NAVEEN KUMAR

Windows 8 hardware makes its debut with Samsung Omnia W i8350

2012-09-04T08:45:00.001+05:30

The first glimpses of the much-awaited mobile devices based on Windows 8 operating system have started doing the rounds on technology forums and blogs.

Samsung Electronics launched the world's first smartphone using Microsoft's latest mobile software Windows Phone 8 at an event at IFA Berlin, only days after losing a crucial patent battle with Apple.
The surprise announcement came a week before Nokia, which has a close partnership with Microsoft, is due to unveil its new Lumia smartphones in New York.

Samsung ATIV S has a 1.5GHz dual-core processor and HSPA+42 connectivity. The smartphone features a 4.8-inch HD Super AMOLED display.

India is one of the first markets to get the Omnia W, highlighting Samsung's commitment to our subcontinent. The phone itself is quite unassuming when switched off - just plain black, all-business and mostly plastic except for the back cover, which is brushed metal.

Phone has stunning look which attract a lot, its dimension of the body is 115.6 x 58.8 x 10.9 mm and has
light weight of 115.3 grams and 1.4 Ghz processor and 512MB RAM and comes with 8 GB internal memory and expandable memory up to 32GB.

The phone has a 3.7-inch super amoled display. The screen offers fantastic colours, contrast and brightness and will easily outclass most other smartphone screens.

Samsung has included some apps to get you started - FunShot and Photo Studio for camera effects, Daily Briefing for news and weather updates and AllShare for DLNA multimedia sharing.

Phone comes with various type of connectivity features, in 3G phone is capable to access high speed internet, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth with A2DP, microUSB v2.0, GPRS and EDGE.

The phone is inbuilt with Digital compass, Microsoft office document viewer/editor, GPS with Bing Map, HTML Browser, Email, Push Email, IM, Organizer and many more features.

Source : http://www.siliconindia.com/gadget/news/Samsung-Unveils-Latest-Windows-Phone-nid-94157.html

10 Good Ways to 'Tell Me About Yourself'

2012-09-03T16:33:00.000+05:30

The medium is the message. The interviewer cares less about your answer to this question and more about the confidence, enthusiasm and passion with which you answer it.

The speed of the response is the response. The biggest mistake you could make is pausing, stalling or fumbling at the onset of your answer, thus demonstrating a lack of self-awareness and self-esteem.
Next time you’re faced with the dreaded, “Tell me about yourself…” question, try these:

“I can summarize who I am in three words.” Grabs their attention immediately. Demonstrates your ability to be concise, creative and compelling.
“The quotation I live my life by is…” Proves that personal development is an essential part of your growth plan. Also shows your ability to motivate yourself.
“My personal philosophy is…” Companies hire athletes – not shortstops. This line indicates your position as a thinker, not just an employee.
“People who know me best say that I’m…” This response offers insight into your own level of self-awareness.
“Well, I googled myself this morning, and here’s what I found…” Tech-savvy, fun, cool people would say this. Unexpected and memorable.
“My passion is…” People don’t care what you do – people care who you are. And what you’re passionate about is who you are. Plus, passion unearths enthusiasm.
“When I was seven years old, I always wanted to be…” An answer like this shows that you’ve been preparing for this job your whole life, not just the night before.
“If Hollywood made a move about my life, it would be called…” Engaging, interesting and entertaining.
“Can I show you, instead of tell you?” Then, pull something out of your pocket that represents who you are. Who could resist this answer? Who could forget this answer?
“The compliment people give me most frequently is…” Almost like a testimonial, this response also indicates self-awareness and openness to feedback.

Keep in mind that these examples are just the opener. The secret is thinking how you will follow up each answer with relevant, interesting and concise explanations that make the already bored interviewer look up from his stale coffee and think, “Wow! That’s the best answer I’ve heard all day!”
Ultimately it’s about answering quickly, it’s about speaking creatively and it’s about breaking people’s patterns.

I understand your fear with such answers. Responses like these are risky, unexpected and unorthodox. And that’s exactly why they work.
Otherwise you become (yet another) non-entity in the gray mass of blah, blah, blah.
You’re hireable because of your answers. When people ask you to tell them about yourself, make them glad they asked.
Let me ask you this: How much time did you dedicate this week to becoming more interesting?

Source : http://www.theladders.com/career-advice/10-good-ways-to-tell-me-about-yourself

What Is Overclocking, And How It Can Help Your PC, Tablet, & Phone

2012-09-03T01:09:00.000+05:30

Whenever you buy a piece of hardware, you are the owner of that hardware. No matter what people or corporations try to do to lock in your device, it is still yours, and therefore you can do whatever you want with it. Provided that you have hardware from a manufacturer who understands those principles, you can do plenty to juice up your system, whether it be a computer, tablet, or smartphone.

One of the best things you can do — with appropriate hardware, firmware, and/or software — is to speed up your system by overclocking it.

What Is Overclocking?

Simply put, overclocking is the process of tweaking system settings so that your system (or at least components in your system) is running faster than the manufacturer set. Most commonly, people overclock their CPUs and possibly their RAM. For CPUs, this is achieved in a number of different ways.

First, each CPU core has something called a “front side bus speed’. This is the base, external frequency which all of your motherboard components runs on. The CPU uses a multiplier for its internal frequency, so that it can have accurate timings with the rest of the system. These are usually the two things — more the multiplier than the front side bus speed — which users change to overclock their CPU. To aid with the CPU’s increased need for electricity when it’s running at a higher frequency, the voltage usually needs to be increased a little bit as well for the CPU to run stably under the new frequency.

When it comes to overclocking the RAM, usually the voltage needs to be increased to automatically gain a higher memory frequency. Again, this can be done only so much before the RAM becomes unstable and your computer doesn’t run. Changes for the CPU and RAM are usually done in the BIOS, although extreme-edition hardware will usually come with capable software as well.

Users also overclock their graphics cards whenever possible to get the best gaming experiences. Graphics cards have two parts, the core frequency and the memory frequency. With higher-end graphics cards, the software should allow you to do this fairly easily.

Benefits of Overclocking

Before you make the decision to overclock, you need to be aware of what benefits as well as consequences it has. As far as benefits are concerned, you’ll see a nice improvement in performance. Things should be running faster, smoother, etc. Of course, if you’re running something which requires heavy use of a certain component, you’ll experience a bottleneck and no increase in performance if you don’t overclock the component which is giving you the bottleneck.

Consequences of Overclocking

However, that’s where the benefits list already ends. The main point of overclocking is to gain extra performance, but it comes at a price if you’re willing to pay it. For example, overclocking is an art where settings have to be carefully chosen for the system to run stably. While attempting to overclock, you may find your system to be unstable, making it restart or show BSOD often. Your overclocked components will also generate more heat, so it’s vital that you make sure that your cooling solution — whether air or water — is sufficient to transport the heat. Also be aware that because of the extra stress and heat which the component has to go through when overclocked, the life of that component, before it breaks or fails in any sort of way, will be reduced. Also, it’s most likely that you’ll be voiding any warranties you may have on the components which you overclock.

Conclusion

In the end, it really depends on your needs — or wants — on whether you should actually overclock. If you run mission critical applications, then most likely not, so as to maintain the longevity of the system. If you’re a casual user, then I suggest not to overclock simply because it’s recommended for people who have plenty of experience with computers. If you’re a gamer, then you’ll most likely want to overclock because it gives you the added performance for something that isn’t considered mission-critical. When it comes to smartphones and tablets, it really depends on whether you actually need the extra performance, as you’ll be using up more of your battery. Just remember that you’ll need to root your device to achieve that, and that you set your CPU governor settings appropriately for maximum battery life.

Source: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/what-is-overclocking-and-how-it-can-help-your-pc-tablet-and-phone-makeuseof-explains/

What Is A Processor Core?

2012-09-03T00:51:00.003+05:30

Every computer has a Processor, whether it’s a small efficiency processor or a large performance powerhouse, or else it wouldn’t be able to function. Of course, the processor, also called the CPU or Central Processing Unit, is an important part of a functioning system, but it isn’t the only one.
Today’s processors are almost all at least dual-core, meaning that the entire processor itself contains two separate cores with which it can process information. But what are processor cores, and what exactly do they do?

What Are Cores?

A processor core is a processing unit which reads in instructions to perform specific actions. Instructions are chained together so that, when run in real time, they make up your computer experience. Literally everything you do on your computer has to be processed by your processor. Whenever you open a folder, that requires your processor. When you type into a word document, that also requires your processor. Things like drawing the desktop environment, the windows, and game graphics are the job of your graphics card — which contains hundreds of processors to quickly work on data simultaneously — but to some extent they still require your processor as well.

How They Work

The designs of processors are extremely complex and vary widely between companies and even models. Their architectures — currently “Ivy Bridge” for Intel and “Piledriver” for AMD — are constantly being improved to pack in the most amount of performance in the least amount of space and energy consumption. But despite all the architectural differences, processors go through four main steps whenever they process instructions: fetch, decode, execute, and writeback.

Fetch

The fetch step is what you expect it to be. Here, the processor core retrieves instructions that are waiting for it, usually from some sort of memory. This could include RAM, but in modern processor cores, the instructions are usually already waiting for the core inside the processor cache. The processor has an area called the program counter which essentially acts as a bookmark, letting the processor know where the last instruction ended and the next one begins.

Decode

Once it has fetched the immediate instruction, it goes on to decode it. Instructions often involve multiple areas of the processor core — such as arithmetic — and the processor core needs to figure this out. Each part has something called an opcode which tells the processor core what should be done with the information that follows it. Once the processor core has figured this all out, the different areas of the core itself can get to work.

Execute

The execute step is where the processor knows what it needs to do, and actually goes ahead and does it. What exactly happens here varies greatly depending on which areas of the processor core are being used and what information is put in. As an example, the processor can do arithmetic inside the ALU, or Arithmetic Logic Unit. This unit can connect to different inputs and outputs to crunch numbers and get the desired result. The circuitry inside the ALU does all the magic, and it’s quite complex to explain, so I’ll leave that for your own research if you’re interested.

Writeback

The final step, called writeback, simple places the result of what’s been worked on back into memory. Where exactly the output goes depends on the needs of the running application, but it often stays in processor registers for quick access as the following instructions often use it. From there, it’ll get taken care of until parts of that output need to be processed once again, which can mean that it goes into the RAM.

It’s Just One Cycle

This entire process is called an instruction cycle. These instruction cycles happen ridiculously fast, especially now that we have powerful processors with high frequencies. Additionally, our entire CPU with its multiple cores does this on every core, so data can be crunched roughly as many times faster as your CPU has cores than if it were stuck with only one core of similar performance. CPUs also have optimized instruction sets hardwired into the circuitry which can speed up familiar instructions sent to them. A popular example is SSE.

Conclusion

Don’t forget that this is a very simple description of what processors to — in reality they are far more complex and do a lot more than we realize. The current trend is that processor manufacturers are trying to make their chips as efficient as possible, and that includes shrinking the transistors. Ivy Bridge‘s transistors are a mere 22nm, and there’s still a bit to go before researchers encounter a physical limit. Imagine all this processing occurring in such a small space. We’ll see how processors improve once we get that far.

Where do you think processors will go next? When do you expect to see quantum processors, especially in personal markets? Let us know in the comments!

Source : http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/processor-core-makeuseof-explains-2/

Dynamic View in Blogger

2012-09-02T22:55:00.000+05:30

Blogger now offers seven new ways to experience your favorite blogs.

Classic: A modern twist on a traditional template
Flipcard: Photos tiled across the page
Magazine: A clean, elegant editorial style layout
Mosaic: A mosaic mix of different sized images and text
Sidebar: An email inbox-like view with a reading page for quick scrolling and browsing
Snapshot: An interactive pinboard of your posts
Timeslide: A horizontal view of your posts by time period

Dynamic Views make it easier to read your favorite blogs. Better yet, they make it easy to discover posts written long ago that you may not have read.
Blog authors can now configure their blog to display Dynamic Views, and select a default view that best displays the type of posts on their blog. To experience a blog in view other than the default, you can simply select another view style from the toolbar, which, in some views, collapses into a thin line as you scroll. For the toolbar to reappear, simply hover your mouse over the line.
If the blog you’re reading has Pages enabled, the options will appear in a drop-down menu like the one in the image below.
If the author uses a traditional Blogger template, you can still explore the blog using Dynamic Views by adding “/view/” and then the view name to the URL. For example, to view buzz.blogger.com in the Mosaic view, simply change the URL in the address bar to buzz.blogger.com/view/mosaic.
Since Dynamic Views uses the latest software technology, they require the latest version of the most popular browsers, such as Internet Explorer 8+, Firefox 3.5+, Chrome or Safari. In all views, search is available in the upper right hand corner.

Classic

Infinite scrolling replaces the “Older posts” link.
Use keyboard shortcuts to quickly jump between posts. You can navigate through the posts using J (older post) and K (newer post) or the arrow keys.
Posts will continue to load as you scroll.

Flipcard

Run your mouse over any of the cards to see the post title and comment count. As you scroll down, additional posts will continue to load.
Click on a card to see the post in full view. You can navigate through the posts using J (older post) and K (newer post) or the arrow keys.
Hit escape or click Back to all posts to return to the Flipcard view. In the upper left, click to sort by Recent, Date, Author and Category.

Magazine

Run your mouse over the top (most recent) blog to show highlighting and comments bubble animation.
Select “X” to close and return to the default view.

Mosaic

Clicking on an individual tile will expand that post to the full width of the view, and clicking again will collapse the post back into its original position.
The exact position of the tiles is randomly determined each time the blog loads, but they will appear chronologically from top left to bottom right.
Once a tile is expanded, you can page down by using the "up" and "down" arrow keys as well as J and K.
This view is optimized for the tablet viewing, and supports screen rotation.

Sidebar

Left sidebar is list of chronological posts, with comment counts and thumbnails for individual posts.
J and K arrow keys will navigate through the posts.

Snapshot

This view will display only the posts which have images.
Clicking through any photo will display the full post page, with navigation links at the bottom for Newer and Older posts.
Run your mouse over any photo to display a post snippet.

Timeslide

This view breaks the blog content down into three different areas:
- Left column: Enlarged picture with a post snippet, title, and snipppet displayed in chronological order
- Middle column: Displays just the post title and snippet
- Right column: Displays just the individual post titles
When searching for posts in this view, the results will be highlighted.

Blogger now offers you the ability to present your content in several new and exciting ways.

To configure your blog with Dynamic Views, click on the Template tab. In the Template Designer, select a default view for your blog from one of the seven available views. Note that by choosing a default view, your readers will still have the option to select another view if they have a preference. Setting a default view simply establishes which Dynamic View your blog will display when a reader visits it.

If you have customized your blog and wish to experiment with Dynamic Views, you can rest assured that your gadgets and other custom settings are preserved and will be restored if you switch back to a traditional template. If you'd like to revert to your previous template with all the layout customizations intact, just click "Revert to previous template." Choosing a new template when going back to the traditional look will not preserve the customizations you've made to your layout, so we suggest making a backup of your traditional template by going to Template, and clicking on "Backup/Restore." If you're using the old user interface, you can find this option under Design | Edit HTML.

If you have Pages enabled, the alternative views can be found in a drop-down menu like the one in the image below.

Dynamic Views will work on your blog if the following are true:

Your blog is public. Your readers don’t need to sign in to view your blog.
Your blog has feeds fully enabled. In the Settings | Other tab, you have chosen "Full" for Allow Blog Feed. If you're using our old interface, you can find the option under Settings | Site feed.

Dynamic
Views will continue to support any AdSense ads that you have hosted on your blog. Google have optimized all seven views for the “leaderboard” (header) and “skyscraper” (sidebar) style ads.

Source: support.google.com/blogger/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1229061

An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments with Truth by M.K. Gandhi

2012-09-02T22:36:00.000+05:30

"God is truth. The way to truth lies through ahimsa (non-violence)"—Sabarmati 13 March 1927

I was never an avid follower of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, his principle and theories but after reading his autobiography i got to know why he is the most revered eminent personality of world. The autobiography gives an true picture of India's preeminent leader of Indian nationalism in British-ruled India.

First published in 1927, Gandhi’s autobiography is a classic of modern Indian literature. This abridged edition for young readers will allow a new generation to read and find inspiration in it. In 1999, the book was designated as one of the "100 Best Spiritual Books of the 20th Century" by a committee of global spiritual and religious authorities.

‘It is not my purpose to attempt a real autobiography. I simply want to tell the story of my numerous experiments with truth, and as my life consists of nothing but those experiments, it is true that the story will take the shape of an autobiography.’
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, one of the greatest men to walk this earth, begins the story of his life with descriptions of his childhood in Porbandar and Rajkot in Gujarat, his school days, his early marriage, the lessons he learnt when he tried stealing, told lies and smoked cigarettes, and his unshakable devotion to his parents. He then tells us of his journey abroad, first to England and then to South Africa, and narrates in simple, lucid language his transformation from a shy, diffident young man with a chronic fear of public speaking to a fearless lawyer and leader of men who took on the might of the British empire.

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was a thinker, politician and leader. He shaped India`s national movement and led India to independence in 1947. Time magazine named Gandhi the Man of the Year in 1930. Gandhi was also the runner-up to Albert Einstein as "Person of the Century" at the end of 1999. The Government of India awards the annual Gandhi Peace Prize to distinguished social workers, world leaders and citizens. In 2011, Time magazine named Gandhi as one of the top 25 political icons of all time.

Gandhi did not receive the Nobel Peace Prize, although he was nominated five times between 1937 and 1948, including the first-ever nomination by the American Friends Service Committee, though he made the short list only twice, in 1937 and 1947. Decades later, the Nobel Committee publicly declared its regret for the omission, and admitted to deeply divide nationalistic opinion denying the award. Gandhi was nominated in 1948 but was assassinated before nominations closed. That year, the committee chose not to award the peace prize stating that "there was no suitable living candidate" and later research shows that the possibility of awarding the prize posthumously to Gandhi was discussed and that the reference to no suitable living candidate was to Gandhi. When the 14th Dalai Lama was awarded the Prize in 1989, the chairman of the committee said that this was "in part a tribute to the memory of Mahatma Gandhi."

SIDDHARTHA by Herman Hesse

2012-09-02T16:43:00.001+05:30

“Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers.”
― Charles William Eliot

I always dwell that why the whole world do Nobel work ? Recently after turning few pages of HERMANN HESSE “SIDDARTHA” I got the answer that The abandonment will bliss the person and gives mental respite. Siddhartha is a hilarious tale of the struggle of a man to find his own true self. The story of Siddhartha told ever so lucidly, flows across the barriers of time and space and reaches its proper end.

Wisdom is not communicable. The wisdom which a wise man tries to communicate always sounds foolish. Knowledge can be communicated, but not wisdom. One can find it, live it, be fortified by it, do wonders through it, but one cannot communicate and teach it. (p. 142). Words do not express thoughts very well. They always become a little different immediately they are expressed, a little distorted, a little foolish. (p. 145)

This book also conveys the simple truth about compassion and about seeing the world as a complete, non one-sided view. Every being, living or not, is perfect at every moment; every sin already carries grace within it, all small children are potential old men, in the past there is a possible blessed future, in the future, a printed past. All newborns have death within them, all dying people, eternal life. Or simply, I would say, I am you, and you are me. Then we have no reason to despise the others or the world. All just needs our loving understanding, our agreement, to be able to regard the world and ourselves and all beings and experiences with admiration and respect.

Hermann Hesse is a master story teller, and the tale of Siddhartha’s journey is fascinatingly told. As a Brahmin, Siddhartha learns a lot from his father but true happiness eludes him. He follows the path of the Samanas with his dear friend Govinda, but that too doesn’t lead him to his true self. In fact, so steadfast is Siddhartha in his own self, that he refuses to join in the ranks of the Buddhist monks, and carries on his journey alone.

He encounters many difficulties on his way but survives each one of them, all the time learning his lesson well. He gathers a lot of experience and knowledge, but true happiness eludes him still. He argues with the Buddha that the experience that Buddha had of enlightenment cannot be preached and hence refuses to follow any doctrines, religious practices or paths. He leaves his dear friend Govinda with the Buddha and proceeds onward in his journey of self realization.

After leaving the path of an ascetic he becomes a rich trader, dabbles in romance with a courtesan and learns all the tricks of the trade, but never is his heart really in any of the worldly pursuits. At the end of some years, he realizes the divine voice within him has almost died, and he tries to kill himself; so full is he of wretchedness, and so hard does he detest himself.

As he nears the river in which he is about to plunge, the river teaches him a lesson. He finds his voice back, learns that the all the voices in the river are actually originally from the word Om , and he gets back his old, pure and untainted self.

After that he meets Vasudeva, the old ferryman, who teaches him about the river and the fact that he himself has acquired all his wisdom from the river. Siddhartha then, becomes a disciple of Vasudeva and learns the lessons of life from the river.

Towards the end of the story, Siddhartha comes to realize that unity which he experiences in all of nature and humanity and himself. He shuns the doctrines of Maya, claiming that if the world is an illusion, so is his body. He goes further on to say that since the enlightened one resides in himself all the while, the world and everything else attached is not an illusion.

He realizes that love alone works for the world to function, and that there is no evolution of the soul from birth to birth and that man is realized in his own ignorant self. He also questions the concept of time stating that time is the only reason that there is Sansaar and Nirvana, that without time there would be no duality and no evil and good.
As such, Siddhartha has gone beyond time and has realized his true self by denying action, thought, deprivation as also sense pleasures. In the end, when he meets his old friend Govinda, who is now an old monk, Siddhartha expounds his teachings. He states that for every truth the opposite is also true. He goes on to add that truth can not be expressed in words and that any attempt to express it in words would mean that the speaker would be limiting the truth in some way. He also adds that the realized person is always in the ignorant person’s self, but is unmanifest, through lifetimes to come. He further shows Govinda the vision of the unity of the universe, his many life forms and Gautam Buddha; that they are all in essence, one. And thus ends Siddhartha journey.

The book is a revolution for those seeking and those stuck in a rut of either self denial or self gratification. Siddhartha is an exemplary look at how life should be led and how we can all acquire that sense of fulfillment and purpose in our lives. The language is clear and simple, so are the logic and the profound truths revealed in the book. A definite re-read!

Hermann Hesse was born in 1877 in Calw, on the edge of Black Forest, Germany. He was brought up in a missionary household, and his religious crisis afterwards led to his fleeting from the seminary, an unsuccessful cure by a well-known theologian, and an attempted suicide. This crisis is often reflected in his novels. Siddhartha was written in 1922, when he turned his attention to the East. Some other successful novels are Demian (1919), which reflects his preoccupation with the workings of the subconscious and psychoanalyses, Steppenwolf (1927), about a man torn between self-affirmation and self-destruction, Narcissus and Goldmund (1930), dealing with the friendship between two medieval priests, one contented with his religion, the other a wanderer in search of peace and salvation. Hesse won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1946 for his work Magister Ludi. Until his death in 1962, he lived in seclusion in his village, Montagnola, Switzerland.

Windows 8 Review

2012-09-02T16:36:00.000+05:30

Windows 8 will make its public debut on October 26 and has been controversial ever since Microsoft first released information about the operating system to the public. What most can agree on is that Windows 8 is a shift away from the traditional desktop-orientated operating system towards a system that can be deployed on a wider variety of devices.

The 10 features listed here are but some of the benefits coming with Windows 8.

1. Support for x86 PCs and ARM devices. Windows 8 is the first edition to operate on both ARM-based devices and traditional x86 PC based systems. A specialized version of Windows 8, called Windows RT, runs on ARM-based hardware. Regular versions of Windows 8 can't be deployed on ARM-based devices.
Windows RT is limited from a consumer perspective. While you get Office and Internet Explorer by default, you can't install legacy software on the system, so you are left with the Windows Store and its apps when it comes to applications. It is comparable in this regard to Android tablets or Apple's iPad.

2. The new dynamic Start screen. All Windows 8 systems boot into the Start screen, which is a collection of tiles that link to apps, programs or settings among other things. Apps can be designed to display live information like the current weather report, your monitored eBay items or new photos that you have uploaded from your mobile phone right on the Start screen.
This page has been optimized for touch-enabled devices, but can also be controlled with the mouse and keyboard. Microsoft has been heavily criticized for making the start page mandatory for all systems.

3. Windows Store. From here, using a Microsoft Account, users can purchase, download and install apps. The store will offer free and paid applications, and its revenue potential is without doubt one of the reasons why Microsoft pushes the Start screen that much despite the criticism it received for it.
Apps are limited to the Start screen environment. While it is possible to use shortcuts to load apps from the desktop, Windows 8 will automatically switch to the modern user interface to load and display those apps on the system.
Windows 8 users benefit from a centralized location where they can download tested and validated applications that reduce the chance of installing malware on the system. Non-Windows RT users can still install desktop applications as usual.

4. Native USB 3.0 support. No Windows operating system but Windows 8 supports USB 3.0 right now natively, and while we may see support for USB 3.0 added to older versions of Windows 7 at some point in time, it is not clear yet when and how this is going to happen.
That does not mean that current Windows users can't benefit from the significant faster transfer speeds of USB 3.0, only that it is necessary to install third-party drivers to add support for that to their operating system.
Windows 8 users can connect their USB 3.0 supporting devices directly to the PC to benefit from all related features without having to do that.

5. Multiple monitor support. If your PC connects to multiple screens you will benefit from better support for multi-monitor systems in Windows 8. This includes options to extend the taskbar and wallpapers across several monitors, or to display the start page on one screen and the desktop on another at the same time.

6. Improved search. Microsoft has improved search significantly in Windows 8. When you search now, you are taken to the modern UI interface where you search in a full screen environment. Results are displayed once you enter the first search term based on previous use and a number of additional factors.
Filters on the right let you switch between apps, settings, or file related search results. What makes search superior to previous versions is that it is near instant, and that it is also powering in-app searches. If you run the eBay app for instance, you can open the search menu there to search on eBay directly from your desktop without web browser.

7. Built-in synchronization, cloud storage. If you log into Windows 8 with a Microsoft Account, your preferences are automatically loaded from the cloud. This includes personalizations, app settings, passwords and language preferences. You get the same experience whether you sign-in in New York, Tokyo or Paris, provided that the computer runs a version of the Windows 8 operating system and that logging in with a Microsoft Account is enabled.
Microsoft's cloud storage service SkyDrive is integrated into the operating system, allowing Windows 8 users to access data hosted on SkyDrive from their Windows 8 system. You can save documents to the cloud to access them from any device either through a web browser or automatically when logged into a Windows 8 system.

8. Speed and performance. Windows 8 boots faster than Windows 7 thanks to additional improvements made to the boot process. Hybrid boot for instance saves some of the data that is required to boot to the disk to speed up the system start significantly. The same is true for the shut down of the system and wake up from sleep.
Windows 8 is also faster when it comes to multimedia performance. Recent benchmarks by Techspot show an increase of about 10 percent over Windows 7 in benchmarks such as PC Mark 7, Mozilla Kraken or Google V8.

9. Refresh and reset. Refresh and reset are two new features of the operating system that may help when things are not running as smooth as before. Refresh basically reinstalls Windows without affecting your personal files. This can be helpful if you are running into an error or issue that you can't seem to resolve.
Reset on the other hand restores the operating system to its factory settings. Both options are considerably faster, thanks to less user interaction and other annoyances, than manually installing the operating system anew on the computer.

10. Price. As it stands right now, Windows 8 will cost significantly less than previous copies of the Microsoft Windows operating system -- $39.99 upgrade to Windows 8 Pro that includes a free Media Center upgrade. And while that's a promotional offer that expires January 31, it is likely that Microsoft will not increase the price afterwards to Windows 7 levels where a retail upgrade copy of Windows 7 Pro costs $199.

Advantages:

1. Boot up speed. One problem that’s always dogged Windows is how long it takes to go from a cold boot to a usable state. I stripped down Windows 7, removed everything I could from the boot process, and upgraded to a SSD just to get it loading in what I consider an acceptable time-frame. If you can’t be bothered to do all that, the good news is Windows 8 loads much, much faster, even when dual booting.

2. Refresh/Reset. This great feature lets you reset Windows to the factory settings, useful in case of a malware infection, or if you just want a clean start. Refresh keeps all of your user profiles, data and apps in place, while wiping programs you’ve installed. Reset is much more extreme and clears out all of your personal files and apps, and changes the PC’s settings to the defaults.

3. File History. I’m a big fan of this new inclusion, which is a combination of Previous Versions and Windows Backup, and protects your files against corruption or unwanted changes. It monitors common locations, like Libraries and the Desktop, and when it detects a change to a file, automatically makes a backup to your choice of location (which includes SkyDrive and networked drives). You can set how long File History should keep versions of all the changed files.

4. Windows Defender. The new Defender is really a tweaked version of Microsoft Security Essentials, the company’s standalone antivirus tool. It’s fairly basic, especially when compared to other free alternatives, but really is about time Microsoft had proper built-in antivirus protection.

5. Windows account synchronization. Linking your Microsoft account to the OS means all your apps and preferences can be saved to the cloud, allowing them to be synchronized across any other devices you have running Windows 8. If you don’t have a Microsoft account you can quickly set one up.

6. Improved file management. When you copy or move a file in Windows 8, you are presented with a graph showing the transfer speed and a regularly updated completion estimate. Copy or move multiple files and they’ll be stacked up in the same window. A big improvement over the previous system.

7. Hyper-V. The new OS comes with Hyper-V, a powerful replacement for Windows Virtual PC that you can use to run multiple guest operating systems simultaneously. Great for developers and IT professionals.

8. Storage Spaces. Windows 8 lets you use multiple connected disks (of any size) to create a pool of storage, which is treated as a single location with its own drive letter. If you start to run out of space you can simply connect another drive to the pool.

DisAdvantage:

1. Faster, but negligibly so. With all the added benefits one has to wonder: "just how fast is it?" Well, according to the benchmarks the difference isn't substantial in day-to-day use, the performance assessments focusing on differences that will hardly ever be noticed by Windows 8 users that do not use benchmarks.
An extra few points in Google V8 will go unnoticed in terms of browsing experience when modern browsers in Windows 7 are already fast to start with. Boot-up times are indeed much improved, but shaving a few seconds when booting is like starting a car faster; not going to make any real difference unless the user constantly restarts the computer, which commonsense dictates is an unlikely scenario. The same can be said about gaming or multimedia performance, which improves to a point where only benchmarks and timers can pinpoint the difference.
Basically unless you want to squeeze that last tiny drop of performance, you're better off sticking to the version already installed.

2. Windows 8 Store lacks relevance and is immature. The first issue with the store is that it's mainly designed for Windows UI apps, leaving the aquisition of Desktop apps to the developer which makes it look like an afterthought. The second and most important is the insignificant number of applications available through Windows 8 store compared to the plethora of apps designed for the "Desktop Windows" making it just a gimmick until the platform matures; it can take some time to take off which is why a rushed upgrade is a bad idea. Facebook, Google+, Instagram are all missing right now, and these are just three examples off the top of my head.

3. Microsoft account is required. Windows 8 provides two methods of authentication, one using a local account and the second relying on a Microsoft account. The only way to get access to complete Windows 8 functionality is to use the latter, basically forcing you to apply for a Microsoft account in order to benefit from all features. Want to use a Google account? Tough luck. Features like Windows Store only work with Microsoft account. If you do not have one or do not want to create one just for Windows 8 you're out of luck.

4. SkyDrive integration only. Microsoft places its own services in the first lines of "assault", which can be viewed as a good thing in terms of added functionality, but at the same time doesn't offer an alternative to the people out there using Google Drive or Dropbox that have already paid for extra storage space on the popular cloud storage providers. Then there is the issue of all cloud data being stored on Microsoft's own servers, which might not sit well with some users as far as privacy concerns go.

5. Windows Defender can't replace a dedicated security software suite. While it provides a certain basic degree of security, Windows Defender is still pretty far away in terms of overall functionality compared to dedicated security software suites and it still doesn't integrate with Windows Firewall to provide a unified interface for the integrated security software. It's addressed only for basic security needs which basically means that it can't offer the same degree of protection as a fully fledged security suite.

6. Multiple monitor support is only useful to some. Because let's face it, this does not target every Windows user like some of the features do. It has a limited applicability because of the obvious hardware requirements and having the ability to separate the new Windows 8 UI from the Desktop on two separate monitors is not necessarily important when the old Desktop did just fine before. A similar functionality exists already that allows to separate working spaces on multiple monitors; this is just as good when there are not two different interfaces to play with, but just the older Desktop.

7. The new ribbon desktop interface is different, but not necessarily improved. A few months ago Microsoft decided that an Aero-like look a la Windows 7 is not worthy of Windows 8 and accordingly has removed all transparency effects from the desktop interface. The change was made for the sake of using less resources, directly benefiting tablets not desktops. It's not necessarily better looking and it certainly doesn't provide extra functionality over the older Windows Explorer which is important when defining the term "upgrade." Same functionality, just the look is different.

8. Windows 8 UI has a higher learning curve and makes simple operations more complicated. A good example of how the new UI makes Windows 8 seem unintuitive is power options, as performing simple operations like shutting down the computer is for some reason more complicated to do than it was with Windows XP or Windows 7. This is just an example of how the learning curve in Windows 8 is higher than with any other desktop operating system to come from Microsoft. Then there is the confusion added by a separate interface. Pressing a button switches from Desktop to Windows 8 UI and vice-versa, which will only encumber inexperienced users that were used to a single place to conduct all operations.

Conclusion

Depending on your personal needs, other features such as Storage Spaces, Secure Boot, Windows to Go, the SmartScreen filter, specific store apps or the file history feature may as important, or more so.
Some of the features can be integrated into other versions of Windows through third-party programs, customizations and tweaks, while others, like the Windows Store, can't.

Article : http://betanews.com/2012/08/20/10-windows-8-features-you-should-know-about/

How to install Windows 8 on VMware Workstation

2012-09-02T16:25:00.000+05:30

Prerequisites to install Windows 8 in VMware Workstation:

VMware Workstation, that can be downloaded from FileForum.
Windows 8 ISO, that can also be downloaded from FileForum.

Before getting down to business you need to download VMware Workstation and of course Windows 8 ISO. Microsoft provides a 90-day trial for Windows 8 that is currently available to download, but if you have another Windows 8 ISO available you can use that instead. This guide will cover general guidelines that are valid for any Windows 8 version and requires VMware Workstation to be installed beforehand.

Depending on the level of control that you want to have during the creation of the virtual machine you can chose between "Typical (recommended)" and "Custom (advanced)" with steps to follow depending on the option selected available below.
To install Windows 8 in VMware Workstation by using "Custom (advanced)" follow the next steps:

Open VMware Workstation and select "New Virtual Machine" -- or press CTRL + N in VMware Workstation.
Select "Custom (advanced)" and click "Next".
Click "Next" and select "Installer disc image (iso)" and click "Browse" then navigate to the location where Windows 8 ISO is downloaded/located, select it and click "Open".
Click "Next" and insert the "Windows product key" if you have one; if you don't have one just leave the fields empty and click "Next" and validate the prompt.
Type a new name for "Virtual machine name" or leave it as is.
Select the location of the virtual machine and make sure you have at least 16GB for 32-bit Windows 8 and 20GB for 64-bit Windows 8 free space in the selected location -- as recommended by Microsoft, but 30GB is better to avoid running out of free space.
Next you have to select "Number of processors" to match the ones installed (typical for a desktop computer to have just one) and "Number of cores per processor" that for a single core CPU it is one, for a dual-core CPU it is two, for a quad-core CPU it is four and so on -- this is to ensure the virtual machine is functioning at optimum parameters.
Click "Next" and select the RAM memory size that you want to allocate to the virtual machine -- Microsoft recommends a minimum of 1GB for 32-bit Windows 8 and 2GB for 64-bit Windows 8, but you should double the minimum requirements for a smoother operation.
Click "Next", "Next" and then select "Create a new virtual disk" to set up from scratch -- the other two options should be left alone for inexperienced users.
Click "Next", "Next" and allocate at least the minimum recommended space from step No. 6 then select "Store virtual disk as a single file" for optimum performance.
Click "Next" and use a different name for the disk file or leave as is.
Click "Next" then "Finish" and the install process will start.

To install Windows 8 in VMware Workstation by using "Typical (recommended)" option follow the next steps:

Open VMware Workstation and select "New Virtual Machine" -- or press CTRL + N in VMware Workstation
Select "Typical (recommended)" and click "Next".
Select "Installer disc image file (iso) and click "Browse" then navigate to the location where Windows 8 ISO is downloaded/located, select it and click "Open".
Click Next and insert the "Windows product key" if you have one; if you don't have one just leave the fields empty and click "Next" and validate the prompt.
Type a new name for "Virtual machine name" or leave it as is.
Select the location of the virtual machine and make sure you have at least 16GB for the 32-bit Windows 8 and 20GB for the 64-bit Windows 8 free space in the selected location -- again, 30GB is better to avoid running out of free space.
Select "Store virtual disk as a single file" to keep the virtual HDD in a single file and optimize performance then click "Next"
At the next screen click on "Customize Hardware..." go to "Memory" -- Microsoft recommends a minimum of 1GB for 32-bit Windows 8 and 2GB for 64-bit Windows 8, but you should double the minimum requirements for a smoother operation,
At the "Processors" dialog box select the "Number of processor cores" available for your CPU.
Click "Close" then "Finish" to start the install process.

If there are any devices that can be attached to the virtual machine VMware Workstation will notify you during the installation. After the process is completed you are able to use Windows 8 in VMware Workstation. It is recommended to install VMware Tools as well; it can be accessed from VM -> "Install VMware Tools..."

Now you will have a fully working Windows 8 inside VMware Workstation.

Microsoft Office 2013

2012-09-02T16:19:00.000+05:30

Microsoft recently unveiled the consumer preview for Office 2013, the newest version of the company’s productivity suite, calling it “the biggest, most ambitious Office” to date. The new version of Office includes integration with online services such as Facebook, Flickr, SkyDrive, and YouTube.

Microsoft Office 2013 emphasizes cloud integration with new Office 365 subscriptions for home users, a greater focus on touchscreens, and Office on Demand virtualization, but what about the things we don’t know? Microsoft is keeping quiet about several key issues, including pricing, release dates, and whether the software giant will be including Android and iOS devices in its Office 2013 rollout.

Microsoft claims that any Office 365 features you can access in a Web browser will work with Android and iOS devices. But exactly what that means is unclear. Current versions of the Microsoft Office Web apps do not work for editing documents on tablets or smartphones. All you can do with the current version of Office 365 is access your email, calendar, contacts, and tasks via Exchange Online, and view Office documents via SharePoint.

For Starters: The Requirements
Okay, let’s talk about the requirements for Office 2013. It will run on Windows 7 and Windows 8, on desktop PCs, notebooks, tablets, and mobile phones, or on Windows Server 2008 R2 or later. The Office 2013 family includes a large number of desktop apps as well as server products like Exchange and SharePoint. Office 2013 will not run on Windows XP or Vista; this means that more than half of all computers currently running Windows will need an upgrade first.

Component	Office 2013 Preview Requirements
Computer and processor	1 gigahertz (Ghz) or faster x86- or x64-bit processor with SSE2 instruction set
Memory (RAM)	1 gigabyte (GB) RAM (32 bit); 2 gigabytes (GB) RAM (64 bit)
Hard Disk	3.0 gigabytes (GB) available
Display	Graphics hardware acceleration requires a DirectX10 graphics card and 1024 x 576 resolution
Operating System	Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Server 2008 R2, or Windows Server 2012
Browser	Microsoft Internet Explorer 8, 9, or 10; Mozilla Firefox 10.x or a later version; Apple Safari 5; or Google Chrome 17.x.
.NET version	3.5, 4.0, or 4.5
Multi-touch	A touch-enabled device is required to use any multi-touch functionality.

The competition is great for business users--the new Office looks like an ultramodern and massive improvement over the current version. Several things you'll notice:

Touch modernizes Office apps.
Touch makes using Office apps on your tablet seem markedly more intuitive and simple. Kirk Koenigsbauer, a corporate VP for Microsoft Office, used a tablet to show how swiping, pinching, zooming, and tapping works with applications such as PowerPoint and Word.

No more paper note taking.
The topic of "inking" came up several times during Microsoft's demo. The new Office lets you use a stylus to do things like handwrite emails and convert them to text, or as a laser pointer when presenting.

PowerPoint on the tablet rocks.
Koenigsbauer said the tablet's screen is now a "cockpit," so when you're giving a PowerPoint presentation, not only can you use your digital pen to mark up slides on the fly, you can also see upcoming slides and notes, as well as a new clock and timer so you don't go overtime.

Drag and drop makes consuming data and collaborating simple.
Koenigsbauer showed off OneNote and Lync--Windows 8 style applications for Office that are optimized for touch.
OneNote, a digital note-taking app, organizes information such as text, pictures, notes, Web content, lists, and more. You can use the tablet's camera to snap a picture of a paper advertisement, for example, then crop part of it and drag and drop it into OneNote.
Lync is Microsoft's unified communications platform integrated into Office, and it includes instant messaging, audio, video, Web conferencing, and location information so you can see where your contacts are. In a multiperson video chat using Lync, you can drag and drop someone from your contact list into the live meeting, drop a PowerPoint presentation onto the shared canvas, draw on the presentation with a touchscreen device, and share OneNote notebooks with others in the call, as well as take and display notes.

Cloud storage is the default.
Although your documents will still be available offline, the new Office saves documents to SkyDrive by default, so you can get at your content regardless of what computer or device you're using. And once signed in to Office, your personal settings, most recently used files, templates, and custom dictionary show up on whatever machine you're using.

The new Office is social.
Microsoft acquired Yammer last month for $1.2 billion, proving that the software giant is serious about social. While Koenigsbauer talked about how people can use Yammer and SharePoint for business social networking, the "People Card" looks particularly useful. For each of your contacts, this card shows you the person's location, photos, and contact information, as well as status updates from Facebook and LinkedIn.

You can create awesome presentations.
Microsoft's acquisition of Perceptive Pixel now makes it possible for you to use 82-inch touch- and stylus-enabled displays for meetings and presentations. Koenigsbauer stood in front of a huge screen and used his hand to swipe across tiles of apps that he could access during a presentation. As an example, he tapped on a weather app to pull off an "Al Roker" weatherman-like imitation with the large digital backdrop.

Choose from three new subscription services.
Though Microsoft didn't say how much the new subscription services will be when they're officially announced in the fall, there will be three editions, and each will include the 2013 editions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Publisher and Access:

Office 365 Home Premium for families and consumers, which comes with an additional 20GB of SkyDrive storage and 60 minutes of Skype world minutes per month;
Office 365 Small Business Premium for small businesses, which includes business-grade email, shared calendars, website tools, and HD Web conferencing; and
Office 365 ProPlus for enterprise customers, which provides advanced business and cloud deployment features.

The 2013 Office Suite
So what are the main differences between Office 2013 and 2010? Microsoft has moved Office to the cloud, just as it did with the Windows 8 operating system. What this means is that Office users can benefit from synchronization features to work with their own personal settings on all computers they sign in to.
The settings are stored in Microsoft's cloud and synced automatically with SkyDrive, SharePoint and local drives Office is launched from.
This opens another interesting possibility, as you can continue to work on a document even if you switch computers, for instance after leaving work and going home.
Users who sign in to Office will automatically have Office select SkyDrive as the preferred save location for documents.
Word 2013. Here is what you get with Word. New templates and design tools help you put the finishing touch on documents, and you’ll find new and updated ways to share and work with others. There is an improved screen-reading experience. How? Well a new Read Mode Text reflows automatically in columns to make it easier to read. And Object Zoom allows you to view tables, charts, images, or online videos, a finger tap or mouse click in greater detail. When you’re done, another tap or click returns them to their original size.

Also, Word automatically bookmarks your last-visited spot. So if you step away, and return you can pick up where you left off-- even if you are on a different PC or tablet.
File Saving and File Sharing: First your documents are saved online to SkyDrive or SharePoint by default. So you can send anyone a link to the same file, along with their viewing and editing permissions. They will see the latest version. And that is not all, because you can also share your document with others even if they don’t have Word. Do this by sending them a link, so as you read through the document on your screen, they can also follow along on their browsers.

Excel 2013. Microsoft’s second standup software program, Excel brings some new features. The overall configuration is the same. There are nine tabs. File, Home, Insert, Design, Page Layout, Formulas, Data, Review, View, and Add-Ons.
But there are several areas that stand out. The first is better accessibility. Excel users will be able to have a better grasp of their content and what they can do with it. This means that there will be guidance on how to make graphs and charts look better.

Plus Excel 2013 now supports multiple monitors. You can have two Excel workbooks open at once. There are also new Business Intelligence capabilities.
Two pieces of software for Excel 2010 -- PowerPivot and SharePoint -- are now integrated into Excel 2013. So sharing spreadsheets will be possible. Excel Everywhere is a new addition. Microsoft is making sure that people will be able to access their Excel documents on any device wherever they are, just like Word.
Finally, with Excel 2013, apps can be designed for Excel using HTML5. These apps will work on both the standalone Excel environment and the cloud-hosted Web app. Now let’s look at the tabs.

The overall structure of the Excel 2013 version is very similar to the 2010 version. There are not many changes. The biggest occurred on the Insert tab with seven new add-ons. The Data tab also had two new additions. But the rest is the same as before.
PowerPoint 2013. Our final review will be on the PowerPoint differences between the 2013 and 2010 versions. PowerPoint is a presentation program used for showing information while a presenter is giving a talk. In structure, PowerPoint is the same in the two versions. They both have 10 tabs, File, Home, Insert, Design, Transition, Animations, Review, View, and Add-ins. But the overall program has some interesting features.
You can work on the same version with others at the same time. You can make you presentation look more interesting with wide-screen themes, plus you can add videos, pictures, and shapes, and create customized icons. Then there are the design elements that you have available. You can use the Union, Combine, Fragment, Intersect, and Subtract tools to merge two or more shapes into the shape you want. You can select a theme, add a design variant, and align text and pictures.

How about what happens at the time of the presentation? Well you can direct your audience’s attention to your main point by zooming in or out on a diagram, chart, or graphic with just a couple of clicks. Plus you can switch slides, regardless of whether they are in or out of sequence. You can do this with a grid that only you see, so your audience sees only what you've selected. Also when you project to a second screen, you won’t have to worry that your presentation appears on the correct screen.
So now let’s look at the tabs. PowerPoint 2013 includes a Compare feature. This enables users to compare two different versions of a presentation. With the Compare feature, you can view changes in presentation versions in an interactive way. Plus it also allows you to insert changes and merge revisions as you make modifications. There is one new feature, show comments. This allows you to place and view comments on the slide.

Having a view of the 2013 Office suite, we can now look at the Office 365 version. This version is used with the Azure Cloud and will be available as a subscription-based service. However, the apps will also work offline. So you'll be able to install Office on five devices, and the software will get updates automatically and more frequently than if you purchased the software.
Office 365
Owners of Office 2013 will be given the opportunity to buy the product with a subscription service delivered through Office 365. There are four versions of Office 365, Home Premium, Small Business Premium, ProPlus and Enterprise.
Home Premium. The Home Premium edition is for non-commercial use only. It allows you to open your applications, documents and custom settings on any PC running Windows 7 or 8 if that PC has an Internet connection.
You will also be able to talk to anyone using Skype, with 60 minutes of free international calls every month to landlines in over 40 countries and to cell phones in 7 countries. (Note: A Skype account is required. And this excludes special, premium and non-geographic numbers.)
You will get an additional 20 GB of SkyDrive online storage for easy access and sharing of your documents. And there will be office for Mac when the final version is released. It includes Microsoft Office Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook, OneNote Access and Publisher.
Small Business Premium. The small office version gives you the same features as Home Premium plus there is a sharing component not available with the Home Premium version.
First, you can build a website. You can share documents and connect with business partners in a business social media complex. You can also store documents in the cloud. And no special expertise is needed for this.
The Small Business Premium version includes all apps offered to Home Premium users plus Lync, professional email, multi-party HD video conferencing, a public website and shared documents on top of the Home Premium features.
ProPlus. Office 365 ProPlus includes Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook, OneNote, Access, Publisher and Lync. Now for the benefits. First, use the Cloud on your terms and deploy it when you want. Stream Office applications to your PC. You will be up and running almost instantly.
You can combine SharePoint, Lync and Exchange to create social networks for your enterprise. And stay connected with important contacts via voice and video. Finally, integrate web or intranet content directly into your documents and bring your files and data to life with real-time views into dynamic content.
Enterprise. The main feature of the Enterprise edition is get to access to your material, no matter where you are. Say you’re away from your PC and you need access to Office, so stream a full-featured version on any Internet-connected PC (running Windows 7 or Windows 8) with Office on Demand.
Use the Site Mailbox so you can store documents from your PC and project-related email. Now your team can access the content no matter where they are. The Site Mailbox also syncs up with SharePoint, ensuring up-to-date and timely content.
The new Lync Meeting tool let you interact with people through video, audio, and instant messaging, and to share content in that meeting.
Office Web Apps
Office Web Apps are both part of Office 365 and Microsoft's SkyDrive service. Microsoft is currently running a beta test that SkyDrive users can join by using this link.
Office Web Apps allow you to create, edit and share Office documents in a supported web browser. The products available in this regard are Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote.
The first version of Office Web Apps was launched by Microsoft in June 2010, and back then it concentrated on providing users with anywhere access to Office documents, collaboration and sharing, and an engine that would preserve all edits and contents of desktop Office even if some of the features were not supported.
In the new release, Microsoft focuses on the following key scenarios.

Touch support
Improved authoring
Co-authoring support
Performance improvements

Windows 8 Integration
As mentioned before, Office 2013 will only run on Windows 7, Windows 8, or Server 2008 R2 or later. Of especial importance is how this Office Suite will integrate with Windows 8. Microsoft has made a large commitment to the new operating system. This commitment comes from the fact that they are geared to change how Windows works with PCs.
The big move for Microsoft is not Metro, but touch. The touchscreen will change the character of user interaction. Sure at the beginning there will be resistance, but over time users will look at the touch technology as the best thing since sliced bread. Why? Because it will be more natural to use. The keyboard and mouse won’t disappear but they will have their use changed.

But there is another impact. The tablet. Microsoft has struggled for years to find a device that will compete with the iPad. They think Surface will be that device, because the tablet is self-contained. Meaning, that as the OS works on a device where the CPU will take full advantage of it, and then with Apps and the Office Suite 2013 or Office 365 integrated into the OS, there will be a high level of value built in since the hardware and OS will work in ways that have not occurred before.

Businesses and Office 2013
Looking at the upcoming changes from a business perspective, why should a business make the jump to Office 2013? There are some negatives.

1. The upgrade factor. Office 2013 won’t run on the older operating systems, XP or Vista; only Windows 7 or Windows 8. This means that there will have to be a hardware upgrade to stay current.

2. Training. That’s always a hiccup. If users are working with Office 2007, or Office 2010, they can use their current technology skills and upgrade to the new set as needed, not all at once. This should not be a drawback.

3. Upgrades. Companies will have to upgrade, eventially. So why not upgrade to the most current version now? To that end, Microsoft will offer a server-side release of Exchange 2012, SharePoint 2012, and Lync 2012. These programs will provide access to the new collaborative features built into Office 2013. This will be an inducement for IT to not hang back as usual.

On the plus side, there are multiple ways that the enterprise can use Office 2013 that were not available beforehand. They have the ability to use five different versions of Office 365. One will fit their needs. If business operations truly are about working collaboratively then this suite makes that possible in more ways than one. Think SharePoint, think email with Exchange, and think online meetings with video like Lync Meeting. Other elements that a business will look at and make IT more responsive to Office 2013.

IT and Office 2013
The productivity suite comes with feature some new features with high IT-management appeal.

Office Telemetry. This function collects reports from all Office clients and monitors all PCs with Office 2013. Administrators will receive information about client performance, files used and customizations implemented.

Click-to-Run. Network-based installations will have this capability and will operate for support to
remote clients. The install streams in the background but lets users access features as they are streamed, rather than wait for the install to complete. While Click-to-Run is not new to Office 2013 as Office 2010 also supported, but it has been enhanced to allow large enterprise deployments.

Office-on-Demand. This option provides a single Office application on demand to users when they need it. Office application is streamed to the PC but is not permanently installed.
Again, this function can make document access easy and available anywhere. If anything, Office 2013 may change the inner dynamics of the enterprise. Knowledge will be available to everyone and projects should now be available to be scrutinized and improved.
There are many features that make Office 2013 different from the previous models. On the surface many features are the same, but how they now connect to networks, the Cloud, and make collaboration easier, well that is new.

Visual Studio 2012 and .NET 4.5 now available!

2012-08-28T20:00:00.000+05:30

With Visual Studio 2012, Microsoft delivering a productive and powerful development experience, one that makes it easy to develop on your own or as part of a collaborative team, all the while building apps that target the latest platforms. The interesting question for every developer out there is - what app will you build today? You can discuss it more during the Visual Studio 2012 Launch Event on September 12th.

Developing great apps for Windows 8 is an important goal of this release. Furthermore, in addition to the Blend tools that ship with Visual Studio 2012 RTM, Microsoft had also released a new Blend + SketchFlow Preview for Visual Studio 2012 that addresses some top Blend customer requests, including support for WPF, Silverlight, and SketchFlow.

Top 12 of Visual Studio 2012

In case you’re still deciding whether to download Visual Studio 2012, or haven’t been keeping up with all the news about the release, I’ll leave you with 12 good reasons to upgrade today. ;-)

#1) Develop for Windows 8

Visual Studio 2012 contains all the tools you need to develop killer apps for Windows 8, from templates, to designers, to testing, to debugging. Blend now comes with the Visual Studio installation providing rich visual tools for creating Windows store apps using HTML/CSS and XAML. Using these tools, you’ll find everything you need to develop a great app and submit it to the Windows Store.

For more information, see the Windows 8 App Developer Blog and the Windows Dev Center.

#2) Develop for the Web

Visual Studio 2012 and .NET 4.5 provide the latest advances in ASP.NET including web optimization improvements (minification and bundling), new templates, HTML & CSS editor improvements, page inspector, and new publishing tools. We’ve added new features to support JavaScript development including IntelliSense improvements, a new DOM explorer, and a JavaScript console. For more information, check out the Web Development team blog.

Page Inspector

#3) Develop for Windows Phone 8

Visual Studio 2012 will provide support for developing Windows Phone 8 applications (both with a Express SKU as well as a freely downloadable plug-in for VS Pro and above). This will come online in the future, once Windows Phone 8 and the developer SDK become available. Some new features to look forward to include native C++ support, the ability to target both Windows Phone 7.x and Windows Phone 8 applications, multi-chassis support, and enterprise publishing. Stay tuned for more info from the Windows Phone team.

C++ Windows Phone 8 Application

#4) Develop for Windows Azure

Visual Studio provides the best possible tools to develop your cloud services. In Visual Studio 2012, you’ll notice cloud tooling improvements including support for distributed caching, new publishing options, new templates, and a lower install footprint. Using Team Foundation Service with Windows Azure, you can now achieve continuous integration and continuous deployment of your software. For more information, please visit the Windows Azure .NET Developer center, and download today’s release of the Windows Azure SDK for .NET.

Deployment history

#5) Develop Business Applications

Visual Studio 2012 contains a variety of tools for developing business applications. SharePoint developers will find new designers for list and content types, new templates for site columns and Silverlight web pages, as well as new options for deploying SharePoint sites. ALM features like performance profiling, unit testing, and IntelliTrace are now available for SharePoint development. Client-side development has been improved as well, with support for JavaScript debugging and IntelliSense. For more information, please visit the SharePoint developer team blog.

SharePoint List Designer
Meanwhile, we’ve also announced a new app model for Office and SharePoint 2013, which enables you to host your apps in the cloud, and to use web technologies to develop them. Visual Studio 2012, along with the Microsoft Office Developer Tools for Visual Studio 2012 – Preview, gives you the tools to program with the new app models for Office and SharePoint. To learn more and get started building apps for Office & SharePoint 2013, head to http://dev.office.com.
LightSwitch is a powerful tool available for building business applications for the Desktop and the Cloud. Starting in Visual Studio 2012, LightSwitch is available as part of the Visual Studio Professional, Premium and Ultimate installations. LightSwitch includes a variety of improvements in Visual Studio 2012, such as a new theme, the ability to access data from any OData source as well as create OData services, Active Directory integration, and new business types. We also are working on support for HTML clients, which will be available as an add-on to VS2012. To learn more, please visit the LightSwitch Developer Center and the LightSwitch team blog.

LightSwitch in Visual Studio 2012

#6) Develop Games and other 3D Applications

Visual Studio 2012 includes graphics tools to help game developers become more productive, making it easier to build innovative games. From debugging DirectX graphics, to designing and coding DirectX shaders (HLSL), to inspecting and manipulating graphics assets (images and models), Visual Studio 2012 provides all the functionality you need to build graphically rich 2D/3D applications.

Visual Studio 2012 Graphics Diagnostics Tools

#7) Take advantage of the latest language advancements

If you’re developing in C# or Visual Basic, you can take advantage of the language new features in Visual Studio 2012 and .NET 4.5 for asynchronous programming. Using the new async and await keywords, you can write asynchronous code that looks a lot like the synchronous version:

The C++ support in Visual Studio 2012 includes the full C++ 11 standard library as well as new language features: stateless lambdas, SCARY iterators, range-based for loops, and scoped enumerations support. Visual C++ 11 also adds seamless access to Windows Runtime components through C++/CX as well as C++ Accelerated Massive Parallelism (C++ AMP), which enables hardware acceleration for the execution of your data-parallel C++ code.
For JavaScript development, please see more details about the improvements we’ve made in the Web development section above.
Lastly, if you’re using F#, you’ll enjoy improvements for information-rich programming, which enable you to program directly against data services, and are made possible by F# type providers and LINQ queries.

#8) Performance, Reliability, and Compatibility Improvements

In addition to adding new features, we’ve also invested heavily to improve the core capabilities of the product. For example, we’ve invested in performance and made significant improvements in areas such as the toolbox, typing and editing, debugging, and solution loading time.

We’ve also taken care to improve the backward compatibility of Visual Studio 2012, and enabled you to continue collaborating on projects with teammates using Visual Studio 2010 SP1.

#9) New IDE Productivity Features

The Visual Studio 2012 user interface includes an updated look and feel, which is consistent with the latest Microsoft products, and designed to focus your attention on the code. The overall environment has been streamlined, including simplified toolbars, a lightweight Find dialog, and less tab clutter by previewing files rather than opening them during debugging. Using Quick Launch, you can now search the IDE for any menu or command.

New Find Dialog

#10) Improve your code quality with enhanced testing tools

Visual Studio 2012 includes a wealth of testing tools.
Microsoft Test Manager 2012 has been enhanced to embrace exploratory testing (sometimes called agile testing), which allows you to explore the product in any way you want while keeping relevant steps and data that can be used to directly file bugs and feedback:

Lab Management has also been greatly simplified in this release with the consolidation of agents and the introduction of standard environments, which allow you to benefit from build-deploy-test workflows without the dependency on Hyper-V or SCVMM.
With Visual Studio 2012, we now provide the ability for you to include additional adapters to support 3rd party unit testing frameworks such as xUnit.net, NUnit, and others. The new Test Explorer will showcase all of the tests across your solution regardless of which testing framework they were written for. Visual Studio 2012 will continue to provide support for traditional unit tests written using the classic Visual Studio Unit Testing Framework, and adds support for writing tests in C++ as well.

New Test Explorer

#11) Reduce cycle times using tools for agile practices

Visual Studio 2012 contains a variety of tools to create transparency between team members, reduce waste, and accelerate the flow of the project. As you set out to start the project, PowerPoint storyboarding is a useful way to communicate the requirements of the software. When you get further along, the Microsoft Feedback Client can be used to gather feedback on the working bits from external stakeholders.
Team Foundation Server 2012 provides a rich toolset for planning out your sprints, managing the backlog, and tracking progress. I recommend reading my earlier post, where I explored these features in detail. As an example, below is a picture of the taskboard, which can be used to easily edit work items during a standup meeting:

#12) Deliver Cloud-Based Services with Smoother Collaboration between Operations and Engineering

Each release of our ALM tools, we’ve integrated additional roles to improve collaboration across the team, and decrease cycle time. This release, we’re including operations, which is increasingly important for today’s cloud-based services apps. Many of you are already using System Center to monitor your applications in production. This release, we’ve introduced a new management pack, which will allow critical production issues detected by System Center 2012 SP1 to be immediately assigned to the development team with high quality diagnostic information via TFS and Visual Studio.

System Center Operations Manager
These kinds of tools for operations and engineering are something we plan to continue delivering in the future. For example, System Center 2012 SP1 will also introduce “Global Service Monitor” (GSM), which allows you to monitor your application’s functionality, performance, and uptime from multiple endpoints around the world.

How can you get them?

If you’re an MSDN Subscriber, you can download them today from MSDN Subscriber Downloads.
If you want the free Visual Studio Express 2012 products, or free trial versions of Visual Studio 2012, you can download them from here. Visual Studio Express for Windows 8, Visual Studio Express for Web, and Team Foundation Server Express are all now available. Express for Windows Phone and Express for Windows Desktop will be available later this fall.
If you want to install .NET 4.5 separately, you can get it from http://www.microsoft.com/net.
For volume licensing customers, Visual Studio 2012 products will be available starting tomorrow (August 16th) from the Volume Licensing Servicing Center.
Packaged products will begin to show up in stores next month, with some products available for purchase digitally in selected regions starting in the next few days (visit the Visual Studio product website for details).

It’s time to start your engines, and begin downloading today!

Will India Become a Superpower?

2012-08-26T22:07:00.002+05:30

“The service of India means the service of the millions who suffer. It means the ending of poverty and ignorance and disease and inequality of opportunity” - Jawaharlal Nehru, 14 August, 1947.

India with its third largest economy, slotting next to China and USA, has all the attributes to become an economic super power by 2025.India's core strengths lies in its democratic framework, which can be routed to bridge the divide at the social and economic level.

Education holds the key to fulfill many ambitions from the individual to the family, the society and the nation at large. Considering that the major part of the Indian demographics is young, with over 450 million students in the education segment, there is a huge potential in this sector, to generate skilled workforce. Meaning, with skilled workforce the employment rate will increase manifold, which in turn can bring about greater economic power at the individual, family and society-level, with its cascading effects on the nation at large.

We started off with an exalted note, a thundering applause, and an optimistic tryst with destiny. Despite obnoxious Churchill laughing away sardonically. We installed the most erudite of scholars at the highest echelons of power. Even as that could not deprive us of our web of superstitious ignorance. We strived to help Indira’s India turn duplicitously socialist carving out a veritably stimulating mixed economy. That did not prevent us from cementing the biggest feudal setup in modern times. Now a full circle; we are a capitalistic mega success, a military super power in the making, an economic giant, and foremost of all, a proud nation zealously loved, fervently guarded and sacredly held in esteem. And our lofty, unwavering proclamations of nationalism have decisively helped us masquerade our sickening class society as a vibrant and robust democracy.

It is imperative not to discount the significance of political democracy, or the labeling of it. After all, electoral voting is deeply crucial in sustaining a system that can be controlled by those exuding self-perpetuating power attained via means legitimized as desired. Democracy has become the horse for our moral rides, the unquestioned credo that stirs us to inaction, the mystical justification for the status quo. Holiest of scriptures is our Preamble which bestows upon us our long cherished national identities we refuse to critically interrogate and through those, we the people of India have given to ourselves unfathomable hyperboles.

A deeply religious society fractured with majoritarian fanaticism and yet we are the proclaimed seculars; distinctly divisive run our regional tendencies and yet we are constitutionally united; magnitudes in riches determine the electoral reach of candidates and yet we bask in largest democratic glories; unashamed playground for the capitalists of the world and yet documented we are as a socialist nation. We like to be observed as romanticized studies in great contrasts, of the slumdogs and millionaires; yet we are in reality a sustained plethora of unfortunate contradictions refusing to resolve.

Six decades ago, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar put it rather mildly, “On the 26th January 1950, we are going to enter into a life of contradictions. In politics we will have equality and in social and economic life we will have inequality. In politics we will be recognizing the principle of one-person-one-vote and one-vote-one-value. In our social and economic life, we shall by reason of our social and economic structure, continue to deny the principle of one-person-one-value. How long shall we continue to live this life of contradictions?”

We have not only embraced the contradictions, we revel in them. One of the vicious outfits we entertain these days is ironically called Youth for Equality which has started appropriating none other than Dr. Ambedkar himself to further its agendas of privileged caste-blindness. Whereas Dr. Ambedkar aimed for a casteless society, he did so by recognizing the root and demanding its elimination. Before dreaming of a casteless India, he made it very clear that it is Hinduism whose scriptures be burnt down, for “inequality is the soul of Hinduism.” He wrote, “Caste is a disease of mind. The teachings of the Hindu religion are the root cause of this disease. We practice casteism and we observe untouchability because we are enjoined to do so by the Hindu religion. A bitter thing cannot be made sweet. The taste of anything can be changed. But poison cannot be changed into nectar.”

Republic of India has failed to change the poison into nectar because it is the poison we the apparently innocent, well-meaning, decent folks have voluntarily been administering within our families and schools. As a result, we not only now have major political parties unabashedly displaying Hindu affections through systematic violence against religious minorities, what is worse is we blame no longer Hinduism proponents, but their victims as the casteists: the untouchables, the Dalits, the indigenous peoples discarded by our majoritarian religious identity. The public perception that Dalit activists are the ones practicing casteism has gained unprecedented mileage in recent times, and the upper caste elitists who refuse to give up an ounce of their privileges are the ones christened as equal rights champions.

Not very dissimilar is our collective attitude towards the poor working class being the cause of embarrassment in face of our superpower aspirations. It is not the poverty that a bunch of us in power corridors - of justice, education, technology and legislation - have institutionalized to our benefit, which needs to be felt ashamed of. In fact, we gloat over the emerging India’s list of billionaires and star cricketers driving Ferraris and celebrities getting paid tens of crores per movie appearance. What we are ashamed of are our poor working class folks who get regularly evicted out of the rising cities we showcase for potential foreign investments.

The shining India up for sale comes tagged with a befitting disclaimer: “There is nothing wrong in being rich if it is hard-earned money.” No questions asked as to whose hard-work enables accumulations for the rich. Questions about capitalistic contradictions no longer require any answers. Capitalism is here to stay and flourish. After all, we have voted our parliamentarians to power and they have welcomed imperialistic trade to enslave us once again. The question that needs to be answered and addressed is that of the undesirable elements that weaken the otherwise radiating image of our beloved country - the question of the Maoists, of the disfranchised, of the destitute, of the refugees.

Full Article : http://www.saswat.com/blog/reflections-for-15th-august.html

Report By Ramachandra Guha: http://www2.lse.ac.uk/IDEAS/publications/reports/pdf/SR010/guha.pdf

Article of The Hindu: http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/article3284696.ece

Healing Hearts, Divine Delights and Hilarious Thoughts

2012-08-25T22:18:00.002+05:30

1)) Praise and blame, gain and loss, pleasure and sorrow come and go like the wind. To be happy, rest like a great tree in the midst of them all.

2)) I don't know what truth is, but my heart does.

3)) Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself. ~ George Bernard Shaw

4)) Louisa May Alcott,
'I'm not afraid of storms, for I'm learning to sail my ship.' 5)) 'I invoke into my heart and into this space the God of my own understanding. I welcome this essence and grace into my being. May it infuse this day with the love necessary to make my work meaningful, potent and beneficial for all beings. I ask, dear spirit, that my judgment be transformed into understanding, my resistance into surrender and my fear into faith. May I stand in my power and create space and opportunity so that others may stand in their own. May I stay heart centered and available to all the people I meet and greet them with openness and a willingness to share ideas and experience without judgment, prejudice or fear. Expose my assumptions and limited beliefs so that I may grow, and give me the strength to acknowledge these limitations without shame. May the vibration that exists within my heart be offered outward into my community and the universe as a prayer for healing, unity and peace./

6)) Everywhere the Divine

God to surround me, God to encompass me;

God in my words, God in my thoughts;

God in my waking, God in my resting;

God in my hoping, God in my doing;

God in my heart, God in my soul;

God in my weakness, God in my strength;

God in my life, God in my eternity;

God in my life, God in my eternity.

~ W. Mary Calvert

7))

Love One Another -- Khalil Gibran

'Love one another, but make not a bond of love.

Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.

Fill each other's cup, but drink not from one cup.

Give one another of your bread, but eat not from the same loaf.

Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone.

Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.

Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping.

For only the hand of life can contain your hearts.

And stand together, yet not too near together.

For the pillars of the temple stand apart.

And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.'

✫*¨*.¸¸.✶*
~ Trust Yourself ~ Trust Life

Connecting with your Inner Self

2012-08-25T22:00:00.001+05:30

Loving yourself is critical for personal happiness. When you learn to know and accept the true you, miracles happen. You feel at peace with yourself, you're better able to balance the tensions around you, it's easy to be authentic in relationships, and you stop having regrets for what you have or haven't done in your life.

So why is it so difficult to love yourself?

For a large part of our lives we develop habits to protect ourselves, to comply with expectations and to control what happens to us. If you've received messages from significant others in your life that you're not 'good enough,' 'smart enough,' or 'attractive enough,' fear and avoidance become the essence of your life as you try and survive in what is perceived to be a hostile world. Basically, you don't love yourself because you don't view yourself as being loveable.

Consider this: If one person on this planet is loveable, then we're all loveable. Why? Just because we're human. Just because we live and breathe and (mostly) have good intentions. After all, you don't have to be perfect to be loveable. Who is? You just have to be yourself. Maybe smile a little more. Lighten up. Be more accepting. Let go. Love your heart out. Give.

But even if you don't, you're still the only you in the universe. You still have a unique purpose and a reason for being here. Finding out what that is, is a lifelong journey of personal discovery - and you might as well love yourself on the way.

If you want to change something in your life, like your perception of yourself, it takes courage to step into the fear of change and dare to imagine that you are in fact, 'good enough.'

Benjamin Button brings a thought-provoking insight to the notion of how to love yourself towards the end of the movie The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. He says, 'For what it's worth, it's never too late, or in my case too early, to be whoever you want to be. There's no time limit... Start whenever you want.. You can change or stay the same. There are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. I hope you see things that stop you. I hope you feel things that you have never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life that you're proud of and if you find that you're not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again.'

'Nuff said!

SerialPort (RS-232 Serial COM Port) in C# .NET

2012-08-24T19:55:00.001+05:30

Recently i am working on a project in which i have to fetch data from serial port for the identity card authentication. In that i have to store the data in the database after reading it from serial port and after processing it the result will be retrieved.

To refer Microsoft website for this : http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.io.ports.serialport.aspx

To start off, here is sample code in a terminal application which you can try out to see how the SerialPort class is used. This requires Visual Studio 2010 to compile, which can be obtained free via C# Express. It is just a simple little application with basic support for text or binary (hex) modes to send and receive data. A nice feature or two is auto-detection of installed COM ports that update at runtime if you plugin or remove USB-to-Serial adapters, also you can change the DTR and RTS levels and monitor the CTS, DSR, and CD lines.

Build Note: You will receive an error that Visual Studio isn't able to find NoahCode.pfx. This is expected as it is the click-once certificate for publishing and is NOT NEEDED for normal code use. Just go to Project Properties > Signing > Click on Create Test Certificate. that’s it

go to Project Properties > Signing > Click on Create Test Certificate. that’s it

Get Connected You can obtain USB to Serial adapters and have just about as many ports on your PC as you like. I carry around two adapters with a null modem (wikipedia) between them so I can create a loopback to send & receive through to separate ports on most any computer. I'd recommend doing the same for when writing code for the serial port.
If you'd like to quickly and easily create your own external devices to communicate with the PC, I recommend starting with the Arduino, NetDuino (like an Arduino but programmed in C#), or Parallax BASIC Stamp modules. All three have many accessories and sensors available (such as LCDs, RF, Sounds, AD & DA, etc). sparkfun.com is a great place to look. After that you could migrate to an Atmel Microcontroller (recommended) or Microchip PIC.

Write Data Out Here is an example of how easy it is to use the new SerialPort control. Very simply, here is how you can send a bit of data out the port.


// This is a new namespace in .NET 2.0

// that contains the SerialPort class
using System.IO.Ports;

private static void SendSampleData()
{
  // Instantiate the communications

  // port with some basic settings
  SerialPort port = new SerialPort(

    "COM1", 9600, Parity.None, 8, StopBits.One);
  
  // Open the port for communications
  port.Open();
  
  // Write a string
  port.Write("Hello World");
  
  // Write a set of bytes
  port.Write(new byte[] {0x0A, 0xE2, 0xFF}, 0, 3);
  
  // Close the port
  port.Close();
}

Read Data From Port Now let's take a look at what it takes to read data in from the communications port. This demonstrates reading text.

Create a new "Console Application" and replace all the default class code with this code
Add a reference to "System.Windows.Forms" to the project
Run w/ F5, to exit the app, press Ctrl-Break.
Get Connected with two USB to Serial adapters and a null modem
Use another app, the code above, or the SerialPortTerminal.zip example to send data and watch it come in with this code


#region Namespace Inclusions
using System;
using System.IO.Ports;
using System.Windows.Forms;
#endregion

namespace SerialPortExample
{
  class SerialPortProgram
  {
    // Create the serial port with basic settings
    private SerialPort port = new SerialPort("COM1",      9600, Parity.None, 8, StopBits.One);

    [STAThread]
    static void Main(string[] args)
    { 
      // Instatiate this class
      new SerialPortProgram();
    }

    private SerialPortProgram()
    {
      Console.WriteLine("Incoming Data:");

      // Attach a method to be called when there

      // is data waiting in the port's buffer
      port.DataReceived += new 

        SerialDataReceivedEventHandler(port_DataReceived);

      // Begin communications
      port.Open();
      
      // Enter an application loop to keep this thread alive
      Application.Run();
    }

    private void port_DataReceived(object sender,

      SerialDataReceivedEventArgs e)
    {
      // Show all the incoming data in the port's buffer
      Console.WriteLine(port.ReadExisting());
    }
  }
}

Listing Available Ports One of the (several) new methods that is supported, and one I'm very glad is finally here, is the ability to obtain a list of the COM ports installed on the computer (ex: COM1, COM2, COM4). This is definately helpful when you want to present the list of ports avalible for the user to select from (as in the SerialPortTerminal.zip Win App example).


foreach (string s in SerialPort.GetPortNames())
  Console.WriteLine(s);

Sending Files
Here are two helpful little methods for sending files through the serial port. Of course, these are the bare essentials and as always, you should check to make sure the port is open first (port.IsOpen) and use try/catch around trying to open a file, but you get the gist with this code. The binary sending routine is limited to about 2GB (the size of an int), but this should be okay for most uses.


using System.IO;

private static void SendTextFile(

  SerialPort port, string FileName)
{ port.Write(File.OpenText(FileName).ReadToEnd()); }

private static void SendBinaryFile(

  SerialPort port, string FileName)
{
  using (FileStream fs = File.OpenRead(FileName))
    port.Write((new BinaryReader(fs)).ReadBytes(

      (int)fs.Length), 0, (int)fs.Length);
}

RS-232 Project Photos Each of these involve RS-232 serial port communications.

Just what's needed to get started with microcontrollers,
a Basic Stamp, mini LCD display, power, and RS-232 port.

Two USB to Serial adapters with a null modem
to loopback and test your serial software.

The brains to a mini automated radio station that let me
control my PC & home using my HAM radio from around town.

Port Wiring Notes

DB9 Male (Pin Side)                   DB9 Female (Pin Side)
DB9 Female (Solder Side)              DB9 Male (Solder Side)
    -------------                          -------------
    \ 1 2 3 4 5 /                          \ 5 4 3 2 1 /
     \ 6 7 8 9 /                            \ 9 8 7 6 /
      ---------                              ---------

DB9 Female to DB9 Female Null-Modem Wiring
 2 |  3 |  7 |  8 | 6&1|  5 |  4
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- 
 3 |  2 |  8 |  7 |  4 |  5 | 6&1

9-pin   25-pin  Assignment                 From PC
------  ------  -------------------------  ------------
Shield  1       Case Ground                Gnd
1       8       DCD (Data Carrier Detect)  Input
2       3       RX  (Receive Data)         Input
3       2       TX  (Transmit Data)        Output
4       20      DTR (Data Terminal Ready)  Output
5       7       GND (Signal Ground)        Gnd
6       6       DSR (Data Set Ready)       Input
7       4       RTS (Request To Send)      Output
8       5       CTS (Clear To Send)        Input
9       22      RI  (Ring Indicator)       Input

- RTS & DTR are binary outputs that can be manually set and held
- DCD, DSR, CTS, and RI are binary inputs that can be read
- RX & TX can not be set manually and are controlled by the UART
- maximum voltages are between -15 volts and +15 volts
- binary outputs are between +5 to +15 volts and -5 to -15 volts
- binary inputs are between +3 to +15 volts and -3 to -15 volts
- input voltages between -3 to +3 are undefined while output voltages
  between -5 and +5 are undefined
- positive voltages indicate ON or SPACE, negative voltages indicate
  OFF or MARK

Protocol Development
If you are making your own serial interface/protocol, you really must have a good standard in place. Serial data flows into the com port byte by byte and must be buffered and parsed correctly. Think of it this way, if a terminal sent your computer "Hello World" it may come in as four OnComm triggers: "H", "ello", " Wo", and "rld"
The best protocols are usually a mix of these methods. Here are three simple protocol techniques:

Beginning and Ending ("Start" & "Stop") Codes This is good for sending text as it lets everybody know when text starts and ends. You simply tack on a non-normal byte at the beginning and end of the text. For example, you'd use '---' to signify the start of the string and '===' to signify the end. So you would use: com.Output = "---Hello World===";
Fixed Length Codes Used for specific commands. You can create your own codes to send and specify what they mean. Say I want to control the lighting in a house, I'd setup a protocol of commands like this:
1st byte = House Code, 2nd byte = Light Code, 3rd byte = On or Off (0 for off, 1 for on)
So to turn on the 11th light in my house (house code #3) I'd use:
com.Output = new byte[] {3, 11, 0};
Prefixed Data Packet This is probably the most common and flexible but requires the most coding. Just prefix your data packet with the length of the data. The prefix must be a fixed size, such as two bytes which would allow a data packet of up to 65,535 bytes. Then the receiver knows how much data is in the packet because it always takes the first two bytes and uses the rest as the data packet.
Example: com.Output = ((char) 00) + ((char) 11) + "Hello World";

Why Indian athletes have fallen back in Olympics 2012?

2012-08-24T19:46:00.000+05:30

As the Olympics have been just finished on a extraordinary note and everyone bid adieu it with a promise to do better in Rio Olympic. Every Indian fan has followed India in London Olympics, some with the pride and others along with the expected lines of frustration. As the media ”which is the strongest part of our country like any other countries” had created a hype in the Indians for the Olympics .

Every Indian had expected that this time INDIA will surely perform well and make its presence felt at the international stage. The Indian Olympic association sent the first ever largest contingent in Olympics which raised our hopes of winning more medals.

We are familiar with the winning and losing character of sport that is what makes following the fortunes of one’s country in an event like Olympics that was much more intense and exciting. Much was expected from our archers and some of the boxing hopefuls but those disappointments don’t hurt as much as the hockey debacle.

When the Olympics 2012 were finished on 12^ththth August then we Indians were happy that we have won 6 medals which is the highest ever medal haul in INDIAN history. But if we dwelt the result of London Olympic than we get to know that It was an another disappointing show by the country after its unprecedented success at the Commonwealth and Asian Games in 2010. For this many reasons has been given in the media and newspaper by the sports expert, Columnist and many high level official.

The government also spent the highest ever amount of money for the training of athletes abroad under renowned coaches in United States and Europe. But it was the same old story for India with the country finishing without a medal as has been the case in the past and leaving the biggest sporting arena without making its presence felt in athletics, one of the major attractions in these multi-discipline extravaganzas.

Indian archer team which includes the world champion Dipika Kumari is even failed to give a strong competence in the bout to the competitor. Indian pugilist as expected had performed well but unfortunately it was disappointing that none of them were not able to book the semifinal berth.

The biggest disappointment in the Olympic 2012 was the early exit of the Indian hockey team. Though hockey being national game we finished at the bottom of the table which was a shame for calling ourselves as a hockey champion. The main reason for this was the conflict between India hockey and Indian hockey federation. Because of this the Indian players have to suffer. These kind of matters should have been resolved by the government.

In Tennis India had a fair chance of winning a medal but due to the conflicts between Indian tennis players the Indian journey in the tennis had ended in the second round. These

At last we would be very thankful to the Recent Indian star of London games that now they will inspire the millions of people to take the sports seriously. In the country like INDIA we Indians especially parent thinks that a student can only be succeeded by the studies which are the main concern for Indian sports.

Overall we cannot say that it was a disappointing show by the Indians in the London games but we could have performed well if our archers, hockey and tennis players had done better. But now by the results of London games the expectation to do well in the game has been raised. Our honorable Sports Minister Mr. Ajay Makan had also said that by 2020 we will able to win 20 gold medals.

Say Hello to Outlook.com: Hotmail reborn for a new era

2012-08-19T22:41:00.000+05:30

Microsoft recently introduced Outlook.com, a new personal email service that reimagines the way that people use email – from a cleaner look, to fewer and less obtrusive ads, to new connections to social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. It is making waves with millions of users registered within hours of its launch.

Microsoft has killed off Hotmail, one of the world's most recognisable brands, in favour of a new email service called Outlook.com. With millions of users registered within hours of its launch, Outlook.com is clearly making waves. There’s a clear emphasis on visual style, with every familiar icon and label replaced with elements of Microsoft's increasingly ubiquitous Metro interface. If you’ve tried any of the Office 2013 or Windows 8 preview releases, you'll recognise several consistent touches. Outlook.com is in fact designed to work well on tablets and touchscreens. Another interesting aspect of this move is that Microsoft is combining many of its past offerings, such as Hotmail, Windows Live Mail, into a single, simple online service. If you already have an Hotmail or Live account, you can log in to Outlook.com with the same email address, which will keep your inbox, folders and contacts intact. If you want to register a new @outloook.com ID, you should probably head over to the service right now while unique names are still up for grabs.
The process of registration is really simple and doesn’t run into multiple pages of questions. Once you’ve registered and logged in, you can’t help but notice the minimalistic design and layout. The experience is designed to be consistent across Windows on the desktop, Windows Phone, Office 2013 and the Web. In fact, if you turn on full screen mode using the Metro version of Internet Explorer, you wouldn’t be able to tell that it's a website rather than a native app. Now, let’s look at what we really like about Outlook.com.

A swanky new user interface
The interface looks exactly like a full-screen app, with no margins or borders on the sides. You don’t see a single ad on the page either. The left pane is like most other email services or clients, with folders and tags listed there. The top bar shows text labels for tools, which will change depending on what you're doing; for instance you won't see Reply and Forward commands unless a message is selected. Other tools pop up when hovering over a message in a folder. There are almost no icons anywhere, but the text labels are prominent and self-explanatory.

A clean, simple UI - made for tablets and desktops alike

You'll also notice that everything’s very slick and quick—there’s close to no delay when switching between folders.

Quick Views
Messages are typically sorted by date or tag, but Outlook tries to add a little something new to the mix. Mail can be sorted by attributes such as the attachment type; so you don’t have to use filters or run a search just to see all messages with images or documents as attachments. It would have been nice to see images in a gallery view, but you only see a listing of messages.

Filtering mails, based on types of attachments

The presentation of attached images is also improved, as compared to other mail services. There are large thumbnails with overlaid filenames, which is extremely convenient. Quick views can also be filtered by other attributes such as messages from contacts, newsletters and more.

A more user-friendly search
It's usually difficult to search through a mountain of email to find exactly the right message. Even Gmail requires you use some keywords, which newcomers don't often discover easily. Outlook.com on the other hand, starts auto-suggesting additional parameters as you type words. For example, searching for messages from a particular person is as simple as typing his or her name. Outlook.com automatically fills in keywords for you and offers suggestions.

A detailed search feature, if you need it

If that doesn’t get your search result, there’s a more thorough Advanced Search which allows you to use more traditional text fields to specify a time period or a folder to search within.

Integrated Facebook messaging
Social networking is everywhere. Google has integrated bits and pieces of Google+ into Gmail, Microsoft has integrated Facebook into Outlook and you can also import contacts from other services such as if you’d like. Once you’ve added the Facebook account, you can message your directly from the interface.

Easy customisations

One of the customisations - selecting keyboard presets

The interface might be minimalist, but several customisation options are still left to the user. You can change the colour theme and tweak the way incoming messages are displayed. You can choose a between vertical and horizontal preview panes, and tasks are very neatly arranged with help provided through the way.

Good use of folders and tags
Gmail has tags, but there’s never been a usable folder system, considering all archived messages go into one giant All Mail folder. Things are cleaner on Outlook.com. There are tags that you can use anytime you’d like, aided by the large taskbar at the top of the screen. You can also create and manage traditional folders to help you sort things as you like them.

Categories and tagging, easy accessible to the user

While there are a ton of nifty little things to like about Outlook.com, there are also a few annoying things that crop up as you really start using it.

Metro tiles in a desktop email service
While most email services have direct links to complementary components such as contacts and calendars, Outlook.com requires you to click on an unmarked dropdown menu which brings up a large horizontal bar with Windows 8-style tiles for People, Calendar, Skydrive and, of course, Mail.

A drop down menu, to access two services - seems unnecessary

While it could make sense on a tablet, it feels totally out of place and unnecessary in a browser on a desktop PC. It also hides nearly a quarter of the screen and scales poorly when you resize a browser window.

Switching between messages is a pain
Gmail might have become cluttered, but there’s a workaround for nearly everything. On the other hand, if you’re typing a mail on Outlook.com, you can’t simply click on one of the folders to look up an earlier message or a contact. You have to leave the Compose screen, find the message, copy what you need to the clipboard or a text editor, and then resume from the Drafts folder.

Composing a mail - no way to access other mails

It gets worse if you want to switch between different messages. This could be solved by simply allowing any message or Compose screen to be popped out into its own window or tab.

Minor design inconsistencies

Inconsistency on styling, and even product names

While Outlook.com feels fresh and new, it’s a bit odd to see that Calendar and Skydrive haven’t changed one bit. When you need to move between these services, you wind up dealing with completely different designs. Some of those services also still refer to Outlook.com as Hotmail for some reason, but it seems fairly certain that they'll receive Metro-inspired makeovers soon.

Spotty browser support
The new Outlook.com seemed to work fine in Internet Explorer on Windows 7 as well as both the Desktop and Metro versions of IE for Windows 8 Consumer Preview. However, we noticed sluggishness and broken layouts in Chrome and Opera. We hope this is sorted out as well.

Outlook.com is less than a day old and Microsoft probably has several more tricks up its sleeve. It's clear how much it is investing in the Metro interface and philosophy. While there are still a few months before Windows 8 and Office 2013 launch, millions of Hotmail users will make the Metro transition before then. Do let us know your impressions and reactions in the comments below.

Forward mail to another account

2012-08-19T21:48:00.000+05:30

Gmail lets you automatically forward incoming mail to another address.
Here's how to forward messages automatically:

Click the gear icon in the upper right, then select Settings.
Click the Forwarding and POP/IMAP tab.
From the first drop-down menu in the "Forwarding" section, select 'Add new email address.'
Enter the email address to which you'd like your messages forwarded.
For your security, we'll send a verification to that email address.
Open your forwarding email account, and find the confirmation message from the Gmail team.
Click the verification link in that email.
Back in your Gmail account, select the 'Forward a copy of incoming mail to...' option and select your forwarding address from the drop-down menu.
Select the action you'd like your messages to take from the drop-down menu. You can choose to keep Gmail's copy of the message in your inbox, or you can send it automatically to All Mail or Trash. But Its better to use it archive copy in gmail because it will stop the duplicate email.
Click Save Changes.

You also can set up filters to forward messages that meet specific criteria. You can create 20 filters that forward to other addresses. You can maximize your filtered forwarding by combining filters that send to the same address.

The world’s largest business school

2012-08-17T07:41:00.002+05:30

The UK’s Open University Business School is the world’s largest MBA provider with triple accreditation at EQUIS, Amba and AACSB. And the best is: it offers access to an elite business school, whatever a student’s starting point is and wherever he is in the world. MBA-Channel has had a chat with the school’s new dean, Rebecca Taylor, about distance learning and top-quality teaching.

B-schools: Shifting the game plan

2012-08-17T07:29:00.000+05:30

Whilst applications to full time MBAs have decreased, online degrees are a growing market for b-schools. Top schools have opened up their offers to online students and more and more second- and third-tier business schools are trying to grab a piece of the growing online degree market.

A recent survey of online students conducted by online educational consultants Learning House and Aslanian Market Research found that one-third of online students pursue business degrees making it the most popular field for online degrees. Most of these online business students seek degrees in administration/management, finance, and accounting.
The more crowded the market place becomes, the more distinguishing factors the schools have thought of to stand out from the crowd. Most of these try to battle the perceived disadvantage of online learning – the missing networking factor. Therefore sophisticated videoconferencing software, social media tools and obligatory residency components have become popular additions to the courses. One of the most recent offers on the market showcases this. It comes from Pepperdine University’s Graziadio School of Business and Management in the U.S. The school has just recently launched a new two-year online MBA programme where students will be able to consult with other students, the faculty as well as companies in a virtual environment. Students will also need to spend a three-day residency on campus.
Other brand new online MBA degrees are offered by George Washington University’s School of Business, the University of Texas Pan-American’s College of Business Administration, University of New Hampshire’s Whittemore School of Business and Economics, and Thomas Edison State College in New Jersey for example.
Even the top ranked business schools seem to slowly open up to online learning despite the fact that most have been hesitant to enter the online market in recent years. Kenan-Flagler has started its online degree MBA@UNC for example. The University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and the University of Virignia’s Darden School of Business will offer a few business courses online later this year. And Harvard University, University of California at Berkeley and Massachusetts Institute of Technology are planning classes on the platform edX, a not-for-profit online learning initiative from autumn onwards.
Stanford University, however, has taken a different approach. Whilst the Stanford Graduate School of Business does not offer an online degree, the University itself views the online game as a great field for experimentation. After introducing three free online computer sciences classes last year that drew more than 350,000 participants from around the world, the university has established another five free online classes in March 2012.
The online classes are part of a university initiative to creatively use new technology to improve education both on campus and off. The online classes are taught by regular Stanford faculty and are highly interactive. Participants view short interactive video clips that include live quizzes and instant feedback. At the same time, participants help each other through online discussions similar to a comment thread on a social networking site. Those enrolled in the free classes do not get Stanford credit for their work, but they do receive a statement of accomplishment if they successfully complete a course.

inspirational Speechs

2012-05-15T23:34:00.001+05:30

“Your time is limited, don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma, which is living the result of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinion drown your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition, they somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” – Steve Jobs

“If you believe that every life has equal value, it’s revolting to learn that some lives are seen as worth saving and others are not. We said to ourselves: “This can’t be true. But if it is true, it deserves to be the priority of our giving.” – Bill Gates

“[Now] it’s time for you to move on to what’s next. But you must not let anything deter you from taking those first steps. [D]on’t spend so much time trying to choose the perfect opportunity, that you miss the right opportunity. Recognize that there will be failures, and acknowledge that there will be obstacles. But you will learn from your mistakes and the mistakes of others, for there is very little learning in success.”
- Michael Dell

“Really when I look back at it I wouldn’t change a thing. I mean it was so important to me to lose everything because I found out what the most important thing is – To be true to yourself. Ultimately that’s what’s gotten me to this place. I don’t live in fear, I’m free, I have no secrets, I know I’ll always be okay because no matter what, I know who I am.” - Ellen

“You might never fail on the scale I did. But some failure in life is inevitable. It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all. In which case, you fail by default.” – JK Rowling

“You’re going to find naysayers in every turn that you make. Don’t listen. Just visualize your goal, know exactly where you want to go. Trust yourself. Get out there and work like hell. Break some of the rules and never ever be afraid of failure.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger

How not to write an Internship CV

2012-04-14T17:06:00.002+05:30

A Google search on “How to write a CV” returns 66,200,000 pages and still we have people (and not just students alone) asking around tips on how to write a CV that stands out and conveys the message. Either those 66 million plus pages are written in Zulu language or the students are not reading them. How else do we explain student internship CVs running into 3+ pages even before the start of their professional career?

To me the fundamental problem seems to be arising because very few of us pause to think what is the exact purpose of a CV? What do you think a CV is supposed to do? The objective of a CV is one and only one – to get you an interview call. Once this becomes clear, everything else falls into place.

I am listing down a series of turn offs that you may have on your resume, and how trimming them down would reduce the fluff on your CV and make your and the recruiter’s life easier.

1. Career Objective – I could never figure out what good platitude laden, global “Gyaan” filled 4 lines do to your CV? Yes, yes, I know you are hardworking, diligent, sincere, looking for an opportunity where you could utilize your skills and contribute to the growth of the organization – but then so is everyone else! Don’t’ believe me? Have a look at some of the samples below. Let’s be honest – your objective is to get the internship and recruiter’s objective is to give it to you. Let’s not wrap wool of words around it.

2. Personal Information – Write only what is required and relevant. As per me, providing your name, contact number, contact address and email id are enough. How knowing your father’s, mother’s, uncles’ and aunt’s names going to help me in deciding whether to offer you the internship or not? Similarly unless specifically asked, you do not need to provide your gender and DOB as well. Most of the opportunities today do not differentiate basis gender, age, religion and cast and let’s keep it that way. Also there is a great trick hidden in how you can save space on personal information piece – have a look at the sample below and compare it with what you have on your CV.

3. Declaration & Signature – Are you testifying in a court which requires you to call it out explicitly? It’s an obvious expectation that the information on your CV is the most truthful to your knowledge. Do you think those who do not provide this declaration of solemnity are lying and recruiters do not trust them? You know the answer. Save yourself the effort and those 4 lines.

4. References – References are asked before making you the final offer and not before deciding whether to call you for an interview. It does not add any value to the CV – save them for future.

I will continue with the rest of the entry in the next blog, do try the tips above and write back how much space you were able to trim down. You will be amazed how likely it feels now that your CV can fit in that dream 1 page format :)

Hope this helps. Have something to say, ask, critique or know of an internship opportunity that you would like others to know – post it right away! If you like what you read here, do share with another friend.

5. Courses and Project work – Please don’t make the recruiter cringe in his/her chair by writing ALL the coursework and project work that you have done till date. Again relevancy is the key. How does knowing about your coursework in area of structural engineering help me decide whether you are suitable for an Environmental Engineering internship or not? Write only those courses which are relevant to the internship and do mention your grades if favourable.

6. Extra Curricular Activities– This one is perhaps the most abused section of a CV. Just because someone else has it on his/her CV, we feel a compelling need to follow the suite. And thus emerge the school / class / section toppers, cricket captains, volleyball champions etc. Let’s be honest – most of us have been one champion or other at some point during our school life and it is NOT a differentiator. If you did not care about these achievements until you sat down to write the CV, an employer cares even less. Moreover none of it is verifiable (unless you have preserved all your school certificates since 2^nd standard) and I am yet to come across an intern who got the internship basis his 5^th standard work.

However, do write about major achievements such as winning a national competition, state and above level participation in sports, board merit in 10^th/12^th standard or winning an Olympiad etc.

7. Talk numbers and not English – This one you would learn over time. ALWAYS try to quantify any qualitative achievement statement. For example saying ““Among top 2% students throughout academic career” vs. saying “Academically bright performance throughout academic career” has very different impact. When talking about a project, do give a sense of efforts, scale and achievement with help of numbers. For example – “worked on the website (link) for a period of two months and it today has x thousand users or reduces time taken for an activity by y%”

8. Talk English and not SMS text – A CV is a professional document through which you are introducing yourself to a complete stranger and not some informal chat that you are having with a friend. Save the SMS language and abbreviations for the later. Similarly typos and spelling mistakes are unacceptable. Period.

Finally the million dollar question – does a CV necessarily have to be only 1 page long? The answer is no. But yes, it helps to keep it as short and relevant as possible. And I really struggle to imagine a scenario in which a student’s CV would run more than a page or a page and half if the points above are adhered to. Learn to use the font size, tables and spacing between the lines intelligently and you should be home easily.

Simple Web Browser in C#.Net

2012-03-25T13:09:00.001+05:30

I have used Windows Forms to develop this application. The Browser control is used to display Web pages and class is Web Browser.

Code of form1.cs
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Data;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Windows.Forms;

namespace WebBrowser
{
    public partial class Form1 : Form
    {
        public Form1()
        {
            InitializeComponent();
        }

        private void comboBox1_SelectedIndexChanged(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            webBrowser1.Navigate(comboBox1.Text.ToString());
        }

        private void navigationToolStripMenuItem_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {

        }

        private void backToolStripMenuItem_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            webBrowser1.GoBack();
        }

        private void nextToolStripMenuItem_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            webBrowser1.GoForward();

        }

        private void webBrowser1_DocumentCompleted(object sender, WebBrowserDocumentCompletedEventArgs e)
        {

        }

        private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            string path = comboBox1.Text.ToString();
            webBrowser1.Navigate(path);
            comboBox1.Items.Add(comboBox1.Text.ToString());

        }

        private void homeToolStripMenuItem_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {

            webBrowser1.Navigate("http://172.19.2.250/lpuums");
            comboBox1.Text = "http://172.19.2.250/lpuums";

       }

        private void menuStrip1_ItemClicked(object sender, ToolStripItemClickedEventArgs e)
        {

        }

        private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {

        }
    }
}

Program.cs
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Windows.Forms;

namespace WebBrowser
{
    static class Program
    {
        /// <summary>
        /// The main entry point for the application.
        /// </summary>
        [STAThread]
        static void Main()
        {
            Application.EnableVisualStyles();
            Application.SetCompatibleTextRenderingDefault(false);
            Application.Run(new Form1());
        }
    }
}

Submitting Data to a PDF from via HTML and/or PDF forms

2012-03-25T11:03:00.001+05:30

Recently while filling passport application i came across a method that how the online form data automatically printed in PDF file. After searching it on Internet i got the solution. So here is a short tutorial about how to implement my original create FDF function into your website OR web application so you can import user-submitted data into your PDF files. The most popular reason for using a method like this is so the data can be represented in a standard format that is easy to comprehend. This method can be useful for things like employment applications where you not only accept them online, but also through the mail. A single PDF document allows your web users to provide you with information in a variety of ways but all are formatted to the way your Human Resources department will expect to see them.

Download the full tutorial : http://www.mediafire.com/?60y39bd5au7buc6

Gold import tariff value reduced

2012-03-24T09:45:00.005+05:30

The Central Government today has cut the import tariff value of gold from USD 573 per 10 grams to USD 530 per 10 grams, while for silver the tariff value has been kept unchanged at $1,036 per kg. After crude oil, gold is the most imported commodity in India in terms of value.

The tariff value which is released fortnightly by The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC), is the base price on which the customs duty is determined to prevent under-invoicing and discourage import of gold to ease pressure on balance of payments.

The import duty on gold was fixed at 2 per cent of the value instead of the earlier rate of Rs 300 per 10 grams. On silver, the import duty was pegged at 6% as against Rs 1,500 per kg earlier. India, the world's biggest gold consumer imported 967 tonnes of the yellow metal in 2011, the government has sought to curb consumption through fiscal measures.

Bullion traders and Jewellers have opposed the recent hikes in tariff value as it would hit demand as the increased costs have to be passed on to consumers. To check the trend of rising gold imports early this year, the government had changed the duty structure on gold and silver from specific to value-linked, making precious metals more expensive.

In the Budget for 2012-13, the government has further tweaked the duty structure and hiked the basic customs duty on standard gold bars from 2 per cent to 4 per cent and that on non-standard gold from 5 per cent to 10 per cent.