Compuserve paved the path for the new age of Internet. It was bought over by AOL in the year 1997 and will be put to rest this April month. It was the most happening place on the Internet on the 80’s. I was one of the forum users on the late 90’s and had a fantastic time. Gone are those good old days.

It was the place where users shared files, had conversation, posted items, used the bulletin board. Compuserve was the Yahoo and Google of the Internet till the dawn of the World Wide Web.  Even corporates used to share their work there. Looks like lots of things had been done in the past with the available technology that we boast saying this is what is cutting edge technology in the dawn of new millennium using the www [world wide web].

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Classic CompuServe – RIP

Via

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How Blogs Start These Days [Geek Fun]

Google in a surprise announcement said it would release an Operating System for PCs sometime next year. The operating system is named as Google Chrome OS and it is based on Chrome browser.

Just like any other service of Google, Google Chrome OS will be available freely for everyone and it is initially targeted to run on netbooks with main focus on speed, simplicity, and security.

Here is an overview of what Google said about the new OS

• It is a free operating system
• Source code of the operating system will be available as open source
• Its based on Linux kernel and Google Chrome browser
• It will run on x86- and ARM-based netbooks
• Goal: build an OS that boots in seconds and runs Web apps really well

Let’s Hope It’ll Not Be Like The Half Backed Google Chrome Browser

I’m a not a big fan of Google Chrome browser because: it crashes too often, refuse to open web pages when the bandwidth of internet connection is low, some tabs refuse to close and leaves me with the only option of killing the chrome process to close them and can’t trust it to play flash videos as either become non-responsive or crash because of shock wave plugin failure.

Google Chrome browser is a half backed software. It’s really good at certain things and bad at many things. I use Chrome to quickly check my GMail, Calendar, AdSense accounts as it launches at ultrafast speeds. But when it comes to serious browsing, Chrome is of no use. Chrome is an useful application that serves very limited purpose and it can’t replace a serious web browser like Firefox or for that matter IE.

Being said that about Google Chrome browser, lets hope Google will be more serious in developing the new operating system Google Chrome OS. No body needs an OS that is capable of doing very few things in the best possible way. We need an OS that can make us to think of replacing Windows – just like Firefox which replaced IE from our desktops.

Resources To Read More About Google Chrome OS

To know more details about the announcement, here are links to few articles

Eleven Questions About Google’s Chrome OS – Technolizer

Technolizer has written a nice article that gives an in-depth analysis of Google Chrome OS. This article answers the following question about the Chrome OS: Why would Google do this?, Why Chrome, Not Android?, Why would a PC manufacturer want it?, Just how Web-based can (and should) an OS be?, etc.

Microsoft set to respond to Google OS next Monday? – neowin

Neowin analyses why Google announced its plans ahead of big announcement from Microsoft on coming Monday.

No thanks Google, we’ve got Ubuntu – ZD Net

ZD Net has an interesting take on why the open source Ubuntu will be reliable than the up coming Google Chrome OS. The post says

Google’s decision to create its own Linux distribution and splinter the Linux community decisively once again can only be seen as foolhardy and self-obsessive

Chrome OS, Huh? Will it be Based on a Google Analytics Kernel? – Digital Daily

Google is already holds DNA of millions of its users collected through various of its services? Will this OS adds up more to our privacy concerns? Will Chrome OS be yet one more deep well of consumer data to which Google will have access?

After Chrome OS, how long can the Google-Apple friendship last?

Google and Apple are good friends, but how long this friendship is going to sustain? Already they are competing in the mobile industry with their products – Android and iPhone. Now they are rival with each other on the operating system front!!

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Google To Release New Operating System For PC – Google Chrome OS

Firefox 3.5 is fully loaded with new features. I’m enjoying the new browser on my personal laptop but not on my work pc as few plugins are not yet fully compatible with the new version.

One of nice features introduced in Firefox 3.5 is the ability to keep Firefox open when the last tab is closed. This behavior is not enabled in the default Firefox 3.5 installation but it can be activated with a simple configuration change.

Here are the steps to be followed for keeping the Firefox open when the last tab is closed

1. Type about:config in the address bar
2. Firefox displays a warning message, Accept it; Firefox displays a list of configurations
3. Find the key browser.tabs.closeWindowWithLastTab and double click it to toggle the default value from false to true.
4. Close the configuration tab
5. That’s all. Now Firefox should no longer close when the last tab is closed

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How To Keep Firefox Open When Closing the Last Tab

Are you not lucky enough to get tickets for Michael Jackson’s Memorial service? Don’t worry. Here is our guide to catch the live of the Memorial service on the web and television sets. The service is scheduled to take place tomorrow, July 7th at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.

Where to watch Michael Jackson Memorial live online?

CNN & Facebook

CNN and Facebook are going to live webcast Michael Jackson memorial live on the web and you can watch it at http://cnn.com or http://edition.cnn.com/live/ or http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=216644830520&ref=mf.

Here is the press release from CNN & Facebook

Watch Michael Jackson’s memorial service on CNN.com Live and share your MJ memories with fans around the world. During the memorial you can update your Facebook status from CNN.com Live and see status updates from your friends and other Facebook users worldwide.

CBS News & UStream

The CBS News Ustream channel will provide a stream of the Jackson memorial. Here we embedded the player

MySpace

MySpace user also have access to the live feed at MySpace.com/MichaelJacksonMemorial

ACB7.com

acb7.com has announced that they are going to live webcast the event tomorrow and the stream will be available at http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/livenow?id=6896649

BBC News

UK Views can catch live streaming on bbc new channel at http://news.bbc.co.uk from 6PM to 8PM (BST)

SKY News and Sky Art

Another source for UK views is Sky News which provide the live streaming in HD quality. Check out http://skynews.com from 5.30 PM to 8PM

Other Live Streaming websites

Also you can check the popular live video sharing websites like http://uStream.com, http://Hulu.com, http://webtvhub.com, http://newteevee.com, or http://livestation.com for live feeds.

Live Webcast Coverage of Michael Jacksons by Indian News Channels

One of the major sources for watching the live webcasts of events like this is to check your local news channels websites. As most of the TV Channels are offering live streaming online, they are best places to watch any live event with localized content. Here is the list of popular Indian New Channels that offer live streaming online for free

1. NDTV 24×7 Live( English News)
2. CNN IBN Live( English News)
3. NDTV India Live (Hindi News)
4. IBN 7 Live (Hindi News)

At what time the memorial is going to start?

The memorial will start on Tuesday, July 7 at 10 am Pacific Standard Time (PST). Here are the local times of few major cities around the world

For local times of other cities please check here

What are the major TV Channels broadcasting the event live?

BBC, Fox, NBC, ABC, CNN, MSNBC and E! will televise the Michael Jackson memorial live

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How to Watch Michael Jackson Memorial Service Live On Web and TV

“Deep Zoom Into Michael Jackson’s Life” is a Microsoft’s SilverLight application that allows us to browse through life of Michael Jackson in pictures. Microsoft unveiled this application in tribute to the pop king who sadly passed away few days ago.

As you zoom in to the picture, you see hundreds of Michael Jacksons pictured that depicts his life, fans and tribute to his career as a King of pop.

Point your browser to http://www.msn.michaeljackson.shoothill.com/ and roll your mouse to see the amazing pictures of MJ.

Note: you need latest version of SilverLight on your computer to view the pictures

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Deep Zoom Into Michael Jackson’s Life In Photos

Wednesday @ Microsoft :  MS added a new data center in Dublin. Its the biggest that Microsoft has built outside the U.S.  Microsoft calls it the ”Mega Data Center”.

This data center has added to support the enormous load and traffic that it would have to handle for this own service Azure and the new search engine Bing.

Looks like Microsoft is taking its efforts very seriously and wants its services and applications to be ready, available and fast always. It also shows that Microsoft expects heavy traffic from Azure and Bing.

The new Dublin data center’s size is about 303,000 square feet. Arne Josefsberg, general manager of infrastructure services at Microsoft’s Global Foundation Services had written in his blog that “It can provide 5.4 megawatts of power now, expandable to a total of 22.2 megawatts”

He also added that “The facility makes extensive use of outside air economization to cool the facility year-round, resulting in greater power efficiency with a resultant reduction in carbon footprint. The units can be made operational within hours, allowing quick expansion of capacity, and their server density can be more than 10 times that of a traditional data center”

Ray Ozzie, Microsoft’s chief software architect said “recently that the growth of online services would lead to more data centers being built outside the U.S., citing the need for data centers everywhere on Earth”

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Microsoft adds Huge Data Centers for Azure and Bing

The Economic Times, the major print new paper and news website of India is going to live web cast Union Budget 2009 on it’s website using Microsoft’s SilverLight.

On 6th July 2009, you can point your browser to http://budgetlive.economictimes.com to view the live budget presentation and minute-by-minute analysis of the presentation. I think this is the first time ever a budget session is being live telecasted on web and thanks for this initiative from Economic Times as many people who are away from home can watch the budget session using their computers. Also you can watch NDTV & CNN IBN online as they do provide good coverage of budget 2009 session.

Microsoft SilverLight is winning many hearts and grabbing the market share quickly as many event are being live telecasted using it. Thanks vasu

Visit http://budgetlive.economictimes.com

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Watch Indian Union Budget 2009 Live On Your PC

Microsoft recently launched Windows Live Planet, a new social networking website that is very similar to Orkut or Facebook which allows us to be in touch with friends and share information with them.

Looks like this web site is soft launched and there is not much buzz on the blogs or press releases from Microsoft. The design and the content of the home page suggests that this site is primarily intended for Indian audience.

You can sign in to the site using your Windows Live/Hotmail/MSN account or otherwise you can use your GMail or Yahoo or other ids to create a new account.

Once you login, you can set up your profile and connect to your friends if they already in Windows Live Planet or you can invite them to join you. The options like search for friends, leave scraps allows you to find and keep in touch with friends.

The website also features a sleek web version of MSN Messenger(available in the footer of the website) and it allows you to chat with your friends as you do in the MSN Messenger windows application.

The website look and feel is not bad, but the usability looks like a problem as it does not look clean(it’s too flashy and hard to identify the various options). By the way, don’t try to open this website using Firefox or Chrome browsers, it may not work. I tried couple of times using Firefox and Chrome, it failed to work properly. Use Internet Explorer, it works perfectly.

It’s too late for Microsoft to get into Social Networking business and also very tough to convince the Indian users to move out of Orkut or Facebook and join Windows Live Planet.

Visit Windows Live Planet

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Windows Live Planet – Microsoft’s Social Networking Website

Couple of days ago I wrote about the five reason why we should download and install the latest version of Firefox, version 3.5. I upgraded browser on personal laptop to Firefox 3.5 and the browsing experience is more fun than ever.

As there is lot of value addition in the new version, I upgraded Firefox at work place too.  All the fun with the new browser ended when I saw a flashing message showing Firebug plugin is not compatible with the new version of Firefox. I extensively use Firebug for web development and without that web development came to stand still. I was left with no option other than downgrading Firefox 3.5 to 3.0.

The next version of Firebug is compatible with Firefox 3.5 but still it is beta stage. So till a stable version of Firebug is available, I can’t upgrade to Firefox 3.5.

How to downgrade Firefox 3.5 to Firefox 3.0

For any reason if you are interested in downgrading Firefox 3.5 to Firefox 3.0 here are the steps to be followed:

1. Download the latest release of Firefox 3.0(3.0.11) from Mozilla FTP Servers
2. Just run the installer, it will automatically downgrade your Firefox to version 3.0

The downgrade process is very smooth and it retained all the settings of my profile.

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1 Reason Why I Downgraded Firefox 3.5 To Firefox 3.0 On My Work PC