Date rape drugs cause ripples.

The fear of date rape has reared its ugly head in Mumbai with a drug bust at the Mumbai airport. But it's not just drug cartels you need to watch out for, it's date rape drugs being sold for a song over the counter. NDTV finds out how easy it is to purchase this deadly chemical.

What better way to bring in the New Year than to say cheers! But beware, not every clink of the glass has an innocent ring. Lacing your cocktail could be deadly substances as date-rape drugs are causing ripples in Mumbai party circles.

And now, raising the alarm is a seizure of Ketamine hydrochloride. Nine kg of a chemical powder used to make date-rape drugs was seized at the Mumbai airport. It's the fourth seizure in two months and the enforcement agencies are worried.

Dilip Srirao, DCP, Anti Narcotics Cell said, ''What's more frightening is the easy availability of Ketamine, used to make injectible anaesthetics, a prescription drug not meant to be sold over the counter.''

Shockingly, NDTV found the anesthetic freely available. We merely walked into a South Mumbai medical store, asked for Ketamine and walked out with a bottle, no questions asked.

Taking matters to another level are the reports of at least four Mumbai-based pharmaceutical firms accused of faking invoices to import Ketamine in bulk.

A substance when converted into date-rape drugs fetches crores of rupees, drugs that go by the name Roffies and Liquid X.

Malware Sites Exploit Bhutto Assassination

Within hours after former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's assassination, malware authors took advantage of the tragedy by spreading malicious Websites of the event that made the top of the Google rankings.

"We've come to understand that almost any high impact media event is going to be used as a social engineering tool for malware," said Dave Marcus, security research and communications manager at McAfee. "It's such a horrible event, but at the end of the day, it's a very good social engineering tactic."

The Websites take advantage of the tragedy by enticing users to download a fake codec, purporting to be a video of Bhutto's assassination. When users visit the sites, they download a piece of information-stealing malicious code, instead of a video, to their machines.

"They entice users through posing as news for the events," said Dan Hubbard, vice president of security research for San Diego-based Websense, a security company specializing in Web and content filtering, via e-mail. "(The sites) are malicious however, and behind the scenes, attempt to infect users who have unpatched PCs and install Trojan Horses for financial gain."

The compromised sites contain malicious scripts injected into the Web pages that redirect visitors to the 3322 domain, which security researchers have detected in other high profile attacks.

"It's not cutting edge malware," Marcus added. "It's not even a new piece of malware. It's just a popular piece of malware."

So far, at least 10 blogger Web sites have been found to host the fake video, and security experts say that there are likely numerous others that contain malware under the Google search results for "Benazir Bhutto."

Security researchers say that in the past, attackers have typically taken advantage of subjects that receive high amounts of traffic on search engines, such as international media events. Attackers will often disseminate malware by duping a search engine's algorithm and manipulating keyword searches to get their malicious sites at, or close to, the top of the search engine's rankings.

"This is happening more and more often, not just with Google, with all search engines," said Hubbard.

While security professionals say that the company has been alerted to the problem, Google did not immediately respond to queries.

"If it's a high impact media event, chances are it's going to be pushing out malware," said Marcus. "It's not Google's fault. It's just that the attackers are using the free service that Google provides."

To protect PCs from being affected by this kind of attack, experts recommend that users keep all of their security software updated and only visit valid sources when searching for news.

"Don't just rely on a Google Web site which aggregates news," said Marcus.

File Corruption Bug Bites Windows Home Server

The honeymoon between Microsoft and the partners and customers who've been gleefully awaiting the arrival of Windows Home Server may be over, thanks to a serious data corruption glitch in the software.

Using certain applications to save digital files to Windows Home Server could cause files to become corrupted, according to Microsoft, which last week said the issue had affected "a few people" on its community forums, and posted a Knowledge Base article outlining the issue.

Microsoft didn't offer a timetable for a fix, but recommended that users not use the following applications to save data to Windows Home Server: Windows Vista Photo Gallery, Windows Live Photo Gallery, Microsoft Office OneNote 2007, Microsoft Office OneNote 2003, Microsoft Office Outlook 2007, Microsoft Money 2007, and SyncToy 2.0 Beta.

Based on Windows Server 2003, Windows Home Server lets users connect multiple PCs in the same household and allows them to store, manage, back up, and remotely access their digital content.

While interest in Windows Home Server has been strong, Tom DeRosier, co-owner of CPU Guys, a Hanson, Mass., system builder, says data corruption problems could cause some users to think twice before entrusting their digital content to Microsoft.

"Anytime you have data corruption, it's a serious issue. But what makes this even worse is the fact that with digital photos, people usually copy them off their cameras to the server and then delete them from the card, which means they're operating without a backup," said DeRosier.

Microsoft expects Home Server to fit well into the toolbox of home integrators because it's versatile enough to be wrapped into a smart home solution along with home automation and networking technologies.

Microsoft last month issued its second update for Windows Home Server, which fixed minor issues with the software's remote access functionality. The first Windows Home Server update, released in September, covered issues in home network router/firewall and broadband providers' software.

Microsoft Unleashes Windows XP SP3 Release Candidate

Microsoft Tuesday unveiled the first release candidate for Windows XP service pack 3 (SP3), moving the long awaited final batch of tweaks and fixes for XP closer to reality.

Originally slated for release in 2006, XP SP3 has been pushed back on numerous occasions, and this marks the first time it has been available for public download.

Earlier this month, Microsoft launched the first release candiate for Windows Vista SP1. Microsoft plans to launch Windows XP SP3 sometime in the first half of next year, with Vista SP1 due in in the first quarter.

XP SP3 includes all of the fixes Microsoft has released since launching XP in 2001, as well as some minor new features that are part of Windows Vista. These include: support for Microsoft's Network Access Protection security technology; 'keyless activation', which lets IT administrators install SP3 without entering product keys for each copy; and detection of so-called 'black hole' network routers that can slow network performance.

J.R. Guthrie, president of Advantage Computers, a system builder in Tucson, Ariz., estimates that XP SP3 speeds up XP's performance by 15 percent. He adds that XP SP3 will greatly extend the lifetime of market demand for XP, probably even beyond the current Jan. 31, 2009, deadline Microsoft has set for system builders to sell machines equipped with Vista.

Service packs are always helpful to the channel because they take a lot of the hotfixes and put them through more stringent regression testing, says Michael Cocanower, president of solution provider ITSynergy, Phoenix.

Allan Walters, senior vice president at Saratoga Technologies, Johnson City, Tenn., said XP SP3 will greatly reduce administrative overhead. "When you do a brand new load with XP service pack 2, there are nearly 90 additional updates you have to download, so the fact that XP SP3 rolls everything into a single installer package is a major time saver," he said.

2007 A Record Year For Malware

The explosion of malware PC users saw in 2007 is going to get exponentially worse in 2008, security researchers say.

Researchers at McAfee Avert Labs estimated that unique malware will exceed 370,000 pieces by the end of this year, constituting the largest amount of malware on record. The 60 percent increase from 2006 indicates a trend that will likely result in at least 550,000 pieces of new malware by the end of 2008, security researchers say.

This trend has been consistent for the last three years, according to a recent McAfee chart. The chart indicated that the most significant spike in malware came between 2006 and 2007, where it rose from a little more than 220,000 to 370,000 new pieces. Between 2000 and 2003, malware remained relatively constant at about 60,000 new pieces, rising incrementally until 2004, when it spiked sharply upward from a little more than 100,000 to about 175,000 new pieces at the end of 2005.

One of the reasons for these large surges of malware is due to the number of variants that attackers release every day, security researchers say. Craig Schmugar, threat research manager at McAfee Avert Labs, said that analysts have noticed that malware authors are putting more effort into evading detection while keeping a high number of machines infected.

Individuals and businesses will continue to see more bots like the Nuwar Storm Worm, which became one of the most notorious viruses of 2007 because of its ability to constantly change as it replicated itself, he said.

"Groups like Nuwar Storm Worm are constantly trying to make their threats more pervasive," said Schmugar. "If they're releasing a thousand (variants) a day, it's more of a challenge and it requires different defense strategies."

Schmugar said he anticipated that malware would continue to rise in 2008 as more attackers learned from the success of their predecessors. "People are looking to the success of others. We expect that other authors who don't have the same success may look to see what the more successful threats are doing. It stands to reason that they would model those," he said.

Also next year, attackers will also be more likely to channel increased efforts into automating malware processes, which might entail a higher upfront cost but ultimately take less involvement to produce, Schmugar said.

"Over time when there hasn't been a publicized case, the malware authors get some complacency," said Schmugar. "At some point they will defeat the purpose of so many variants and they will have to move on to other technologies.

Google Stops Orkut Worm Attack

Google (NSDQ:GOOG) security personnel clamped down to stop the spread of a prolific spam worm launched on its social networking site Orkut.

"Google takes the security of our users very seriously. We worked quickly to implement a fix for the issue recently reported in Orkut. We also took steps to help prevent similar problems in the future. Service to Orkut was not disrupted during this time," a Google spokesperson said in a written statement.

The worm, which was reported yesterday by McAfee Avert Labs, had gained ground by spreading quickly from friend to friend. The virus affected the profiles of almost 400,000 of its members, most of which were from Brazil. While Google initially aimed Orkut toward users in the United States, the networking site has become incredibly popular in Brazilian communities.

"(The attack) was obviously very targeted at the Brazilian community specifically," said Dave Marcus, security and information manager at McAfee Avert Labs.

The worm was transmitted when members received malicious scraps written in Portuguese. When translated to English, one scrap read, "2008 is coming. I wish that it begins quite well for you."

Upon receiving the scraps, the members' browsers then downloaded and executed the embedded virus. After adding its victims to a community called "Infectados Pelo Virus Orkut" or "Those Infected by the Orkut Virus," the worm then started to send messages to members of the affected user's friends list.

The virus spread through Orkut's new tool that allows users to write messages containing HTML code. The ability to add Flash/Javascript content to Orkut scraps was only recently introduced.

So far, there has been no evidence that the worm maliciously harmed users' PCs, security researchers say. "All it does is it adds the user to this one particular Orkut group. As far as malware goes, it's rather innocuous," said Marcus. "On a scale of one to 10, it's pretty low."

McAfee security researchers said earlier today that some of the scraps had already disappeared, indicating that Orkut and Google had begun to address the problem.

The worm was symptomatic of a growing trend of malware that has flourished on social networking sites. Last month, MySpace sites for singer Alicia Keys and other musicians were targeted with an attack that installed malicious software on the PCs of members visiting the musicians' sites.

Another attack was launched last summer on the popular networking site Facebook, in which the perpetrators used small pop-up ads to force the user to purchase security software and download a computer virus.

These attacks raise the question of how to keep Web 2.0 sites secure, researchers say. While the spread of the Orkut worm appears to have abated, security analysts advise that members keep their antivirus software updated in order to remain protected against this and other viruses.

Breast enhancement to increase your breast size naturally without painful surgery

WE MUST, WE MUST, WE MUST, INCREASE OUR BREAST

No, you are not alone in your desire to be better endowed. And there is no need to feel embarrassed or shy about it. Having a well-filled breast is almost every woman's dream. Here are a few tips that will help you increase your breast size naturally:

a. Swinging arms clock-wise and then anti-clock-wise for eight counts is of great help.

b. Use the pestle and mortar instead of the mixie for all your grinding work.

c. Massage in circular motions applying pressure on the upward area is known to work.

d. Stand facing a wall at arm's length. Place palms on the wall. Push against the wall as if you were pushing it away, without bending arms at the elbow. Hold for eight counts and relax arms for eight counts. Repeat this eight to twenty times a day.

BREAST ENHANCEMENT THE NATURAL WAY!

Til or Sesame Seeds are very effective in firming and enlarging the breasts of women . This seed is made up of calcium, protein, iron and phosphorous and should be included in one's daily diet. The oil also can be applied on the breast.

Burning CDs in Windows XP and the Limitations

Windows XP's integrated CD burner is powered by the Roxio engine but lacks the familiar Easy CD Creator interface. There is no CD Burner icon on the desktop or in the start menu. So where is this promised CD burner? There are two answers, depending on if you want to burn audio or data CD's.

To burn data CDs

Open a folder. Look at the folder options on the left of your screen. You should see an option to Copy All Items to CD or Copy to CD, depending on your folder view. You can also right-click a file or folder and choose Send To and then CD drive. I appreciate that XP has made it as easy to drop files to a CD as it is a Zip disk. It does not copy the files immediately. Instead, it places them into a repository and waits for further instruction on when and where to burn the CD. Now, place a blank CD into your CD drive or navigate to your CD drive in My Computer, and choose to write the files to a CD.

To burn music CDs

The Windows Media Player was always a monstrosity, and now it now includes a new function -- CD burning. Select a song in your My Documents folder, and choose Copy to Audio CD from the folder options on the left. Surprise! Up pops the Windows Media Player, waiting for you to choose Copy to CD. Hit the record button, and have a good time.

Limitations of the incorporated CD burner

You cannot create bootable CDs with the Windows XP CD burner, nor can you create a CD from an image (like a .iso file). If you want this functionality, you need to install your favorite CD burning software. Don't try to install Easy CD Creator 5 just yet -- Windows XP won't let you.

Roxio will have XP patches available on their website soon, but only for their latest edition of CD creator. Roxio will not support Easy CD Creator 3.X and 4.X for Windows XP, and the user will be required to purchase the upgrade to Easy CD Creator 5 Platinum.

Windows XP does not have a CD burning interface, but it has CD burning artfully integrated into the operating system. However, third-party CD burning software is still necessary for those who want to burn more than the occasional audio CD.

Protect your Identity

Like many other audio players, Windows Media Player rushes out to the Internet to find information for you when you play a CD. Some of this information, such as song titles and album art, is useful, but Media Player also identifies your copy of Media Player to the site where it's getting data. Why? According to the help file, "The server uses this unique identifier to monitor your connection. By monitoring your connection, the server can make adjustments to increase the playback quality and to alert you about events that occur when receiving streams over the Internet."

If you're disturbed by this exchange of information, here's how to stop it. In Windows Media Player, click Tools > Options and go to the Player tab. Notice the option that says "Allow Internet sites to uniquely identify your player?" Turn it off.

Make Use Of Your Windows Key

The Windows logo key, located in the bottom row of most computer keyboards is a little-used treasure. Don't' ignore it. It is the shortcut anchor for the following commands:

• Windows: Display the Start menu
• Windows + D: Minimize or restore all windows
• Windows + E: Display Windows Explorer
• Windows + F: Display Search for files
• Windows + Ctrl + F: Display Search for computer
• Windows + F1: Display Help and Support Center
• Windows + R: Display Run dialog box
• Windows + break: Display System Properties dialog box
• Windows + shift + M: Undo minimize all windows
• Windows + L: Lock the workstation
• Windows + U: Open Utility Manager
• Windows + Q: Quick switching of users (Powertoys only)
• Windows + Q: Hold Windows Key, then tap Q to scroll thru the different users on your PC

Licensing Issues

Here you can find a Description of the things which are done by the Program or you can manually change the following settings to have the same effect:

• - Media Player: Don't Acquire licenses automatically - Open the Media Player - Extras - Options... Click the tab 'Player', look at the groupbox 'Internet settings' and uncheck 'Acquire licenses automatically'.

• - Media Player: No identification by internetsites - Open the Media Player-Extras - Options... Click the tab ‘Player’, look at the groupbox 'Internet settings' and uncheck 'Allow identification by internet sites'

• - Media Player: don't download codecs automatically - Open the Media Player - Extras - Options... Click the tab 'Player', look at the groupbox 'Automatic Updates' and uncheck 'Download Codecs Automatically'

• - Error report: Don't report errors - Open the Explorer, right-click on 'My Computer' and select 'Properties', click on the Tab 'Advanced' and click the button 'Error reports', in the upcoming dialog uncheck all 3 items and select 'Disable Error reports'

Unlocking WinXP's setupp.ini

WinXP's setupp.ini controls how the CD acts. IE is it an OEM version or retail? First, find your setupp.ini file in the i386 directory on your WinXP CD. Open it up, it'll look something like this:

ExtraData=707A667567736F696F697911AE7E05

Pid=55034000

The Pid value is what we're interested in. What's there now looks like a standard default. There are special numbers that determine if it's a retail, oem, or volume license edition. First, we break down that number into two parts. The first five digits determines how the CD will behave, ie is it a retail cd that lets you clean install or upgrade, or an oem cd that only lets you perform a clean install? The last three digits determines what CD key it will accept. You are able to mix and match these values. For example you could make a WinXP cd that acted like a retail cd, yet accepted OEM keys.

Now, for the actual values. Remember the first and last values are interchangable, but usually you'd keep them as a pair:

Retail = 51882335

Volume License = 51883 270

OEM = 82503 OEM

So if you wanted a retail CD that took retail keys, the last line of your setupp.ini file would read:
Pid=51882335

And if you wanted a retail CD that took OEM keys, you'd use:
Pid=51882OEM

Note that this does NOT get rid of WinXP's activation. Changing the Pid to a Volume License will not bypass activation. You must have a volume license (corporate) key to do so.

19 things you didn't know about Windows XP

19 things you didn't know about Windows XP You've read the reviews and digested the key feature enhancements and operational changes. Now it's time to delve a bit deeper and uncover some of Windows XP's secrets. 1. It boasts how long it can stay up. Whereas previous versions of Windows were coy about how long they went between boots, XP is positively proud of its stamina. Go to the Command Prompt in the Accessories menu from the All Programs start button option, and then type 'systeminfo'. The computer will produce a lot of useful info, including the uptime. If you want to keep these, type 'systeminfo > info.txt'. This creates a file called info.txt you can look at later with Notepad. (Professional Edition only). 2. You can delete files immediately, without having them move to the Recycle Bin first. Go to the Start menu, select Run... and type 'gpedit.msc'; then select User Configuration, Administrative Templates, Windows Components, Windows Explorer and find the Do not move deleted files to the Recycle Bin setting. Set it. Poking around in gpedit will reveal a great many interface and system options, but take care -- some may stop your computer behaving as you wish. (Professional Edition only). 3. You can lock your XP workstation with two clicks of the mouse. Create a new shortcut on your desktop using a right mouse click, and enter 'rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation' in the location field. Give the shortcut a name you like. That's it -- just double click on it and your computer will be locked. And if that's not easy enough, Windows key + L will do the same. 4. XP hides some system software you might want to remove, such as Windows Messenger, but you can tickle it and make it disgorge everything. Using Notepad or Edit, edit the text file /windows/inf/sysoc.inf, search for the word 'hide' and remove it. You can then go to the Add or Remove Programs in the Control Panel, select Add/Remove Windows Components and there will be your prey, exposed and vulnerable. 5. For those skilled in the art of DOS batch files, XP has a number of interesting new commands. These include 'eventcreate' and 'eventtriggers' for creating and watching system events, 'typeperf' for monitoring performance of various subsystems, and 'schtasks' for handling scheduled tasks. As usual, typing the command name followed by /? will give a list of options -- they're all far too baroque to go into here. 6. XP has IP version 6 support -- the next generation of IP. Unfortunately this is more than your ISP has, so you can only experiment with this on your LAN. Type 'ipv6 install' into Run... (it's OK, it won't ruin your existing network setup) and then 'ipv6 /?' at the command line to find out more. If you don't know what IPv6 is, don't worry and don't bother. 7. You can at last get rid of tasks on the computer from the command line by using 'taskkill /pid' and the task number, or just 'tskill' and the process number. Find that out by typing 'tasklist', which will also tell you a lot about what's going on in your system. 8. XP will treat Zip files like folders, which is nice if you've got a fast machine. On slower machines, you can make XP leave zip files well alone by typing 'regsvr32 /u zipfldr.dll' at the command line. If you change your mind later, you can put things back as they were by typing 'regsvr32 zipfldr.dll'. 9. XP has ClearType -- Microsoft's anti-aliasing font display technology -- but doesn't have it enabled by default. It's well worth trying, especially if you were there for DOS and all those years of staring at a screen have given you the eyes of an astigmatic bat. To enable ClearType, right click on the desktop, select Properties, Appearance, Effects, select ClearType from the second drop-down menu and enable the selection. Expect best results on laptop displays. If you want to use ClearType on the Welcome login screen as well, set the registry entry HKEY_USERS/.DEFAULT/Control Panel/Desktop/FontSmoothingType to 2. 10. You can use Remote Assistance to help a friend who's using network address translation (NAT) on a home network, but not automatically. Get your pal to email you a Remote Assistance invitation and edit the file. Under the RCTICKET attribute will be a NAT IP address, like 192.168.1.10. Replace this with your chum's real IP address -- they can find this out by going to www.whatismyip.com -- and get them to make sure that they've got port 3389 open on their firewall and forwarded to the errant computer. 11. You can run a program as a different user without logging out and back in again. Right click the icon, select Run As... and enter the user name and password you want to use. This only applies for that run. The trick is particularly useful if you need to have administrative permissions to install a program, which many require. Note that you can have some fun by running programs multiple times on the same system as different users, but this can have unforeseen effects. 12. Windows XP can be very insistent about you checking for auto updates, registering a Passport, using Windows Messenger and so on. After a while, the nagging goes away, but if you feel you might slip the bonds of sanity before that point, run Regedit, go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Windows/Current Version/Explorer/Advanced and create a DWORD value called EnableBalloonTips with a value of 0. 13. You can start up without needing to enter a user name or password. Select Run... from the start menu and type 'control userpasswords2', which will open the user accounts application. On the Users tab, clear the box for Users Must Enter A User Name And Password To Use This Computer, and click on OK. An Automatically Log On dialog box will appear; enter the user name and password for the account you want to use. 14. Internet Explorer 6 will automatically delete temporary files, but only if you tell it to. Start the browser, select Tools / Internet Options... and Advanced, go down to the Security area and check the box to Empty Temporary Internet Files folder when browser is closed. 15. XP comes with a free Network Activity Light, just in case you can't see the LEDs twinkle on your network card. Right click on My Network Places on the desktop, then select Properties. Right click on the description for your LAN or dial-up connection, select Properties, then check the Show icon in notification area when connected box. You'll now see a tiny network icon on the right of your task bar that glimmers nicely during network traffic. 16. The Start Menu can be leisurely when it decides to appear, but you can speed things along by changing the registry entry HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Control Panel/Desktop/MenuShowDelay from the default 400 to something a little snappier. Like 0. 17. You can rename loads of files at once in Windows Explorer. Highlight a set of files in a window, then right click on one and rename it. All the other files will be renamed to that name, with individual numbers in brackets to distinguish them. Also, in a folder you can arrange icons in alphabetised groups by View, Arrange Icon By... Show In Groups. 18. Windows Media Player will display the cover art for albums as it plays the tracks -- if it found the picture on the Internet when you copied the tracks from the CD. If it didn't, or if you have lots of pre-WMP music files, you can put your own copy of the cover art in the same directory as the tracks. Just call it folder.jpg and Windows Media Player will pick it up and display it. 19. Windows key + Break brings up the System Properties dialogue box; Windows key + D brings up the desktop; Windows key + Tab moves through the taskbar buttons.

Long Waited Script is Out For Public.

Suspense over! Here your are, the script...

Here I am making my script public for educational purpose only, please don't use it for driving money from AdSense or other unethical purposes.

You can download the script I wrote from http://www.mgoos.com/blogs/MGooS.zip and below are the steps to execute it,

1). Open mxproxy.php, you will see

http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/ads?client=ca-pub-8963995922591449

Now change the pub-8963995922591449 from the latest opened account.

2). Open summer.html and update Frame source
SRC="http://youtube.com/watch?v=FpeExMZZ1Gc" NAME="mgoos_joke_frame1"> to
any hyper link of youtube video of your interest (you think people will
like that).

3). Change the title of the summer.html page to appropriate one.

4). Request for 4-5 (or more) big and highly active groups on Yahoo or MSN
or Google.

5). Upload all three files to php enabled web server, make sure libcurl is installed there. Libcurl is client URL library which I am using in mxproxy.php to execute/generate ad unit html page.

6). Send a mail to all those groups (in which you are member) by saying something like, "Worth watching the Indian version of [Summer of 69'], made in Manipal.

http://www.yoursite.com/summer.html"

(This is something called Social Engineering, how can you attract some one to visit the link).

7). Now wait, as people will open the hyper link above, you will start watching money meter in AdSense.

What you need to take care is prepare different content of mail daily and send mails to different number of groups. If you will send mails to same groups daily, there will be repetition of IP address.

Google Adsense Holed (earned $5000 in a month by small script)

One Person Earned $5000 by his own script just by doing nothing. (Im not selling anything, its a report)

Ah! My first response after reading the cover story of Digit Magazine, magazine clearly said that Google Adsense is totally gone and anyone can earn money with the help of one small script. This thing has been done by Manish Arora which is now famous in Google adsesne lobby and if you an Indian and try to contact google regarding the script, they will definitely say that you might know about Manish Arora.

Now lets start, and I will explain you how the manish arora is doing his tricks.
Firstly one needs a website or a blogs and adsense account. The person needs to approve his/her account from Google. Once it has been approved you need to run a script on your website or blog. Once you done with this, send some friends/ relatives or unknown people a email regarding some of the links regarding You Tube, other good blogs or any other website. I AM MENTIONING HERE THAT ONE DOESN’T NEED TO PUT YOUR BLOG/WEBSITE NAME THERE.

Now your friends or relatives who received that email will go to different sites and will click on different ads. Let’s assume you send 2000 emails with good looking 100 links in one email. The person goes to any of the website, clicks ads… YOUR ACCOUNT WILL BE CREDITTED WITH THE $$$. It’s true, no one believes however it’s a fact that there is big hole in Google Adsense as reported by Digit India. If you are using adwords then you will be the biggest looser as you ads are going to clicked from some wrong people OR in Google terms it is invalid clicks.

In the Digit Magazine they had shown that in one month person had earned some good $5000 just by sending emails and doing the job (that was way back in December). This thing has been experimented again in September and same happened. This time however the people who had tried this were different however they used the same technique of Manish Arora.

Well only google, manish arora and the people from Digit Magazine knows the trick which they told the World, however not sure how many people know this which is not known to the world.

(I will try to present the pictures of the earning stats ASAP)

Now you are the best person to adjudge what is going wrong and where, and think logically who is the looser in the end.

Your Views are welcome.

REPAIR DON'T FORMAT YOUR WINDOWS

If some day your XP refuses to run or strat up properly or the OS choice doesn't appear you don't always need to format & re-install XP. I suggest you do a dry run of Windows Recovery Console. To do this all you need is your bootable Windows 2000 / XP CD. When you insert the cd & select CD-ROM & set your first boot device to CD-ROM & boot using your Windows boot CD.

Next, choose the repair or recovery option bu pressing [R]. If you have more than one installation of Windows, they will appear in choices menu, so be aware of where the copy of windows you wish to repair is installed. You need to enter Administrator password in order to "log on" to the windows installation.

You will then see a command prompt window that says "X:\WINDOWS", where X is the partion of operating system.

Now one by one type

fixboot

bootcnf /rebuild

chkdsk x (where X is the partion letter)

now try to to start the computer if it still refuses then again open recovery console & type follwing commands

attrib -h -s \system32\config\system (press [Enter])

attrib -s -h \system32\config\software (press [Enter])

when you are prompted to proceed with an overwrite, press [Y].

Note:- In last two commands all your drivers & softwares won't work you need to re-install them but its quicker & easier than format & re-install Windows & programs & drivers.

A SMALLER VOLUME CONTROL

Few people know that Volume Control has a hidden, compact looking profile.
You can create a shortcut with the location "sndvol32 /s" or by pressing [Ctrl + [S] with the Windows Volume control running. Press[Ctrl] + [S] again to revert to the orignal size.
To open minimum volume control with only single slider, you create ashortcut & typing in location "sndvol /t"

Simply Rename Recycle Bin

Open Registry Editor by going to

Start > Run& type "regedit" & press [Enter].

Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USE\Software\Mcrosoft\Windows\ShellNoRoam\MUICache & change the value of @C:\WINDOWS\system32\shell32.dll,8964 to whateveryou like. Restart & See the changes.

SETTING TIME LIMIT TO USER ACCOUNTS

Parents or Big Brothers might want to limit their children's or small brother's or sister's computer usage, so they can set a time limitonly between they will be automatically allowed to log into their Windows account. Limited usage for particular users for certain time periods can be set through commands. The command for doing this is

:net user /time:

For example, "net user Super /time:M-F,08:00-17:00"
this will let only let the user Super log in between 8 and 5 fromMonday to Friday.

HIDE A DRIVE PARTION FROM MY COMPUTER

Open Group Policy Editor which is not avaliable in Windows XP Home Edition.
For XP Home Users stay tuned I will give it very soon.
For XP Professional users
Goto Start > Run
& type "gpedit.msc" & press [Enter]
In Group Policy Editor Go to
User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components >Windows Explore.
Here, you'll find "Hide these specified drives from My Computer" &" Prevent access to drives from My Computer".

The difference between two settings is that "Prevent access" will allow the user to see the drive icon, but will give an error messagewhen he tries access it. "Hide" will remove the icon so that user won't see it, but the drive can still be accessed by using Start > Runand keying in the drive letter.

Under this setting, after you click the radio button next to "Enable", you'll see several options. Choose the one you want to apply, for example, Restrict A and B drives only". You'll notice that the options here are restricted, you cannot, access them.

HIDE A HARD DISK PARTITION FOR WINDOWS XP PROFESSIONAL & HOME USERS BOTH

Finally The same trick for Windows XP home users & even professional users can also use this trick.

Open Registry Editor by typing "regedit" in Start > Run.
Goto HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion=\Policies\Explorer\
Create a new DWORD value & name it "NoDrives".
All drives will bevisible as long as this value's data is set to 0. Set value NoDrive according to following list:
Drive Value
A: 1
B: 2
C: 4
D: 8
E: 16
so..on
Z: 33554432

All drives 67108863

From the above list choose the drive value you want & write the Value in the DWORD we created above in following format.

For example to hide A: & D:, NoDrives value should be 1 + 8 = 9.

SOME NOKIA PHONES CODES TRICKS

*2820# TO KNOW YOUR UNIQUE BLUETOOTH ADDRESS

*#9999# or *#0000# TO KNOW WHEN YOUR MOBILE SOFTWARE WAS INSTALLED

*#06# TO KNOW THE SERIAL NUMBER OF YOUR MOBILE

*#92702689# TO KNOW THE LIFE TIMER OF YOUR MOBILE (UNLIKE LIFE TIMER IN MOBILE'S LOG THIS CANNOT BE RESETTED)

NOKIA RADAR IN SOME MOBILES THERE IS A SPECIAL SETTING IN NOKIA PHONES THAT SHOWS RADAR CONTENT ON STANBY SCREEN

(NOTE:- BEFORE PROCEEDING MAKE SURE SCREEN INFO DISPLAY & ACTIVE STANDBY ARE DEACTIVE)

GO TO SETTINGS --> SECURITY SETTINGS --> PHONE & SIM(ONLY IN N-SERIES) --> CLOSED USER GROUP SELECT ON AND WRITE THE GROUP NUMBER "00000" WITHOUT INVERTED COMMAS. & YOU ARE DONE

HACKING XP WITH XP

(This information is for educational purposes only & any miss use ofit might cause you civil penelties & jail. I am not responsible forany such consiquences that may happen to you)

THE BEST TOOL FOR ANY HACKER IN WINDOWS XP IS MS-DOS.

Believe it or Not!
You will belive after reading this article. In some schools, colledges & Cyber Cafes the MS-DOS tool is disabled. Note Many students have beem kicked out of school just because theyopened Ms-Dos. So make sure you take the permissions from your teacher before showing it.

OPENING THE DOS WHEN IT IS DISABLED

One can open DOS even if it is disabled just by opening notepad. If notepad is too disabled then just open Internet Explorer & where the web page opens & right click on "Show Source" & Voila! Notepad. In notepad just type "command.com" without inverted commas & save itas "cmd.bat" this will make a file that takes you to DOS.

Hotmail IP address Hacking

If you use Hotmail Messenger than you first need to open DOS then init type "netstat -n" & just minimize DOS then just message anyone on chat when he recieves this message immediately press Enter in DOS if your timing is right you will get his IP address.

"telnet" THIS IS THE BEST HACKING TOOL IN DOS

When you want to edit any website just press "telnet xyz.com" in DOS & if that website accepts or that website has poor security then you will gain control over it. Same way you can gain control over Email accounts but you might end up going to jail.

Airtel Hack for free internet

You need a PC or a Laptop and the required connectivity tools ,ie.,Serial/USB cable OR Infrared Device OR Bluetooth dongle.

1) Activate Airtel Live! ( It’s FREE so no probs)

2) Create TWO Airtel gprs data accounts (yep TWO) and select theFIRST as the active profile.

3) Connect your mobile to the PC (or Laptop) and install the driver foryour mobile’s modem.

4) Create a new dial-up connection using the NEW CONNECTIONWIZARD as follows.

Connecting Device : Your mobile’s modem

ISP Name : Airtel (or anything you like)

Phone Number : *99***2# / Try 99***1

Username and Password : blank

5) Configure your browser and download manager to use the proxy100.1.200.99 and port 8080.( My advice is to use Opera since youcan browse both wap and regular websites)

6) Connect to the dial-up account. You will be connected at 115.2kbps (but remember, that is a bad joke).

7) Pick up your mobile and try to access any site. You will get “AccessDenied…”(except for Airtel Live!). IT DOES NOT MATTER.Keep the mobile down.

8 ) On the PC ( or Laptop) open your browser, enter any address ,press ENTER and…….WAIT

9) After a few seconds the page will start to load and you have theWHOLE internet at your disposal.

SOME MORE ORKUT TRICKS

Have you ever tried to access Orkut from mobile.
If yes then you must know that the login screen dosen't appear on opening (www.orkut.com)
Ok Ok here a neat trick on.
How to access orkut from mobile? Simple just go to the following link(https://www.google.com/accounts/ServiceLogin?) & on ur mobile & Voila!
There's a login screen & just login & you can access all googleservices.

Tips To Save Hard Disk

SAVE DISK SPACE Windows xp after Service Pack 1 keeps uninstall information for all updates in the C:\ Windows folder. These appear as $NTUninstall.... Depending on how many updates you might have anywhere from a couple of dozen of there folders. In order to save disk space youcan delete these folders. Doing this does not unistall the updates,but will make sure you cannot unistall them later-though why someone would want to uninstall security fixes is something I can't understand at all anyway. In case you do want to know exactly what uninstaller you're deleting, you can go to http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=<###>, where <###> is the numberlisted in the name of the folder you are deleting-remember, don't addtext "$NTUninstallKB", just the number after the prefix. Once you're satisfied, just select the folder(s) and press [Shift] + [Delete]. Now there are two ways in which to remove their references from Add/Remove Programs list. Open the Registry Editor and navigate to

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software
\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\UninstallNow, select the key that corresponds to the update uninstall information that you want to delete, and delete it. Another way to do this would to select the update in Add/Remove Programs list and clicking Remove, Sinced you have already deleted the Uninstall information, it's obvious that you will get an error message that tells you that update cannot be uninstalled, and you'll get the option to remove the entry from the Add/Remove Programs list. Just click OK and the entry will beremoved. Remember to check the Show updates box so you can see the installed updates in Add/Remove Programs.

TIPS AND TRICKS FOR WINDOWS XP PROFESSIONAL

SOME REGISTRY HACKS TO MAKE XP FASTER
(A note before proceeding you should make a Back-Up of Registry before Proceeding)
To open RegistryEditer go to Start-->Run then type "regedit" without inverted commas
Some short names used
HLM:- HKEY LOCAL MACHNE
HCU:- HKEY CURRENT USER
HCR:- HKEY CLASSES ROOT
(1.) Load Applications Faster (Result:- Applications will load faster)
Go to:- HLM\SYSTEMCurrent Controller Set\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\Prefetch Parameters
Open it and find EnablePrefatcher and change it from 3 to 9
(2.) Load Kernel into RAM (Result:- XP boots Super Fast)
Go to:- HLM\System\Current Controller Set\Control\Session\Memory Management
Open it and find DisablePagingExecutive cange it to 1
Note:- For above Registry Edit You Should Atleast Have A 512 MB Of RAM
(3.) Optimize The System Cache (Result:-Large System Cache As a Result Faster Windows)
Go to:- HLM\Software\Microsoft\ Windows\Current Version\Session Manager\Memory Management
Open it and find LArgSystemCache change it to 1
Check and Set DMA (Result:- Fast Hard Disk Working)
Right Click on My Computer Icon--> Properties--> Hardware--> Device Manager
Open It and find 'IDE ATA/ATAPI'-->Primary IDE Channel--> PropertiesAdvanced Properties
Chsnge transfer mode to 'DMA if avaliable'

Taj Mahal --- The True Story

The story of the Taj Mahal that most of us have known about may not be the real truth. Herein Mr. P. N. Oak presents an interesting set of proofs that show a completely different story. Contrary to what visitors are made to believe the Tajmahal is not a Islamic mausoleum but an ancient Shiva Temple known as Tejo Mahalaya which the 5th generation Moghul emperor Shahjahan commandeered from the then Maharaja of Jaipur. The Taj Mahal, should therefore, be viewed as a temple palace and not as a tomb. That makes a vast difference. You miss the details of its size, grandeur, majesty and beauty when you take it to be a mere tomb. When told that you are visiting a temple palace you wont fail to notice its annexes, ruined defensive walls, hillocks, moats, cascades, fountains, majestic garden, hundreds of rooms archaded verendahs, terraces, multi stored towers, secret sealed chambers, guest rooms, stables, the trident (Trishul) pinnacle on the dome and the sacred, esoteric Hindu letter "OM" carved on the exterior of the wall of the sanctum sanctorum now occupied by the cenotaphs. For detailed proof of this breath taking discovery, you may read the well known historian Shri. P. N. Oak's celebrated book titled " Tajmahal : The True Story". But let us place before you, for the time being an exhaustive summary of the massive evidence ranging over hundred points:

For Points plz visit the website ::

http://www.stephen-knapp.com/true_story_of_the_taj_mahal.htm

http://www.stephen-knapp.com/photographic_evidence_of_vedic_influence.htm

Viralink - This will increase your page rank!!

———copy and paste the Viralink and instructions below this line———
Below is a matrix of 120 stars, I have already added a link to my blog onto one of the stars, all you need to do is copy and paste the grid into your blog and add your own link to one of the other spare stars, and tell others to do the same!

Viralink
************************
************************
************************
************************
************************


When I receive a ping back once you have added the Viralink to your site I will add your link to this grid, and each person who copies the grid from here will also link to your site!
RulesNo Porn SitesOnly 1 link per person (i.e don't hog the viralink!)Please don't tamper with other peoples url'sEnjoy!

———copy and paste the Viralink and instructions above this line———

_____Global Warming Awareness 2007

Welcome to global warming awareness 2007.

Well I accidently felt over this seo contest surfing the internet and on normal circumstances I would nerver participate in such at thing as the “global warming awareness 2007” contest, but by clicking around the sites in the contest, I decided that maybe this was right for me.

The thing is that the keywords, global warming, and awareness said something to me, and it hurts me to see some peoples reaction, to this contest and the keywords to it. I was shocked when I visited this site (I wont link to it ) globalwarming-awareness2007.isabloodycloaker dot com) This stupid moran have got this whole thing wrong, because I think that the global warming keywords are a totally great idea. Now you are probably thinking why is that. ?

The world seo championship has here by added a totally new thing to the contest by choosing these keywords, and that new thing is responsibility ! and I bellive that it is time that what all start to take responsibility to our actions in live, and to this contest. it is our responsibility to make our global warming awareness sites as informational as possible on this issue, so that when people surf the net, looking for global warming sites, and they enter one of the sites from this contest, they will get what they have been looking for, and not some crap site written by a totally idiot.

I am not a professor in global warming, but I will tell some of the facts I know, and besides that I will try to collect as much information on the awareness of the global warming, and post it here on this page.

A couple of weeks ago I went down to the gas station in my neigbor hood to rent a film, and on the dvd staples I saw a film called AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH.

I had seen some commercials in the televison for this film, and understood that this was a movie about global warming and on planet crisis. So I thought why not ? And rented it.

And I must admit that I was totally shocked when I saw this film. If you havent seen it I highly recommend that you do ASAP. The movie is made by former Vice President Al Gore, and I must admit that I have become a fan of this man, and his awareness of the global warming situation on our planet earth. The main reason why I was so impressed Al Gore, is that he takes responsibility for the global warming. As I look on Amercia they have always been the good guys (and always make it look that way) especially when it comes to the us government. But in this movie Al Gore speaks straight from his heart, and tells that America is the worst country, when it comes to creating global warming, and pollution in all kinds. And that is what I call taking responsibility, and if we all learn to do that everything will be way easier to manage.

I will be updating this site on a daily basis. If you are a professor or just a person who are aware of the global warming situation and feel that you would like to share something with other people do not hesitate to mail me my mail is abhishek_chhajer1@rediffmail.com you are also more than welcome to use the Blog.

Global warming is a much disputed issue that can leave the average individual quite confused. Unfortunately, there are no straightforward answers. For those of us who are not scientists, it is easy to be overwhelmed by the contradictions. It is much more convenient to just give the whole thing up and enjoy the weather or not, as the case might be.

However, just because you are not a scientist does not mean that you must be misinformed or uninformed. There is a middle ground where you can get a reasonable perspective on global warming and global climate change.

Climate science is very complicated and the controversy surrounding it is only natural. It is in the nature of science to evolve and change. Through all the debate in climatology, a consensus is now beginning to emerge which accepts that our planet is experiencing the effects of global warming.

The following article gives a brief outline of the history of our planet, its current state, and what you may expect in the near future. The facts listed here are based in climatology.

Greenhouse Effect

Though this term is often tossed around as a problem, the fact is that the greenhouse effect is a natural aspect of the Earth's atmosphere and more than that it is a key component of the climate as we know it today. Left in its natural state ,the greenhouse effect would keep the average temperature at around 59 degrees Fahrenheit (15 degrees Celsius). Without the greenhouse effect, the Earth would probably not support the life we know as the temperature would be 0 degree Fahrenheit (18 degrees Celsius).

The term greenhouse effect comes because the effect is propagated through greenhouse gases with Carbon Dioxide (CO2) forming the biggest contributor. Greenhouse gases trap the heat that the planet receives from the sun ,thereby leading to a livable atmosphere and a stable climate. Carbon dioxide is produced through animal respiration. This mixes into the atmosphere and is absorbed by plants that use photosynthesis and release oxygen. The same oxygen is inhaled by animals and this cycle goes on in perpetuity.

The Human Contribution

Humanity has always relied on fuel of some sort but it is the beginning of the industrial revolution around 1750 that we started burning fossil fuels with utter disregard for consequences. Coal, oil, and natural gas are the popular forms of fossil fuels and all of them, when burned, release CO2 into the atmosphere. Besides CO2, other human activities release other greenhouse gases. Agriculture leads to methane and nitrous oxide excess while aerosol propellants produce CFCs (Chloroflourocarbons) that are directly damaging to the ozone layer. However, when viewed in terms of sheer volume nothing compares to excessive CO2 and its effect on the atmosphere.

At the beginning of the industrial revolution, CO2 had a concentration of 275 parts per million as a global average. Today, that same value stands at 350 parts per million, a staggering 30% increase that is increasing. The second half of the twentieth century has witnessed a further acceleration in this phenomenon.

Data from all over the world shows that the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere is steadily increasing as more and more countries are industrialized.

Global Temperature

Recording temperature at one place is quite easy but how does on figure out the global temperature?

There are temperature records from many locations all over the world that are more than a century old. As is to be expected, these records show a huge variation depending on where the data was recorded. However, between all the confusion there is still the fact that everywhere the temperature seems to have gone up by 1 degree Fahrenheit (or ½ degree Celsius) and this change is most precisely seen since the 2nd half of the 19th century. A 1 degree change may not sound like much but it has some huge effect on global climate.

However, there remains the problem of getting accurate data records from all over the world in order to arrive at a reasonably precise figure for global temperature. Some of the problems in doing this are as follow.

* The thermometer has undergone several changes and today it is far more accurate then it was a century and a half ago. So how reliable are the temperature recordings from back then?

* There is something known as an "urban heat island" effect. This basically involves land use and it is known that land use has an effect on local temperature. Cities are hotter than the surrounding countryside. This means that with urbanization a location might record higher temperatures that are not related to global warming. Locations for data recording change ,so their reliability becomes questionable.

* Most records are maintained in industrialized locations. This is known as a geographical bias.

These factors tend to confuse the whole global warming issue because you never know if the data is reliable or not.

This is why the 1 degree change is not taken from raw data but is adjusted to compensate for these factors.

Climate Models

Climatologists use CGMs (Computer Generated Models) in order to predict the change in global temperature based on an increase in greenhouse gases. The CGMs suggest an increase of 1 degree Celsius that is not so far from the actual increase reported but still double and hence a cause for worry. This discrepancy has been among the leading causes of controversy with global warming.

However, science is an evolving mechanism and newer climate models along with modern observations of changes to the Earth's environment have eliminated the reluctance of most climatologists towards global warming.

It is difficult to ignore the effects of global warming when there is clear evidence for rising sea levels, receding glaciers, migrating plants and animals, dying coral reefs, reduced temperature fluctuations, and unexpected and frequent precipitations. All of these events are being recorded all over the world to varying degrees.

Most climatologists are now of the opinion that we are indeed experiencing the ills of global warming.

The next obvious concern is the expected global climate change and its effect on the environment and on the future of humanity.

Intel readies new chipsets

Intel is set to take the wraps off its latest chipsets and a new low-cost laptop.

Sean Maloney, executive vice president and general manager of Intel's sales and marketing group, plans to unveil the chipsets during his keynote address on Tuesday at Computex Taipei trade show in Taiwan. The new chipsets are needed to accommodate Intel's Penryn generation of processors that it expects to release in the second half of the year.

During the keynote, Maloney and Asustek Computer CEO Johnny Shih will also show off a new notebook jointly designed by the two companies for emerging markets. The notebook will cost under $200 and will run either Linux or Microsoft's Windows, Maloney said.

A chipset is the basic plumbing of a PC. It connects the processor to system memory, graphics and storage, and it routes data among those components. Intel tends to refresh its chipset designs each year. It needs new designs this time around because the Penryn processors, which use a new, smaller manufacturing technology, won't fit into Intel's existing 965 and 945 series chipsets, Maloney said.

Two types of chipsets, P35 and the G33, will be officially launched Tuesday. The P35 is designed for use with graphics cards from the likes of Nvidia or Advanced Micro Devices, while the G33 uses integrated graphics and is designed for basic PCs.

Intel plans to have three different chipsets for PCs with integrated graphics, which account for 75 percent of notebooks and 60 percent of desktops. The G33's performance will fall in the middle, flanked by the G31 and the G35, both of which will launch in the third quarter.

Intel says it has improved the memory and video performance for the new chipsets. However, the G33 and G31 lack the improved graphics transistors that Intel put into its 965 chipset but can't activate due to driver problems.

Intel said it will deliver drivers in August that will unlock higher-performance graphics transistors in the 965. The drivers won't be baked into an Intel chipset, however, until it launches the G35.

Computex, held every year in Taiwan as a showcase for the hardware industry, will also see Intel and Asustek introduce a new low-cost PC.

"It's a simpler product than the Classmate," Maloney said, referring to Intel's current design for emerging markets.

The notebook will come in several different configurations, ranging from a 7-inch display to a 10-inch display, solid state storage or a traditional hard drive, and a choice between Linux and Windows.

IBM buys Watchfire; collects another security firm

IBM said Wednesday that it would acquire privately held Watchfire, a security and compliance testing software company.

The acquisition, expected to close in the third quarter, comes not that long after IBM bought ISS for $1.3 billion last summer. Terms of the Watchfire purchase weren’t disclosed.

In a statement, IBM said:

Watchfire technology will extend IBM’s governance and risk management strategy, with broad security and compliance capabilities integrated into the software development lifecycle. Watchfire with IBM Rational software will help customers integrate web application security and compliance early on and throughout the software development process. As a result, customers will now be able to define, test and track the compliance of their applications with security, legal and corporate requirements.

In a nutshell IBM is saying that it wants to increasingly build security into processes and software development. Not a bad idea for sure. With Watchfire, IBM can better cater to customers worried about internal attacks.

IBM’s security lineup now includes Watchfire, ISS and IBM Tivoli’s identity, access and compliance software.

Watchfire will be folded into IBM’s Rational unit.

Life without Google Day 1: The Ask experiment

Has Google become so ingrained in our lives that we can’t live without it? There’s only one way to find out: Stop using Google for a few weeks.

While you can stop the Google you can’t stop the Web searching. Hence my experiment to swear off Google and try other search engines.

The first day of this experiment led to some frustration–I actually had to use the yellow pages and the city search on Ask.com seems disconnected to the rest of the results. Meanwhile, I miss that Street View thing that freaks me out so much.

But there are enough new features to keep me trying Ask.com for a couple days (see the gallery at right). It may even grab a few points of market share if it can convince people to take it for a spin on a regular basis.

Here are a few thoughts on Ask.com and its redesign. More detailed views are available in the gallery above.

Being able to save a Web page is a nice touch.

The recommendations are helpful and encourage discovery–something that’s sort of old school for me. Typically, I know exactly what I’m looking for and expect it quickly.

Results in Ask.com are presented in a nice format, but often I was led astray or given results that didn’t quite add up. It wasn’t the end of the world, but it wasn’t Google either.

Search results from various content types–images, blogs and local could be integrated better. A few times I wound up at Ask City and felt like I was off the Ask3D approach.

Overall, I could survive with Ask.com as my search and maybe even thrive. On Day 1 though I’m missing Google. I’m sure it’ll get easier.

Another stray thought: Would results improve dramatically with more search engine optimization from content players? Seems like a circular argument, but it seems to be that results may be better on Google since everyone is trying to be seen on it. Ask.com, with its lower market share, may not be on the radar for the SEO types.

Next up I think I’ll try one of Microsoft’s searches. I’m sure it’ll be one of those murky, poorly defined “Live” ones.

Yahoo opens Panama search ad platform

Yahoo announced Monday that its Panama search advertising platform is now open to third parties.

Under Panama, which was launched in February, sponsored search results are based on items such as relevancy and not just on the advertiser's bid price.

Through its new Yahoo Search Marketing Commercial API Program, both businesses and individual developers have access to a series of application program interfaces (APIs) so that they can tweak the Panama platform to suit their individual needs.

The company is offering three levels of partnership, ranging from a free "basic" deal for small advertising agencies and technology companies, to "advanced" and "elite" levels with varying subscription rates.

All participants in the Panama APIs, regardless of partnership level, have access to the software platform and any related technical support. Advanced partners also have account management support and a listing in Yahoo's partner directory.

Elite partners, according to Yahoo, can "leverage the Panama platform, resources and brand via regular business review, product council, road map coordination and joint marketing activities." The inaugural Elite partners in the API program include SearchIgnite, Efficient Frontier, Omniture and The Search Agency.

Yahoo launched Panama earlier this year as a direct competitor to Google's successful advertising programs. So far, Panama's biggest success has been a deal with media giant Viacom to provide sponsored search and contextual ads to 33 of its entertainment sites. Viacom, meanwhile, is famously at odds with Google over a billion-dollar copyright infringement lawsuit over YouTube video clips.

In another strategic move to bolster its place in the online advertising market, Yahoo purchased ad exchange Right Media in late April.

TriSun Software Date Time Counter v2.00

Description Date Time Counter (DTC) is used to count years/months/weeks/days/minutes/seconds for the past/future events based on current date and time, it contains a useful calculator and the 'Work Time' tool also. The calculator is used to calculate the result date and time which equals the given date and time adds/subtracts the qty of an element of date and time and calculate the differences for every element that between the two given date and time; 'Work Time' tool is used to count every element of date and time for the time consumption of your works, you can pause/restart/stop them so as to make the same time consumption with your actual works.

Download

Ringtone Media Studio 2.1

Ringtone Media Studio was developed to let you personalize your cell phone with your own ringtones, wallpaper, screensavers and video clips. Ringtone Media Studio is the ultimate mobile media creation tool for your cell phone. Includes three powerful editing studios for composing polyphonic and real music ringtones, creating wallpapers and editing video clips. Transfer to your cell phone is easy via bluetooth, infrared or cell phone data cable. Ringtone Media Studio is pre-configured for more than 450 major cell phones and supports all major cell phone brands.

The software includes thousands of free ringtones, wallpapers, screensavers and video clips to get your started on your own creations. Import sounds from your favorite CDs or the Internet and turn them into ringtones.

Record voices, add special effects and mix tracks. Use this music editing software to compose either MIDI or MP3 ringtones, depending on what your cell phone supports.

Download

Mobile Master

Mobile Master v6.8.1.2395

Mobile Master, the easy to use and award winning Cell phone and handset manager for Windows - synchronizes all your data between the handset and your computer.

Download

Code

Great post today by Tomi Ahonen, one of the authors of the Communities Dominate Brands book and blog about the sea change in awareness of how mobile computing will change after the release of the iPhone. If you haven’t read this book or added this blog to your aggregator and you have any interest in the inexorable migration to mobile computing you’ve missed out on two incredibly important resources.
Ahonen and his co-author Alan Moore have been telling anyone willing to listen about the true scale of the mobile industry and the impact it is having on a worldwide basis for years. But, as Tomi points out in his post today, the mass consciousness, particularly here in US where we tend to be laggards (in the Geoffrey Moore sense) in our adoption and use of mobile technologies, will have a sudden epiphany next month when the “iPhone era” begins.
In much the same way that the iPod redefined the portable music player market and established an ecosystem that had eluded pioneers in the space, Ahonen predicts that Apple will enter the mobile market in similar fashion and succeed in earning accolades for things that have already been happening largely on their mastery of marketing.
What will change? Pretty much everything. And funnily enough, most of it is not actually caused by the iPhone, they only happen to occur so closely to the iPhone, that the iPhone will be given much of the credit.
Ahonen provides the same kind of empirical data he always does to support his claims. Consider the following numbers:
Music on mobile phones is already worth $8.8 billion dollars last year, with ringing tones, ringback tones and MP3 files sold to musicphones each larger than all of iTunes.
Messaging is a multi-billion dollar business on the web. But messaging is an $80 billion dollar industry on mobile (mostly SMS text messaging).
Social networking and digital communities are big business on the internet. But at $3.45 billion dollars it is already bigger on mobile.
The total content industry on mobile was $31 billion dollars in 2006.
On this last point, Ahonen makes the following observation (pay attention here because this is one of the keys to understanding the CDB world vision):
Then some clever analysts will have an “heureka” moment and exclaim that woa, the total content industry on mobile at 31 B dollars in 2006 is larger than on the fixed PC based internet (duh!) and some clever dicks will then observe that actually, since the majority of content revenues on the fixed side of the internet are pornography and gambling, but the biggest content revenues on the mobile internet are from music and social networking - yeah, they will tell you this in amazement, just watch them - some clever media pundits will conclude that while the mobile internet is younger, it is also more mature than the fixed landline internet on PCs. (and our blog readers will say, told you so, if you’d read the book Communities Dominate Brands, you’d have known all this already..)
So… does the world change with the release of the iPhone? Are we (metaphorically) looking at the same kind of before-and-after demarcation as the Western calendar’s B.C. and A.D. or the computing world’s “before Macintosh” and “after Macintosh” as Ahonen suggests in his opening? I think so.
I’ve seen Apple pull this off four times already. The introduction of the Apple II completely and irrevocably changed the way we looked at personal computing. The introduction of the Macintosh is inarguably one of the most significant events in the history of computing. The launch of the Newton (flawed device though it was) ushered in the PDA era which evolved into the smartphone era. And the iPod ecosystem singlehandedly redefined the music industry (at least in terms of popular awareness).
Given that track record, why would anyone believe the imminent arrival of the iPhone represents anything less than a similar watershed moment?
The AI (After iPhone) era will be a different place than the BI (Before iPhone) world we’ve been living in. It took a few years for the real impact of the iPod ecosystem to be fully appreciated. Lessons were learned. I suspect we’ll see a similar awakening this time around but on a grander scale and at a faster clip. Why? Because (as Ahonen and Moore have been preaching for years) the phone is simply more important than a music player – especially to the Generation C marketplace that is defined in Communities Dominate Brands (one guess what the “C” stands for). And when the phone and the iPod converge as they do in the iPhone (which I believe is a decidedly different convergence than the musicphones introduced BI) with the UI experience Apple is better at delivering than anyone else, the game changes.
The implications for mobile computing, personal productivity and entertainment, and how the network fits into our lives is about to change for the masses in much the same way it already has for us gadget fans, early adopters, and power users. And it’s going to be great theater.

NYC on 2 Nokias a day

A couple of weeks ago, I took the family on a trip to New York City. We got a pretty good deal on travel in the form of a package deal from Hotwired.com that included four round-trip tickets and two hotel rooms for about $600 per person for a four-night, five-day visit. The purpose of the trip was to attend a family event, see relatives and friends, and spend a bit of time in the city.
The package included two rooms at the Hudson Hotel, conveniently located at Columbus Circle and Broadway, right at the southern end of Central Park. If you’re not familiar with the city, this is a pretty central location with easy access to the subway, cabs, Times Square, and the Upper West Side where the events were held.
The Hudson is a pretty trendy spot with a very loud, boisterous nightlife scene centered around a very attractive indoor/outdoor garden lobby space. The rooms are… well to call them small would be charitable. Reminiscent of the dorm-style Euro hotels, they’re fine for a single person and very, very intimate for two. Wireless access was an additional fee and pretty spotty.
Which leads to the point of this post. Although I did take the MacBook along for the trip, once I saw the close quarters and realized that connectivity was going to be intermittent at best, I made what for me is a pretty radical decision and decided to do the entire trip using the Nokia N95 “handheld multimedia computer” (AKA smartphone) and N800 internet tablet as my principle means of staying connected to e-mail, IM, RSS, and blogging. All but the last were an unqualified success and the only reason blogging failed was that I simply didn’t have time to do any writing.
The Nokia devices performed flawlessly. I got a good solid signal everywhere in the city (T-Mobile) and was able to use WiFi in the Starbucks down the street from the hotel in the mornings when I made my coffee and chai run. I was able to keep up with mail using the Gmail client on the N95 and the e-mail application and browser on the N800 for Gmail and company IMAP mail. Paired with my trusty Stowaway Bluetooth keyboard, I was able to pop off messages as needed.
Although I know my way around Manhattan pretty well, I did use the N95’s built-in GPS to get oriented a couple of times and it worked like a charm (although GPS usage dramatically impacts battery life). Google Maps also worked as expected on both the Nokia devices and it was this app (as well as the multimedia applications) that really showed off the advantages of a phone with a display that can be used in both portrait and landscape orientations.
I used the Ultimate Ears super.fi Pro 5 earbuds to listen to MP3 and streaming music, podcasts, and video on both devices with the amazing sound quality and noise isolation I’ve come to expect form these earbuds and used the Plantronics 510 Bluetooth headset for cellular, Skype (via Fring on the N95) and Gizmo (on the N800) calls.
The entire kit fit into my coat pockets or a small gear bag and was so much easier to carry around the city than a laptop.
This is the new mobile office.

Outbound calling feature in Google Talk coming soon?

Until s screenshot was discovered by a Googling Google reader, an official Google Talk feature that would let you make real phone calls from the client could only be speculation. In this Adobe Breeze presentation, during the “Google Talk” section, you will notice a screenshot that doesn’t quite look like anything available in the client as it exists today — links that say “Show dialpad“, “Call details” and “Close“.
I don’t know why else these would exist in an official Google presentation unless the feature is being internally tested. It’s not too crazy to assume either — General Manager of Google’s Enterprise division, Dave Girouard, hinted at it in an interview with internetnews.com back in December.

Warning about signed spyware softwares

If this news is into wrong section mod's please move it or remove it.I just wanted forum members to be warned about these signed spyware utils that might be also posted in here as other kind of utils.I found this news from

Finnish website (text in Finnish):

http://www.tietokone.fi/uutta/uutinen.asp?news_id=30456&tyyppi=1 (and link from news above in English)

Text is from F-Secure News section:

http://www.f-secure.com/weblog/archives/archive-052007.html#00001190

Just because it's Signed doesn't mean it isn't spying on you..

While it has been rather peaceful on the mobile malware front, mobile spyware and spying tools have been active lately. This week, we have received samples of two new mobile spying tools – running on new platforms. There is now spyware for both Windows Mobile and Symbian S60 3rd Edition devices.

We thought it likely that spyware rather than malware would be seen first on these platforms. Hobbyists of varying skill levels write all of the mobile malware that we have seen so far, and most mobile malware is rather simple. While on the other hand, Spyware is being developed by commercial companies that have a lot more resources, skills, and motivation to get their creations to work.

Both new spying tools are rather similar in their capabilities. After being installed on the device, they hide from the user and report information from the phone to a central server. From there, it can be accessed through a web page interface.

An interesting fact is that the spyware for the Symbian 3rd Edition platform is Symbian signed. Therefore it can be installed without any warnings and is capable of operating without Symbian security alerting the user that something is going on.

The certificate that was given to the software company was for RBackupPRO. That name is different than the name they use to brand their spy tool. The name RBackupPRO would appear to indicate that the software is some kind of network backup tool. Right?

The fact that the spy tool authors could get their software certified indicates a potential issue when using digital signatures and certificates as the only security measure. On one hand the software is technically exactly what it claims to be, an application that backs up user data to a server. One the other hand, when the software is installed onto the device without the primary user's knowledge and permission, it can be used as a spying tool that compromises the said user's personal privacy. Thus if suspect applications cannot break security components, they can then play with the process of certification.

Both new spyware applications are now detected with F-Secure Mobile Anti-Virus. We're not naming either application in this post, as we don't feel like providing them with any direct publicity.

Nokia adds energy saving alerts to phones

Nokia issued a press release today announcing that they are the first mobile phone maker to add energy saving alerts to their devices. These alerts encourage people to unplug their phone charger from the outlet once the phone is fully charged. The release states this could save enough electricity to power 85,000 homes a year. I never really thought much about leaving my chargers plugged in after charging up my devices and with the number of devices I use I could probably save enough energy to power up my home state of Washington so I will try to unplug from now on. The new Nokia alerts will launch on the Nokia 1200, 1208, and 1650 and then be rolled out in all their devices eventually.

Nokia was also awarded an Energy Star last year for their chargers and have set future goals for energy reduction as well.