including your pompous creative director) how good your work really is. We are looking for some good creative work in print, tv, radio, outdor and online. So dig up that portfolio and send us some of the best pieces of your work.

“An excellent creative speaks for itself. Uncannies from Yahoo! India brings together all creative minds of the industry to share their best advertising work. It’s also a great platform to discover fresh ideas and showcase top talent in advertising,” said Nitin Mathur, Director – Marketing, Yahoo! India.

In order to take part in this contest, participants must submit their individual entries directly onto the contest website www.uncannies.com. Entries close on 28th February’ 2009. All shortlisted participants will be notified via email when their entry gets featured on the site for voting. Entries can be at an individual or agency level, with a maximum of 200 entries per person.

All participant entries will be judged by an independent panel of experts from the advertising industry. Users will also get a chance to rate the shortlisted creative for the entire contest duration. However, the expert panel’s decision would be final. Top 3 winners will walk away with an Apple iPhone each, while the next top 100 participants will get interesting Yahoo! merchandise as consolation prizes.

Girl who silenced the world!!

2009-02-06T06:17:00.000-08:00

Amaging video:

hello i m seven suzuki speaking from ECO ( the environmental childrens organisation). we are group of twelve and thirteen year old's trying to make a diference.we raised all the to come here to come 5000 miles to tell you that you must change your ways. Coming up here today i have no hidden agenda, i m fighting for my future. Losing my future is not like losing an election or few points on the stock market. I am here to speak for all generations to come, i m here to speak on behalf of starving children around the world whose cries go unheard, i am here to speak for the countless animals dying across this planet because they have no where left to go. I am afraid to go out in the sun now, coz of the holes in our ozone. I m afraid to breathe the air coz i dont kno what chemicals are there in it. i used to go fishing in vancoover, my home town with my dad until jus a few years ago we found a fish full of cancers. And now we hear animals and plants go extinct every day, vanishing for ever. In my life i have dreamt of seeing the great herds of wild animals, jungles and rain forests, full of birds and butterflies and now wonder if they will even exist for my children to see. Did u have to worry abt these things when you were a child of my age?? All this is happening before our eyes and yet we dont act as if we have all the time we want and all the solution. I am only a child and i dont have the solutions. But i want you to realise, you dont kno how to fix the holes in the ozone layer, you dont know how to bring charm up in the dead stream, U dont kno how to bring back an animal now extinct and u cant bring back the forest that exists now as a desert. If u dont kno how to fix it please stop breaking it. Here u may be deligates of ur governments, organisers, reporters, business people, journalists and politicians. But really ur mothers and fathers sisters and brothers, aunts and uncles, and all of u are someones child. I am only a child yet i kno iam a part of a family five billion strong, infact 30 million species strong, and bodies and governments will never change that. I m only a child and i kno yet in this together and we should act as one single world towards one single goal. In my anger iam not blind, and in my fear i m not afraid to tell the world how i feel. In my country we make so much waste, buy and throw away buy and throw away buy and throw away, and yet northern countries were not not shared with the needy, even when we have more than enough we are afraid to share, we are afraid to let go some of our wealth. In canada we live a previlaged life, with plenty of food water and shelter. we have wayches, bicycles, computers and televisions, and the list can go on for two days. Two days ago here in brazil we are shocked when we spent some time living on the streets. This is what one child told to us, " I wish i was rich, and if i were i will give all the street children food, clothes, medicines, shelter and lova and effection. If a child on the street who has nothing is willing to share, y are we who have everything still so greedy. I cant stop thinking that these children of my own age that it makes a tremendous difference where they were born, that i could be one of those children living in the starvation, i could be a child living in somalia, or a victim of war in the middle east, or a begger in india. I m only a child yet i kno if all the money spent on war is spent on finding environmental answers, ending poverty and finding treaty's, what a wonderful flace this earth will be. At school even in kindergarden, you teach us how to behave in the world. U teach us to not to fight with others, to work things out, to respect others, to clean up our mess, and do u do the things that u tell us not to do?? Do not forget y you are attending this confereces, who you are doing this for? we are your own children. You are decing what kind of world we are growing up in. Parent should be able to tell thier children that everything is going to be all right and this is not the end of the world and we are the doing the best we can. But i dont think u can say that to us anymore. Are we even on ur list of priorities??? My dad always says "U are what u do, not waht u say", well, what u do makes me cry at nights, u going up saying u love us. But i challenge you please make your actions reflect your words. THANK u!!!

I inspired a lot..Hope u will!!!!!!!!!!

Help!!!

2009-02-06T01:59:00.000-08:00

Tweet. Meet. Give.

On 12 February 2009 175+ cities around the world will be hosting Twestivals which bring together Twitter communities for an evening of fun and to raise money and awareness for charity: water.

Join us by:

Attending one of the events detailed on the city sites listed on this page.

Uploading or buying music at Twestival.fm.

Taking part in the t-shirt design competition.

Donating to charity: water.

The Twestival is organized 100% by volunteers in cities around the world and 100% of the money raised from these events will go directly to support charity: water projects.

In September 2008, a group of Twitterers based in London UK decided to organise an event where the local Twitter community could socialize offline; meet the faces behind the avatars, enjoy some entertainment, have a few drinks and tie this in with a food drive and fundraising effort for a local homeless charity.

The bulk of the event was organized in under two weeks, via Twitter and utilized the talents and financial support of the local Twittersphere to make this happen.

Around the world similar stories started appearing of local Twitter communities coming together and taking action for a great cause. Twestival was born out of the idea that if cities were able to collaborate on an international scale, but working from a local level, it could have a spectacular impact.

By rallying together globally, under short timescales, for a single aim on the same day, the Twestival hopes to bring awareness to this global crisis.

charity: water is a non profit organization bringing clean, safe drinking water to people in developing nations by funding sustainable clean water solutions in areas of greatest need.

Right now 1.1 billion people on the planet don't have access to safe, clean drinking water. That's one in six of us.

Unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation cause 80% of all sickness and disease, and kill more people every year than all forms of violence, including war.

Many communities in developing nations often have a plentiful supply of clean drinking water just below the ground, but no way to get to it.

This is where charity: water and their partner organizations come in. Drilling a well can cost from $4,000 - $12,000 USD and many living on less than $1 a day cannot afford one in their community, even if the money is combined.

Twestival cities might consider setting a goal to raise enough money from their event to fund a well project in a developing country, starting at $4,000 USD.

We all know that Twitter can be a powerful communications tool. It can connect, mobilize and inform people around the world instantly.

Those of us on Twitter know of its ability to organically create interesting communities from those people who find and follow each other. It is proven from the first Twestival that bringing the Twittersphere together for a special event is not only a memorable night; it has momentum to bring about social change.

This website has been designed as a simple portal where each Twestival city organizer will be assigned their own site to update their event information, post news, blogs, photo and video content.

This site has specifically been established with central controls which ensure that all of the donations go directly to charity: water and event registration is secure.

There will be certain creative restrictions on city sites, especially for those with a web developer on their team; but it was important not to compromise these features due to the scale of this grassroots event.

Feel free to link in social media sites or any other website relevant to the Twestival.

Phase one: Launch the homepage with a list of cities which have already registered. Over the next day, organizers will be given a password and instruction to upload information to their own city site (start thinking about a first blog post). Please have a bit of patience as we are working as quickly as we can.

Phase two: All of the cities should be linked up to the homepage. Features to donate, bid on an auction, raffle and other fundraising projects will come online as buttons as they are completed.

Phase three: On 12 February 2009, Twestival will be working with partners to have live broadcasts of the events around the world.

This site will be the central hub of information and schedule of events with links to Twitter, photosites and video content sites.

Follow @twestival for updates.

Contact @amanda for global enquiries.

See the development blog for technical site updates.

My link heaven

2009-02-06T01:48:00.000-08:00

i love the most:

1. www.labnol.org(Digital Inspiration)

2. ICC's collaboration with Yahoo

Abt sachin!!

2009-02-06T01:45:00.000-08:00

Let sachin open and India will have the next WC

1991-92 --- Sachin at no.4 ---- result --- India did not make it to the 2nd Rnd

1996 ------ Sachin at 1/2 ---- result ----- India make it to the Semis

1999 ----- Sachin at no.4 --- result ----- India does not make it to the Semis

2003 ----- Sachin at 1/2 ----- result ----- India makes it to the Final but loses

2007 ---- Sachin at no.4 ---- result ----- India does not make it to the 2nd rnd

2011 ---- send sachin at 1/2 and he will get us the WC observe the natural progression
when sachin opens the batting Semis----->Runners up-------> winners (if we let sachin open the innings)Let sachin open and India will have the next WC

Wealthy GUNS!!!

2009-02-06T01:33:00.000-08:00

Thu, Jan 29 02:30 PM

Source: Erin Gell and Duncan Greenberg, Forbes.com

Being a CEO isn't what it used to be. Crackdowns on corporate frills like private jets and over-the-top offices have become the norm, taking some of the fun--but none of the stress--out of running billion-dollar businesses.

While some chief executives' jobs may be in peril, these 10 have stuck it out long enough to partake in what's left of the global economy. These have made our annual list of the world's wealthiest CEOs.

To compile our list for 2009, we looked at chief executive officers and managing directors (a title that sometimes denotes the top leadership position at corporations outside the U.S.) of public companies the world over and ranked them according to the size of their stakes in the businesses they run.

Due to the difficulty of pinning down private holdings in the midst of volatile market swings, we excluded CEOs of private companies from our rankings. We also excluded individuals' private holdings. Full net-worth estimates will be available in March, when we release our annual list of the world's billionaires.

This year's wealthiest chief executive, for the second year in a row, is Warren Buffett. The Oracle of Omaha trounced the competition, his stake in Berkshire Hathaway worth $35.9 billion, nearly double that of his runner-up, Oracle founder, Larry Ellison. (Fortunately for both, Bill Gates' decision nine years ago to cede control of Microsoft to long-time business associate Steve Ballmer--also one of our 10 wealthiest--disqualifies him from our list).

Berkshire's diversification and conservative basket of businesses served it well in 2008. The company's shares fell by 32% last year compared with the S&P 500, which declined 38%.

Ellison lost an estimated $5.3 billion on paper since we locked in prices for our 2008 Forbes 400 rankings in early fall. Still, Oracle is weathering the storm better than most, falling just 15% in the past 12 months and growing its revenues by 10% in the six months ended Nov. 30, 2008. The Chicago native has been Oracle's front man since the software giant was founded in 1977.

Four Indians made it onto our list this year: two industrialists, Mukesh Ambani and Lakshmi Mittal; and two telecom tycoons, Anil Ambani and Sunil Mittal. The Ambani brothers owe their hefty fortunes, in part, to inheritance. Following their father's death in 2002, they took over his industrial empire and attempted to run it together.

The collaboration soon soured. After coming to blows over who ran the company, the two reached a bitter compromise, deciding that they and the company would best be served by spinning off and divvying up its various businesses. Today Mukesh runs petrochemicals giant Reliance Industries Ltd., while Anil oversees an array of companies including Reliance Communications, a phone and Internet outfit with 60 million customers. (Lakshmi Mittal and Sunil Mittal are not related.)

This year's most notable drop-off is one of last year's most high-profile casualties: Sheldon Adelson, who injected $1 billion into Las Vegas Sands last fall in an effort to revive the troubled casino company. He has watched his shares plunge 95% since the beginning of 2008. His stake, worth $35 billion in late 2007, is worth perhaps $1.5 billion today.