Computer and Net

Steve Jobs Timeline and Tributes

2011-10-07T11:51:00.003+05:30

Steve Jobs Timeline

1955: Born on Feb 24,1955.

1976: April 1, Apple Computer is formed. Apple I

1977: Apple II

1980: Apple's Share Value: 22$ per share.

1983: Lisa Computer(named after his daughter, Lisa) goes on sale.

Appoints John Sculley from Pepsico as CEO of Apple.

1984: Macintosh goes on sale.

1985: Jobs resigns from Apple.

Apple's Share Value: 15.25$ per share.

1986: Starts NeXT Inc.

1987: Apple's Share Value: 64.5$ per share.

1989: First NeXT goes on sale.

1993: Apple reports quarterly loss of $188 million. Sculley resigns.

Apple's Share Value: 29.25$ per share.

1996: Jobs appointed as Adviser to Apple.

Apple's Share Value: 23.5$ per share.

1997: Jobs becomes "interim" CEO.

1998: iMac desktop a hit.

Apple's Share Value: 30.31$ per share.

1999: Launches iBook laptop.

Apple's Share Value: 46.56$ per share.

2000: Jobs becomes CEO.

2001. Apple's Share Value: 18.14$ per share.

Releases iPod,iTunes.

2003: Launches iTunes Music Store.

2004: Jobs undergoes Surgery for a rare form of Pancreatic Cancer.

Apple's Share Value: 32.34$ per share.

2007: Launches iPhone.

Apple's Share Value: 92.57$ per share.

2009: Jobs receives liver transplant.

Apple's Share Value: 142.43$ per share.

2010: Sales of 15 million iPads.

Apple's Share Value: 207.88$ per share.

2011: 24th Aug, Jobs quits as Apple CEO.

Apple's Share Value: 376.18$ per share.

Source: The Times of India

Famous Steve Jobs Quotes

"You can't just ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them. By the time you get it built, they'll want something new. "

"Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations."

"Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower."

World's Tribute to Steve Jobs

Image Credit: Jonathan Mak Lon, a 19-year old Hong Kong Designer

Here is the link to the original image that has received 1122 comments so far.

"Three apples have changed the world.

Adam's,Newton's and Steve Job's."

"Among the greatest of American innovators-brave enough to think differently, bold enough to believe he could change the world, and talented enough to do it." - Barack Obama,US President.

"Steve,thank you for being a mentor and a friend.Thanks for showing what you build can change the world. I will miss you". - Mark Zuckerberg,Facebook Founder.

"The world rarely sees someone who has had the profound impact Steve has had, the effects of which will be felt for many generations to come.For those of us lucky enough to get to work with him, it’s been an insanely great honor. I will miss Steve immensely." - Bill Gates, Microsoft Corp.

Google's Tribute

Google's Tribute to Jobs

Join Google+ and New look in Gmail

2011-07-09T06:08:00.000+05:30

The all new Google+ is now here.

The first impression for me was

Better Clarity than Facebook
Smooth,user friendly look
Facebook's Friends list is Circles in Google+
You can post posts and make it visible to a particular circle or to all.

Google+ is now on limited field trial. Drop down your emails here to get the invite for Google+

Here the Google+ preview and walkthrough from Googleblog.

Google has released a all new cool look for Gmail. The theme is lot similar to Google+ with more preference given to clarity. Gmail in the new look looks less cluttered.

Here is the Gmailblog post about the all new looks.

You can get the new theme in Themes under Settings tab - Preview and Preview(Dense)

Software Review : AnyBizSoft PDF to Word Converter , Giveaway on July 5-8,2011

2011-07-07T07:18:00.004+05:30

Giveaway: AnyBizSoft is giving free licenses on its PDF to Word converter on July 5-8,2011. Its a handy converter.Give it a try!

Application Name: AnyBizSoft PDF to Word

Type: Shareware

Price: 29.95 $

Website: AnyBizSoft : A Wondershare Company

Version: 3.0.0.0

Size: 6.43 MB

Compatibility: Windows 7/XP/Vista/2003 32bit

Trial Version: 3 pages limit.

Description and Advantages:

It converts the pdf document into Word - doc/docx depending on the version of Microsoft Word installed on the computer.

Its features are

Standalone, don't require Microsoft Word and Adobe Acrobat
Partial conversion—Select any pages from the PDF file to convert
Right-click conversion—Right click on a PDF file and convert it into a Word document without launching the program
Support importing Adobe PDF 1.0—1.7 formats
Support encrypted PDF files conversion
Preserve text, layouts, images, tables and hyperlinks in an editable Word document
Support Batch conversion of 200 PDF files, Partial, and Right-click conversion modes
Converts very large PDF files.

Disadvantages:

Since this is a standalone and doesn't require Microsoft Word and Adobe Acrobat, the option of whether the output Word document being doc or docx should be left to the preference of the user.
The Word document, got after converting a large PDF file is having problems with its page numbers. Microsoft Word does however try to rectify that,but it consumes lot of CPU usage.

Free Giveaway: [Only July 5-8,2011]

Get your free licence here.

Strictly only for personal usage.

Author's Rating : 9.0/10

If you are frequent converter of PDF to docs, or needs to convert lots of PDF files to Word with considerable amount of layouts and designs,then this software is for you.

[Q & A] How to open multiple applications from a single shortcut?

2011-05-29T23:37:00.001+05:30

Yes,it is possible to open two or more programs with the help of a single shortcut.

Sometimes, we operate one or more programs simultaneously which are needed opened to be opened at the same time. Opening mutiple programs manually each time will cause small amount of frustration,especially when these are often used. For this instead of using individual shortcuts on the desktop for each program,a single shortcut can be used to open these programs.

Steps to open two or more programs simultaneously by using a single shortcut:

Step 1.You will need the target location of the programs,which could be like

C:\Program Files\Application 1\Application.exe

C:\Program Files\Program 2\Program.exe

Step 2. Create a "New text document" file anywhere in your system,and rename it into "LaunchApps.txt".

Step 3.In "LaunchApps.txt" save the following text.

@echo off
cd C:\Program Files\Application 1
start Application.exe
cd C:\Program Files\Program 2
start Program.exe
exit

Replace the two targets[C:\Program Files\Application 1] with your own target locations.

Rename Application.exe and Program.exe to those program executable file names.

Step 4.An important point to note is that the "LaunchApps.txt" file has to be renamed into "LaunchApps.bat" file type.

This could also be done using "Save As" option.

File Name : LaunchApps.bat

Save As Type : Unspecified file type (*.*)

and Save.

The file would now be seen as a "MS-DOS Batch File".

Step 5.Create a shortcut to the file - "LaunchApps.bat".

Launching this shortcut will launch the applications that are stored in "LauchApps.bat" file.

If you have any queries feel free to ask.

Wikipedia Site Down : Wikipedia has a problem

2011-05-29T07:53:00.000+05:30

There was a few minutes of downtime for Wikipedia today around at 7:40 IST.

If you are experiencing this problem, kindly wait for a few minutes and try again.

Wikipedia has a problem error

During the short down time,all pages of wiki was not accessible showing the same error message.

The site is now back up and running.

[Cricket] Official IPL Team Websites

2011-05-20T03:15:00.000+05:30

Official IPL Site - http://www.iplt20.com/

The Teams :

Chennai Super Kings - http://www.chennaisuperkings.com

Mumbai Indians - http://www.mumbaiindians.com/

Royal Challengers Bangalore - http://www.royalchallengers.com/

Kolkata Knight Riders -http://www.kkr.in/

Kings XI Punjab -http://www.kxip.in/

Delhi Daredevils -http://delhidaredevils.co.in/

Rajasthan Royals -http://www.rajasthanroyals.com/

Deccan Chargers -http://www.deccanchargers.com/

The two new teams that were added in IPL-4:

Pune Warriors India -http://www.punewarriorsindia.com/

Kochi Tuskers Kerala - http://www.kochituskerskerala.com/

[Cricket] Watch IPL matches Live on Youtube for Free

2011-05-19T14:15:00.001+05:30

For all cricket crazy fans of the world,you can now watch live streaming of IPL matches on Youtube for free.

IPL internet rights was bagged by Times Internet. Catch up the live streaming and highlights on

http://www.youtube.com/indiatimes

http://ipl.indiatimes.com/

Past full IPL matches and highlights can also be seen.

[Exam Results] CBSE Class 10 and 12 Results on May 20,23 2011

2011-05-19T13:30:00.000+05:30

The tentative date for Class X CBSE Results to be released is May 20,2011.

This year Class X results will be announced on a 9-point scale. One can know the approximate percentage got by multiplying the grade point by 9.5 .

Class XII results is expected to come on May 23,2011.

Here are some sites to check your results:

http://cbse.examresults.net/

http://cbseresults.nic.in/

All the best!

[Movie Bluffs] Is Paranormal Activity based on true story?

2011-05-18T18:56:00.000+05:30

In short,No.

Paranormal Activity is not based on a true story, although in the movie it is portrayed as a real incident. The movie is mainly portrayed as based on "real video recordings".

Movies like Paranormal Activity,which is portrayed as based on real video recordings is of a separate genre of movies called "Found Footage". Here, movies are produced with less amount of actors, and the videos are recorded by one of the actors itself. To provide an impression that videos are real recordings, shaky camera effects are used.

The movie "Paranormal Activity" was a phenomenal success, and one of the best profitable movies ever made based on return of investment. The movie was produced with a budget of 15,000 $ and the grossed revenue over 190,000,000 $.

Links to check Tamil Nadu HSC 12th Results - 2011

2011-05-09T09:39:00.001+05:30

Following are the various links available to check the 12th TN Results which was released today (May 9th,2011).

http://tnresults.nic.in/

http://results.nic.in/

http://www.dge1.tn.nic.in/

http://dge2.tn.nic.in

http://www.pallikalvi.in/

http://squarebrothers.com/

http://results.sify.com

http://www.madrastimes.com/

http://www.indiacollegefinder.org/

http://www.maalaimalar.com/

http://kalvimalar.dinamalar.com

http://www.webulagam.com

http://www.collegesintamilnadu.com/

All the best!

More Relevant ads in Gmail

2011-04-04T11:54:00.000+05:30

Good news for Gmail users!

Google has decided to provide more relevant and useful ads in Gmail based on the mails that are read by the users using tools similar to Bacn. It does not mean 'spams',but a mail that is not important right now.Google has already used this feature in Priority Inbox.

Google has already cut down the number of ads in Gmail by more than a third.

Way to go Google!

Fake Wikileaks by The News, Daily Mail Post, The Nation against India

2010-12-11T12:59:00.003+05:30

Amidst all the commotions and confusions, news from fake wikileaks about India was published by leading Pakistan newspapers like "The News","Daily Mail Post","The Nation" and others.

Links to the news from fake wikileaks:

Image credit : Cafe Pyala

The News : Enough evidence of Indian involvement in Balochistan, Waziristan

Daily Mail Post : Wikileaks: India interfering in Waziristian

The Nation : Wikileaks terms Former Indian Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor as a geek

It is strange that how such newspaper agencies could carry on such a news without even slight verification.

Media reaction to the "fake news" published:

Here is Guardian's news about the fake news published by some of the leading Pakistan's newspapers.

An extensive search of the WikiLeaks database by the Guardian by date, name and keyword failed to locate any of the incendiary allegations. It suggests this is the first case of WikiLeaks being exploited for propaganda purposes.

Guardian : Pakistani media publish fake WikiLeaks cables attacking India

Blogger Cafe Pyala : Leaking Away (Updated)

Pakistani Media apologize for publishing "fake news" :

The News : News agency fails to confirm source of WikiLeaks disclosure

The story was released by the Islamabad-based Online news agency and was run by The News and Daily Jang with the confidence that it was a genuine report and must have been vetted before release. However, several inquiries suggest that this was not the case.

Media Responses :

Reuters : Pakistani papers retract WikiLeaks story on India

Times of India : Pakistan papers apologise after running anti-India fake WikiLeaks cables

Although the release of confidential information by Wikileaks may be a debatable one, release of fake news without any sort of verfication using Wikileaks name is totally unacceptable. This totally defeats the idea of Wikileaks.

About Wikileaks :

From Wikileaks,
WikiLeaks is a not-for-profit media organisation. Our goal is to bring important news and information to the public.

Publishing improves transparency, and this transparency creates a better society for all people. Better scrutiny leads to reduced corruption and stronger democracies in all society's institutions, including government, corporations and other organisations. A healthy, vibrant and inquisitive journalistic media plays a vital role in achieving these goals. We are part of that media.

We assess all news stories and test their veracity.Typically we will do a forensic analysis of the document, determine the cost of forgery, means, motive, opportunity, the claims of the apparent authoring organisation, and answer a set of other detailed questions about the document. We may also seek external verification of the document.Most of all, we want readers know the truth so they can make up their own minds.

The release of the fake news is totally against the main objective of Wikileaks. This has been done mainly to influence the general public and instigate tensions between the two classes.

Giveawayoftheday.com (GOTD) domain expired? [Issue solved]

2010-11-01T18:56:00.002+05:30

Update: This problem should now be over. In case, you still encounter the parking page, using a proxy to visit the site may help.

Today when I went to check my favorite website GOTD,I saw the following stating that the domain has expired.

I certainly knew that there was just no way that the domain would have been left to expire. After a little bit of digging around,I saw an update about this issue on GOTD's official blog (blog.giveawayoftheday.com) in the google search results. But,clicking on the link only led me to the above parking page.

The cached page of the GOTD's blog gave the reason.There was some problem with the auto-renew of GOTD domain.The domain has been successfully renewed now but, would take some time to access.

November 1, 2010
GOTD is expired?..

Hello everybody,

we are aware of the situation with Giveaway of the Day site and are sorry for the inconvenience. Our domain record domain was supposed to auto-renew but failed for some reasons that have yet to be investigated.

Let us assure you that domain has successfully been renewed, still the system needs time to get the site back to proper work.

For those users who still experience problems with access to GOTD, please stay on-line or try to reach us in several hours. We will finally be back! :)

Have a nice day!
GOTD project team

That is another lesson well learnt for webmasters.Even if you use auto-renew,be sure to check the status of it few days before it expires.

Free Advanced SystemCare PRO license on May 17,18,19

2010-05-15T20:01:00.001+05:30

Advanced SystemCare is celebrating its 5th birthday,and free PRO license will be given on May 17th-19th.

The free license giveaway will be available only for 72 hours,and the free PRO license of Advanced SystemCare can be got at,

http://db.iobit.com/license-free/asc-free-license.php

Normal Price : $29.95
On May 17,18,19 : $0

"Without Internet users' recommendations and spreading words, we cannot achieve today's popularity and success. Now Advanced SystemCare is celebrating its 5th anniversary, and we want to thank Internet users by giving away some PRO licenses for free," says Hugo Dong, president of IObit.

Advanced SystemCare PRO is one of the best software for maintaining Windows,and you can read my past review of Advanced System Care here,where I had given it a perfect 10 star rating.This is a must have handy utility for all.

So,don't miss this free giveaway! Thanks to IObit!

After a long absence....

2010-03-07T08:51:00.000+05:30

It has been a year,since I wrote the post - Why do blogs die? Although,I would never leave this blog,those were the reasons for my temporary absence,along with my main work-studies.Sorry,I couldn't reply to many of your mails.

Oh my God,so much has been changed in the last 3 months.The first major thing I noticed was Entrcard changed their market,and they have allowed trading EC credits.This update was released along with few others,which you can read here - Several changes with Entrecard.

Another thing which want to tell is,many were pessimistic about the paypal offer which was my last post.I did get my money on my paypal account on January as they promised.

The next I am planning to do is,a bit of customizing my blog,and my new forum.If any of you have any topics which you want me to write,feel free to tell about it in the comments.

PayPal wishlist promo offer on Facebook

2009-12-06T00:49:00.004+05:30

PayPal has created a facebook application called wishlist,where people can share what they would like to get.Each person who adds this application to facebook will earn 1$,and another 1$ for each friend he refers,up to a maximum of 100$.

This promotional offer is only for people in India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Singapore or Vietnam,only till Dec 31st,2009.

Register in Facebook,if you don't have an account already.If you hadn't heard about it earlier,Facebook is similar to orkut.
Register for a free paypal account.Click "Sign up Today",and select any one of the plans-Personal/Premier/Business.You must give a valid,authentic address.No need to give any credit card information.
Add PayPal wishlist application to facebook,and choose any 5 items which you would like to have.
Save,Share the wishlist and invite your friends.
Add your paypal email address at the top left corner of the application page,so that they can credit the amount to your account.

Once you have added the application,you will see that you have earned 1$.Your PayPal account will not be credited instantly.All the earnings will be sent to your account on or before February 28th,2010.

Win32:Delf-MZG [Trj] - False Positive from Avast!

2009-12-03T11:08:00.008+05:30

Update:

Win32:Delf-MZG false positive was fixed in the latest VPS - 091203-1.It is recommended to update Avast! now.

If you are using Avast!,you will probably receive a number of detections from Avast! telling you that there is a malware(Win32:Delf-MZG [Trj]).This problem was encountered today,a couple of hours ago.

This is encountered in programs such as

Skype,
Spybot,
SpyBot Search and Destroy,
Spysweeper,
Mamutu,
SpywareDoctor,
MailWasher Pro,
Wordweb,
KMPlayer,
EditPad Lite and many other programs.

Apparently this is a false positive,and it is recommended that you do not take any action.It seems there was a bug in the recent update of Avast!

If you had run a full scan or deleted anything,

Stop Schedule Boot Scan.Some users have also complained that Windows is not stable after the boot scan.
Do not restart your computer as it might try to delete some files which it couldn't delete instantly.

If you had deleted any file after the warning,it is recommended that you reinstall the application.

Currently,the Avast! support forum is over flowing with this issue.No need to panic.~~It is highly recommended not to run Avast! till this issue is resolved.~~This issue has now been fixed in the latest update.

Tips for Starting a Forum

2009-11-28T20:31:00.000+05:30

I am currently trying out the new forum which I have created - http://forums.computerandnet.com.So,I thought of publishing a post which includes what all I did from scratch to get the forum running.My forum uses SMF-Simple Machines as the forum software which is free,and the version I am using is 1.10.Recently,version 2 was released and the new features in version 2 includes WYSIWYG - What You See Is What You Get.

1.Choosing the forum software:
Forums needs a software like SMF/MyBB/vBulletin etc to work.If you are thinking of starting a new forum you must first know about the features each forum software possess and the price-whether its a shareware or a free software.Wikipedia has an excellent list of all comparisons between all the popular forum softwares,both free and paid- Comparisons between all popular forum softwares(PHP).

Visiting the above link will give you a rough idea of which forum software to use.

2.Choosing the forum theme:
After you have chosen which forum software to use,the next thing to do is choosing the right forum theme.This is really important, as within a few seconds of visiting the forum a guest reader would have made the decision about the quality of the forum,and whether he/she will register or not.While choosing the theme of your forum,also keep in mind the subject which the forum will be upon.Avoid themes which takes a lot of time to load,and those which are striking the eye.It is recommended to have a theme which has a pleasing look.

There are a number of free forum themes available which you can google it.Most of the forum softwares allows the user to select any theme they like(if the Administrator allows).Using this feature,you can preview all themes easily,and will help you to select your theme of choice.

3.Facts that you must know:
Before you start your forum,there are a few facts that you must be aware of.I am not telling these to discourage you from starting a forum,but to ask you be prepared of what you will face.

Initially,it will be really hard to make people join your forum.One,the forum is new and doesn't have lots of threads/members.Two,they might already be a member of another popular forum.Three,even among the members who have joined,most will be idle with 0 posts.
Most of the time,it will appear that you are talking to yourself.It will be the time when even a spam post might bring you some joy.
It is not easy to monetize a forum.Forums just have the lowest click throughs.(If you don't believe,this was stated by one of the most popular forum owner)
Until you make your forum popular,you will be spending more time and earning less money.Patience and hard work are really important.
You must make at least enough money to cover the bandwidth charges.

4.How to Overcome the initial hurdles:

Even though I have stated that the above are all facts,it is not impossible to overcome them.Here I will suggest you some tips to overcome the above said hurdles.

Organize a posting competition/referral competition,with some attractive prizes.Remember that attractiveness of the prize is more important than its price.
Since,forums have low click throughs,try affiliate products.Test and find out which works for you.
Whatever each member posts,read it and make a useful reply.
Ask your friends to join the forum,and take part in discussions about what you normally speak with each other.
Avoid sending too much emails during registration process,unless its necessary.
Ask for suggestions from members,and if its good acknowledge and implement them.

Good luck! If you have any more tips to add,feel free to post them in the comments.

By the way,my forum is still in testing phase and will open next year.Do check the forum out,and send me suggestions you think of.

Make free calls from PC to Phone

2009-11-19T20:48:00.003+05:30

I have heard many people ask if it is possible to make calls from PC to phone for free.In short,the answer is yes,it is possible.You don't even need to register in a site for that.

There is free directory service which offers 5 free minutes per call and you can call to anywhere around the world.After the 5 free minutes,the call be cut.You can use this service even multiple times per day.Although this free directory service is in US,the method I am telling you here will help you make free calls from anywhere around the world to anywhere around the world.

To utilize this free service you will need skype,which you can download for free here.
Add +18003733411 to your contacts.This is the toll free directory service.
Make a call to this number.Listen carefully to what it says.You will hear an ad(about the service etc) and will ask which one would you like.Tell "Free Calls".
Sometimes,you may hear an ad which would ask you to press "*" to activate a service.It is advised that you don't press anything,unless you know what you are activating.
After the ad,it will ask you to dial the number.
Now,dial the number along with the country code.
Enjoy the free 5 minute call!

This service is purely sponsored by the advertisements and you won't be charged anything.If the service is be busy,try again after a few minutes.If you have any doubts,feel free to ask in the comments.

Firefox celebrates its 5th birthday :)

2009-11-09T17:04:00.003+05:30

Today,November 9th 2009, marked the 5th birthday of Firefox.It has been 5 years,since Firefox 1.0 was launched on Nov 9th,2004.It has been a huge success - from 1 million downloads in the first 4 days of release, to 330 million users till now.Firefox revolutionized the internet with its customizable,community created add-ons.At present it has 7,000 add-ons which makes our browsing a lot more easier.

To mark its 5th birthday,Mozilla communities are hosting parties all over the world in a special campaign called "Light the world with Firefox".To join the fun,all you have to do is,be creative,and post a photo/video of it in Flickr with tag 'Firefox5'.For more info,go to Spread Firefox.

There is also a design contest going on,to celebrate this special occasion.Create a celebratory poster design that is about Firefox,and its 5th birthday,and the winning design will be highlighted on Creative Collective Home page and Mozilla blog.

Good luck!

Rapidshare Auto Download with Skipscreen

2009-10-29T20:29:00.003+05:30

There are many instances when we need to download files from free file sharing networks like Rapidshare,DepositFiles and other file sharing networks.Most people don't use a premium account,and one of the main problems with free downloading is the waiting time.

Most of the times the time will be 1-2 minutes,and so we start browsing during that time,and we completely forget about the download.By the time we remember about the download,the download ticket would have expired.Sounds familiar?Now, we need to wait for another 2 minutes to download the file.

How cool will it be if all this process are all fully automated?It will be a great boon for all downloaders! And it is completely free.

This is actually a Firefox add-on that completely automates this process .i.e. the moment you click a download link it will take care of everything.It will automatically choose "Free User",and wait for the required time.When the waiting time gets over,it will automatically click the download button,and the download window will appear.

So,no need to wait cautiously for 2 minutes to download a file,and we can concentrate in our own work.No need to be always thinking about how much waiting time has been over.

Sometimes,Rapidshare users will get a message that the free slots is currently full,and that they need to wait for 2 minutes to try again.In such a case,SkipScreen will automatically wait for 2 minutes before trying again.

Using this completely free utility,no more pain of watching over the waiting time,as SkipScreen does all the clicking for you!

SkipScreen currently supports Rapidshare,Mediafire,DepositFiles,HotFiles,SendSpace,link bucks,link protector,Uploaded.to and other such sites.Currently,Megaupload is not available and it is being worked on.

Download SkipScreen Add-on for Firefox

bX-59cppw or bX-9d2teg error on blogger

2009-10-23T13:18:00.002+05:30

Today(23.10.09) when I tried to access my site,there was an error message:

We're sorry, but we were unable to complete your request.
When reporting this error to Blogger Support or on the Blogger Help Group, please:

* Describe what you were doing when you got this error.
* Provide the following error code and additional information.

bX-59cppw (or bX-9d2teg)

I have seen this kind of warning messages only when there was an error in the blogger template.Quite puzzled,I tried to access my other site,which was also hosted on blogger,only to receive the same error message.Initially I thought this was something to do with my registrar,NameCheap,since they had sent me a mail stating that there will be a scheduled maintenance on 23rd and 24th.But,it looks like this error was due to some bug in blogger,and no blogs hosted on blogger was accessible to anyone.Even Blogger dashboard wasn't accessible(bX-9d2teg error)

The Blogger team on twitter notified that they were currently working on it:

"We're investigating an outage on blogger.com. Thanks for your patience as we work to resolve this."

We'll try to correct this as soon as possible. Thanks,

Gatsby
The Blogger Team

This outage on blogger was from 11:45 IST (or 11:15 PDT) to 1:15 IST.
Although almost all the blogs on blogger were affected,there were also a few blogs which worked without a problem during the outage.

What Firefox add-ons do you use?

2009-10-22T19:16:00.007+05:30

Hi guys,its been a long time since I last posted here.My humble apologies.I will be making some slight changes to this website this week.If you have some suggestion,then please do tell us.My next post will be about Top ten must have add-ons for Firefox.

If you are using Mozilla,what add-ons are you using?

Many people recommend Mozilla Firefox because of its useful add-ons.
I think many of you know about Firefox add-ons(You can install/enable/disable/uninstall the add-ons by going to Tools -> Add-ons).These add-ons which are quite small in size,provide powerful functionality.Till date,about 170,948,725 add-ons are in use.These add ons are mostly created by the users and although many of the add-ons provide similar or same functionality,some add-ons are really helpful and makes our job lot easier.But,be careful when using very new add-ons as it may even compromise your system.

Share the Firefox add-ons which you are using that really impressed you.

Software Review:WinX Free Video Converter

2009-08-03T21:28:00.010+05:30

Application Name: WinX Free Video Converter

Type: Freeware

Price:

Lite version : 0$
Platinum version : 14.95$

Website:WinX DVD

Version: 4.0.5 (Latest,as on 4.08.2009)

Size: 6.40 MB

Compatibility:

Microsoft Windows 98, NT, 2000,2003, XP, Vista, Windows 7

Description and Advantages:

WinX Free Video Converter is useful for converting videos between different formats like AVI,WMV,FLV,MOV,MP4,MPEG without any limitations.This software comes in two versions,one is the basic lite version,which is a freeware and the other is the platinum version with a bit more options available.

It's features includes

Ability to increase/decrease the sound.This might be very helpful in case of those videos having very less volume.
Ability to resize.
You can adjust the audio quality and video frame rate according to your requirements.
Ability to turn off your computer when done.
No limitations on number of usages/length of the video.
Extract audio in the form of mp3.
It has the provision to convert the entire video or only a portion of the video based on time.
Nearly maintains the quality of the video.
Supports batch conversion.

Disadvantages:

The size of the video increases during each conversion.
I would have liked to have a simpler user interface which is more easier.

Apart from the above functions,the Platinum version also supports iPhone,iPod,PSP,3gp,Apple TV.

Screen shots:

Download:

WinX Free Video Converter can be downloaded from here.

Author's Rating: 9.3/10

Software Review: VisualCron(Advanced Task Scheduler)

2009-07-26T18:23:00.007+05:30

Application Name: VisualCron

Type: Shareware

Trial version has full functionality for 45 days.

Price:

Business license: 197 $ (For single server,includes maintenance and support for 1 year)
Private license: 117 $ (Includes maintenance and support for 1 year)

Free minor updates,have to buy maintenance packs(1 year-47 $ per server or 297 $ per site) for major upgrades(version 4 to 5,etc)

Website:VisualCron

Version: 5.1.6 (Latest,as on 26.07.2009)

Size: 27.4 MB

Compatibility:

Microsoft Windows 2000/2003/2008/Vista/7
Supports 32 bit and 64 bit processors

Description and Advantages:

VisualCron is an advanced task scheduler/automation tool designed specially for Windows.It can be used to automate tasks with the help of a trigger,which may be based on time or system events.These system events may be change in service status/when a process starts or ends/when a registry changes and so on.VisualCron will mainly find its use in business and they are also willing to develop any custom Task,functionality/feature,console application based on request for a price.

VisualCron has lots of features like

Unlimited number of clients can connect to one server.
Ability to view current status and next run.
Supports many languages.
Ability to control anything in the Server programmatically.
Perform uploads/downloads against common protocols as FTP/FTPS/SFTP/SSH/HTTP.
Print documents and encrypt/decrypt files.
Drag and drop tasks between servers.
Dynamic variables can be used to report result to a file/log or even by email.
User manager - control access and permissions of the internal VisualCron users
Ability to execute commands locally and remotely.
Ability to exclude certain days like holidays.

Other features can be found here.

Disadvantages:

Private users may find the price high.

Screen shot:

Download:

VisualCron can be downloaded from here.

Author's Rating:9/10

Support:

Forums/email/skype/screen sharing.They operate from Sweden and can also be contacted through phone depending on mutual convenience.

Free support is available through forums.It's worth a look for all who are looking for a task scheduler with multiple features.