ZOSO

Opera 10 Beta released!

sridharo — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 02:55:47 PDT

Yesterday my favorite browser -Opera released the beta version of its PC web browser codenamed Peregrine (their code-names are from the birds of prey) .

Here are a couple of reasons to use Opera as your main browser :

Security : According to Secunia , Opera is one of the most secure browsers.Period. Let’s trust the experts.
InBuilt Mail Client & RSS Reader : The mail client offers POP and SMTP access to your email accounts.The lastest version supports RTF formats too.What more you couold trash all those mail clients and RSS readers.
Features : Opera has been a pioneer in the development of new and awesome features.The tabbed browsing,Speed Dial (now found in almost all browsers ) etc had come from Opera.Below are three of my favorite features:

Link : Synchronize all your bookmarks,notes etc with different computers(and also mobiles) having Opera.
Voice : Download an Audio library of around 10mb and thats it! A bot with a nearly human voice reads out aloud.Further if you have banished your keyboard, you can give Voice Commands to surf the web.
Turbo : This feature is extremely useful if you are on a network clogged or you are left with lesser bandwidth/speeds. Opera routes it though its server and saves frees up your bandwidth (If you access engadget and techcrunch with this mode,you’ll be saving around 2 mb!!!)

Go ahead, Download Opera, and give it a spin!

A Story

sridharo — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 07:38:17 PDT

My dad had this unique way of telling stories to inculcate/teaching ethics and building our ( me and my sis) character.I feel these stories had a profound effect on us. To teach us about the sense of how NOT to compromise your ethics/ morals and your sense of responsibility to the society, he would narrate this ’short’ story:

The cops had caught an elusive bandit who had looted and killed many people. He was brought before the Judge and was immediately sentenced to death. Hearing this, the bandit asked for a last wish and pleads to allow him see and seek blessings from his old mother. Seeing no harm in this,the Judge granted him this wish.
The next day, the authorities asked his mother to be present in the court. Upon seeing his son in in chains, she breaks down. With great difficulty , he moves across the room and to the shock of the whole court - slaps his mother and says “If only you stopped me when I stole a pencil for the first time at school…”

Here’s another Old Sanskrit saying my dad often quotes.

Hello world!

sridharo — Sun, 17 May 2009 02:39:04 PDT

My first post on Wordpress.
Almost done migrating from my previous blog “The Eagle Works” . All’s well except the broken url’s . Also,managed to fill up the About section.
Zeroin On Sridhar Oruganti!

Pretending Truth

sridharo — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 13:52:00 PDT

Here’s another anonymous quote:

If you pretend to know only truth, in truth you know only pretence

Web Trends at a Glance

sridharo — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 03:39:00 PDT

Here’s a snapshot of the web trends published in a yearly report byiA Inc.It maps 333 most influential Web doamins and the 111 most infleuntial Internet people on the Tokyo Metro map.

Each domain is evaluated based on traffic,revenue,age and the company that owns it.

Seth Godin

sridharo — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 15:15:00 PDT

Yes,I am a regular reader of Seth’s Blog. I wonder how he churns out gems day in and out. A must read.

Best Ways to Increase Hits to Your Blog/Site

sridharo — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 12:58:00 PDT

Now after some non-descript guy blogs about Twitter’s new business model,I am sure others are contemplating the how-to increase the number of hits to their blog.Here are some pointers to that :

Attack/Condemn a famous persona : This happens time and again. There have been quite a few blogs that condemn someone very famous.A brief on that and you are guarenteed hits with people vehemently defending or offending their idol.And oh,start with Guy Kawasaki,with almost a lakh followers on twitter, might promote your blog for free.
Use a negative adjective before a fruit named Apple : Yes,this works. Even seemingly quiet and apathetic techies are incapable of restraining themselves and defend their dear Apple and anything even remotely related to it with their emotional outburts.Dont get me wrong,Steve Jobs is the best CEO around and Apple products are indeed good,but hey,we are bored to death on another debate about whether Apple or Microsoft is better or would you care( or dare?) to enlighten me further.
Some ‘twiapp’ : Want to see your flock of followers? Want to know what your tweet’s value is? Wanna know your rank among the twitterati?.Develop a web app and post it on twitter.And watch your site link beign passed around with a “RT” appended. I’ve fallen for this too.
Comment,Comment,Comment : Visit a couple of sites often.Please share your opinions on each and every post of theirs.Smart babes are sexy??? Does it ring ? If not,add a comment to this blog and find more about this babe.
Expert View : Yes,this happens,often. so what if you can just hold a guitar…you have a blog so comment on someone’s ability to play a Guitar.People are keen for advice especially those that come free.

Considering all this,with all these SEO experts around,will Google’search be relevant in the near future?

Best Bookmarklets

sridharo — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 09:12:00 PDT

If you are just like me who has started using a bare minimum browser like Google Chrome , the following bookmarklets would make your web surfing experience all the more better. According to wiki, a bookmarklet is a portmanteau of the termsbookmark and applet. Whether bookmarklet utilities are stored as bookmarks or hyperlinks, they are designed to add one-click functionality to a browser or web page. When clicked, a bookmarklet performs some function, one of a wide variety such as a search query or data extraction. Usually the applet is a JavaScript program.

Here are my picks :

Readability : It converts the webpage into a simple page without adds and other extras.
Instapaper : If you are short of time but want to save a unfinished site/page,this helps you to save it and read later.
Twitsnip : For all those twitter fans out there,this one by Hubspot enables you to tweet the page you are reading without leaving it.
Google Bookmark : To organize all your frequently visited sites.

What Kind of Soul Are You?

sridharo — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 12:44:33 PST

You Are a Dreaming Soul

Your vivid imagination takes you away from this world
So much so that you tend to live in your head most of the time.
You have great dreams and ambitions that could be the envy of all…
But for you, following through with your dreams is a bit difficult.
You are charming, endearing, and people tend to love you.
Forgiving and tolerant, you see the world through rose colored glasses.
Underneath it all, you are brimming with passion that you keep hidden.
Always hopeful, you tend to expect positive outcomes in your life.
Souls you are most compatible with: Newborn Soul, Prophet Soul, and Traveler Soul

What Kind of Soul Are You?

Love these kinda quizzes.They are funny.

All About Twitter

sridharo — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 15:53:00 PST

What is twitter ?
Twitter is a way to share things quickly with your followers.

What things?
Any thing from what your doing to what you had for lunch,a quote,joke or an interesting link you’ve come across(this is the best use).These are called ‘tweets’

Followers Who?
Followers are like your friends in Facebook,Orkut etc.Typically they are of similar interests.You can refer to them as ‘tweeple’

How do I add followers?
Just like Facebook,you search for them and add them.if they arent on twitter you send invites

What is following?
You can choose to follow others.Those who share your interests makes it all the more worthwhile.Say you are a biker,then follow fellow bikers to get new updates about the bikes,gear etc

Ok I get it, now what?
Ceate an account in twitter here.Do the usual stuff and customize your profile.Note : Ensure you give an apt decription for your ‘Bio’.This will help others trying to add you in their network.So if you are a good cook and share recipes often say so.

Any other uses of twitter?
Well there are many.NGO’s raise funds,Reporting Incidents Live,guys propose ,seek advice,get feedback etc.

How do I follow other people?
Search for your interests and follow if you find anyone that suits you. they may follow you back.

Whats Timeline?
Its what appears on your page and includes tweets from you and those you chose to follow.

Whats Retweet(RT) ?
Its called spreading the word.Like a link/quote,pass it around. Start with “RT” and give credit to the author.

Whats a Direct Message?
In those rare cases of some personal things to be discussed,use a Direct Message or DM.

Still,Why Twitter?
Twitter is a wonderful way to be in touch with your friends and events. The posts are limited to 140 characters (yep just 140),so you cant blabber around.Thus saves your time.

Next Part : A list of useful Twitter tools and how to cope with too much of Information (I face it with just over a 100 followers)