My Trip to Hong Kong

The hectic trip to Hong Kong.

I was on my official trip to Hong Kong.

Briefing the trip in couple of post….

Firstly,I must thank Jet Air for providing the empty seat next to me as I utilized that for sleeping. I did not enjoy the Jet in-flight entertainment as I preferred sleeping.

When I woke up, saw plane was flying just 1000 meter over the sea.

The beauty of Hong Kong (HKG) starts from its airport itself. If you are a first time traveler to HKG like me, then you will feel that your plane is landing on the sea as the runway is attached to the seashore, oh God it was just awesome. I was humming “ye kahan aa gaye hum…….”And then the other best experience was catching the Metro inside the airport to go and collect the baggage.

I felt jittery when at the immigration counter while answering the question as it was VISA on arrival, and that person was looking at me ironically.I was little worried as it was my first travel and hence the passport was new for VISA stamp. But anyways got my VISA and moved into the country.

The 1 Hr drive from airport to The Bay Bridge Hotel was enough for an Indian like me to compare the two countries. I tried to convince myself by giving various useless, meaningless and sometime nonsense reasons, that India is better(Kyonki dil hai hindustani).But most of the time I was getting really difficult convincing.

So the fact is, technically they are far ahead and much better in terms Infrastructure. This was my conclusion after that 1 Hr drive.

Believe me ,

I was always trying to find animals, specially cows and dogs on the Hong Kong roads to feel better comfortable and homely, but can’t.

I was always trying to get no response from a Taxi driver when I was waving my hand for lift , but always feeling sad when they were giving good response every time and making me to justify my own India. I am used to ask minimum 5 auto driver every day every time to take me to the office and from office to home in Mumbai, so having said that isn’t it Hong Kong better…..

I was always trying to stuck into the traffic jam, But never find one in my entire stay in Hong Kong. The only reason is “Everyone in Hong Kong not only remember but also follows Rules of the Road knowledge which they learnt in 1^st standard ”.But most of us just remember those rules to pass on to our children when they come in 1^st standard. So having said that isn’t it Hong Kong better…..

I was always feeling awful when I was leaving office late night (around 3-4 in the morning) and the cabby was waiting at traffic signal when there was Red light. As we used to break the signal when we find no one is observing me. Having said that isn’t it Hong Kong better…..

I was always feeling awful when every day I was paying the same meter bill to the different cabby for my travel from office to hotel and vice versa. Because within India if you travel different state and the auto/taxi driver knows that you are new to the city, then……..shall I elaborate or you got it. Hope you got it.

I must write an incident related to this.On a particular day I hired a cab to take me from office to Hotel around 5 AM in the morning.Unfortunatly the cabby was not able to locate the address and he followed the wrong route and miter reading came almost double from the usual day.I paid him for his meter reading but the cabby returning me some money and taking exactly which I used to pay every day. Saying it was his fault that he could not locate the place.I really felt hard to digest this as there were no Hajmola. If you are also not able to digest then take some Hajmola. So having said that isn’t it Hong Kong better……..

I am also feeling sad writing this for my lovely India , but what to do. I believe “To compete you have to compare , and compare with the best”.But that does not mean ,India is behind them in all means.Will be posting the good part of India comparing to HKG in my next post.

Well, now get out from all these and let me write about some famous places in HKG.

One of the busiest suburbs of Hong Kong is Mong Kok, where you will find Ladies Market.
It’s an outdoor street market with loads and loads of stalls where you can buy anything from ladies purse ,a Copy Rolex to Vegetable peeler.
Its got a wonderful atmosphere, and some of the stalls sell quite interesting stuff, and others just weird stuff, but interesting none the less.
Its a great place to go shopping for stuff to take home to friends and family. Some of the stalls also sell the usual souvenirs found in shops.

As I mentioned you can buy anything, the most common things to obtain are copy merchandise. Ladies Market is also popular place to buy copy goods. For example, if you want to buy a copy watch you will see a stall with brochures on the table, if you page through the brocures, someone will normally some stand next to you to ask you what type of watch you want. They are normally up for negotiation if you are not happy with their price. Dont be afraid if they tell you to follow them to their "showroom". They just take you up a apartment block to where they keep their stock. Many different copy handbags are also a common purchase amongs tourists.
Other goods available are stuff like alarm clocks, sports bags, jeans, shirts etc.

The stall owners are usually good sales people and will try their best to sell you a product. They are also happy to reduce prices if you bargain with them.
Many times the seller does not speak very good English, so when negotiating prices they will punch the amount into a calculator, let you have a look and then hand you the calculator so you can tell them what you are prepared to pay, very interesting actually!

For considering the importance of your time I am stopping this post here.

So take some break and I will update you for my next post on HKG soon.

And thanks for giving your time to read this.

Apathy, the true reason of falling

Well , I am still newbie to this stock market's RED and GREEN.
When Sensex was roaring at 21-22k and Nifty was barking at 6k, I started feeling that this is a good way of making money if you have some leisure......but hold on...the truth is, it is not a game to play in the leisure , otherwise everyone would have played.It's a game to be played very seriously...buy me for this.

I have seen the seesaw of the market in such a short span of time.....I feel so lucky to believe and live in reality......do not go wild.

I still remember those days....every morning waking up and watching that Global market falling but our market breaking its own records of 19k,20k,21k......and 22k, and we use to laugh and amuse saying "India market ko kisi se koi matlab nahi hai[Indian market does not depend on others]".But there was a day when our finance minister's one line statement on P-Note bringing the market into the lower circuit.....hmm for me it was "Please-Note such things can happen". Gosh can't forget that.

Then after making clarification on the P-Note thing , we again started roaring and barking irrespective of the global market.
But I do remember , when it touched 21k+ people started talking about the past market CRASHing stories.But the same people also believing that....no no this will not happen , graph is rising because our fundamentals are getting stronger and stronger........Hmm I see :-)

Then we started dreaming to open an Investment Company , not only that but we started giving the free training.....[India me muft ke advice bahut milte hai......Rohan Isn't it True :-)]

Then comes 21st Jan , the Black day of the Indian stock market.......market coming into the lower circuit.I was laughing.....when I saw some stupid news channels were giving the reason to that Bull statue which was kept in front of the BSE office on 21st :-)

And from there on we are keep falling....21k,20k,19k,18k,17k,16k,15k........what Next ????

What Next ???
Yes, this is the question hunting and eating everyone's apathy.
No one is willing to buy........and thats the reason its keep falling.

But the kind of experience I hagot from past , I feel my self a lucky champ as I participated in both side of the game....the seesaw game.....:-)

Apathy...the reason of falling.

Budget for Poor

Considering the fact that India is becoming reacher and reacher year by year we should not forget the poor India.When I say poor India I am talking about those who are really poor. I am not even considering middle and lower middle class because I am also belong to a middle class family and i have seen so many budget and I know a middle class somehow manages.But It really makes me to think how the poor manages.My "poor" means a real poor , family of one earning man/women hardly making 20-30 Rs a day and manage to feed 4-5 members of the family.

I have seen the CNN-IBN award function where peoples were asking questions to "CNN-IBN politician of the year".
Ironically , all asked question were moving around the middle class, higher middle class and upper class.People were talking about reducing tax and all....Huh.Some time I really doubt that anyone thinking about those "poor".

So if I have to ask for the budget I would expect more subsidy for the "poor" people ,identifying their real need and making sure that they can bye them in the money what they make...20-30 Rs/day.

I do not expect anything for me from this budget because I know somehow I can manage.But I really worry for them.

Hey Ram.......

My dad was a big follower or I say a big fan of “Bapu” and the believer in “Satya paresan ho sakta hai , parajit nahi”.He used to call me “Bapu” during my childhood, though during those days I had no much idea about the so called “Bapu”. Then my teacher who used to come home to teach me, was also a big follower of “Bapu”, tells me the story of “Bapu”.

From there I got my interest in “Bapu”. But in the beginning whenever “Bapu” comes in my mind the only other words come was “Satya and Ahinsa”.

Year back I bought my copy of autobiography “The Story of My Experiments with Truth”. I can not express my feeling of the reading. The only thing I can say is, please do not read that book you have to feel that book.

Very rare people writes bad thing about themselves in their autobiography. But during reading “The Story of My Experiments with Truth” one would feel what I am trying to say.

Sixty years after he was assassinated, Gandhi lives. Not just in textbooks and speeches but also through his autobiography The Story of My Experiments with Truth which continues to sell an incredible 200,000 copies a year.[courtesy CNN-IBN].That shows love for Gandhi and his ideology has not faded even 60 years after his death.

There are only two opinions regarding his murder. One says it was bad and the other says it was good. But I am from the former who believes “A murder can not be a reason of good”.

But having said that, now I decided to bye a copy of “The Men Who Killed Gandhi” and the other one “Lets Kill Gandhi” to see the other opinion.

[IBN-Live : Nathuram Godse and Narayan Apte together decided that Mahatma Gandhi had to be killed. As to which of them first thought of the plot, however, remains a mystery, says a book to be released on Wednesday on the 60th anniversary of the assassination of the Father of the Nation.The resolution to kill the Mahatma was made by the two as they read on the teleprinter the news on Gandhi's decision to go on a fast to force transfer of Rs 55 crore to Pakistan.]

I need to justify myself and let me see , can I change my opinion…..not at all.

Hey Ram…….

Tare Zameen Par......

8 + 5 = 11 ? ,Yes , Yes Yes !!! 8 + 5 = 11.

We have found our Ishaan in Nitin’s form.

He amused us, but he was jittery and sticky for sometime but later he giggled then myself and Rohan had hilarious laugh…after convincing him 8 + 3 = 11.
Then we decided he is going to be our Ishaan.

Coming back to the movie !!

Ironically , Taare Zameen Par is so vast and meaningful in its script that the film not only depicts the life of a single child but takes all those children into its ambit who struggle in this world to survive and who want to explore but their curiosity is killed because of the same old theoretical way to teach children.

The story is straightforward and instantaneously gels with each grown-up person and kid in the theatre. Even as the high point is unsurprising and plays closely on your sentiment, but what pushes the film is its very plain, and sensitive storyline and the acting. The script is not traditional, which has some bad characters. It is the depiction of Ishaan (Darsheel), who trapezes between problems of dyslexia and his wonderful world of imagination. And holding it all together is Aamir Khan, who delivers a spell bounding performance as a teacher.Aamir has brilliantly portrayed the mysterious, magical child who suffers from dyslexia.

He has sent waves around Bollywood, providing an answer to ‘can actors be good directors?’ Well they truly can, this is what Aamir has prove to the industry and the audience also with Taare Zameen Par.

Hats of to his savvy.

I will not give 4-5 stars to this movie but I give all *****STARS***** to this movie as I found it so touching.

Is your password hacker-proof ?

Well , every time we create our password we wonder , how strong my password is.And the same time how simple is my password to remember :-)

There’s finally some good news if you're trying to protect yourself from hackers. If you're looking for a hacker-proof password, simplicity may be the way to go. Now you can check you password with password checker.......

Just type in a password, and you'll know instantly how strong or weak your option is.

Click here to check your password...

Doing this will tell you how safe your password is from dictionary attacks that run through a whole dictionary or brute force attack that just runs through billions of combinations.

And for all you Mac OS users, password assistant is your designated guru.

We all know that a password is a random mix of numbers letters and symbols.

pram4#536/#@ is a great password but the problem is neither you or I can remember it. The solution is to come up with a random, logical combination.

There are four steps to making a great password.

The four step rules:

1. Just a dictionary single word, preferably in a different language. It is not at all powerful and easily broken but we're just getting started.

2. Now add a four digit number, a date of some significance that's not your date of birth.

3. Now end it with another word that relates to the website or page. That will do it.

4. But here's what will make it almost crack-proof. Add a symbol or two and then change the order.

Well that should care of your password needs. But what do you do if your office requires you to come up with a new one every 15 days?

All I can say is good luck and keep changing :-)

New arrivals at Google.....

Google Indic Transliteration.

Now it is easy to write in Indian languages with the help of Google Indic Transliteration.
Google Indic Transliteration offers an option for converting Roman characters to the Devanāgarī characters used in Hindi. This lets you type Hindi words phonetically in English script and still have them appear in their correct alphabet. Note that this is not the same as translation -- it is the sound of the words that are converted from one alphabet to the other, not their meaning.


Gmail with IMAP

You now have the ability to use the IMAP protocol for Gmail (including
Google Apps) free of charge. Unlike the POP protocol, IMAP enables you
to keep your inbox synced across all devices, so that whatever you do
in your email -- whether on your phone, desktop mail client, or web
browser -- shows up everywhere you access your email. Reading,
sending, deleting and other actions you take on your messages are
reflected automatically and instantaneously any place you get Gmail.


YouTube layer now in Google Earth

The arrival of a YouTube video layer for Google Earth is really exciting. It's not only a new way to explore and discover YouTube videos; using Google Earth as a navigation tool, you can zoom in on remote regions of the globe and watch videos tied to that specific
location (for example, surfers in Hawaii).


Google Desktop 5.5 beta

New features in Google Desktop 5.5 (beta) include the ability to run
Desktop gadgets in iGoogle, a better looking Quick Search Box, and
improved Microsoft Outlook search functionality. You can use Desktop
gadgets like the virtual flower pot, wireless signal meter, and media
player remote on iGoogle.


Docs for mobile

Now you can access your list of documents and spreadsheets, and view
all of these Google Docs, on your BlackBerry, iPhone or Windows Mobile
device; iPhone users can also view presentations.


Google Maps Profile Pages

When you come across a map someone created or a review someone wrote,
the new Profile Pages in Google Maps let you hover over the person's
name to see a snippet of information about the author. Click on the
nickname to access his or her complete profile page, which aggregates
all the public maps and all the review he or she has created on Google
Maps. You can also customize your own profile picture and information
by clicking on the "My Profile" link.


Google Experimental

Now you can temporarily add these experimental features to your Google
searches: for example, see your search results on a timeline, navigate
using keyboard shortcuts, change how your result snippets appear each
time you do a search on Google, and a few other features.


Courtesy : Google Friends Newsletter

Hurdle for FII Bulls…..Well done SEBI

Well , making money is not as easy as the FIIs thought.

They have been caught because their bulls were running unexpectedly and our Indian bulls were not able to compete with them.

C'mon it is quite obvious……Rs vs $.

But anyways…..thank to the SEBI finally putting some hurdle for them.

Hurdle ???

I should not say it’s a hurdle, I should say putting some rules.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on Thursday announced new rules for foreign investments through financial instruments such as Participatory Notes (P-Notes).

The market regulator has asked the Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) to wind up P-Notes for investing in derivatives within 18 months.

SEBI announced the decision after a meeting of the Board, which also approved imposing curbs on P-Notes for investing in spot market. The new norms will come into effect from Friday.

In derivatives, FIIs and their sub-accounts cannot issue fresh P-Notes and will have to wind up their current position in 18 months, he said.

In spot market, FIIs will not be allowed to issue P-Notes more than 40 per cent of their assets under custody. The reference date for calculating such assets will be September 30, SEBI said.

The provision will come into effect from close of trading hours on Thursday.

Those FIIs who have issued P-Notes of more than 40 per cent of their assets, could issue such instruments only if they cancel, redeem, or close their existing P-Notes. Those FIIs who have issued P-Notes less than 40 per cent of their assets under custody can issue additional instruments at the rate of five per cent of their assets.

Well done SEBI !!! Being a TRUE Indian ,I liked it ……

The War Ends......

I'm good at convincing myself that I'm really happy when I'm not.

Well, I’ve been so excited for this World cup from the beginning.
Had lots of plan though I was not supposed to do those for various reasons.
Announced an open treat for GokartinG followed by Lunch , if Ganguly becomes the man of the match.**

**Eligibility criterion was to put Ganguly’s wallpaper on their desktop/notebook PC.[As there is nothing called FREE LUNCH ].

But we lost our first match against whom….I m not gona tell you that.
As I'm good at convincing myself , I did saying BLUE will win other two matches.

We won the second match….against whom…I m not gona tell you again.
I was very happy though it was not a big reason but still thought of sharing and cheering.So did with CADBURY among colleagues.

But now……

It's been nearly 15 days since the Cup began, but I think it was only after watching India lose to Sri Lanka and limp out of the tourney, that I felt compelled, or let's say, felt really awful and moved sufficiently to write something on the goings-on and close this world cup chapter from my side at least.

To get this out of the way, I'll say that it was a disappointing way to go out for the team, which had shown the ability to live up to promise, playing effective cricket without riding on sensational individual performances. As I watched the dismemberment of the top order, I was sad, even sympathetic, at what was happening. There have been so many occasions in the past, when I have felt anger at Indian losses, but against Lanka, the sense of helplessness that pervaded the batting effort could not evoke such strong emotions.

The most common comments that I've read so far are "the lack of accountabilityof the players to the people" and "players are interested only in making money" and others expressing the same sentiment.


I had always expected the team to win. Even when they got themselves into a tangle by coming out under-cooked mentally against Bangladesh. Perhaps I'm too lenient, but the first thought that came into my mind was that they had an off-day, and they would surely bounce back from it.

Today, I realized that I was wrong, not because they could not bounce back, but because in a tournament with the format this one has, off-days are blunders, and more likely than not, fatal.

Putting some snaps to summarize the defeat…..again !!

Still pretty broken.

The War Begins.......

Unfortunately, due to a number of reasons I have not been able to analyse all the teams, however, I haven't been busy enough to miss the opportunity to express my opinions on my beloved Team India when my Ganguly is IN. What follows is my brief preview of India's outlook at cricket's flagship tournament.

On the back of this talk, one would be led to believing that the Indians were shoo-ins for the World Champions tag. Don't get me wrong, I think Team India has as good a chance as any of going home with the silverware. However, in my view this World Cup is going to be all about the batsmen who have the grit and gumption to play the waiting game and bowlers who bowl less than express pace but have an uncanny ability to keep nagging away, ball after ball after ball.

The old heads will undoubtedly try their damnedest to ensure a focussed and lethal outfit stays on course. This tournament is ripe for Tendulkar and Ganguly to put everyone else to shame, for one final time as a pair. With generous help from Dravid, somehow, I think they might even manage it.

This version of Team India has a lot of talent, spirit and fight. They will need to display all these qualities in unison and with intent. I sincerely hope they will win the trophy and I also believe that they have a better chance than most.

My top 4 teams for the semi-finals would be India, Australia, South Africa and Sri Lanka. From this stage, it can be Team India’s World Cup.

Then comes the Man of this World Cup Series….Ohhhh , its quite Interesting.

Yesterday , In PanchMahal-1602 I have asked [Pravin , Vinay , Sekhar] to choose their Man….

Here is the brief :

Me : Vinay who is your Man of the Series…or lets say your Man ??
Vinay : Ummm…….Kaun ho sakta hai ???
Me : Its my question Vinay ???
Vinay : Kallis
Me : Ok , choose one more !!
[ then I looked at Sekhar and Pravin , they were giggling as I threw the next option because the name was not Ganguly ]
Vinay : Ummm…. Ponting
Me : Ok , choose one more !!
[ then giggling turned to laughter ]
Vinay : Ganguly
Me : WoW , that’s fare enough .
[ All of us laughed ]
Me : Sekhar , now you choose
Sekhar : Sachin , Jayasurya , Gayale
Me : Pravin , your’s
Pravin : Hussey , Sangakara , Symonds
Now it was my turn ,
So there I go with :
I thought of telling : Ganguly , Ganguly , Ganguly
But acted diplomatic and said :
GANGULY, DHONI, DRAVID
But still for BLUE [ The team India ].
Cheers , and feel Crazy Guys !!! It’s Team India with GANGULY

Google Babies............

Dear All,

In the six years since, Google's search index has grown to include an estimated 8 billion pages, and there are no signs of a slowdown. Obviously, with so many pages to sift through, finding exactly what someone's looking for on the Web is far from an easy task, even for google.

What say?

That's why google came up with custom search engine concept ( I guess most of you are aware ), where you can focus on a narrow slice of the Web, are sprouting up like mushrooms after a fresh monsoon shower.

Ahh so tasty!!

So I decided to create two baby googles.

For Perl:

http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=004877202797273863096%3Anl5aihdxnpo

For C++:

http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=004877202797273863096%3Aobmyk0ybj_q


Currently these babies have very less pages to search as they contain only those web pages which I found useful during my very little two and half years of experience.

So if you search something and they did not make you happy with the result, please do not make them cry, as they are baby…..:-)

But I promise that I will take care of these two newly born babies at my best.
So as they grow up they will be giving you the best results.

Feel free to evaluate them by comparing the results with mother google and keep sending me your feedbacks.

You can also help me in growing these babies.
Keep sending me the useful links which you may have collected during your experiences.
And I shall feed them to these babies. They are really hungry!!

I can understand your attachment with the mother google , but I know every one love small babies. Don’t you???

So keep googling in babies , give some rest to mother now.

Thank you, Keep googling!!
Pramod

Rocking Pod : Thanks Jobs.

Finally, A must eat Apple!!

Was always wondering, that these guys ( Apples’ ) are so smart , then what they are waiting for to deliver my kind of device.
I must thank Apple to deliver a device which I was looking for a year or so.
I was strongly against carrying two palm devices, one for music ( iPod ) and other for communication ( cell phone ).
Always thinking why not someone is just adding more stuff to this “Pod” to make it fill, so that one can carry a single Pod which provides everything, or close to everything.

And I guess Jobs read my mind and FINALLY……………..

Apple on Tuesday introduced iPhone, a new cellphone version of its iPod portable music player that its iconoclastic CEO Steve Jobs called among the company's most important products ever.

Thanks Jobs.

"Apple is clearly redefining the phone," Jobs said in an interview after unveiling the iPhone at the sprawling Macworld conference here. "People will not look at smart phones the same way again."

The handheld device, priced at $499 and $599, packs the features of an iPod, cellphone and Internet service onto a 3.5-inch screen. New technology, called Multi-Touch, lets consumers use their fingers to make calls, play content and troll the Web. The iPhone won't be available until June.

This is a revolutionary product that has the chance to really impact people's lives.Comparing the iPhone to the original Macintosh and iPod. This is the ultimate digital device I must say.
iPhone users will be able to make calls while viewing content on the Web and exchanging e-mail — at the same time.

Apple expects the all-in-one device — which houses Apple's OS X operating system and Google Maps, among several features — to make an immediate impact in the burgeoning market for cellphones worldwide.

Jobs predicted Apple will sell about 10 million iPhones, or about 1% of the worldwide market, by 2008. Oh…that is damn good.The iPhone could get more people to buy iPods , isn’t it ??? Buy an iPhone which has iPod inside.

The iPhone is certainly a looker: super thin, touch-screen, closer in appearance to a Nano than a Treo and combines a mobile phone, widescreen iPod and Internet capabilities.

Some features:

• As an iPod. Using your finger, you can navigate the device's 3.5-inch display. You can watch podcasts, TV shows, movies — and, of course, listen to music and audiobooks. You can also rapidly scroll through album covers using the clever Cover Flow feature on iTunes. But you cannot wirelessly download music purchased off iTunes. Instead, you connect or dock the device as with any iPod.


• As a phone. Touch a name or number in your address book to dial the phone. Or you can use a virtual onscreen keypad. You can synchronize contacts from a PC or Mac and create a favorites list of the folks you frequently call. A nifty visual voice-mail feature lets you jump to the messages you most care about and ignore others. And you can send short text messages using a virtual touch-screen "qwerty" keyboard.
  The phone works exclusively over Cingular's so-called GSM and Edge wireless networks — speedy but not the fastest of the emerging third-generation, or 3G, networks. It has built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth wireless capabilities.
  Battery life could be a concern. Apple claims up to five hours of talk time, including watching video or browsing the Web. Apple says you'll get up to 16 hours if you use it just for audio.


• Connectivity. Included is a full-blown version of Apple's Safari Web browser. You can sync bookmarks from your computer. E-mail can be automatically delivered, or "pushed," for free to you through Yahoo Mail; iPhone also works with Microsoft Exchange as well as other industry standard e-mail services. You can download e-mails in the background while surfing the Web.
  The iPhone also includes an icon for Google Maps, plus the light applications (found on a Mac) known as Widgets, for checking stock prices, the weather and other data you want at a glance in real time.


• Other goodies. The phone includes sensors that detect when you rotate it from portrait to landscape mode; the onscreen controls are oriented accordingly. Lift the phone to your ear, and the sensor turns off the display to save power and prevent you from accidentally hitting the wrong controls when on a call. Also on board is a 2-megapixel still digital camera.
  

Courtesy : apple

Google was miskeyed ? Is it ?

Hey Guys…..it was miskeyed “G o o g o l” as “G o o g l e”.

Gosh , can you believe this !!
This is not a gossip , but it is really embarrassing…..huh !

Friends , currently I am reading a book “The Google Story”.

Just go and grab your copy and start reading in your leisure.
I bet you will like it….
It is goddamn exciting , the google story.
I will not tell you the whole story b’coz it is better to read your own.

But just let me brief the name story of GOOGLE.

A googol is 10 to the 100th power (which is 1 followed by 100 zeros). A googol is larger than the number of elementary particles in the universe, which amount to only 10 to the 80th power.
The term was invented by Milton Sirotta, the 9-year nephew of mathematician Edward Kasner, who had asked his nephew what he thought such a large number should be called. Such a number, Milton apparently replied after a short thought, could only be called something as silly as a "googol."

Later, another mathematician devised the term googolplex for 10 to the power of googol - that is, 1 followed by 10 to the power of 100 zeros. Frank Pilhofer has determined that, given Moore's Law (which is that computer processor power doubles about every 1 to 2 years), it would make no sense to try to print out a googolplex for another 524 years - since all earlier attempts to print a googolplex out would be overtaken by the faster processor.

And here comes the laughter.....

Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the founders of Google, named their search engine after the term googol. In 1997, Larry was brainstorming names with other Stanford graduate students, including Sean Anderson, and looking at available domain names. Anderson miskeyed googol as "google" and found it available. Larry liked it and the name "Google" stuck. Google's corporate headquarters is called the GooglePlex, an affectionately tongue-in-cheek reference to the origins of the company name.

Gosh !!!

Think before you Link -- Crap rules

Here's a lump of coal for the entire Internet industry:

A Texas judge has ruled that linking to a Web page violates copyright. Declan McCullagh News.com reports that SFX Motor Sports has won a case against Robert Davis, a man who operates Supercrosslive.com, a website which linked directly to audio files of motorcycle races on SFX's website.
Here's a question for the Honorable Sam Lindsay, the North Texas U.S. District judge who decided the case:

Can you have a copyright violation if there's no copying involved?

Websites regularly link to other websites. No permission is needed, and no laws are broken. A 2000 case established the legality of "deep linking" into any page of a website. Take away the ability to link and you take away the basic glue that makes the Web work. You'd have no Yahoo (YHOO), no Google (GOOG), no blogs.

I am still linking ( catch me :-)

Any Web user could figure out the location of the files, and if SFX wanted to prevent people from going directly to the audio files, a trivially simple change in its Web server configuration could have stopped them from doing so.

How does prohibiting deep linking (last major precedent was the Scottish "Online newspaper" case) harm Google or Yahoo? It is easy not to have your site indexed past the front page, and SFX would love as much traffic as possible to its front page.

Well,
there is a difference to linking to a page, versus pulling specific content on that page to an unrelated website.
For example, what if I could link to your blog which when the link on my website was clicked on it would open a frame on my website that just showed the title and body of your article, and lets say I was able to market my website better, and surrounding your framed in article was advertising I was getting paid for.

I don't think you would be too excited about that happening.....we typically think of links as something being clicked on and taking us to a destination, not brining that destination to the current site, that is where the theft or infringement is occuring...and hence why the court ruled as it did. A mere reference to a website via a link to that website is not what the court is looking to ban, it is the theft or infringment of significant content that is in affect taken from another website.

Have you not tried yahoo or google's Image and Video search feature? It does basically the same thing, provide direct links to materials from a site. This ruling is totally ridiculous, and Mr. Davis is acting like a moron for trying to go against well trained "sharks". If this isn't overturned anytime soon, its going to have dire repercussions for the net.

Really, if a website wishes people to not be able to link their audio or video files, then configure it to where this can't happen. This is as simple as this!!

Think before you Link........cut cut cut!!! Think before you go to court.

Coolest Gadgets for 2007

Ultra-mobile Windows PC-Sony VAIO UX90P

The design goal: a full-featured mobile PC small enough to fit in a pocket. Weighing just over a pound, this PC has a 4.5-inch touchscreen that slides up to reveal a keyboard. A U.S. version is expected soon, starting at $2,000.

Robot boombox-ZPN/Kenwood MIURO

This 14-inch-wide rolling robot has a built-in iPod dock and speakers; it can "dance" as it follows you around the house. In white, red, black, or yellow, this could make it to the U.S. next year. About $930.

Personal iPod theater-Mikimoto Beans iTheatre

Attach a video iPod, game device, or multimedia cellphone, and two two-inch LCD displays embedded in these geeky but stylish goggles create the effect of a 50-inch TV hovering before your eyes. But watch where you're walking. About $275.

Mobile video telephone-Sharp Vodafone 905SH

With a clamshell lid that can flip up and rotate 90 degrees, this 3G phone has a high-resolution, 2.6-inch widescreen display perfect for watching digital TV broadcasts aimed at Japanese cellphone users.

Motion-sensing game gear-Nintendo Wii controller

Call it the "wee-mote" for the upcoming $250 Wii game console. With ambidextrous appeal for experienced gamers and novices alike, the wand and joystick (included in console) can be a steering wheel, racket, or gun for new dimensions of game play.

Blu-ray prototype camcorder-Hitachi WOOO

These design mockups of high-definition videocameras have a charming retro style that incorporates direct recording onto future mini Blu-ray three-inch discs. Too bad there are no mini Blu-ray players yet. (Not on market.)

Cholesterol – friend or foe?

Dear friend , this post is going to be entirely different but I promise , it will also give you some sort of info....regarding one of the main reason of "Heart Attack"

Cholesterol – Without it, we could’t survive. But too much of this waxy substance in your blood can lead to heart disease, the number one killer of men and women in the United States. The higher your blood cholesterol, the greater your risk for developing heart disease and suffering a heart attack, according to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI).
Every year, more than 1 million Americans suffer a heart attack and about 500,000 people die from heart disease. However, because high blood cholesterol does not cause any symptoms, many people (more than 50 percent by recent estimates) are either inadequately treated or unaware that their cholesterol level is too high. Considering that 41 million estimated American adults have high cholesterol (according to the American Heart Association), the failure to appreciate high cholesterol’s importance places many people at unnecessary risk for developing future heart disease.

What is cholesterol?

Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance that is naturally found in all parts of our bodies. It is present in the walls and membranes of every cell, including cells in the brain, nerves, muscle, skin, liver, intestines, and heart. Without cholesterol, our bodies could not function properly. It acts as the backbone of hormones like estrogen and testosterone, vitamin D, and bile acids that help us to digest fat.
Cholesterol in the body comes from two major sources. The first is from the liver, which is the body’s major cholesterol-producing organ. We also consume foods that contain cholesterol – red meat and eggs have particularly high levels. Because the liver is usually able to make enough cholesterol to satisfy all of our bodily needs, however, too much dietary cholesterol can lead to high bodily levels of cholesterol. (Some liver disorders also lead to excess cholesterol levels.)
These high levels are undesirable because it is difficult for our bodies to appropriately dispose of excess cholesterol. Excess cholesterol has a tendency to deposit into the walls of our arteries, particularly the arteries that lead to our hearts (or coronary arteries). It is these deposits that lead to development of "hardening of the arteries," or atherosclerosis (see accompanying image).
Left untreated, atherosclerosis is a condition that causes progressive narrowing of the arteries. Narrowing may even occur to the point where the artery becomes either severely or completely blocked. If the blockage occurs in a coronary artery, you may have severe chest pain (called angina) or a heart attack. If the blockage involves an artery in the brain, you may have a stroke.

The difference between LDL and HDL cholesterol

Cholesterol does not travel freely in the bloodstream. Rather, cholesterol is carried through the blood by particles called lipoproteins. Cholesterol also behaves differently depending on which type of lipoprotein carries it. Low-density lipoproteins (LDL) deposit excess cholesterol on the artery linings (LDL cholesterol is the "bad" cholesterol), and high-density lipoproteins (HDL) remove excess cholesterol from the blood (HDL cholesterol is the "good" cholesterol). Triglycerides are another type of substance closely related to cholesterol. They are mostly carried throughout the bloodstream by particles called chylomicrons or very low-density lipoproteins (VLDLs). While less is known about triglycerides, in general, there is some evidence to suggest that they are a particularly important cause of coronary artery disease among women and people with other risk factors such as diabetes and obesity.
According to the new guidelines released in May 2001 by the NHLBI's National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP), everyone age 20 and older should have their cholesterol and triglyceride levels measured at least once every five years. This blood test is done after a nine- to 12-hour fast and provides information about your total cholesterol (TC), LDL and HDL cholesterol, and triglycerides. If your total blood cholesterol is 200 milligrams (mg) per deciliter (dL) or more, or if your HDL level is less than 40 mg/dL, you should talk to your doctor about ways to lower your cholesterol, which may include changing your diet, increasing exercise, or medication.
HDL cholesterol protects against heart disease. This means that higher numbers of HDL cholesterol are better. A level less than 40 mg/dL is considered low and a major risk factor for the development of coronary artery disease. HDL levels of 60 mg/dL or more help to lower your risk for heart disease.
Triglycerides also can raise heart disease risk. Levels that are borderline high (150-199 mg/dL) or high (200 mg/dL or more) may require treatment for some people.
The NHLBI classification of the optimal level of LDL cholesterol is less than 100 mg/dL. Borderline high is 130-159 mg/dL, and very high is 190 mg/dL and above. High LDL cholesterol always requires attention. Your chance of developing coronary artery disease increases if you also have one or more other heart disease risk factors, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and/or an early family history of heart disease.
The following table shows the NHLBI's classification of all cholesterol levels.

Reducing your cholesterol

Lowering cholesterol is important for everyone, including younger, middle-aged, and older adults, and people with or without heart disease and/or stroke. Lowering cholesterol levels that are too high lessens the risk for developing heart disease and reduces the chance of a heart attack or dying of heart disease. This is especially true for people who have already suffered a heart attack.
There are several ways to treat high cholesterol. One option is known as therapeutic lifestyle changes (TLC), which includes a cholesterol-lowering diet (called the TLC diet), physical activity, and weight management. In some cases, it may be necessary to take cholesterol-lowering drugs together with TLC treatment to lower LDL cholesterol levels. Depending on what your LDL level is, your doctor will decide which approach is best for you. See Part 2 of the Cholesterol Patient Guide to learn more about how you can lower your cholesterol.

Courtesy : www.heartinfo.org

Sounds Frenzy : "Linux + Windows"

Linux to work with Windows !!! Huh

I am feeling really frenzy....Don't You ????

But this is what I heard.....

Microsoft-Novell partnership aimed at bridging divide between open-source and most common operating system.

The two companies announced a partnership that will allow Suse Linux, the open-source operating system distributed by Novell, to work with Microsoft's (Charts) ubiquitous Windows software.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said the agreements aim to bridge the divide between open-source and proprietary source software, and will enhance interoperability between the two systems.

Ballmer is trying to become too smart by saying ""While we're going to compete, we're going to collaborate in the right way".

Ballmer....please speak the TRUTH.

And if you ask me....the TRUTH is :

Linux has been gaining ground, especially among corporate customers. Hardware vendors such as IBM (Charts), HP (Charts) and Dell (Charts) all sell servers that run Linux.

But anyways..... for us this move is good.

LOST ????

No no no…. I was not LOST but I was CAUGHT.

I m very sorry to making you all wait for new post.
Really its being a long !!
But even in those busy time I was keep collecting the contents for YOU !!
So now as I am back , so why not I start with my GooooooooGly!!

During this period my Google has bought or rather acquired some companies and launched customized search engine.

YouTube… it’s a good deal !!

Google's competitors are mostly still trying to figure out how to better take advantage of today's online advertising opportunity. Meanwhile, Google is already looking ahead to a still-to-come era when the Web links tightly with all other media.And so , the move towards video add is the first step towards that ear for Google.

Indeed, while last week's YouTube purchase was Google's largest, the second largest was January's $102 million acquisition of dMarc Broadcasting Services, a company with a successful automated system for placing ads on radio stations all over the country.

There are several remarkable facts in this acquisition:

• Copyright issues, pirated content and YouTube often appear in the same sentence – and now that Google owns the company, you can only bet that they will be solved one way or another.
• Google gets another foot in content hosting, after Gmail, Blogger and GoogleBase. They are not only about organizing the world’s information anymore – just in case you wondered.
• YouTube will remain a separate operation, even physically, which seems to indicate that the risk of messing up the secret sauce post-acquisition has been considered.
• Now that the leader (46% of the online video market) has been taken out, I can’t wait to see what happens next – especially as Yahoo was rumored to be involved in the deal until the last minute, and I am sure that Fox, Viacom, AOL and the others were not too far behind.
• And looking ahead to next year, Yahoo could face a much tougher challenge from Google in so-called display advertising, sales of video ads, banners and other ads not tied to search results, thanks to Google's pending deal for YouTube.

So I can say it is Yawns for Yahoo and ga-ga for Google , as Google's eating Yahoo's lunch(he he he)

JotSpot.....purchase targets Microsoft

Three-year-old JotSpot had developed a series of online productivity software programs that offer many of the functions of Microsoft Office programs like Microsoft Word or Excel spreadsheets. But instead of running on individual computers, JotSpot applications are delivered as Web-based services.
Following the lead of companies like JotSpot, Mountain View, Calif.-based Google entered the market this year by acquiring the Writely word processor and introducing other Web-based applications such as Google Spreadsheets and Google Calendar.
JotSpot's programs run on collaborative wiki software, a flexible form of Web publishing for groups that allows any approved user to edit or change individual documents.

The 27-employee company has helped popularize the idea that wikis are not just for software geeks but can be used within small groups by non-technical office workers or family groups to accomplish practical scheduling or financial tasks

Well , wonder what they were paid for JotSpot? It's got about 300,000 users, some of them paying, most of them not. Clearly, this wasn't YouTube money, but my guess is it wasn't Writely money either. Somewhere around $50-$75 million is my bet.

Customized Search Engine !!!!

Here you go….now you can say it’s your search engine…..
The free service, dubbed Google Custom Search Engine, allows organizations or individuals to create a customized, content-focused search engine, that can be limited to specific Web sites, ultimately allowing users to create a search engine around a specific topic such as a sports team, according to the company.Users of the customized search engine can even adjust its look and functionality or use Google' AdSense program and ultimately generate revenue, Google said.

2 mini-releases (Beta) in Gooooooogle labs

Techies are buzzing today about a pair of Google mini-releases: a new search engine for open source software code, and an upgrade to the little-known Google Groups.

Google Blogoscoped is all over both, with plenty of praise for the open source code.

There are existing code search engines, but this one seems to top them in terms of scope, concludes the blog.But Blogoscoped yawns at the Groups application, which presumably takes aim at rivals Yahoo Groups: Google Groups mixes a usenet archive with Google's homegrown discussion groups anyone can create...the relaunch looks like a good start at first, but browse around a bit and you'll see there are still many design problems.

Well, Google engineers may not get it just right at first, but you've got to give them credit for sheer output. This is a prime example of what Fortune's Adam Lashinsky recently described as Google's "spaghetti method of product development.

And I love the trick which google followes:

Google throws enough against the wall, something eventually stick so it can grow beyond search advertising........

Kudos to Yahooooooooooooooooo

I believe that Yahoo Mail is the worlds largest used e-mail service.

And it is there broadminded thinking that they planned to give away the underlying code to Yahoo Mail, one of the crown jewels of its business, in a bid to encourage software developers to build new applications based on e-mail.

Yes yes and yes I am not playing fool......its TRUE

I can’t express my happiness after hearing this….I am feeling just on top of the world.

The move to open up the underlying code of Yahoo Mail -- used by 257 million people -- is designed to spark development of thousands of new e-mail applications built not only by Yahoo (Charts) engineers but by outside companies and individuals.

Technically speaking, Yahoo is giving away "browser-based authentication" for its e-mail service for developers to build new applications. Currently only Yahoo Mail and certain broadband partners like AT&T (Charts) and BT are granted such access to the code.

This will allow people to make custom versions of the basic interface, or look, of e-mail. Other uses may include tapping the information inside a user's e-mail program to create new ways of displaying the information to individual users.

Since Yahoo keeps absolute control of usernames and passwords there are no security risks.

Yahoo is not alone in its effort to open up who can program Web services using its tools. Major Internet companies including Amazon.com (Charts), eBay (Charts) and Google (Charts) to established software providers such as IBM (Charts) and Microsoft (Charts) have embraced such moves.

Well ,

You must be thinking “when you will get this code” ??

Yahoo Mail's code will be generally available later in 2006 said Jason Rupp, product manager for Yahoo's e-mail services.

This could allow a "mash-up" to be created that permits users to simultaneously read Yahoo Mail, Google's Gmail and Microsoft's Hotmail from the same browser window rather than forcing users to sign into each e-mail system separately.

There is just all kinds of things people could do….it’s really Awesome move!!!

Courtesy : CNNmoney.com