Internet search engine site Google today said it is launching a new version of an online Ad exchange, enabling advertisers and publishers to buy and sell advertising space. We are excited to announce the new DoubleClick Ad Exchange, a step towards creating a more open display advertising ecosystem for everyone," Google said in a statement.
In 2007, the search engine site has signed a definitive agreement to acquire DoubleClick Inc for USD 3.1 billion in cash from San Francisco-based private equity firm Hellman & Friedman along with JMI Equity and management.
The Ad Exchange is a real-time marketplace that would help large online publishers as well as ad networks and agency networks.
"The DoubleClick Ad Exchange will help create a more open marketplace and is a major step towards that vision, we believe that growing the display advertising pie for everyone will greatly enhance the web experience for advertisers, publishers, and ultimately users," Google vice-president Product Management Neal Mohan said.
Ad Exchange would comprise Google's own advertising auction systems AdWords and AdSense programmes, expanding the number of buyer and seller that could use the online exchange.
Showing posts with label INTERNET NEWS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label INTERNET NEWS. Show all posts
Friday, September 18, 2009
The Man Who's Beating Google search Engine
On a smoggy August morning outside Beijing's China World Hotel, Li Yanhong's fan club is assembling. "We'll use his English name, okay?" a wrangler shouts over the chattering young crowd. A black Mercedes-Benz approaches, its door opens and the masses do as they're told. A boyishly handsome 41-year-old executive steps out. "Ro-bin! Ro-bin!" scream his followers, hoisting led-encrusted placards for a few obliging paparazzi.In his keynote at the Baidu World conference a few hours later, Robin Li describes to a crowd of thousands how the search service he created ten years ago is becoming China's gateway to the world of information. Then he parades across a stage, surrounded by smiling children as "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" plays in Mandarin and soap bubbles fill the room.Li has earned his share of Olympic-style marketing. In a decade he has transformed Baidu from a handful of employees putting in sweat equity to an enterprise with 7,000 workers and a market value of $12.8 billion. Li's personal worth has swelled, too: Last year he was the seventh-richest person in China; today his Baidu stake is worth an estimated $2.1 billion. In 2008 the company netted $150 million on $460 million in revenue. In the process Li has become a national symbol of China's burgeoning identity as a global Internet player, with a digital population of 338 million online users. Baidu has captured a huge slice, each month racking up 8 billion searches and 145 million unique visitors, according to ComScore, making it the most popular non-U.S. site in the world.
"A lot of Chinese people have wondered if knowledge really means power in today's market economy," Li says during an interview with forbes in Baidu's no-frills Beijing conference room. (By year-end the company will move to a new headquarters designed to resemble an enormous, long rectangular search box.) "I think I've proven that it does."
Google has been steadily winning eyeballs there (see graph, right) and plans a near-doubling of its sales force, now in the hundreds, over the next 12 months in what is shaping up as an epic battle to dominate the world's search business. "China's going to be the largest Internet market in the world," says Gary Rieschel, a cofounder of Qiming Ventures in Shanghai. "If Google isn't the leader there, will it really be the leading search company in the world?"
On another front, China's e-commerce giant, Alibaba, has declared war with Baidu over online shopping. Baidu has also suffered some serious self-inflicted casualties, thanks to a profitable but shady practice of mixing advertising and search results and a willingness, in at least one highly publicized instance, to put revenues ahead of customers' safety.
Those challenges have spurred Li to put Baidu through what could be a wrenching transition, a switch to a new advertising program that clearly distinguishes paid-search ads from other results. The company faces a tough task: improving the search experience and reducing its controversial ad practices without choking revenue growth. "Even if this means we have to suffer for a few quarters, I'm willing to make that bet--or sacrifice--to make sure we're moving in this direction," Li says in stiff but fluent English. "It's not an easy decision. But if we imagine the company ten years down the road, it's an obvious one."
Particularly if Baidu is to survive the assault from the world's most popular search company. Once an investor with 2.6% of Baidu, Google sold its stake in 2006 and got a government license to operate as Google China. Since then it has made large but undisclosed investments in the country and now draws an estimated $250 million of annual revenue there. Before the split Baidu threw down a marker, releasing a provocative, if unsubtle, video ad featuring a Chinese kung fu warrior and a mustachioed Westerner with a clutch of pretty women in a showdown of tongue twisters. The white guy loses, then vomits and collapses; the women flock to the warrior. At the bottom of the screen flashes the message: "Baidu Understands Chinese Better."
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Google launches online news reader 'Fast Flip'
Washington: Internet giant Google unveiled an online news reader called "Fast Flip" Tuesday, featuring stories from the BBC, The New York Times, The Washington Post and other major media outlets.
Google, which launched Fast Flip at the TechCrunch50 technology conference in San Francisco, compared using the quick-loading product to flipping through the pages of a magazine "really fast without unnatural delays."
Fast Flip allows users to quickly browse through news stories from the websites of Google's three dozen partners.
A large arrow allows a Web surfer to quickly jump from one article to the next, significantly faster than the time it usually takes to load a Web page. Besides the BBC, the Times and the Post, companies supplying content include magazines such as the Atlantic, Business Week, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Marie Claire, Newsweek and Popular Mechanics and online sites TechCrunch, Salon and Slate.
Google has had a strained relationship with some US publishers and the California Internet giant said its media partners would share advertising revenue from Fast Flip.
"Partners will share the revenue earned from contextually relevant ads," Fast Flip developer Krishna Bharat, a Google engineer, said in a blog post.
Fast Flip allows readers to browse stories by topic, by publication or by what is most viewed or most popular.
Google, which launched Fast Flip at the TechCrunch50 technology conference in San Francisco, compared using the quick-loading product to flipping through the pages of a magazine "really fast without unnatural delays."
Fast Flip allows users to quickly browse through news stories from the websites of Google's three dozen partners.
A large arrow allows a Web surfer to quickly jump from one article to the next, significantly faster than the time it usually takes to load a Web page. Besides the BBC, the Times and the Post, companies supplying content include magazines such as the Atlantic, Business Week, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Marie Claire, Newsweek and Popular Mechanics and online sites TechCrunch, Salon and Slate.
Google has had a strained relationship with some US publishers and the California Internet giant said its media partners would share advertising revenue from Fast Flip.
"Partners will share the revenue earned from contextually relevant ads," Fast Flip developer Krishna Bharat, a Google engineer, said in a blog post.
Fast Flip allows readers to browse stories by topic, by publication or by what is most viewed or most popular.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
104-yr-old lady who loves being on Facebook, Twitter
Tuesday is her 104th birthday, but that hasn't stopped Britain's Ivy Bean from being an avid Twitter user and possibly the oldest person on the social networking site.
From the care home where she lives in the northern English city of Bradford, near Leeds, Bean updates her more than 27,000 Twitter followers about the ups and downs of her life - from getting her hair done with her good friend Mabel, to eating fish and chips and watching her favorite game show, Deal or No Deal, on TV.
Last month, she tweeted her sadness that her friend Norma had passed away overnight.
Before getting onto Twitter, Bean was already active on Facebook, where she maxed out her 5,000-friend limit in no time.
Bean says she prefers Twitter because it's easier than Facebook - it only requires updating. She has linked both accounts so that her tweets automatically show up on Facebook.
Bean says she knows people must think it's amazing that she's so active on online, but she thinks it's a good way of keeping in touch with people.
And for those who find it hard to jump on the Twitter bandwagon, Bean offers this advice: "Keep on at it."
"Old" is not the first - or second or even 10th - word that comes to mind with Bean, an engaging, lively and friendly lady with a warm and infectious smile.
A resident of Hillside Manor, she recently won a gold medal at the residential home's Over-75 Olympics in the Frisbee-throwing category. And she enjoys bowling on the home's Nintendo Wii.
No surprise, perhaps, for a lady who was a gymnast when she was younger.
What do her friends think of her online popularity? "I think they might be jealous," she said with a joking laugh.
Others at Hillside Manor also have Twitter accounts, but not Bean's friend, Mabel Davis, 87.
"Just put me on yours, Ivy," she says.
Already, Bean's centenarian tweeting and Facebooking have attracted international attention, and news outlets from around the world have interviewed her.
Bean's daughter, Sandra Logan, 61, said she arrived for a visit one day only to find her mom busy with a call.
"I'm on the phone with Israel," Bean called out to her daughter.
Part of the reason Bean is so active online is because the care home makes activities for its residents a priority. One resident wanted to learn more about photography, so he now takes a course once a week at a local college. The home also helped another resident get a passport so he could visit his son in Spain.
Hillside Manor also recently hosted a quiz with students from the local college. The subject was history. The Hillside Manor residents won.
"We're trying to do something different than knitting or crochet," explained Pat Wright, the home's manager.
Bean came from a large family with four brothers and three sisters. All are gone, Logan said.
Bean, who was in the middle of her siblings, was approaching 40 when she got married during the "great war" to Harold Gibson Bean. He was a cook in the army, and she worked in a mill.
After the war, the couple got a job "in service" to a wealthy family. Ivy Bean was a housekeeper and her husband was the cook and butler to Lord and Lady Guinness in Northamptonshire, England. Daughter Sandra, their only child, was born two years later, in 1947.
The couple retired together but Harold Bean died a few years later, when he was in his 70s, Logan said.
Bean now has three great-grandchildren with two more on the way, Logan said. They all call their famous great-grandmother 'Little Nan'.
Wright says Bean is "very open" to new suggestions and new ideas and is always willing to have a go at something.
"She must have been like that all her life," Wright says. "It's not a new thing. I think if you're one of those people that'll try anything through your life, it doesn't stop when you get old."
As she types an update on her Twitter page, Bean certainly seems to be displaying an open mind. Would she agree?
"I don't know if I have or not," Bean says. "But there's something there. There must be!"
From the care home where she lives in the northern English city of Bradford, near Leeds, Bean updates her more than 27,000 Twitter followers about the ups and downs of her life - from getting her hair done with her good friend Mabel, to eating fish and chips and watching her favorite game show, Deal or No Deal, on TV.
Last month, she tweeted her sadness that her friend Norma had passed away overnight.
Before getting onto Twitter, Bean was already active on Facebook, where she maxed out her 5,000-friend limit in no time.
Bean says she prefers Twitter because it's easier than Facebook - it only requires updating. She has linked both accounts so that her tweets automatically show up on Facebook.
Bean says she knows people must think it's amazing that she's so active on online, but she thinks it's a good way of keeping in touch with people.
And for those who find it hard to jump on the Twitter bandwagon, Bean offers this advice: "Keep on at it."
"Old" is not the first - or second or even 10th - word that comes to mind with Bean, an engaging, lively and friendly lady with a warm and infectious smile.
A resident of Hillside Manor, she recently won a gold medal at the residential home's Over-75 Olympics in the Frisbee-throwing category. And she enjoys bowling on the home's Nintendo Wii.
No surprise, perhaps, for a lady who was a gymnast when she was younger.
What do her friends think of her online popularity? "I think they might be jealous," she said with a joking laugh.
Others at Hillside Manor also have Twitter accounts, but not Bean's friend, Mabel Davis, 87.
"Just put me on yours, Ivy," she says.
Already, Bean's centenarian tweeting and Facebooking have attracted international attention, and news outlets from around the world have interviewed her.
Bean's daughter, Sandra Logan, 61, said she arrived for a visit one day only to find her mom busy with a call.
"I'm on the phone with Israel," Bean called out to her daughter.
Part of the reason Bean is so active online is because the care home makes activities for its residents a priority. One resident wanted to learn more about photography, so he now takes a course once a week at a local college. The home also helped another resident get a passport so he could visit his son in Spain.
Hillside Manor also recently hosted a quiz with students from the local college. The subject was history. The Hillside Manor residents won.
"We're trying to do something different than knitting or crochet," explained Pat Wright, the home's manager.
Bean came from a large family with four brothers and three sisters. All are gone, Logan said.
Bean, who was in the middle of her siblings, was approaching 40 when she got married during the "great war" to Harold Gibson Bean. He was a cook in the army, and she worked in a mill.
After the war, the couple got a job "in service" to a wealthy family. Ivy Bean was a housekeeper and her husband was the cook and butler to Lord and Lady Guinness in Northamptonshire, England. Daughter Sandra, their only child, was born two years later, in 1947.
The couple retired together but Harold Bean died a few years later, when he was in his 70s, Logan said.
Bean now has three great-grandchildren with two more on the way, Logan said. They all call their famous great-grandmother 'Little Nan'.
Wright says Bean is "very open" to new suggestions and new ideas and is always willing to have a go at something.
"She must have been like that all her life," Wright says. "It's not a new thing. I think if you're one of those people that'll try anything through your life, it doesn't stop when you get old."
As she types an update on her Twitter page, Bean certainly seems to be displaying an open mind. Would she agree?
"I don't know if I have or not," Bean says. "But there's something there. There must be!"
Google developing software to aid newspapers
Search engine giant Google is developing a technology that will help newspapers in charging money from online readers.
In a proposal to the Newspaper Association of America, Google said it is working on a software that would help newspapers to charge money from 'micro-payment', a payment vehicle which would be available both to Google and non-Google properties within the next year.
"While we believe that advertising will likely remain the same source of revenue for most news content, a paid model can serve as an importance source of additional revenue. In addition, a successful paid content model can enhance advertising opportunities, rather than replace them," the company said.
It said in a statement that it will mitigate the risk of non-payment by assigning credit limits based on past purchasing behaviour and having credit card instruments on file for those with higher credit limits and using proprietary risk engines to track abuse or fraud.
Google would also allow readers to utilise single sign-on capability to access content and manage subscriptions, while publishers would be able to combine subscriptions from different titles together for one price.
At present, there are only two newspapers ---Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal that charge readers for content, although both offer some free news content to readers.
The search engine site said that paid content model has two main challenges. First, the content must offer value to users. Only content creators can address this. The second is to create a simple payment model that is painless for users.
However, Newspaper Association of America has asked the companies to provide information on how to generate income from online contents.
In a proposal to the Newspaper Association of America, Google said it is working on a software that would help newspapers to charge money from 'micro-payment', a payment vehicle which would be available both to Google and non-Google properties within the next year.
"While we believe that advertising will likely remain the same source of revenue for most news content, a paid model can serve as an importance source of additional revenue. In addition, a successful paid content model can enhance advertising opportunities, rather than replace them," the company said.
It said in a statement that it will mitigate the risk of non-payment by assigning credit limits based on past purchasing behaviour and having credit card instruments on file for those with higher credit limits and using proprietary risk engines to track abuse or fraud.
Google would also allow readers to utilise single sign-on capability to access content and manage subscriptions, while publishers would be able to combine subscriptions from different titles together for one price.
At present, there are only two newspapers ---Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal that charge readers for content, although both offer some free news content to readers.
The search engine site said that paid content model has two main challenges. First, the content must offer value to users. Only content creators can address this. The second is to create a simple payment model that is painless for users.
However, Newspaper Association of America has asked the companies to provide information on how to generate income from online contents.
Google proposes micropayments for online news
Google is working on a micropayment system that would allow newspapers to easily charge for online content, the web search giant has revealed in a proposal to the Newspaper Association of America.
In the proposal, which was released on the internet on Thursday, Google said that its micropayment system would be up and running within the year and would enable simple payment of one cent to several dollars.
However Google clarified that it did not believe that the scheme would be the salvation of newspapers, which have seen their circulation dramatically decline as readers view articles online, often through free news aggregators like Google News.
"While we believe that advertising will likely remain the main source of revenue for most news content, a paid model can serve as an important source of additional revenue," the company said in its proposal.
Google said its system would be integrated with its current Checkout online payments system and would allow users to utilise one sign on to access various media, while publishers would be able to bundle several titles in a single subscriptions. Google will take an unspecified cut of the revenue generated by publishers, the memo said
In the proposal, which was released on the internet on Thursday, Google said that its micropayment system would be up and running within the year and would enable simple payment of one cent to several dollars.
However Google clarified that it did not believe that the scheme would be the salvation of newspapers, which have seen their circulation dramatically decline as readers view articles online, often through free news aggregators like Google News.
"While we believe that advertising will likely remain the main source of revenue for most news content, a paid model can serve as an important source of additional revenue," the company said in its proposal.
Google said its system would be integrated with its current Checkout online payments system and would allow users to utilise one sign on to access various media, while publishers would be able to bundle several titles in a single subscriptions. Google will take an unspecified cut of the revenue generated by publishers, the memo said
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Watch: Microsoft ready with Windows 7
The software has been given to some organisation and families for testing.
The software has been given to some organisation and families for testing.
The software has been given to some organisation and families for testing.
Wall Street bets on Google's next big business ideas
Google Inc made its fortune on Internet search ads, but Wall Street is increasingly eager for signs that the company's other money-making bets will pay off."Even though paid search is 95 percent of the business, I think everybody's looking for that next trick," said John Lutz, a senior research analyst at Frost Investment Advisors, which owns Google shares.
Google will brief investors in a Webcast on Wednesday about search and monetization, though Google spokeswoman Jane Penner said the event would focus more on the monetization of search than on businesses like YouTube.
The Internet giant has myriad initiatives, including a display ad business, mobile Internet products and YouTube, the world's top video Web site.
But none have demonstrated the kind of financial horsepower typically associated with Google, which generated nearly $22 billion in revenue last year.
The Mountain View, California, company has been tight-lipped when it comes to the financials of non-search businesses, though there are signs it is opening up a little.
In July, Google lifted the covers slightly on YouTube, revealing that YouTube is monetizing billions of video views every month and that it expects YouTube to become a profitable business in the not-too-distant future. Executives wanted to dispel reports that YouTube, which it acquired for $1.65 billion in 2006, does not have a credible business model.
New formats
Brigantine Advisors analyst Colin Gillis said new ad formats that incorporate videos and graphics could prove key to Google's future growth, as the company courts advertisers like Johnson & Johnson and Procter & Gamble.
"Google's got to give them a good format to convey emotion. This is going to be the next major area," said Gillis.
Google sought to bolster its display ad business with the 2008 acquisition of ad network DoubleClick for $3.1 billion. But rivals Yahoo Inc, Microsoft and Time Warner Inc's AOL still dominate that market.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Internet's 40th "Birthday" Marked
In fall 1969, computers sending data between two California universities set the stage for the Internet, which became a household word in the 1990s.
The machines that rule our modern lives have been around for less than a century.
Early computers helped the allied forces during the Second World War.
SOUNDUP: (Announcer) The analyzer worked for three years on important war projects, including reigns tables for our Navy's mighty guns."
By the late 1960s computers were being used by NASA and other government agencies.
Then on September 2nd 1969, in a lab at the University of California, Los Angeles, two computers passed test data through a 15-foot gray cable.
Stanford Research Institute joined the fledging ARPANET network a month later; UC Santa Barbara and the University of Utah joined by year's end, and the internet was born.
VOICEOVER (English) no name given: "In the 70s, the silicone chip became the basis of a new generation of computerized devices .
Following the silicone chip, came games and e-mail, creating a social and industrial revolution.
The Museum of Computing in Swindon, England boasts dozens of exhibits featuring computers through the decades.
One of the prize exhibits is a black cube, the model of a computer used by Tim Berners-Lee.
SOUNDBITE (English) Simon Webb, Curator, Museum of Computing: "It's a pretty rare beast, we're very lucky to have one of these, especially in such a good condition. It's a fairly significant machine, in that on one of these machines Tim Berners-Lee developed the World Wide Web."
The Internet didn't become a household word until the 90s, though, when Lee, a British physicist invented the Web and service providers like America Online connected millions of people for the first time.
The Museum has a large collection of computer games, including the first TV tennis games console.
SOUNDUP: (Announcer) There were toys for adults, too
The Founder of the Museum of Computing says that today's children have no concept of a life before computers.
SOUNDBITE (English) Jeremy Holt, Founder, Museum of Computing: "The interest is that a lot of the youngsters nowadays have no real idea how primitive things were a few years ago. They've been brought up with the Internet, they can't imagine an age which doesn't have the Internet in there, and the idea is to show some of the early computer games and just how basic they were."
A Vice President of Intel Europe, Middle East and Africa reminisces about one exhibit he found on display in the museum.
SOUNDBITE (English) Gordon Graylish, Vice President, Intel Europe, Middle East and Africa: "This is the first one I could say was my computer; it's an Osborne, and you actually bring it home. You would have to plug it in because there was no battery, and you would work forever to get very little out of it, but it was the first example of a mobile computer.
With the great evolvement of the World Wide Web and computers, everyone is waiting to see what the next generation of communication and gaming devices will look like.
watch video:http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/08/090831-internet-40th-video-ap.html
The machines that rule our modern lives have been around for less than a century.
Early computers helped the allied forces during the Second World War.
SOUNDUP: (Announcer) The analyzer worked for three years on important war projects, including reigns tables for our Navy's mighty guns."
By the late 1960s computers were being used by NASA and other government agencies.
Then on September 2nd 1969, in a lab at the University of California, Los Angeles, two computers passed test data through a 15-foot gray cable.
Stanford Research Institute joined the fledging ARPANET network a month later; UC Santa Barbara and the University of Utah joined by year's end, and the internet was born.
VOICEOVER (English) no name given: "In the 70s, the silicone chip became the basis of a new generation of computerized devices .
Following the silicone chip, came games and e-mail, creating a social and industrial revolution.
The Museum of Computing in Swindon, England boasts dozens of exhibits featuring computers through the decades.
One of the prize exhibits is a black cube, the model of a computer used by Tim Berners-Lee.
SOUNDBITE (English) Simon Webb, Curator, Museum of Computing: "It's a pretty rare beast, we're very lucky to have one of these, especially in such a good condition. It's a fairly significant machine, in that on one of these machines Tim Berners-Lee developed the World Wide Web."
The Internet didn't become a household word until the 90s, though, when Lee, a British physicist invented the Web and service providers like America Online connected millions of people for the first time.
The Museum has a large collection of computer games, including the first TV tennis games console.
SOUNDUP: (Announcer) There were toys for adults, too
The Founder of the Museum of Computing says that today's children have no concept of a life before computers.
SOUNDBITE (English) Jeremy Holt, Founder, Museum of Computing: "The interest is that a lot of the youngsters nowadays have no real idea how primitive things were a few years ago. They've been brought up with the Internet, they can't imagine an age which doesn't have the Internet in there, and the idea is to show some of the early computer games and just how basic they were."
A Vice President of Intel Europe, Middle East and Africa reminisces about one exhibit he found on display in the museum.
SOUNDBITE (English) Gordon Graylish, Vice President, Intel Europe, Middle East and Africa: "This is the first one I could say was my computer; it's an Osborne, and you actually bring it home. You would have to plug it in because there was no battery, and you would work forever to get very little out of it, but it was the first example of a mobile computer.
With the great evolvement of the World Wide Web and computers, everyone is waiting to see what the next generation of communication and gaming devices will look like.
watch video:http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/08/090831-internet-40th-video-ap.html
Thursday, August 27, 2009
list of Best 50 Websites of 2009
The hottest thing on the Internet is not social networking websites like Facebook and Twitter, but Flickr-the popular photo-sharing portal - and the proof is: it has topped TIME's list of the best 50 websites this year.
One of the noticeable trends in this year's list, which was released this week, was on-demand video services, like YouTube, Vimeo and US services Hulu and Netflix.
However, the top two in the list were related to photographs, with California Coastline following Flickr at the second spot.
Third in the list was bookmark website Delicious, while community weblog Metafilter stood at the fourth place.
Popurls, the mashup of the web's most visited social news sites and portals, grabbed the fifth spot in the list.
Twitter ranked sixth and Facebook came 31st in the list, while YouTube and Hulu came at 12th and 14th place in the list.
TIME's list of 50 Best Websites of 2009 is:. Flickr
2. California Coastline
3. Delicious
4. Metafilter
5. popurls
6. Twitter
7. Skype
8. Boing Boing
9. Academic Earth
10. OpenTable
11. Google
12. YouTube
13. WolframAlpha
14. Hulu
15. Vimeo
16. Fora TV
17. Craiglook
18. Shop Goodwill
19. Amazon
20. Kayak
21. Netflix
22. Etsy
23. PropertyShark.com
24. Redfin
25. Wikipedia
26. Internet Archive
27. Kiva
28. ConsumerSearch
29. Metacritic
30. Pollster
31. Facebook
32. Pandora and Last.fm
33. Musicovery
34. Spotify
35. Supercook
36. Yelp
37. Visuwords
38. CouchSurfing
39. BabyNameWizard.com's NameVoyager
40. Mint
41. TripIt
42. Aardvark
43. drop.io
44. Issuu
45. Photosynth
46. OMGPOP
47. WorldWideTelescope
48. Fonolo
49. Get High Now
50. Know Your Meme
One of the noticeable trends in this year's list, which was released this week, was on-demand video services, like YouTube, Vimeo and US services Hulu and Netflix.
However, the top two in the list were related to photographs, with California Coastline following Flickr at the second spot.
Third in the list was bookmark website Delicious, while community weblog Metafilter stood at the fourth place.
Popurls, the mashup of the web's most visited social news sites and portals, grabbed the fifth spot in the list.
Twitter ranked sixth and Facebook came 31st in the list, while YouTube and Hulu came at 12th and 14th place in the list.
TIME's list of 50 Best Websites of 2009 is:. Flickr
2. California Coastline
3. Delicious
4. Metafilter
5. popurls
6. Twitter
7. Skype
8. Boing Boing
9. Academic Earth
10. OpenTable
11. Google
12. YouTube
13. WolframAlpha
14. Hulu
15. Vimeo
16. Fora TV
17. Craiglook
18. Shop Goodwill
19. Amazon
20. Kayak
21. Netflix
22. Etsy
23. PropertyShark.com
24. Redfin
25. Wikipedia
26. Internet Archive
27. Kiva
28. ConsumerSearch
29. Metacritic
30. Pollster
31. Facebook
32. Pandora and Last.fm
33. Musicovery
34. Spotify
35. Supercook
36. Yelp
37. Visuwords
38. CouchSurfing
39. BabyNameWizard.com's NameVoyager
40. Mint
41. TripIt
42. Aardvark
43. drop.io
44. Issuu
45. Photosynth
46. OMGPOP
47. WorldWideTelescope
48. Fonolo
49. Get High Now
50. Know Your Meme
Monday, August 24, 2009
Online networking may decide job prospects!
Your social networking activities online -- whether you tweet a few lines or scribble on the Facebook wall -- could well decide your job prospects, as more number of American employers are turning to such sites before zeroing in on the right candidate for employment.
A major chunk of the US employers are banking on social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and MySpace, to research on a candidate before recruitment, says a survey.
Nearly half of employers surveyed in the US by job portal CareerBuilder showed that 45 per cent of them use social networking sites to research job candidates. Last year, the same stood at just 22 per cent.
About 11 per cent are planning to start using social networking sites for screening.
Moreover, about 35 per cent of employers reported that they have found content on social networking sites that made them decide not to hire the candidate.
A major chunk of the US employers are banking on social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and MySpace, to research on a candidate before recruitment, says a survey.
Nearly half of employers surveyed in the US by job portal CareerBuilder showed that 45 per cent of them use social networking sites to research job candidates. Last year, the same stood at just 22 per cent.
About 11 per cent are planning to start using social networking sites for screening.
Moreover, about 35 per cent of employers reported that they have found content on social networking sites that made them decide not to hire the candidate.
Friday, August 21, 2009
YouTube to feature Time Warner TV clips
Online video site YouTube said on Wednesday that it signed a deal with Time Warner Inc to feature programme clips from a range of its cable networks including CNN, Cartoon Network and Adult Swim.
No financial details were disclosed.
The move is the latest by the Google Inc -owned video service to increase the range of video clips through which it can sell advertising.
Currently, most of the clips are uploaded by users, which advertisers are reluctant to advertise alongside because they are frequently unprofessionally produced and may have inappropriate material.
Some Time Warner-owned programming is already available on YouTube including HBO and CNN International outside the United States.
The new deal will allow YouTube users in the United States to watch short clips of television shows like "Gossip Girl" and the "Ellen DeGeneres Show" as well as some Warner Brothers movies.
As part of the deal YouTube will also be integrating the Time Warner player into the site.
No financial details were disclosed.
The move is the latest by the Google Inc -owned video service to increase the range of video clips through which it can sell advertising.
Currently, most of the clips are uploaded by users, which advertisers are reluctant to advertise alongside because they are frequently unprofessionally produced and may have inappropriate material.
Some Time Warner-owned programming is already available on YouTube including HBO and CNN International outside the United States.
The new deal will allow YouTube users in the United States to watch short clips of television shows like "Gossip Girl" and the "Ellen DeGeneres Show" as well as some Warner Brothers movies.
As part of the deal YouTube will also be integrating the Time Warner player into the site.
The top 100 most dangerous websites for your PC enlisted
Internet security company Norton Symantec has come up with a list of Top 100 Dirtiest sites, which could infect your computer with malware.
Malware is a software that can damage or compromise a computer system without the owner's consent.
Natalie Connor, spokeswoman of the anti-virus company, said that even visiting any of the named websites could expose a computer to infection and put the personal information into the hands of unwanted people.
"What people don't realise is when you type in a website, you're bringing down information on a page and with it could be malware," News.com.au quoted her as saying.
The list was compiled with the help of global data collected on Norton Safe Web, a site that analysed websites' security risks.
The infected sites had on average 18,000 threats and 40 per cent of the sites had more than 20,000 threats, while 75 per cent of websites on the list were found to be spreading malware for over six months.
According to Connor, most websites in the list had adult content with unprintable names, suggesting they contained hardcore pornography.
Some others sites include those on ice skating, deer hunting, catering and legal services.
Hackers can apparently obtain personal information using keystroke-logging software from both PCs and Mac computers.he reps said that hackers are a force to reckon with as cyber crime is increasing rapidly.
She added: "The last thing we want to do is scare people, we want to educate them so they know how to protect themselves.
"It's not about the fame any more of creating viruses and getting in the media. They're making money."
Norton released a sample of the dirtiest websites:
17ebook.com
aladel.net
bpwhamburgorchardpark.org
clicnews.com
dfwdiesel.net
divineenterprises.net
fantasticfilms.ru
gardensrestaurantandcatering.com
ginedis.com
gncr.org
hdvideoforums.org
hihanin.com
kingfamilyphotoalbum.com
likaraoke.com
mactep.org
magic4you.nu
marbling.pe.kr
nacjalneg.info
pronline.ru
purplehoodie.com
qsng.cn
seksburada.net
sportsmansclub.net
stock888.cn
tathli.com
teamclouds.com
texaswhitetailfever.com
wadefamilytree.org
xnescat.info
Malware is a software that can damage or compromise a computer system without the owner's consent.
Natalie Connor, spokeswoman of the anti-virus company, said that even visiting any of the named websites could expose a computer to infection and put the personal information into the hands of unwanted people.
"What people don't realise is when you type in a website, you're bringing down information on a page and with it could be malware," News.com.au quoted her as saying.
The list was compiled with the help of global data collected on Norton Safe Web, a site that analysed websites' security risks.
The infected sites had on average 18,000 threats and 40 per cent of the sites had more than 20,000 threats, while 75 per cent of websites on the list were found to be spreading malware for over six months.
According to Connor, most websites in the list had adult content with unprintable names, suggesting they contained hardcore pornography.
Some others sites include those on ice skating, deer hunting, catering and legal services.
Hackers can apparently obtain personal information using keystroke-logging software from both PCs and Mac computers.he reps said that hackers are a force to reckon with as cyber crime is increasing rapidly.
She added: "The last thing we want to do is scare people, we want to educate them so they know how to protect themselves.
"It's not about the fame any more of creating viruses and getting in the media. They're making money."
Norton released a sample of the dirtiest websites:
17ebook.com
aladel.net
bpwhamburgorchardpark.org
clicnews.com
dfwdiesel.net
divineenterprises.net
fantasticfilms.ru
gardensrestaurantandcatering.com
ginedis.com
gncr.org
hdvideoforums.org
hihanin.com
kingfamilyphotoalbum.com
likaraoke.com
mactep.org
magic4you.nu
marbling.pe.kr
nacjalneg.info
pronline.ru
purplehoodie.com
qsng.cn
seksburada.net
sportsmansclub.net
stock888.cn
tathli.com
teamclouds.com
texaswhitetailfever.com
wadefamilytree.org
xnescat.info
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Monday, August 10, 2009
50 expert tips to make your PC faster
The road to a faster PC starts by properly optimising your hardware. While some of these procedures can be risky, they can also prove very effective, often delivering direct and noticeable performance gains in every area of your system.
1. Update the BIOS
Upgrading your PC's BIOS, or firmware in other devices like the router, could be a quick way to improve performance, fix bugs and even add new features. Look for the current BIOS version number on your boot screen or in the BIOS set-up program and then visit the manufacturer's site to check for recent upgrades.
2. Disable unwanted devices
Speed up the boot process by turning off motherboard devices that you're not using, such as integrated sound, graphics, extra network ports and so on. Look for a BIOS set-up menu called something like Integrated Peripherals to find the options that you need.
Disable
Once Windows starts, launch Device Manager (devmgmt.msc), locate any remaining unwanted devices, right-click them and select 'Disable' to save more resources. Be careful, though – disable the wrong device and you're likely to find that your PC won't be able to reboot. If you're in any doubt about what a service does, look it up on the internet or leave it well alone.
3. Kick-start your PC
Optimising your BIOS settings will make for a quicker boot. Turn off the extended memory test, since it's useless, then turn on a QuickBoot or FastBoot mode (the names may vary) for a little extra speed.
Next, browse your BIOS set-up program looking for the boot order settings (often found under a Boot or Startup Boot menu), which is a list that determines where your system looks for bootable devices.
Make sure that your hard drive comes right at the top of the list to avoid your system wasting time checking other devices. If you need to boot from CD later on (typically to install a new operating system or run a Live CD), you can temporarily change it back.
4. Get rid of USB checks
If you leave a USB drive connected to your PC and it appears in the boot order before your hard drive, then your PC will give the drive some time to initialise before checking whether it's bootable. In some BIOSes this time is called the USB Mass Storage Delay, and it can be determined by you.
If you never boot from a USB drive then set this to the lowest available figure to minimise any delay. If you find that you need to boot from a USB device in the future, simply increase the figure again.
5. Overclock the CPU
Overclocking your CPU – or running it faster than its rated speed – can get you 10 to 20 per cent more performance for a few minutes' work. There are risks, though. More speed means more heat and maybe more voltage too.
You'll use more power, and components will have a greater chance of failing – so don't try this unless you're willing to accept the risks of doing so. Assuming you are, launch your BIOS set-up program and look for the overclocking settings (try the Advanced menu). Exactly what's available depends on your hardware, but in principle increase your CPU and memory frequencies just a little.
OCCT
Boot your system and stress-test it with tools such as memtest86+ and OCCT to confirm that all is well. If it is, increase the frequencies a little more, and see what happens; if not, reduce the frequencies or increase the voltages (VCore, memory voltage), which should allow you to run a little faster (although doing this also risks burning out your components).
Don't do anything until you know what's appropriate for your hardware, though. The Extreme Overclocking forum is a great place to find out more.
6. Safely overclock the CPU
If you've got an Intel Core 2 Duo or Core i7 CPU, check your BIOS for a setting like 'Intel Dynamic Acceleration' or 'Turbo Mode', and ensure it's turned on. This handy setting will automatically overclock one core while shutting off the others, improving single-threaded performance.
Overclock
If you're already overclocking, though, this setting stands a good chance of locking up your PC. Disable it and you may be able to push things just a little bit further.
7. Clean your laptop fan
Over time, the fans and vents on a laptop will become covered with dust, hairs and assorted gunk. The system then runs hotter, so your fan is on for longer and battery life falls. Worse still, your CPU speeds may be throttled to try and reduce the temperature. It's a very good idea to open the case and carefully clean away any dust to make sure that the airflow is unobstructed.
8. Speed up graphics
Overclocking your graphics card can give games a little extra zip. How you get to the right settings will vary, but on our test PC, you right-click the desktop, select Nvidia Control Panel Adjust GPU settings and choose 'Custom clock frequencies' to find the 'Core bus and memory bus' figures.
Increase them just a little to give more speed. After that, it's much like overclocking your CPU: test that everything is OK, increase the clock rate again if it is, wind the settings back a little if your PC crashes and repeat until your system is stable. You can read more on ATI and Nvidia tweaks at TweakGuides.
9. Safely speed up graphics
Some BIOSes offer very basic PCI Express graphics card overclocking with a setting called 'PEG link mode'. If you don't intend to try more intensive overclocking, set this to its highest setting (usually Faster) and you should see a little extra speed.
10. Optimise the RAM
It takes time to access your RAM, but you can minimise this delay by playing around with the BIOS memory timings. There's normally a timing entry set to By SPD, which means that your system uses the default timing values set by your RAM. Set this to Disabled or User defined and you can choose your own timings.
Look for CAS Latency, say, reduce it by one setting, reboot and test that your system is working correctly. Repeat until your PC becomes unstable, then increase the value by one and move on to something else (check your BIOS documentation for more).
Crashes here could stop your PC booting at all, even into the BIOS, so make sure that you know how to reset your BIOS to its default settings before you start messing around with any values.
11. Edit the BIOS
If your Nvidia drivers are proving unhelpful, then there is another way to ramp up your graphics performance – edit the BIOS directly. Of course, this is also the quickest way to trash your card altogether. Don't try this unless you're willing to take the risk.
To do it, download a copy of Nibitor and then run it. Click Tools Read BIOS Select device, choose your graphics card and click 'OK', then click Tools Read BIOS Read into Nibitor to start experimenting. Annoyed that you can't change the shader clock in the driver?
Just click the Clock rates tab and change it to whatever you like. Tweak the other settings, click File Save and then use a tool like NVFlash to update your card. See www.mvktech.net for more detailed instructions.
12. Stop network throttling
Windows Vista limits network transfers when you're playing multimedia files to stop your music or video skipping. Great idea, but it can reduce performance on some high-speed network connections.
To fix this, go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Multimedia\SystemProfile and create a new DWORD value called NetworkThrottlingIndexValue.
Set this to values between one and 70 (10 is the default, higher values mean less throttling) or FFFFFFFF to disable throttling completely.
13. Turbocharge GMA
Many laptops use Intel's Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) video chipset, which is too slow for most games or other graphics-intensive packages. Some low-voltage GMA chipsets are drastically underclocked, though, and are able to perform far better than the default settings suggest.
GMABooster takes advantage of this to increase your GMA clock rate by x2.4, without voltage changes or affecting system stability.
14. Disable acoustic mode
Some BIOSes contain a setting that makes your hard drive run more quietly. This sounds great, but unfortunately it negatively affects performance.
Harddrive
If you're more concerned with increasing your system's speed than reducing the amount of noise it makes, check your BIOS program for a setting like HDD Acoustic mode (it's in the Performance section on Dell desktops, for example) and make sure that it's set to 'Performance' rather than 'Quiet'.
15. Enlarge the cache
Windows Vista stores your hard drive writes in a cache. This helps it to write data more efficiently and improves performance. To run faster still, launch devmgmt.msc, expand the Disk Drives section, right-click your drive, select Properties Policies and check Enable advanced performance.
Windows now uses a larger cache and writes from it less often, improving performance but also increasing the risk of data loss if the drive loses power.
16. Use ReadyBoost (or not)
Windows Vista can use high-speed USB flash drives to cache data and hopefully improve performance. To try it out, plug in a USB device and then confirm that you'd like to use it with ReadyBoost if you're asked. If you're not, go to Computer, right-click the device and select Properties.
If the feature can be used, there will be a ReadyBoost tab; click this, select Use this device, choose the space that you'd like to give to Windows and click OK.
Alternatively, if you have no interest in using ReadyBoost, turn it off to save a few system resources. To do this, launch services.msc, double-click ReadyBoost, click Stop and set Startup type to Disabled.
17. Avoid Wi-Fi interference
Poor wireless network performance is sometimes down to interference, perhaps because your neighbours are also running a Wi-Fi network on the same channel. To find out if this is happening, run a network detector like Inssider or Vistumbler to see what's going on.
If you find that your neighbours already have wireless kit working on channel 11 (a common default) then switch your kit to channel six, say, to see a real performance boost.
18. Try CompactFlash cards
They're more expensive and less portable than USB flash drives, but CompactFlash cards can be much faster to use. If your system has an internal reader (so not one connected via USB) then give one a go; we tested the SanDisk Extreme IV CompactFlash card and found that it delivered speeds of over 40MB/s, more than twice what you'll see with many USB drives. It also worked with ReadyBoost on our PC and delivered a noticeable improvement in performance.
19. Reformat your USB drive
If you must stick with USB drives instead of switching to CompactFlash cards, make sure that they're formatted using the best filesystem. NTFS delivers the worst performance, so avoid it like the plague.
FAT32 is better, but if you only need to use the drive on Vista systems then use exFAT for the best speeds.
To reformat your USB drive, right-click on it, select Format and then choose either FAT32 or exFAT in the File System list. See TestFreaks for some benchmark figures.
20. Up the DRDY thingy
The BIOS DRDY (Device Ready) timing setting configures how quickly IDE or SATA devices will become available after they've completed their existing commands.
Changing this setting to its highest possible option (which is usually Optimise) will improve system performance a little, but it could also result in a crash or even data loss. As always with potentially dangerous tweaks, experiment with it at your own risk.
http://www.techradar.com/news/software/operating-systems/50-expert-tips-to-make-your-pc-faster-622700?src=rss
1. Update the BIOS
Upgrading your PC's BIOS, or firmware in other devices like the router, could be a quick way to improve performance, fix bugs and even add new features. Look for the current BIOS version number on your boot screen or in the BIOS set-up program and then visit the manufacturer's site to check for recent upgrades.
2. Disable unwanted devices
Speed up the boot process by turning off motherboard devices that you're not using, such as integrated sound, graphics, extra network ports and so on. Look for a BIOS set-up menu called something like Integrated Peripherals to find the options that you need.
Disable
Once Windows starts, launch Device Manager (devmgmt.msc), locate any remaining unwanted devices, right-click them and select 'Disable' to save more resources. Be careful, though – disable the wrong device and you're likely to find that your PC won't be able to reboot. If you're in any doubt about what a service does, look it up on the internet or leave it well alone.
3. Kick-start your PC
Optimising your BIOS settings will make for a quicker boot. Turn off the extended memory test, since it's useless, then turn on a QuickBoot or FastBoot mode (the names may vary) for a little extra speed.
Next, browse your BIOS set-up program looking for the boot order settings (often found under a Boot or Startup Boot menu), which is a list that determines where your system looks for bootable devices.
Make sure that your hard drive comes right at the top of the list to avoid your system wasting time checking other devices. If you need to boot from CD later on (typically to install a new operating system or run a Live CD), you can temporarily change it back.
4. Get rid of USB checks
If you leave a USB drive connected to your PC and it appears in the boot order before your hard drive, then your PC will give the drive some time to initialise before checking whether it's bootable. In some BIOSes this time is called the USB Mass Storage Delay, and it can be determined by you.
If you never boot from a USB drive then set this to the lowest available figure to minimise any delay. If you find that you need to boot from a USB device in the future, simply increase the figure again.
5. Overclock the CPU
Overclocking your CPU – or running it faster than its rated speed – can get you 10 to 20 per cent more performance for a few minutes' work. There are risks, though. More speed means more heat and maybe more voltage too.
You'll use more power, and components will have a greater chance of failing – so don't try this unless you're willing to accept the risks of doing so. Assuming you are, launch your BIOS set-up program and look for the overclocking settings (try the Advanced menu). Exactly what's available depends on your hardware, but in principle increase your CPU and memory frequencies just a little.
OCCT
Boot your system and stress-test it with tools such as memtest86+ and OCCT to confirm that all is well. If it is, increase the frequencies a little more, and see what happens; if not, reduce the frequencies or increase the voltages (VCore, memory voltage), which should allow you to run a little faster (although doing this also risks burning out your components).
Don't do anything until you know what's appropriate for your hardware, though. The Extreme Overclocking forum is a great place to find out more.
6. Safely overclock the CPU
If you've got an Intel Core 2 Duo or Core i7 CPU, check your BIOS for a setting like 'Intel Dynamic Acceleration' or 'Turbo Mode', and ensure it's turned on. This handy setting will automatically overclock one core while shutting off the others, improving single-threaded performance.
Overclock
If you're already overclocking, though, this setting stands a good chance of locking up your PC. Disable it and you may be able to push things just a little bit further.
7. Clean your laptop fan
Over time, the fans and vents on a laptop will become covered with dust, hairs and assorted gunk. The system then runs hotter, so your fan is on for longer and battery life falls. Worse still, your CPU speeds may be throttled to try and reduce the temperature. It's a very good idea to open the case and carefully clean away any dust to make sure that the airflow is unobstructed.
8. Speed up graphics
Overclocking your graphics card can give games a little extra zip. How you get to the right settings will vary, but on our test PC, you right-click the desktop, select Nvidia Control Panel Adjust GPU settings and choose 'Custom clock frequencies' to find the 'Core bus and memory bus' figures.
Increase them just a little to give more speed. After that, it's much like overclocking your CPU: test that everything is OK, increase the clock rate again if it is, wind the settings back a little if your PC crashes and repeat until your system is stable. You can read more on ATI and Nvidia tweaks at TweakGuides.
9. Safely speed up graphics
Some BIOSes offer very basic PCI Express graphics card overclocking with a setting called 'PEG link mode'. If you don't intend to try more intensive overclocking, set this to its highest setting (usually Faster) and you should see a little extra speed.
10. Optimise the RAM
It takes time to access your RAM, but you can minimise this delay by playing around with the BIOS memory timings. There's normally a timing entry set to By SPD, which means that your system uses the default timing values set by your RAM. Set this to Disabled or User defined and you can choose your own timings.
Look for CAS Latency, say, reduce it by one setting, reboot and test that your system is working correctly. Repeat until your PC becomes unstable, then increase the value by one and move on to something else (check your BIOS documentation for more).
Crashes here could stop your PC booting at all, even into the BIOS, so make sure that you know how to reset your BIOS to its default settings before you start messing around with any values.
11. Edit the BIOS
If your Nvidia drivers are proving unhelpful, then there is another way to ramp up your graphics performance – edit the BIOS directly. Of course, this is also the quickest way to trash your card altogether. Don't try this unless you're willing to take the risk.
To do it, download a copy of Nibitor and then run it. Click Tools Read BIOS Select device, choose your graphics card and click 'OK', then click Tools Read BIOS Read into Nibitor to start experimenting. Annoyed that you can't change the shader clock in the driver?
Just click the Clock rates tab and change it to whatever you like. Tweak the other settings, click File Save and then use a tool like NVFlash to update your card. See www.mvktech.net for more detailed instructions.
12. Stop network throttling
Windows Vista limits network transfers when you're playing multimedia files to stop your music or video skipping. Great idea, but it can reduce performance on some high-speed network connections.
To fix this, go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Multimedia\SystemProfile and create a new DWORD value called NetworkThrottlingIndexValue.
Set this to values between one and 70 (10 is the default, higher values mean less throttling) or FFFFFFFF to disable throttling completely.
13. Turbocharge GMA
Many laptops use Intel's Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) video chipset, which is too slow for most games or other graphics-intensive packages. Some low-voltage GMA chipsets are drastically underclocked, though, and are able to perform far better than the default settings suggest.
GMABooster takes advantage of this to increase your GMA clock rate by x2.4, without voltage changes or affecting system stability.
14. Disable acoustic mode
Some BIOSes contain a setting that makes your hard drive run more quietly. This sounds great, but unfortunately it negatively affects performance.
Harddrive
If you're more concerned with increasing your system's speed than reducing the amount of noise it makes, check your BIOS program for a setting like HDD Acoustic mode (it's in the Performance section on Dell desktops, for example) and make sure that it's set to 'Performance' rather than 'Quiet'.
15. Enlarge the cache
Windows Vista stores your hard drive writes in a cache. This helps it to write data more efficiently and improves performance. To run faster still, launch devmgmt.msc, expand the Disk Drives section, right-click your drive, select Properties Policies and check Enable advanced performance.
Windows now uses a larger cache and writes from it less often, improving performance but also increasing the risk of data loss if the drive loses power.
16. Use ReadyBoost (or not)
Windows Vista can use high-speed USB flash drives to cache data and hopefully improve performance. To try it out, plug in a USB device and then confirm that you'd like to use it with ReadyBoost if you're asked. If you're not, go to Computer, right-click the device and select Properties.
If the feature can be used, there will be a ReadyBoost tab; click this, select Use this device, choose the space that you'd like to give to Windows and click OK.
Alternatively, if you have no interest in using ReadyBoost, turn it off to save a few system resources. To do this, launch services.msc, double-click ReadyBoost, click Stop and set Startup type to Disabled.
17. Avoid Wi-Fi interference
Poor wireless network performance is sometimes down to interference, perhaps because your neighbours are also running a Wi-Fi network on the same channel. To find out if this is happening, run a network detector like Inssider or Vistumbler to see what's going on.
If you find that your neighbours already have wireless kit working on channel 11 (a common default) then switch your kit to channel six, say, to see a real performance boost.
18. Try CompactFlash cards
They're more expensive and less portable than USB flash drives, but CompactFlash cards can be much faster to use. If your system has an internal reader (so not one connected via USB) then give one a go; we tested the SanDisk Extreme IV CompactFlash card and found that it delivered speeds of over 40MB/s, more than twice what you'll see with many USB drives. It also worked with ReadyBoost on our PC and delivered a noticeable improvement in performance.
19. Reformat your USB drive
If you must stick with USB drives instead of switching to CompactFlash cards, make sure that they're formatted using the best filesystem. NTFS delivers the worst performance, so avoid it like the plague.
FAT32 is better, but if you only need to use the drive on Vista systems then use exFAT for the best speeds.
To reformat your USB drive, right-click on it, select Format and then choose either FAT32 or exFAT in the File System list. See TestFreaks for some benchmark figures.
20. Up the DRDY thingy
The BIOS DRDY (Device Ready) timing setting configures how quickly IDE or SATA devices will become available after they've completed their existing commands.
Changing this setting to its highest possible option (which is usually Optimise) will improve system performance a little, but it could also result in a crash or even data loss. As always with potentially dangerous tweaks, experiment with it at your own risk.
http://www.techradar.com/news/software/operating-systems/50-expert-tips-to-make-your-pc-faster-622700?src=rss
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Google launches rare ad campaign to sell more apps
San Francisco: Google Inc. is so well known that it has become a synonym for search, making advertising unnecessary. Getting businesses to buy Google's online suite of office applications requires a little more elbow grease and marketing muscle.
In a rare commercial campaign, Google is leasing billboards along major highways in New York, San Francisco, Chicago and Boston this month to promote a bundle of business applications that sells for $50 per worker annually. A different message will be displayed each weekday through August, starting with Monday morning's commute.
Google has been peddling its "apps" package since 2007, but only recently realized it needed a more aggressive sales pitch.
"People don't necessarily think of Google when it comes to how we can help companies," said Michael Lock, director of sales and operations for Google's enterprise division in North America.
For now, Google doesn't plan to advertise its business applications in other offline media like magazines, newspapers, television or radio, said Andy Berndt, managing director of the company's creative labs.
The billboard campaign underscores just how determined Google is to lure corporate customers away from Microsoft Corp.'s e-mail service and industry-leading applications for word processing, spreadsheets and scheduling. To a lesser degree, Google also is targeting IBM Corp.
Google has been escalating its attack against Microsoft just as its search engine is under assault.
Hoping to get narrow Google's commanding lead in the online ad market, Microsoft last week forged a search partnership with Yahoo Inc. in a deal that still requires regulatory approval. Microsoft also upgraded its search engine in June and renamed it Bing — a change that is being trumpeted in a USD 100 million marketing campaign.
By contrast, Google has rarely bought advertising to promote its search engine since its inception nearly 11 years ago.
The Mountain View, Calif.-based company instead has relied primarily on word-of-mouth and free media exposure to establish the search engine as the Internet's most powerful tool. The strategy has worked well, with the advertising connected to its search engine generating USD 10.7 billion in revenue during the first half of this year.
Software licensing, including Google's sales of business applications, and revenue from other non-advertising sales accounted for just $365 million in revenue during the same period.
Google says about 1.75 million businesses, schools and government agencies use its online applications, but most of them rely on a free version that isn't as powerful as the subscription package. That's a small fraction of how many companies license Microsoft's software.
Friday, July 31, 2009
NASA Tests Internet in Space
The many paths a message can take through the Internet make that network robust and efficient -- and the envy of those whose job it is to design communications schemes for the far-flung spacecraft leaving Earth each year. After more than a decade of development, NASA is in a rush to have a communications network ready by 2011 that can efficiently carry data between Earth and the multiple probes, rovers, orbiters and spacecraft exploring the solar system -- effectively binding them together to form an interplanetary Internet. Tests performed on the International Space Station last May were the second of three tryouts of the network's key technologies, called Delay Tolerant Networking, or DTN, protocols.
The DTN protocols will extend the terrestrial Internet into space by overcoming a number of obstacles, including the extraordinary length of time it takes packets to move between separate hops in a deep-space network, the intermittent nature of network connections, and bit-scrambling solar radiation.
"The communication delays are huge, and they are variable, because the planets are in orbit around the sun," says Vint Cerf, co-inventor of the Internet's TCP/IP protocol and a key member of a group of computer scientists who began working on DTN in 1998. On Earth, packets move from source to destination in milliseconds. By contrast, a one-way trip from Earth to Mars takes a minimum of 8 minutes. The constant motion of celestial bodies means that packets have to pause and wait for antennas to align as they hop from planet to probe to spacecraft.
So sending communications in space is very different from doing so on Earth, where the stable topology of the Internet is taken for granted.
"What we have to do instead is to tell all the nodes that these are the changes that are going to occur," says Scott Burleigh, a software engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in Pasadena, Calif., and one of the original developers of DTN. "You are going to be able to communicate from A to B at this data rate starting at 12:30 and ending at 3:30, and then you are not going to be able to communicate on that link anymore... until next Tuesday."
The DTN protocols will extend the terrestrial Internet into space by overcoming a number of obstacles, including the extraordinary length of time it takes packets to move between separate hops in a deep-space network, the intermittent nature of network connections, and bit-scrambling solar radiation.
"The communication delays are huge, and they are variable, because the planets are in orbit around the sun," says Vint Cerf, co-inventor of the Internet's TCP/IP protocol and a key member of a group of computer scientists who began working on DTN in 1998. On Earth, packets move from source to destination in milliseconds. By contrast, a one-way trip from Earth to Mars takes a minimum of 8 minutes. The constant motion of celestial bodies means that packets have to pause and wait for antennas to align as they hop from planet to probe to spacecraft.
So sending communications in space is very different from doing so on Earth, where the stable topology of the Internet is taken for granted.
"What we have to do instead is to tell all the nodes that these are the changes that are going to occur," says Scott Burleigh, a software engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in Pasadena, Calif., and one of the original developers of DTN. "You are going to be able to communicate from A to B at this data rate starting at 12:30 and ending at 3:30, and then you are not going to be able to communicate on that link anymore... until next Tuesday."
India to have 3rd largest number of Internet users by 2013
he number of internet users worldwide is expected to touch 2.2 billion by 2013 and India is projected to have the third largest online population during the same time, says a report.
"... India will be the third largest internet user base by 2013 – with China and the US taking the first two spots, respectively," technology and market research firm Forrester Research said in a report.
Globally, there were about 1.5 billion Internet users in the year 2008.
Titled 'Global Online Population Forecast, 2008 to 2013', the report noted that emerging markets like India would see a growth of 10 to 20 per cent by 2013.
"In some of the emerging markets in Asia such as China, India and Indonesia, the average annual growth rates will be 10 to 20 percent over the next five years (2008-13)," the report said. India's number of Internet users was estimated to be 52 million in 2008.
In the next four years, about 43 percent of the Internet users globally are anticipated to reside in Asia and neighbouring China would account for about half of that population.
"... the shifting online population and growing spending power among Asian consumers means that Asian markets will represent a far greater percentage of the total in 2013 than they do today," Forrester Research Senior Analyst Zia Daniell Wigder said.
According to the report, the percentage of internet users in Asia would increase to 43 percent in 2013 from 38 percent in 2008.
"The percentage of the global online population located in North America will drop from 17 percent to 13 percent between 2008 and 2013, while Europe's share will shrink from 26 percent to 22 percent.
"The percentage of those in Asia will increase from 38 percent to 43 percent and Latin America will remain steady at about 11 percent of the global total," Forrester noted.
The report said apart from China, other Asian countries with substantial online growth rates include India, Indonesia, Pakistan, and the Philippines.
"By contrast, growth rates in some of the more mature markets such as Japan and South Korea will rise by less than two percent each year," it added.
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