Amazing Way of Showing Statistics

There is so much software we don’t know of. Just see in this video how a scientist gives a presentation on world health and economic trends (which also shows how the world is getting flatter). And we think Office Vista must be cool.

Digg Dumps Google for Microsoft

This is a bit hard to believe. The famous social news bookmarking website Digg.com has struck an advertising deal with Microsoft to display ads on its website that gets 17 million unique monthly visitors. It’s a 3-year deal.

Most of its users will term this deal as a “deal with the Devil”. Digg used to display the Google ad network’s ads prior to this. Microsoft struck a similar advertising agreement with the social networking website Facebook last year.

I think it’s not a loss for Google, but a definite gain for Microsoft. I’ve never considered the Digg audience as a serious audience, although Digg can be a good source of accidental traffic surges, especially if you run a technology, web designing or blogging related blog. They act like a herd, and most of the digging is controlled by the top 100 diggers. So I wonder how much ad revenue Google is going to lose by not being able to display its ads there.

For Microsoft it’s a new entry into the Web 2.0 world (it never actually hit the Web 1.0 world). Compared to Google advertising network, Microsoft’s advertising network is a tiny one, so it is a significant stride for Microsoft.

Technorati Tags: digg, google, microsoft, online advertising, google ads

The White Lies ISPs Tell About Broadband Speeds

…online Internet speed tests always show results close, if not right on, the advertised three megabits per second. There are many factors that dictate your actual Internet speed, and there are also quite a few tricks that can be used to create the illusion of a faster connection.

ISPs know that new and existing customers are largely comparing their Internet-speed experiences to dial-up connections, which often barely sustain 28 Kbit/s. So, even at 150 Kbits/s, customers are getting a seven-fold increase in speed, which is like the difference between flying in a jet and driving your car. [ Link ]

I myself doubt the Internet browsing speed my ISP — Airtel — claims it provides, and when you call their helpline, they advise you to go to a particular link to test the speed. I feel the speed is half of what they say it is.

Technorati Tags: broadband connection, surfing speed, net connection

Sunita Williams returns to earth safely

Everybody must have heaved a sigh of relief when NASA’s space shuttle Atlantis carrying seven astronauts, including Sunita Williams, landed safely at Edwards Air Force Base in California, especially after all the hiccups. First there were technical problems and then the inclement weather played the spoil sports.

The landing at 12:49 p.m. Pacific time came after NASA had passed up four chances on Thursday and Friday to land at Kennedy Space Center in Florida because of rain and low clouds in the area. [ Space Shuttle Lands in California Desert ]

All this time when Sunita Williams was trying to come back people in India were performing public prayers and performing yagnas for her safety. All news channels were continuously telecasting people in various cities performing various religious or clutish rites. Again, when the news of the safe landing broke people came on the streets to rejoice. It was as if only Sunita Williams was there in the space shuttle. Most of the newspapers today have headings like Sunita Williams returns after record stay in space and Children pray for Sunita didi, and even as far as Sunita signals a new high for women. The Vishwa Gujarati Samaj has decided to felicitate her.

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It must be great to be able to present your thesis project in your underwear

For her demo, Chowdhury made a video of herself and a partner playing Pong. He stands behind her with his hands near her shoulders, and she reaches back toward his hips. When he touches her left breast, the paddle moves to the left. The sensor in the right bra cup moves the Pong paddle to the right.

“I thought long and hard about how to present Intimate Controllers so it wouldn’t be viewed as ‘girls gone wild’ + technology,” she said in an e-mail. “It’s nerve-racking enough to give your thesis talk. But imagine doing it and knowing your teachers and peers are about to see you in your underwear on screen.” [ Link ]

But don’t get too excited. She seems to be wearing clothes under her undergarments :-). While going through the article I found a website that sells sound-controlled vibrators (don’t see this link in your office or in front of your kids, younger siblings or your mom); they enable you to enjoy phone or VoIP sex physically. Hmm…try it on Skype some day.

Technorati Tags: sex technology, sex toys

Windows Live Writer Beta 2

Update [June 17, 2007]: Today while working on a post Windows Live Writer started crashing. It crashes on that particular post. I don’t know what happened. I completed it, and then closed the Writer without posting to the blog. When I tried opening the post to publish it, the Writer started crashing. It only crashes on that post and I don’t know if there is some problem with the source code. I cannot even check it because I cannot open it. I’ll keep using it though because there is nothing better but I’ll keep saving the source code in a separate text file from now onwards.

You can now download Windows Live Writer Beta 2 now. I’ve been using Windows Live Writer for months now and it is a great offline blog editing/posting tool. The only thing I haven’t been able to figure out till now is, how to add trackback URLs to my posts.

More links on Windows Live Writer Beta 2:

• Windows Live Writer Beta 2

Technorati Tags: windows live writer, beta 2

Why would you use Safari on Windows?

Once you get hooked to FireFox it’s difficult to work with any other browser. I just checked Safari for Windows beta version and I totally agree with this article in Wired titled Who in Their Right Mind Would Run Safari on Windows?. Safari, at least on Windows, looks quite a “base” browser compared to FireFox, Opera, and even the buggy Internet Explorer. The author in the Wired article rightly says:

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Full length film on YouTube

In a first of its kind Spout, an online community of film lovers, have collaborated with the makers of Four Eyed Monsters to make the entire movie available on YouTube. I was wondering when this would happen, I mean, not just Four Eyed Monsters, but different films from independent small film makers. People are already broadcasting episodes through YouTube and I think it is a great platform for upcoming talented artists. According to a recent survey more and more people in the age group of 20-30 or watching YouTube and they are watching less television. In India the main problem is the connectivity. We have the “broadband” connection here at our place but most of the YouTube videos stop to buffer every two seconds and it is really annoying. The best way to overcome this is to let the movie buffer for a couple of minutes (depends on the length) by clicking the pause button and then play it.

Technorati Tags: youtube, four eyed monsters

The Search Evolution at Google

Google is not only a search engine, it’s a social phenomenon. These days, as an average person dependent on the Internet for your rozi-roti (livelihood) you don’t even realize how many times you “google” the information you immediately want. But do you ever think what goes on behind the scenes? How does Google find the pages you need? This is a contentious issue.

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You may receive less spam now

With the arrest of one of the top 10 spammers in the world a decrease in spam is expected all over the world.

Soloway (the spammer) pleaded not guilty Wednesday afternoon to all charges after a judge determined that — even with four bank accounts seized by the government — he was sufficiently well off to pay for his own lawyer.

He has been living in a ritzy apartment and drives an expensive Mercedes convertible, said prosecutor Kathryn Warma. Prosecutors are seeking to have him forfeit $773,000 they say he made from his business, Newport Internet Marketing Corp.

$773,000 is not much money. I think he must have made much, much more with spamming. Here’s another interesting profile of a big Russian spammer I read a few months ago.

Technorati Tags: spam, spamming, spammer arrested