eWebBuddy - Your Online buddy - Tech Talk for Non-Techies

Sony Move Shocased – PlayStation’s answer to Wii

Piyush Agarwal — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:03:00 +0000

This is in, hot news and latest. Taking a leap into the motion gaming segment which till now has been pre-dominantly owned(in a way) by Nintendo’s Wii, Sony announced its next PlayStation addition, Sony Move!! This will be exactly what Apple iPad’s launch did to Amazon Kindle.

Initially it was rumored to be named as Arc, Sony Move, the motion game controller was showcased today at GDC 2010. Though some may say, its a copy of Nintendo’s concept, I think this is for good. But before what I think, more about Move…

What is Sony Move?

Sony Move, is a PlayStation 3 add-on which will enable gamers to play motion controller games on PS3. This is something that has been missing till now. Many were looking forward to waiting for Project Natal from Xbox.

How does it work?

PlayStation Move will work through the Playstation Eye – a camera device. This device is already available in the market. It will detect the precise movement, angle and position of the motion controller. It has been told that the camera will map accurate movements and the sensors are super-sensitive which includes gyroscope, accelerometer and magnetic field sensor. The sphere head of the controller changes colors.

There is also a sub controller with keys and analog controller similar to Wii to control directions, etc. These controllers connect to the Playstation via Bluetooth-wireless technology and will have rechargeable batteries.

Games?

There are a long and promising list of games lined up for Sony Move from many gaming companies. Resident Evil 5, Sports games, Eye Pet and lot more under development. Nintendo has not been able to offer a lot of games for the gamers till now. Guess that will change with Sony Move.

What would be the price?

Sony’s Move will be released later in the year and will be priced at around $100. UK price not confirmed yet and have no clue, when it will hit India.

Info and Picture Courtesy: Newshopper

Check out the Advert below:

Bloombox by KR Sridhar – Answer to Green Clean Power?

Free Plastic Surgery at Pasam Hospital from March 23rd

Piyush Agarwal — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 07:26:04 +0000

Pasam Hospital, Kodaikanal is having a Free Plastic Surgery camp from March 23rd to 4th April’2010. A team of german doctors would be coming down to treat the patients.

Who is eligible?

Anyone who is affected by any kind of burn injuries could register for treatment at the camp. In addition to that, those with ailments in eyes, ears, nose and lips by birth may register for treatment at the camp.

There will not be any sort of cost involved for the patients. So do let all your friends, family members or anyone you feel would find this information useful know about the camp. Please share this information via facebook, twitter, email, etc and spread the awareness. Who knows, you may end up making someone’s life beautiful.

To Register

Please contact in person or make a phone call or drop an e-mail

Address: Pasam Hospital, M.M. Street, Kodaikanal
Phone: (04542) 240778 and 240668
e-mail: pasam.vision@gmail.com

Do share this information with as many people as possible. You can check the Hindu article about pasam free surgery.

Domain For Sale – www.IPLKrazy.com – Valid for 1 year

Piyush Agarwal — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 06:43:20 +0000

DLF IPL Season 3 is here and the cricket fever is catching up. Here is the match schedule. People have started buying tickets to the show and all set! What about you? Have you been thinking about having a blog, share your cricket fever, make friends and cash on the IPL rush?! Then why start from scratch?

I am not a big cricket fan, but I could see the blogging value to IPL and that’s what led me to setup IPLKrazy.com last year. I had already experimented IPL Blogging during season 1 through a free domain iplupdates.co.cc. So when IPL Season 2 came, I was pretty confident in pulling off a self hosted site with a .com domain. After a lot of searching and thinking, IPLKrazy.com was bought and it did pretty well.

There was a legitimate amount of traffic, back-links and it got listed in major Search Engines in record time. Google Adsense and Adbrite where used as advertising mediums and they gave good returns. But as its true with any business, there should be passion to drive it. And that was what was lacking in IPLKrazy. I had the drive to market the blog, also had another author to pen articles but not being too inclined towards cricket, lacked the passion the sport deserves.

So, in order to see IPLKrazy become a great platform for cricket enthusiasts to share their love for the game, I am planning to sell the domain this year. I own more than 25 domains but this is the 1st time I am selling one of my domains and there is no business motive behind it! Its just that I want the domain to be bought by someone who can do justice to it! I will be giving away the database for all the articles added to the site till date. So you will not loose on any of the google indexed pages.

Coming back to stats:

DomainName: www.iplkrazy.com
Indexed: Yes, with Google, Alexa, Yahoo, Bing, ASK, etc
Backlinks: From some blogs/websites
Article Database: 48 Posts
Valid upto: Feb 2011

If interested, please mail me your bids to destinyspride@gmail.com. Bidding starts for as low as $9.99. Paypal required to enable money transfer.

IIM Ranchi website domain taken over – LOL

Piyush Agarwal — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 10:09:58 +0000

This is something I caught when going through my tweets and found it quite amusing. Someone has been really hurt and sad about IIMs…and IIM Ranchi’s domain has been taken over. What? How? Why? is not known but this sure did gave me a good laugh.

Psst - Follow me on twitter @onlyyourspiyu for more interesting stuff.

Following is what you get when you access www.iimranchi.in – Someone is obviously quite pissed off. Hope someday, people do not start taking over domains of Government services and parties!

Note - This does not mean that IIM Ranchi website has been Hacked. Its simply a case of a domain being bought by someone which most likely could have been the domain for IIM Ranchi following in the footsteps of IIM Shillong. Since there is no restriction on buying domains. Its simply a case of first-come-first-serve basis and also shows how ignorant Indian officials can be when it comes to getting education out there online!

Have fun with SketchPad – Online Free Drawing Tool

Piyush Agarwal — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 13:22:37 +0000

The past few posts have been a little towards the serious note with Indian Paypal Issues and Paypal Resolving it with Purpose Code, so I thought that its time to have some fun. And I was more than happy to have stumbled upon SketchPad.

What is SketchPad?

With a sleek and cool interface, it is exactly what is seems from its name. Its like a drawing board with controls similar to that of Photshop/Gimp. You can just access the site and paint your imagination out. Its quite funky with a lot of features and surprising super fast. That is because it is not flash based at all.

The Technical Side

Sketchpad is based on Canvas which was developed by Apple for their platforms. Its a HTML5 product and current works with only on the modern browsers. IE users will have to wait a little longer, as the IE version is still under development.

The application has been designed by a team ColorJack and it seems they are currently also working on a cool photosharing tool, MugTug.

Gooooo Paint

So, what are you waiting for. Simply go and paint your heart out. You can save and share your creations. Do share your designs here. Don’t feel shy!

Also, take this post as a late Holi treat from eWebBuddy….after all whats life without colors!

New Paypal withdrawal Instructions – Using Purpose Code

Piyush Agarwal — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 19:00:52 +0000

Here’s the latest update over the Paypal India Issue Resolution. Couple of days back, it was told that Paypal has cleared everything with RBI and will now be implementing new withdrawal policies to mean Indian Regulations.

Though I did provide some Paypal alternatives, who wouldn’t like all Paypal issues to be resolved and start using the account as usual. Currently, all withdrawals from Paypal for Indians have been suspended. Paypal is in the process of implementing withdrawal policy changes, and this service will be available again from March 3rd.

In a latest post on the Paypal Blog, it has been put how Indians can withdraw money from their accounts. The details are mentioned here:

What is the new Paypal Withdrawal policy for Indians?

Under the new policy, users will be asked to enter a new field, “Purpose Code”. This information is required under the laws of India in order to identify the nature of cross-border merchant transactions.

How can customers pay?

Now personal payments and transfers have been barred for Indians. So payments can be accepted only via the following methods:

Using the Pay for Purchases (Goods or Services) tab
Completing PayPal checkout at your website
Responding to PayPal “Request Money” instructions (invoices)
When you instruct PayPal to withdraw your PayPal balance to your bank account in India, you will be required to provide a purpose code for the transaction.

What is a purpose code?

So, a purpose code defines your purpose behind enabling the cross-border transaction. The code will depend on the nature of your business or services provided. Note: This code is different from Importer Exporter Code (IEC) issued by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. You can find out which Purpose Code is for you via the following table:

Code	Category	Description	Who should be using it
P0101 / P0104	Export of Goods	Value of export bills negotiated / purchased/discounted etc. (covered under GR/PP/SOFTEX/EC copy of shipping bills etc.)	eBay merchants, jewelers, sellers of collectibles and other such products through eBay and your own websites / catalogues globally.Please note: Cross border shipment of goods and services for which you file GR / PP / SOFTEX / EC forms only should be processed with this code. Use P101 if Deutsche Bank is your banker and P0104 if you bank with any other bank If you have any questions, please check with your bank to help you with the same.
P0301	Travel , Hospitality and Tours	Purchases towards travel (Includes purchases of foreign TCs, currency notes etc over the counter, by hotels, hospitals, Emporiums, Educational institutions etc. as well as amount received by TT/SWIFT transfers or debit to Non-Resident account).	Online Travel Agents, Airlines, Railways, Buses, Taxicab Services, Hotels, B&Bs and other travel / tourism related sales through PayPal
P0801P0802 P0803	Information Technology	Computer Information Services. Hardware / Software / Data Processing consultancy/implementation	If you are an independent / freelance coder / hardware consultant or data processing service provider, or a small business providing such services for websites globally, please use these codes.For all IT related consulting services where you know you do not need to file a SOFTEX form, please use the appropriate code. 801 for hardware consulting, 802 for software consulting and 803 for data management and processing consulting services
P0805P0806	Content and Journalism	News Agency and Subscription services	If you are a freelance journalist / blogger / news aggregator please use this purpose code for withdrawals.If you are a newspaper or an online news aggregator for websites overseas, please use the appropriate code from these two. 805 if you a freelance journalist, and 806 if you are a newspaper / aggregator
P0902	Licensing of creative works	Receipts for use, through licensing arrangements, of produced originals or prototypes (such as manuscripts and films)	Artists, designers, other creative service providers where the principal revenue mode is license fees, please use this code.If you produce creative works which you license out for entities overseas, licensing revenues may be classified under this purpose code
P1004	Other services	Legal Services	If you are providing outsourced law related services
P1005		Accounting, auditing, book keeping and tax consulting services	For accounting consulting and accounting services
P1006		Business and management consultancy and public relations services	Management / brand consulting and management services can be exported with this purpose code
P1007		Advertising, trade fair, market research and public opinion polling services	Marketing/ brand consulting / logo design / event management services can be exported with this purpose code
P1008		Research & Development services	If you are an outsourced research and development services provider based in India, receipts can be inwarded through this purpose code
P1009		Architectural, engineering and other technical services	Any other technical services such as eTutoring, education and other services you render over the internet via web conferencing tools or similar channels, please use this code for your withdrawals

If you are not sure about your code from the table above, you can contact the Paypal customer care, by logging in to the site.

Also, Paypal cannot be used for Charity and Donations. It has to be used for Goods and Services.

Hope, this will resolve most of the issues and everyone will be able to withdraw money. Based on the purpose code, banks may tend to ask for Invoice details. Withdrawal resumes from 3rd March’10.

People who were using Paypal for personal remittances, cannot use it so further. They can get back their money deposited via Cheque withdrawal. Hope you found this information useful, do leave your queries below.

Paypal Alternative and How to withdraw money to Indian banks

Piyush Agarwal — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 09:48:08 +0000

First of all, HAPPY HOLI to all. Its the festival of colors and I wish everyone of you a colorful life. For those unaware, Holi is an Indian festival when people apply colors on each other, forget all their worries/inhibitions and enjoy life in unison.

In my last post, I had told you about how the Paypal issue is partially resolved at this point of time. According to paypal officials, bank withdrawals will start from 3rd March’10. But until the problem is resolved completely one does need to find alternate ways. Also, this issue should make us realize that we should be prepared in future. So in this post I will be telling you about Paypal alternatives and also how to withdraw money from Paypal in the current scenario…

Paypal Alternatives

1. Moneybookers.com – Like Paypal, this is another service which serves for 30+ countries, India included. With low transaction rates and easy money transfer options, this is one of the best money transfer methods and a good alternative to Paypal. It allows direct withdrawals via local banks, credit card, cheque, etc.

Moneybookers also provides escrow services and lets you send money to non-moneybooker members. Like paypal, it operates on e-mail ids. Easy to use and quick signup. Join today.

2. Payoneer - This service is for those who would like to have the ease of drawing money at any point of time instantly or even to enable themselves to make purchases. Payoneer provides its account holders with cards on a monthly maintenance fee which are similar to any credit/debit cards. You can top-up the card and use it as you please. There are transaction rates involved in ATM withdrawals.

My suggestion would be to get this card and use it for emergencies. Though the maintenance fee is little high. Currently, Payoneer is issuing cards for free without any initial cost. Make the most of the offer.

How to withdraw money via Paypal with Xoom?

You can send funds to your bank account using Xoom from your own PayPal account in less than 2-3 business days (for smaller amounts, it’s as quick as less than 24 hours).

Here’s a detailed explanation on how this works:

Open a free Xoom account, if you don’t have one. Please provide proper details as asked. Xoom verifies its users and needs to make sure of their identity.
Complete email verification and use the Send Money option to send money.
Enter the desired amount to be withdrawn. Select “Bank Deposit” Option. and specify “PayPal” on one of the next pages.
Enter the Recipient bank details (Note: Sending money to YOUR own Bank account from your PayPal is perfectly legal)
If it’s the first time you’re using Xoom — you may be prompted to enter your own Personal details (like Address, Date of Birth, etc. Make sure everything you enter correct information)
“Payment Information”: Select “Pay with your Debit Card, Credit Card or PayPal account” Option. “Payment Method” as PayPal
You’ll be redirected to PayPal where you can fill authorize the payment.

You can track the transaction any time by logging into Xoom via the “My Accounts” page. Xoom transfer money fast though there is a limit to how much you can transfer.

Paypal India Issue resolved but partially

Piyush Agarwal — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 13:49:01 +0000

The last month has been pretty rough for thousands of Indian PayPal account holders especially merchants and businesses which do daily transactions. I myself have not been able to make any paypal withdrawals for more than a month, so I understand the frustration. I used an Xoom to withdraw money to Indian banks.

If you have not been aware till now, you can have a quick read on the issues via this blog about the paypal issues for Indians and an open letter from Farhad Irani. In a nutshell, Indian PayPal account holders have not been able to withdraw money to their local banks since the past month following some issues Reserve bank of India(RBI) and also they have stopped allowing personal gift transfers.

Just today I received an e-mail from Paypal stating that they have resolved the issue and still in talks with RBI to put strict regulations in practice. There will be a new exporters code field added and this detail will be required to enable transactions. This makes it possible for business owners to start withdrawing money to their local bank accounts but individual vendors are still at distress. Individual payments are still suspended.

Paypal has not yet published the complete information about the process that will be followed henceforth but the same would be conveyed by 1st March. Following is the email received from Paypal:

Dear Paypal User,

We have been diligently working with the RBI and our business partners to resume Indian bank withdrawals for the thousands of Indian businesses who depend on PayPal to sell their goods or services in the global marketplace. Today, we are happy to announce that the RBI has allowed us to continue local bank withdrawals for settlements for exports of goods and services.

We are currently making changes to comply with Indian regulations for settlements for exports of goods and services, and we anticipate that, as of Wednesday, March 3rd, customers will be able to use our bank withdrawal service. As part of the changes, you will be required to fill out a new field entitled ‘Export Code’ when you request a withdrawal. This information is required under the current laws of India in order to identify the nature of cross-border merchant transactions.

On Monday, March 1st, we will be back in touch with specific instructions on how you can move your money into your bank account.

Moving forward, the RBI has told us that PayPal needs specific approvals to allow personal remittances to India, which we currently do not have. Until we get these approvals, personal payments into India will remain suspended.

However, if you are an exporter, you will continue to be able to use the PayPal service for payments of goods and services. In fact, with the changes we are making to our system, PayPal is now set to be a more powerful engine for exporters in India. With purpose codes for export transactions and FIRCs (Foreign Inward Remittance Certificates), you should now be able to get the export related benefits you seek.

Sincerely,
PayPal

Though the above mail did bring a wave of relief to the business entities, the individuals are still left at vain. This issue needs to be resolved fast as the major part of the account holders are individual entities.

You can also withdraw money from PayPal to Indian Bank via Xoom. Get money in 2-3 days.

For more info, check out: ThePaypalBlog

Added to that: I would like you all to know that while the paypal issue was at its peek, I was trying out other services available and after quite an analysis and trials, I found MoneyBookers proving to be quite a worthy service and is a good Paypal alternative. If you haven’t tried it yet, do try. Though the paypal is going to be resolved, its always better to have more options. Signup for MoneyBookers…

Update: Find out how to withdraw money from Paypal with the help purpose code here.

mDistribute.com – Video Licensing Marketplace

Piyush Agarwal — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 23:28:19 +0000

Mobile phones have changed the way we live life today. These days mobiles are not meant for only making calls but actually are used for various purposes. They come loaded with camera, video options, mp3 players, games, internet, social networking options and a lot more. As mobile devices are getting sophisticated, so are they providing opportunities for vendors to come up with various services like ringtones, music, alerts and the latest videos. This is where mDistribute.com comes in picture.

What is mDistribute.com?

mDistribute is a video licensing site meant for mobile content providers and filmmakers. Its a marketplace where users can buy/sell video content. In their own words, the website says:

mDistribute enables mobile content buyers to instantly license premium, high quality film content for distribution to mobile devices. Using our web-based interface, filmmakers upload and set prices for their films while content buyers “browse and buy” those films with ease. All licenses on the mDistribute platform are royalty-free, non-exclusive, non-transferable licenses at this time, creating a standardized environment for the buying and selling of digital film rights.

You can also call it as a video bajar or baazar. The website is presented by goLiveMedia.

Who can use mDistribute?

The video licensing site opens up opportunities not just for mobile content providers but also for anyone else who likes making films. Anyone can make money with the help of this platform.

Currently you can register on the site via a simple registration form either as a Filmmaker or a Buyer. Filmmakers can upload their films, set a price for license(royalty-free, non-exclusive) and reach out to a huge network of content buyers. A buyer is a content buyer for whom this platform acts as a bridge for acquiring great royalty-free content which they can use as many number of times as desired.

How it works?

For Filmmakers: Register, Upload and Collect Money

For Buyers: Register, Browse and Buy License

That’s pretty simple isn’t it.

Video Quality allowed: MPEG4 (Divx, Xvid) format 320×240 resolution, MP3 audio, 30 frames per second.

eWebBuddy Review

We found the website simple, impressive and easy to use. It has a user-friendly interface and is very clear in its purpose. The concept of video licensing is new and very interesting. Its bound to pick-up. This eliminates any third parties that were involved in mobile content buy/sell earlier and makes direct interaction possible.

mDistribute is integrated with PayPal which ensures secure, efficient money transfers. The website also reviews all video submissions and ensures that only high quality and standards compliant content is available at the marketplace.

mDistribute deducts a transaction fees equivalent to 25% of the video license value which I believe is very high. But keeping in mind that there are not many players in this business right now and also that one video can be bought multiple number of times, it can build up to good money.

So all you budding filmmakers out there, wake up and earn money online the new way!

Disclosure: This is a paid but unbiased post. Get a paid review for yourself. here!

New Paypal withdrawal Instructions – Using Purpose Code

Funeral for IE6 is being organized – You attending?

Piyush Agarwal — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 05:36:55 +0000

Just a few days back I reported here on eWebBuddy, how Google will stop supporting IE6 and why IE6 should rest in peace, here’s another development! Latest NEWS tells us that a Funeral is being organized in the memory of what has been one of the greatest browser on Mother Earth, Internet Explorer 6. (Sob) What a great guy he was!

After many web designer announced IE6 is dead, could this funeral be organized. Its happening at Aten Design Group located at 1629 Downing, just off Colfax. According to them ample parking space is available. The funeral will take place on Thursday, March 4th, 2010, 7pm.

You can RSVP for the event and be part of it to wish peace for IE6’s soul. (Sob) Oh! What a great guy he was!!

A website, IE6 Funeral has been put up for this purpose. Where you will also find the list of people who will be attending the funeral. Unfortunately, Google Chrome will not be able to attend but has sent their respect & good wishes. (Sobbb SOBBB) Really man, what a great guy he was…. (Sob)

DO attend if you CAN! The funeral would be carried out without the body but its the spirit that matters…

Did I tell you that he was a great guy????

Gateway Peace March – Mumbai Terror Blasts