The recent launch of Firefox 3.5 was just the latest in a crescendo of activity on the browser front over the past few months. We've seen Google tout speed with its bare-bones Chrome 2. We've seen Apple's Safari 4 bring on both the speed and all the interface eye candy we've come to expect. Opera has come in with not only a beta of its feature-packed version 10, but also an alpha of an app called Opera Unite that makes the browser a server as well as a consumer. Starting it all was that juggernaut Microsoft, coming out with Internet Explorer 8, which the company claimed was more compliant with open Web standards.
But it turns out that standards are a far murkier issue than they may first seem. Firefox's promoters will brand IE as a completely behind-the-times, non-standards-supporting browser, but the standards Firefox supports haven't yet been ratified by the organization that's been the official keeper of the standards, the W3C. Firefox's support for the
Free Security Software Tools
মঙ্গলবার, জুন ০৯, ২০০৯
Just because the recession has left you penniless doesn't mean you can't keep your computer safe: Here are a dozen security apps that don't cost a thing.
Free Anti-Malware
Free Anti-Malware
Free Anti-Malware
Today more than ever, you need to protect your computer systems against intrusion by spyware, viruses, Trojans, and the like. Malware is big business now. Programmers for the Dark Side write tight, tested, evil code for pay, and their bosses rake in money by capturing passwords, stealing credit card numbers, and duping the gullible. Now there's a business sector that's booming! Fortunately you can protect yourself without shelling out a penny. It's true that paid solutions like Prevx 3.0, Spyware Doctor with AntiVirus 6, and Webroot AntiVirus with AntiSpyware 6.1 score better than the freebies in testing, but you can improve your defenses by layering multiple free products.
Yes, I always advise against running more than one real-time anti-malware product, since there can be conflicts. In particular, I wouldn't use avast! antivirus 4.8 Home Edition and AVG Anti-Virus Free 8.0 together, since they are both traditional signature-based products with real-time protection. But the free edition of MalwareBytes' Anti-Malware 1.36 is a scan-only product with no real-time protection, which makes it safer as a companion product for either.
Adding behavior-based protection to your traditional signature-based protection naturally increases your coverage. The behavior-based zero-day threat protection in ThreatFire 4.5 is specifically designed to work alongside signature-based products. Panda Cloud Antivirus also includes behavioral detection, and it keeps its intelligence in the cloud, not on your PC. It's not as fast or powerful as Prevx, another in-the-cloud product, but it's a free, lightweight addition.
Free Spam Filtering
Wouldn't you like some good news for a change? Want free money from a long-lost relative in Nigeria? Hope to win a European lottery that you didn't even enter? Just check your e-mail! Spammers may well have filled it with messages of hope…false hope, that is. Spam about V!agra and Ci@lis is down; spam about money is up—not surprising these days. And, hey, if "your bank" sends an e-mail about some dire account problem that will send you to the poorhouse, don't click any links. Navigate directly to the bank site yourself. Of course, a decent antispam app could fix that problem, too.
Maybe you're one of the lucky ones whose ISP or Web-based e-mail provider includes server-level spam filtering as part of the service. But if spam is reaching your inbox you can rely on the free SPAMfighter Standard to keep it out. Like the highly successful commercial products Cloudmark Desktop and iHateSpam, SPAMfighter is a community-based filter. That means it will let through a small amount of spam (less than most other antispam products), but it will never throw a valid personal message into the spam bin. It inserts a small advertising footer in your outgoing messages, but that's a small price to pay.
Free Firewall
When old-timers fell on hard times, they'd describe their plight by moaning, "The wolf is at the door!" These days we might say, "The hacker is at the port." If you don't have some kind of firewall protection, a hacker or network-based worm could waltz right in through an open port and take control of your computer. Certainly, if you have no other protection, you should make sure the Windows Firewall in XP or Vista is turned on.
Free third-party personal firewalls ZoneAlarm 8.0 and Comodo Firewall Pro 3.0 do more than the built-in, though. Naturally they block hack attacks, masking your computer's ports so they're completely invisible from the outside. But they also protect against betrayal from within by limiting which programs are allowed to connect with the Internet. Initially they can be noisy, popping up a flood of queries asking whether this or that program should be allowed access. After a while, the pop-ups diminish. Comodo does automatically configure access for many programs, which may cut down on pop-ups. ZoneAlarm reserves automatic configuration for its paid versions
Free Parental Control
If your kids are all out working part-time jobs after school to help make the mortgage payments, well, you don't need a parental-control system. For the younger ones, you'll want to put some form of parental control in place, so you don't have to worry about what they're doing online while you're off working your second and third jobs.
Windows Vista has parental control built in. For each user, you can set it to block Web sites in 11 categories and optionally block downloads. You can configure a weekly grid of times when this user is allowed on the computer. You can block games based on ESRB ratings, or block specific programs. That's all, but that may be enough.
Not using Vista? You can get a similar level of protection from K9 Web Protection. It blocks bad Web sites, schedules Internet use (rather than overall computer user), and monitors all sites visited. Alas, these limits are system-wide, not per-user, so they could be a problem.
If you want full-scale parental control rivaling paid products like Net Nanny 6.0 and Safe Eyes 5.0, consider OnlineFamily.Norton. It includes some high-end features, such as e-mail notification, Instant Messaging control, and full remote configuration. The catch: It's free only until January 2010. But, hey, maybe the economy will turn around by then!
Free Password Management
Your finances are already stretched and stressed. The last thing you need is for some goon to capture your financial Web-site passwords and steal what little cash you have left, or charge your credit card for luxuries you've been denying yourself.
Sure, the security mavens say you should make every password different and use strong passwords like Bftsplk&Be9WgSaMxyzptlk for each. But nobody can remember more than a couple of those, and most of us have dozens of passwords to track. Both Firefox and Internet Explorer will offer to save your passwords for you. Don't let them: Their password storage is not secure!
For free and effective password management, consider LastPass 1.50. Feature-wise it beats out commercial competition like RoboForm and 1-Click SignupShield Suite 5. It stores your encrypted passwords online, decrypting them only locally. And in case you wondered whether IE- and Firefox-stored passwords are really so insecure, LastPass extracts those passwords during installation and offers to store them securely instead.
Free Help Switching Brands
You're ready now. You've made the decision. Rather than renew your current security solution, you're going to bite the bullet and replace it. Unfortunately, sometimes they'd rather fight than let you switch. If the uninstall process doesn't completely clean up the old product, it may prevent you from installing your new, free solutions. That's where AppRemover 1.5 comes in. This free utility has one purpose in life—to clean up the leftovers from security suites that were incompletely uninstalled. Out with the old! In with the new!
A Free Suite?
As you can see, it's possible to cobble together a passable security suite using only free utilities. Firewall, anti-malware, antispam, even parental control—it's all out there for the taking. And since the components are all free, you can pick and choose, try and retry, until you have a package that suits you. Who knows, you may keep your free home-made suite even after the economic recovery in… well… whenever it happens.
Build It: Recession Special
শনিবার, জুন ০৬, ২০০৯
Need a new desktop on a tight budget? Here's how to build a surprisingly robust system for about $400.
Microsoft Bing
New Microsoft search engine Bing.
Sitting on a commanding 63 percent Internet search market share, Google nevertheless is being challenged all the time. Upstart Wolfram Alpha just attacked on the techie end, and now Microsoft's Bing appeals to everyday consumers. Google continues to add new capabilities, like local results and the recent Search Options sidebar; in many cases, the leader's actually playing catch-up, adding features the competition already has. Microsoft, with only 8 percent of the market, has arguably been more energetic, completely revamping its search site. Bing (previously called Live Search, and code-named Kumo for the last few months) is finally here. With Bing, Microsoft's goal is not only to finding Web pages for you, but also to help you make decisions, and to deliver useful information on the results page itself. And in many ways, it succeeds.
Sitting on a commanding 63 percent Internet search market share, Google nevertheless is being challenged all the time. Upstart Wolfram Alpha just attacked on the techie end, and now Microsoft's Bing appeals to everyday consumers. Google continues to add new capabilities, like local results and the recent Search Options sidebar; in many cases, the leader's actually playing catch-up, adding features the competition already has. Microsoft, with only 8 percent of the market, has arguably been more energetic, completely revamping its search site. Bing (previously called Live Search, and code-named Kumo for the last few months) is finally here. With Bing, Microsoft's goal is not only to finding Web pages for you, but also to help you make decisions, and to deliver useful information on the results page itself. And in many ways, it succeeds.
How to Buy a Cell Phone
রবিবার, মে ৩১, ২০০৯
With hundreds of handsets to choose from, it can be tough to find the right one. Here's what you need to know to dial up the perfect phone.
These days, smartphones get all the buzz, but the vast majority of handsets sold in the U.S. are actually feature phones: camera phones, music phones, rugged phones, messaging phones, or just plain voice phones.
Unlike smartphones, feature phones are a matter of "what you see is what you get." They don't receive magical software upgrades or run thousands of additional apps, as does the iPhone, for example. That doesn't mean they only make calls, though you can find phones that only make calls, if a basic phone is what you want. But most feature phones include some combination of a camera, a basic Web browser, e-mailing and text messaging apps, and music and video players.Feature phones are typically less expensive than smartphones. They're available in a much wider range of shapes and sizes, and on a broader range of plans, including prepaid options. Monthly service fees for feature phones are generally cheaper too, which can make a multipurpose feature phone a good bet.
Ready to find your phone? Here's what you should consider before you start shopping:
First, Choose Your Carrier
Because all the national carriers sell a wide variety of phones, choosing your service provider should be your first move. Here's a quick rundown of what each of the primary U.S. carriers offers:
AT&T boasts nationwide coverage and a terrific selection of phones, particularly for texting. But some folks, especially in the Northeast, complain that AT&T's coverage isn't all it's cracked up to be when it comes to reliability and quality.
Cricket and MetroPCS are new "unlimited" carriers that offer much lower rates than their competitors and don't require contracts. But they aren't available everywhere, and they have a somewhat limited selection of phones.
Sprint is relatively inexpensive, and offers some neat media services and a solid high-speed network. It also has the most open approach to third-party apps, running the best e-mail software and letting its subscribers add a wide range of Java applications to their feature phones.
T-Mobile offers cutting-edge phones at relatively low monthly rates and enjoys a reputation for good customer service. But its nationwide coverage isn't as complete as AT&T's or Verizon's.
Verizon Wireless is famed for its excellent network quality and good customer service. Its prices, however, can be higher than the competition's, and the carrier is typically slow to offer new handset features, like 5-megapixel cameras. But when it comes to voice quality, many Verizon phones excel.
Virgin Mobile is a nationwide prepaid carrier that uses Sprint's network but can undercut Sprint's rates. Virgin has relatively few phones on its roster, and those it does offer are mostly low-end.
You may also see unlocked phones on the market that work with GSM networks such as AT&T and T-Mobile but aren't sold by the carriers. These handsets are often imports. Because they're generally more expensive than carrier-approved-and-subsidized phones, few are sold in the U.S.
Next, What Are Your Feature Priorities?
Because feature phones do almost everything, you should decide what capabilities you need or want most. Start narrowing down your choices by first ranking the five major categories of features in order of importance: voice, messaging, camera, media playback, and Web/GPS/games/miscellaneous. Once that's done, you'll be able to concentrate on a filtered-down selection of feature phones.
If you're big on text messaging, you want to focus on messaging functionality. If you've got a small child, a camera is probably important. If you want to ditch your iPod, keep an eye out for good media features.
Since it's a given that you want your calls to sound good, you may feel you should focus mainly on voice rather than other features. You don't need to worry too much about that. The vast majority of phones sold today have solid voice capabilities. Paying attention to the other features you like, and then double-checking to make sure the phone you choose delivers on voice quality, makes it easier to sift through a long list of handsets
What to Look for: Voice
Reading reviews and trying out a phone before you buy it are the best ways of gauging voice quality. Most phones fit into a broad middle range of reception and sound quality. But you can still find phones that are uncommonly loud or have a lot of "side tone," that is, the feedback of your own voice in your ear (which can help you avoid yelling into the phone).
If you're primarily interested in voice and you're looking at AT&T or T-Mobile, focus on 3G phones. Those carriers' 3G networks offer superior voice quality to that of the 2G networks. The major downside is that AT&T and T-Mobile 3G phones have about half the battery life of 2G phones.
Important voice features to look for include no-training voice dialing, Bluetooth headset support, and a standard (2.5mm or 3.5mm) wired headset jack.
Yes, there are still super-simple phones out there that basically only make calls. The Sanyo PRO 200 on Sprint and the Samsung Knack SCH-U310 on Verizon Wireless are two high-quality voice-only phones.
What to Look for: Messaging
Texting, e-mail, and IM capabilities are showing up in more and more phones these days. If you intend to text often, get a plan with unlimited text messaging—it'll likely save you money in the long run. The best phones for heavy messaging have full QWERTY keyboards, like Verizon Wireless's Samsung Alias 2 SCH-u750 and AT&T's Pantech Matrix C740. You may also want to check to ensure that the phone supports threaded texting, a feature that groups together all text messages from the same sender. The Alias 2 supports threading, but relatively few other phones do.
Don't expect e-mail or IM on feature phones to give you a full smartphone experience. Feature-phone e-mail programs typically download your e-mail in text-only mode, without attachments, and feature-phone IM programs often won't let you access your AIM buddies. Sprint's e-mail program, on handsets like the Samsung Rant, is the best of the bunch, supporting multiple accounts and some attachments.
What to Look for: Camera
The great thing about a phone with a camera is that you always have it with you, so you end up photographing moments you would have otherwise missed. Camera phones are becoming as good as low-end digital cameras, in many cases taking print-worthy photos.
If you're interested in taking shots with your camera phone at all, don't settle for less than 2MP. Keep an eye on reviews to see which phones take washed-out, compressed-looking photos and which take bright, clear shots. It's harder to find a good video phone than a good camera phone. If you want to post your videos online or burn them to DVD, look for a phone that takes 320-by-240-pixel videos, at 15 frames per second or better.
A few camera phones we've seen really stand out. The Motorola MotoZINE ZN5 and Samsung Memoir SGH-T929 on T-Mobile take 5MP and 8MP photos, respectively. The ZN5 has very little shutter delay. The Memoir takes somewhat better pictures, but you have to wait for them.
What to Look for: Media
If you want to get rid of your iPod, your best bet is one of Verizon Wireless's phones with V CAST Music with Rhapsody; these sync with the powerful Rhapsody music program on Windows PCs. Otherwise, look for the many phones that sync with Windows Media Player. Mac users are pretty much out of luck for syncing music on feature phones—you'll have to drag and drop your songs onto a microSD memory card.
You also want a phone with a 3.5mm headphone jack, so you can listen to your songs with standard music headphones. If you get a phone with a 2.5mm jack, or even worse, a proprietary one, you'll need a clumsy adapter to use quality headphones. As an alternative, look for a phone that supports stereo Bluetooth wireless headphones. Verizon's LG Chocolate 3 VX8560 is one example of a top-notch music phone, with a standard jack, stereo Bluetooth support, and access to Rhapsody.
Feature phones typically don't make very good video players. They often can't sync video with PCs and don't come with software to convert video into the often-obscure formats they support. (If you're a bit of a hacker, you can force your video into a phone-friendly format.) Look for a phone with a larger screen for video watching, like the LG Dare VX9700 for Verizon.
What to Look for: Web/GPS/Games/Etc.
Some phones have decent browsers that display most Web pages; others only have basic WAP browsers. If you want to surf often on your phone, you may want to consider Sprint, since the carrier will let you install the third-party Opera Mini Web browser on its devices. Most current phones come with some variety of for-pay GPS capability—but be sure to get a handset with a loud speakerphone so you can hear the directions. Phones can play games, too. Verizon's LG Versa VX9600, for example, is a great choice with its optional dedicated game pad.
And for the accident-prone, some phones, like AT&T's Samsung Rugby or Verizon Wireless's G'zOne series, are even ruggedized or waterproof.
How to Get the Best Price
Once you've made your handset decision, it's time to head to your carrier's store, right? Maybe not. The best deals you can find on feature phones are almost always online. Five places to look:
1) Your carrier's own Web site will likely have prices that are considerably lower than what you can find in a brick-and-mortar store. And you can often find online-only instant rebates.
2) You can find amazing deals on Amazon.com if you're switching carriers. You may have to send in a mail-in rebate form, however.
3) and 4) Wirefly.com and LetsTalk.com are reliable, competing cell-phone stores with their own exclusive offers.
5) Finally, true cheapskates should look for used phones on eBay. Especially if you're hoping to spend under $50 without signing a new contract, you can often find great deals on last year's models
How to creat a science blog
শনিবার, মে ৩০, ২০০৯
The World Wide Web has changed the world by providing the cheapest information sharing network ever seen. And the development of blogging software, now powerful and free to use, allows anyone to share their thoughts instantly with anyone else in the world with an Internet connection.
That personal link is at the heart of blogging. The very word blog comes from web log, in other words a diary. Just as diaries can have many forms, so can blogs, but they tend to differ from conventional media in their focus.
What to blog on — and how?
You might be a scientist who wants to blog about your own science or issues facing scientists. You might be a science journalist wanting to report on science in a way that is different to the more conventional publications that you write for. Or you may be a wannabe political commentator, monitoring science policy and its potential impacts. All of these could come under the umbrella of science blogging, which follows many of the same rules as other types of blogs.
First, choose a subject that you are both passionate and knowledgeable about. Keep it focused. Choose too broad a topic — physics, say — and you will find it very hard to add something unique and interesting to the web that will attract readers. The risk of picking too narrow a topic is far lower — there may be few people in your organisation who care deeply about moths, for example, but there are likely to be many more around the world.
What you choose to blog about — and how — will also depend on your intended audience, be they scientists in that field, scientists from other disciplines or the general public.
One of the very best, and most successful, science blogs is called Pharyngula, written by biologist P. Z. Myers, who works at the University of Minnesota. He describes it as "evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal", and it has been a powerful pro-science voice in the creationism debate in the United States.
The blog is one of many excellent blogs on ScienceBlogs. The site's founder, Adam Bly, aims to make science as central to culture as politics or the arts, and ScienceBlogs shows how the engaging and conversational style of blogs can help make that happen.
So how personal should a blog get? Here's a rule of thumb — if you start writing about your pet dog, you have probably crossed a line. But anything short of that is not only fine, it's essential. Your personality is what will make your blog stand out from others, and will bring you that all important connection with your readers.
This can be uncomfortable for academics and professional journalists, who spend their careers sheltered by the use of the third person (I remember struggling to begin sentences with "I" when I started blogging). But persevere, you will quickly adapt and find it liberating. If you don't, then what you are writing isn't a blog, it's an article.
How often?
How regularly should you blog? The short answer is every day. Readers want to feel the blog is alive, and frequent posts show this. A minimum is twice a week. Any less and you'll need to be a very influential person to get away with it.
One way of getting around having to post frequently yourself is to set up a group blog. But this can be difficult, unless the group shares a clear sense of purpose and similar attitudes. One successful example of this approach is Effect Measure, run by a group of public health professionals.
If the prospect of posting daily seems off-putting, remember that each post does not have to be a thousand words of carefully argued and finely crafted prose. Quite the reverse in fact — think of it as having a conversation with your readers.
Short observations on news events that use your expertise, for example to point out misconceptions, are great. Posts that link to new or interesting information elsewhere on the web are also very valuable.
You are using your special knowledge to filter the vast amount of content on the web for others. By aggregating material, you are editing the web for your readers. And remember, the links don't just need to be to articles. Video, pictures and graphics can be even more interesting. If I was blogging about penguins, I'd definitely be linking to this video. And taking your own photographs or video is even better — they are simple to add to blogs.
Technical aspects
I won't try to give a step-by-step account of how to blog here — there are plenty online. But if you can use a word processor and web browser, you already have 90 per cent of the skills you need. The other ten per cent are very simple, for example using basic HTML, or the buttons in your blog software, to make key phrases bold or to add web links.
There is a wide variety of blog software available, all with guides on how to use them. You can choose what suits your level of technical knowledge. The simplest host the blog for you, with the most popular being Blogger, Wordpress and Typepad.
The downside with these blog sites is that you have less control over the URL. If you want to host your own blog, check out Movable Type, for example.
The Guardian's blogging guru, Kevin Anderson, recommends guides to the pros and cons of different options available on these sites: Problogger, readwriteweb and pcworld.com.
Limited bandwidth and Internet access in some areas of the developing world may limit all forms of blogging.
Jonathan Gosier, a software developer living in Kampala, Uganda, describes blogging from a developing country as "a lesson in patience, endurance and ingenuity". On his blog on Apprifca he recommends ten applications that can ease the challenges of dealing with power cuts, unstable Internet connections and potential data loss.
Getting a readership
Once you have your blog up and running, you'll need to get people coming to visit. This can be hard at the start, but be patient. There are a number of things you can do, and the key is linking.
First, you need to include lots of links in all that you post. This helps with 'search engine optimisation', that is, it helps search engines understand the sorts of site your blog is like, and this means people searching for your topic will be more likely to find your blog.
Even more important is encouraging links from other sites to your blog. You can do this by leaving comments on other sites you like, which include links back to relevant posts on your blog. Note the word relevant — if your links are not relevant, they will annoy people, which is not a way to become popular.
You can also list the other blogs you like — this is called a blogroll. It's worth asking those bloggers if they would like to link to you — they will if they like your blog. Lastly, it's worth sending details of your blog to Technorati, which acts as a search engine specifically for blogs.
If you intend to blog about peer-reviewed research articles, you could register with Research Blogging, a website which highlights the posts of its registered users when they write about new journal papers.
Generating discussion
There's another important difference between blogging and conventional journalism and science communication. Writers of conventional media must not leave questions hanging — their stories need a beginning, middle and end. But blogging, being a conversation, means you can ask questions, as my food writer colleague Jay Rayner did recently on the topic of genetically modified foods.
A truly great science blog, also connected to the Guardian, is Bad Science, written by the medical doctor Ben Goldacre. His conversations with his readers often generate ideas for future posts.
Discussions with your readers is an essential hallmark of a good blog. A blog without discussion is like a radio talk show without callers — a lecture in fact. The simplest way to create a discussion is by asking for one — "what do you think of what I have written?" When someone does comment, make sure you reply to them on the blog. After all, you wouldn't ignore someone who spoke to you in person.
Not all comments will be interesting or constructive, and moderating the comments on your blog is a difficult balance. If you are oversensitive in deleting comments, readers will soon learn that you are not really interested in having a debate. On the other hand, if you let anything go, you will soon find your blog infested with trolls — people who post irrelevant and provocative comments to disrupt discussions — and this could bore or intimidate interesting people, driving them away.
Many trolls will back down if you reply personally to them. Their aggression fades when they realise there is a real person behind the screen. But I don't want to exaggerate this issue — getting any comments at all is harder than dealing with bad ones. And remember, the blog is your space. You are free to eject people you object to, just as in your own home.
Google adds automatic translation to Gmail
মঙ্গলবার, মে ২৬, ২০০৯
Google added automatic translation technology to Gmail on Tuesday, allowing users of its email service to translate messages in another language with a single mouse click.
The Mountain View, California-based Internet giant said it had integrated its Google Translate program into Gmail, allowing automatic translation of messages in several dozen languages.
"When you receive an email in a language other than your own, Gmail will help you translate it into a language you can understand," Google said in a post on the company blog.
"If all parties are using Gmail, you can have entire conversations in multiple languages with each participant reading the messages in whatever language is most comfortable for them," Google said.
Google has already made Google Translate available to provide automatic translations of entire Web pages or blogs.
Virtual Memory Low—What to Do?
রবিবার, মে ২৪, ২০০৯
Solution: I assume that you got a little balloon in the bottom right-hand corner announcing that your virtual memory is low and that Windows is adjusting it. If this happens just once, don't worry—as the message said, Windows found a problem and fixed it. But if it happens repeatedly, it could be that your settings don't allow Windows to make the necessary adjustment. First, make sure your drive isn't overly full. In Windows Explorer, right-click the drive icon and choose Properties. If the amount of free space is under about 10 percent, you'll need to free up some space. You can use the Disk Cleanup button right next to the free space indicator, or manually move some files to off-line storage, or uninstall unnecessary applications—whatever it takes to get more free space.
If low drive space isn't the problem, the virtual-memory settings may be wrong. Right-click My Computer and choose Properties. Click the Advanced tab. Click the Settings button in the Performance panel. Click the Advanced tab in the Performance dialog. Click the Change button in the Virtual memory panel. Whew! This setting is buried quite thoroughly! Look for the System managed size option, select it if it isn't already selected, and then click OK, OK, OK. That should end the warnings.
Cool Niche Social Networks
Forget Facebook. Here are 10 social networks for connecting all types of people, including knitters, car enthusiasts, and Harry Potter fans
Facebook, MySpace, and other general social networks are great for connecting with friends and sharing your interests. But they serve a general audience, and they don't always do a good job of filtering information to let you focus on a particular interest—whether it be a favorite book series, a collection of wines, or a particular sport. So instead of joining yet another Facebook group, why not try a niche social network?
There are lots of them out there for just about every interest, and they are constantly being added to. Companies have launched sites for gearheads, bookworms, and dog lovers. There are also services such as Ning, which allows individual users to create their own social networks—so far more than a million individual networks have been built with it. Special interest networks give fans and devotees a forum to indulge their passions and meet like-minded friends.
Here are 10 cool niche social networks you might be interested in joining.
BallHype
BallHype is a social network for sports lovers of all kinds. The site has a Digg-like interface for sports news and encourages interaction about news in each sport from the NBA to MLB to MMA (mixed martial arts).
Bottletalk's social network for wine lovers lets users share their experiences and find wines based on others users' well-regarded wines. Along similar lines, Coastr lets beer enthusiasts find new brews and pubs to drink at.
EpernicusThis is the social network for connecting current and former research scientists. It allows scientists to share resources and help each other find ways to advance their work.
FotologFotolog is different from Flickr and other photo-sharing sites because you can post only one photo a day. It encourages community building, and its international following is huge.
GleeProfessionals who belong to the LGBT community will find a social network that caters to their interests at Glee (an acronym for Gay, Lesbian, and Everyone Else). In addition to offering opportunities to advance careers it offers traditional social features like music, blogs, groups, and chat
Motortopia
This social network allows car enthusiasts to talk shop, sell their cars to other members, and blog about their hobbies. If cars aren't your passion, the site also has tabs for bikes, boats, and planes.
MuggleSpace
With the latest Harry Potter film coming out on July 15, it might be time for a refresher with other fans. MuggleSpace is one of the top social networks for Potter-philes. It has chat, blogs, groups, and other features. In addition, MyLeaky—the social network for the fan site The Leaky Cauldron—offers interesting extras such as quizzes and House rankings.
MyDogSpace
If you love showing pictures of your dog to your friends, you'll enjoy showing them off to the dog-loving world at MyDogSpace, the social network for dog lovers. If your dog hates cats, don't tell him about the company's ironic sister site MyCatSpace.
Ravelry
Ravelry is a unique site for connecting knitters, crocheters, designers, spinners, and dyers. It helps users keep track of their yarn, tools, and pattern information, and lets them share ideas and inspiration.
Shelfari
Shelfari is one of the best sites for book lovers. When we reviewed the site, we liked it just a little more than the popular Goodreads because of the virtual bookshelf and slick interface that allow you to display your library to the world.
The Best Free Audio/Music Software of 2009
শনিবার, মে ২৩, ২০০৯
The best things in life often actually are free. Here, a list of the best things in life—free software, for entertainment and more.
Audio/Music
1. Audacity [HALL OF FAME]
audacity.sourceforge.net
Windows | Mac OS | Linux
On a par with any commercial audio editor, Audacity is the free sound editor of choice. The latest beta (1.3.6) even supports MPEG-4, Dolby Digital, and Windows Media.
2. Banshee
banshee-project.org
Linux
iTunes is riffed upon again, this time in a Linux-only option that supports audio and video, Android phones, and older iPods (but not iPhones or iPod touch... for now).
3. EphPod
www.ephpod.com
Windows
It does whatever iTunes does in Windows—syncing, playlists, iPod firmware updates, and much more, including moving music from an iPod to your new PC.
4. foobar2000
www.foobar2000.org
Windows
Basic playback of just about any audio you can imagine is foobar2000's calling card, complete with an iTunes-like interface.
5. imeem (formerly Anywhere.FM)
www.imeem.com
Web
If iTunes were entirely in the cloud, it would be pretty close to imeem (formerly Anywhere.FM). Upload your music collection and videos to stream from any device. Digital photos, too. You can share them with friends you make on the service.
6. iTunes [HALL OF FAME]
www.apple.com/itunes
Windows | Mac OS
Do we have to explain iTunes as the (so far) ultimate media player, coupled with online store and the primary way to get media—from music to video to games to podcasts, which plays most file formats (except, unsurprisingly, Windows Media formats)—and puts them on your iPod or iPhone? Probably not.
7. Mojo
www.deusty.com
Windows | Mac OS
When you and some friends install Mojo, you're ready for a unique sharing experience. Browsing and downloading MP3s from each other's iTunes music libraries is suddenly a very easy proposition. If it's a DRM file from the iTunes store, Mojo highlights them in red so you won't be bothered trying.
8. Songbird
www.getsongbird.com
Windows | Mac OS | Linux
Mozilla's knockoff of iTunes is free, open-source, and supports just about every kind of music file you can imagine. You can even download embedded MP3s on Web sites to your permanent collection. Extensions add support for iPods and Web services.
9. Screamer Radio
www.screamer-radio.com
Windows
You can download an app or run it from the Web, but either way, Screamer Radio accesses and lets you record Internet radio in a number of streaming audio formats (Shoutcast, Icecast, Ogg Vorbis, WMA, and AAC).
10. WavePad Sound Editor
www.nch.com.au/wavepad
Windows | Mac OS | Linux
WavePad puts all the usual bells and whistles of audio editing and effects at your fingertips.
11. Winamp [HALL OF FAME]
www.winamp.com
Windows
Still a primo MP3 player, Winamp is both customizable (it heralded the age of "skins" on software) and comes in multiple versions, including one that works with CDs.
Battery Materials Market to Swell, No Thanks to Lead
রবিবার, মে ১০, ২০০৯
Lead metal is about to go the way of so many pop stars: out of the limelight. It’s had a good long run as the material of choice for batteries, but new materials that allow for faster charging, lighter weight, and higher energy density are poised to be the moneymakers of the world battery materials market in coming years. According to a report released this week from research firm Freedonia Group, lithium-ion and nickel metal hydride batteries — increasingly being used for consumer electronics and cars — will drive three years of growth for the battery materials market amid a gloomy outlook for “more mature and outdated” battery types such as lead acid and zinc carbon. Freedonia’s analysts anticipate world demand for materials used to make batteries will rise 3.9 percent per year to $22.8 billion in 2012.
“A major shift is under way in the market for lithium chemicals,” the firm writes, and companies in India, Indonesia, South Korea and especially China stand to see the most growth as a result. The outlook through 2012 isn’t as rosy for North America and Western Europe, Freedonia says, since their battery markets are more mature and dependent on lead, which is expected to have slumping prices in the next few years.
North America, however, could still see some bright spots — largely thanks to entrepreneurial activity. Freedonia expects the region’s nascent advanced rechargeable cell industry — an area increasingly populated with startups, including Seeo, Boston-Power, Z-Power and ActaCell — and production of batteries for hybrid and electric vehicles to present opportunities for growth.
Despite Freedonia’s dim outlook for lead, some companies think there’s still room for innovation with the material. When we looked at whether lead-acid batteries can compete in an increasingly lithium-ion world earlier this year, we spoke with Thomas Granville, the CEO of Axion Power, a Quercus Trust-backed startup working to blend ultracapacitor tech with old-fashioned lead-acid batteries for a lead 2.0 device that could have applications in after-market vehicle conversions and grid buffering.
Tricks to use Pop up Blockers in Windows
Pop-up window messages basically used for online advertising to increase the web traffic with minimum cost, but these pop-up messages can be used to damage a computer or also for hacking purpose. In routine when you are browsing the internet and suddenly a new window pop-up dialog box display with different messages for example" speed-up your internet ","free upload your files or images". All pop-up messages are not dangerous for you but some unwanted program and website that might be disturb your computer performance.
There are many free pop-up blocker software's available in market but always download it from well-known sites. Simply Download Google toolbar and install it to use its feature "Block annoying pop-up" to block the pop-up messages, You can say this is simple and best way to block unwanted program.
If you are working with Internet Explorer and want to block the pop-ups windows and unwanted messages. Open the Internet Explorer and click on Tools menu and go to Pop-up Blocker option, here you can Turn Off Pop-up Blocker to block pop-up from all websites. But you have option to allow some websites for pop-up. For this purpose open the Pop-up Blocker Setting. Here you can add some specific websites name to allow for pop-up and click Add. If you feel any problem to block any pop-up message due to some problem, simply click on the X at the right top of the pop-up windows.
There are many free pop-up blocker software's available in market but always download it from well-known sites. Simply Download Google toolbar and install it to use its feature "Block annoying pop-up" to block the pop-up messages, You can say this is simple and best way to block unwanted program.
If you are working with Internet Explorer and want to block the pop-ups windows and unwanted messages. Open the Internet Explorer and click on Tools menu and go to Pop-up Blocker option, here you can Turn Off Pop-up Blocker to block pop-up from all websites. But you have option to allow some websites for pop-up. For this purpose open the Pop-up Blocker Setting. Here you can add some specific websites name to allow for pop-up and click Add. If you feel any problem to block any pop-up message due to some problem, simply click on the X at the right top of the pop-up windows.
How to increase Ram for speed up PC
শুক্রবার, মে ০১, ২০০৯
Problem 1: Not enough RAM
RAM stands for Random Access Memory and is used as a temporary storage memory by your computer. This memory is in use when tasks are being executed by different programs. Hence, you should have enough RAM memory to process all the tasks at hand; if you don this might cause the major slow down of your computer while it is booting up or processing tasks.
How to know if your computer has enough RAM
The programs that are installed on your computer usually have RAM requirements that are asked. If your computer has been running at a normal speed before the installation of such programs and has crucially slowed down with time, you might need to add more RAM on your computer system.
Also, if your computer is slowing down every time you are processing large files, or it freezes while executing several programs at once, these might be some common signs that you need to add extra RAM.
Problem 2: Temporary files have built up on your hard disk
Some tasks might require you to leave the system working for several days and this might cause temporary files to build up on your hard disk. This might be a reason why your computer is slowing down and is taking some time to boot up as these type of files tend to be memory consuming.Cleansing your temporary files including your Internet history including cookies gives you a larger amount of hard disk space to work with.
How to delete Temporary Files
1. Open My Computer and select your local drive (it is usually labeled as :\C)
2. Select theWindows folder and locate the folder labeled Temp
3. Use your mouse to right-click on the folder (not the contents) and in the View options, choose Detail
4. Select all the files that are older than the current date and press the delete key.
5. When done, go to the Recycle Bin on your desktop and choose Empty Recycle Bin
You can also choose to delete the Temporary Internet Files that have accumulated on your system
1. Go to your Start button and open Control Panel
2. Select Internet Options and in the section labeled Temporary Internet Files press Delete Cookies and Delete Files options.
3. You can also delete your history by clicking the option “Clear History
4. When done, press Apply and OK
When you finish removing the Temporary Files, reboot your computer.
Problem 3: Your computer has been infected
If your computer has been infected by a virus, a malware, a worm or a Trojan, it might have cause the slow down of your computer system and even freeze several tasks at hand. Hence, you should run a virus scan and remove all the infected files found on your system.
Problem 4: Not enough space on the hard disk
Adding very bulky programs will automatically slow down your computer system. Hence, I will suggest users with a hard disk capacity of 2GB to leave at least 250MB free and those who have a higher hard disk storage capacity to leave at least 20% of the total capacity free. This will hence allow your computer to have enough room both for temporary files and file swapping.
Defragmenting your hard disk
You can also choose to defragment your hard disk to gather some dispersed spaces that can be used by the computer again.
1. Go to your Start menu and list all programs
2. In the Accessories option, select System Tools
3. Choose Disk Defragmenter from the list
4. To start the process, click the Defragment button.
Problem 5: Your Direct Memory Access (DMA) is disabled
The Direct Memory Access will allow data transmission between your hard drive and CD drive without requiring the microprocessor intervention. Those using Windows XP will not have this option set by default.
1. Click on the Start button and open Control Panel
2. Click and open the System icon
3. Select the Hardware tab and choose Device Manager option.
4. List the ATA/ATAPI options by clicking the + icon next to it.
5. Select the Primary IDE Channel option
6. In the Primary IDE Properties window select the Advanced Settings tab
7. Check whether theTransfer Mode for Device enables DMA.
8. Also, check whether the Transfer Mode for “Device enables DMA.
9. Click OK to confirm the changes
10. Hence, click Secondary IDE Channel
11. In the Secondary IDE Propertie, select the Advanced Settings tab
12. Check whether the Transfer Mode for Device enables DMA.
13. Also, check whether the Transfer Mode for Device enables DMA
14. When done, click OK to confirm the changes
Update Your Operating System
Having the latest updates of Windows will not increase system performance. However patching up any security loop holes or performance related glitches may be beneficial. So in the long run, your system will be better off with the latest OS updates.
How to increase Ram for speed up PC
Problem 1: Not enough RAM
RAM stands for Random Access Memory and is used as a temporary storage memory by your computer. This memory is in use when tasks are being executed by different programs. Hence, you should have enough RAM memory to process all the tasks at hand; if you don this might cause the major slow down of your computer while it is booting up or processing tasks.
How to know if your computer has enough RAM
The programs that are installed on your computer usually have RAM requirements that are asked. If your computer has been running at a normal speed before the installation of such programs and has crucially slowed down with time, you might need to add more RAM on your computer system.
Also, if your computer is slowing down every time you are processing large files, or it freezes while executing several programs at once, these might be some common signs that you need to add extra RAM.
Problem 2: Temporary files have built up on your hard disk
Some tasks might require you to leave the system working for several days and this might cause temporary files to build up on your hard disk. This might be a reason why your computer is slowing down and is taking some time to boot up as these type of files tend to be memory consuming.Cleansing your temporary files including your Internet history including cookies gives you a larger amount of hard disk space to work with.
How to delete Temporary Files
1. Open My Computer and select your local drive (it is usually labeled as :\C)
2. Select theWindows folder and locate the folder labeled Temp
3. Use your mouse to right-click on the folder (not the contents) and in the View options, choose Detail
4. Select all the files that are older than the current date and press the delete key.
5. When done, go to the Recycle Bin on your desktop and choose Empty Recycle Bin
You can also choose to delete the Temporary Internet Files that have accumulated on your system
1. Go to your Start button and open Control Panel
2. Select Internet Options and in the section labeled Temporary Internet Files press Delete Cookies and Delete Files options.
3. You can also delete your history by clicking the option “Clear History
4. When done, press Apply and OK
When you finish removing the Temporary Files, reboot your computer.
Problem 3: Your computer has been infected
If your computer has been infected by a virus, a malware, a worm or a Trojan, it might have cause the slow down of your computer system and even freeze several tasks at hand. Hence, you should run a virus scan and remove all the infected files found on your system.
Problem 4: Not enough space on the hard disk
Adding very bulky programs will automatically slow down your computer system. Hence, I will suggest users with a hard disk capacity of 2GB to leave at least 250MB free and those who have a higher hard disk storage capacity to leave at least 20% of the total capacity free. This will hence allow your computer to have enough room both for temporary files and file swapping.
Defragmenting your hard disk
You can also choose to defragment your hard disk to gather some dispersed spaces that can be used by the computer again.
1. Go to your Start menu and list all programs
2. In the Accessories option, select System Tools
3. Choose Disk Defragmenter from the list
4. To start the process, click the “Defragment button.
Problem 5: Your Direct Memory Access (DMA) is disabled
The Direct Memory Access will allow data transmission between your hard drive and CD drive without requiring the microprocessor intervention. Those using Windows XP will not have this option set by default.
1. Click on the Start button and open Control Panel
2. Click and open the System icon
3. Select the Hardware tab and choose Device Manager option.
4. List the ATA/ATAPI options by clicking the + icon next to it.
5. Select the Primary IDE Channel option
6. In the Primary IDE Properties window select the Advanced Settings tab
7. Check whether theTransfer Mode for Device enables DMA.
8. Also, check whether the Transfer Mode for “Device enables DMA.
9. Click OK to confirm the changes
10. Hence, click Secondary IDE Channel
11. In the Secondary IDE Propertie, select the Advanced Settings tab
12. Check whether the Transfer Mode for Device enables DMA.
13. Also, check whether the Transfer Mode for Device enables DMA
14. When done, click OK to confirm the changes
Update Your Operating System
Having the latest updates of Windows will not increase system performance. However patching up any security loop holes or performance related glitches may be beneficial. So in the long run, your system will be better off with the latest OS updates.
Top 10 Printer Tips and Tricks
বুধবার, এপ্রিল ২২, ২০০৯
Utilitarian workhorses of the computing industry, our printers are ignored until they run out of ink. Then we replace the tanks as quickly (and as cheaply) as we can and don't think about the devices for another few months. And as with monitors, we replace them only when they fail completely. Six-year-old printer? No problem. Dot matrix? Still functioning! This collection of tips and tricks shows you how to keep nozzles clear, print sharper pictures, test out your document formatting easily, and more.
1. Prevent clogs with a humidifier
An unpleasant fact of life for inkjets is that nozzles can and do clog. Anecdotal evidence gathered from e-mails to PCMag.com (and supplemented by similar complaints on the Web) suggests that they are more likely to clog if you live in an area with particularly low humidity. That's not a problem we run into in PCMag.com country, New York City, but cities built in the middle of the desert often boast humidities as low as 10 or 15 percent. If you live in an area with low humidity, and you're having a problem with clogging nozzles, you may be able to solve it by adding a humidifier to the room where you keep your printer. Not in a humid area but experiencing clogs nonetheless? Unfortunately, you'll probably need to replace the cartridge. After you do, think about printing a page or two every few days.
2. Fix smeary printouts
If you use an inkjet printer and see smearing on a page, it's typically because something is sticking to the printhead. If your printer includes the nozzles in the cartridges—as most HP printers do, for example—and you see smearing immediately after changing a cartridge, remove the cartridge and check to make sure the protective tape over the nozzles is completely removed. If some of the tape is still attached, remove it, being careful not to touch the nozzle plate.
3. Print in the right order
Most laser printers print pages so they come out face down. For a multipage document, this puts the pages in the right order when you turn over the stack. Most inkjets print pages face up, which will normally put the first page on the bottom of the stack, so you have to reorder the pages. A few inkjets default to reversing the print order, so the last page prints first and the first page prints last, and everything's in the right order. Many don't have that feature, however.
For those inkjets that don't have a reverse print feature in the driver, some programs offer printing in reverse order. In Word 2003, for example, you can choose Tools |Options, then the Print tab, and add a check to the Reverse Print Order check box. In Word 2007, you can choose the Microsoft Office Button, click Word Options, and pick the Advanced options in the pane on the left-hand side of the dialog box. Then scroll down to the print options, and check the Print Pages In Reverse Order box.
An alternative approach for Word is to tell the program to print the range in reverse order. To print a 24 page file in Word 2003, for example, instead of searching for the Reverse Print Order option, you can just choose File | Print, and, in the Pages text box, tell Word to print pages 24-1.
This alternative approach may also work for some programs that lack a reverse-print option but offer the option to print a range of pages. Don't try using both approaches at the same time, however, or use either with a driver that also reverses the order. Just as two negatives equal a positive, two commands to reverse order will cancel each other out.
4. Reduce bloatware
Some printers (particularly all-in-ones) install a lot of software that you don't necessarily use and may not want. The possibilities range from a utility that automatically checks for driver updates to a graphics program that you don't need. To minimize unnecessary software, look for a Custom option when you install your next printer, rather than using the Typical or Recommended option, and then pick just the software you want to install—the minimum requirement being the driver itself. In some cases, you can download a minimal installation file from the manufacturer's Web site and skip the CD altogether.
5. Test out formatting
It's often useful to create a text document in Word, to test a printing or formatting feature, for example. To create as much text as you need quickly, simply type =rand(p,s) in a paragraph by itself, with p indicating the number of paragraphs you want and s the number of sentences in each paragraph. Then hit Enter. Word 2003 and earlier will create the text using the sentence The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. Word 2007 uses different text, but if you prefer the earlier version, use the command =rand.old(p,s). Word 2007 offers still another variation of dummy text: the command =lorem(p,s).
6. Check which is the default printer
Some printer installation programs assume you want the printer you're installing to be the default, and set it as such without asking. Others leave it to you to set it as the default manually by going to the Printers and Faxes dialog box (or Printers dialog box, depending on your version of Windows), then right-clicking on the printer name and choosing Set as Default Printer. Given that there is no standard, it's a good idea after installing a printer to go to the Windows dialog box and check the settings, so you won't be surprised by what happens (or doesn't happen!) the first time you give a print command after installing a printer.
7. Maintain consistency with PostScript
Typically today, you don't have to worry about printer languages, but there are exceptions. A case in point: The big advantage of PostScript has always been that line breaks, page breaks, placement of graphics, and the like don't change when you print on a different PostScript printer—something you can't guarantee with other printer languages. That's worth knowing about if you need to create a document to print on more than one printer. If you care about format consistency, stay with PostScript printers if possible. If it isn't possible, convert the document to a PDF file, and print from Acrobat.
8. Print monochrome documents as black-only
Few printer issues are as annoying as trying to print a monochrome document in a hurry and getting an error message that the printer won't print because it's out of some other ink color. Before you take a sledgehammer to the printer, take a careful look through the driver. Many—unfortunately, not all—printer drivers include an option to print using black only, or equivalent options to override the refusal to print. If your printer's driver doesn't offer a black-only option, you can always make sure that you have a supply of ink cartridges on hand.
9. Improve quality with the right paper setting
One of the most common reasons for complaints about inkjet output quality is that the driver is set for the wrong type of paper. Different papers require different amounts of ink and different proportions of ink colors to produce the correct final colors. Setting the paper type tells the driver which color tables to use. Some inkjets are supposed to recognize the paper type automatically, but the feature doesn't always work. So if you're not getting the results you expect, don't give up on the printer until you've made sure you're setting the driver manually for the paper you're actually using.
10. And speaking of the right paper
The paper you print on can make a real difference in how your output looks. All other things being equal, whiter, brighter paper makes text and line graphics crisper and colors more vibrant, because the human visual system sees colors differently depending on the surrounding color—in this case the paper color. For inkjets, the paper also determines how much of the ink gets absorbed into the paper and whether it bleeds into the surrounding area or stays in the spot where the drop hits paper. So if you care about how your output looks, stay away from cheap copy paper, and invest some time and money experimenting with other choices.
Money Earning Tips in Internet
রবিবার, এপ্রিল ১৯, ২০০৯
Work from home, make money from your Website, join affiliate programs, summer jobs, seasonal jobs, get paid to take online surveys, get paid by reading email, get paid by surfing the Web, money making tutorials, earn revenue by placing ads on your Website, advertisement programs, get a fee to refer customers, receive commission for offering custom builds, etc
| Freelance & Work from Home | |
|---|---|
| AbleStable.com | Directory providing a very broad listing of creative professionals, from artists to web designers, programmers, illustrators and music composers. |
| Associated Content | Pays individuals to write about the community they live in. Payment is made per submission and one doesn't necessarily need to be a writer. Once you are registered as a "Content Producer" you can immediately start submitting content via their online system. Both non-exclusive (you retain the copyright) and exclusive (copyright bought by Associated Content) submissions are accepted. |
| EditFast | EditFast provides a free service to skilled proofreaders, editors and writers. If you are selected for a project by a client or by the EditFast administration you will be notified and that project will be directed to you. |
| Free Business Services | A collection of free and non free business services on the Web, such as: online payment services, cheque / check printing services, import / export companies, Websites and programs related to mortgages and real-estate, day trading companies and online stock brokers, business-to-business portals. |
| Freelance Jobs List | Large listing of freelance jobs organized by category. |
| HomeWorking.com | This site is for anyone wanting to work at home and anyone already working at home. You will find lots to get you started, help you find work at home and avoid scams. |
| Telework Association | TCA is Europe's largest organisation dedicated to the promotion of teleworking. Over 2,000 people and organisations have joined them since they started in 1993. The TCA believes that teleworking can benefit people by increasing the quality of life and improving access to work. |
| WorldLancer Outsourcing Academy | Job listings and jobs online for a variety of projects. "Buyers" can post job listings for free. Freelancers can find jobs online and get paid for their work. |
How to Delete Accounts from Any Website
শনিবার, এপ্রিল ১৮, ২০০৯
The words "I wish I could quit you" take on a whole new meaning when you want out of a relationship with an online service. Sure, you once thought you and Facebook or MySpace would be together forever, but eventually terms of service change, end-user license agreements mature, and, well, you're just not in the same place anymore.
Sadly, not all Web sites and social networks are created equal when it comes to breaking up. With some, it takes only a couple of clicks to say good-bye. If you stop paying, that goes a long way toward ending it with a few sites. Others make you jump through more hoops than a tiger at the circus.No matter what you call it—deleting, canceling, removing, whatever—when you want to be rid of an online account, you'll find most sites don't feel obliged to make it too easy for you. So we've cut to the chase as much as possible to give you the links, the tips, and in the worst cases, the fax and phone numbers you need to sever ties. Did we miss a service you want out of? Let us know. And if you've managed to quit a service not in this story, be kind and share your tips.
Social Networks
Another site linking up you and your alma mater–mates and another lawsuit: One user claims he was told by Classmates that several people were trying to contact him. He wasn't able to find out who—not until he paid. Then he discovered the actual truth: No one was trying to find him, at all. Rather than get mad, he got litigious.
Even if you don't feel scammed, you may feel annoyed—maybe you hated high school. And college. Canceling with Classmates is pretty simple—if you've got the free account. Those users can log in and remove themselves anytime. Visit the Member Support Email Contact form, pick a reason you're leaving, and click Yes. That's it.
If you've paid—base cost is $15 for three months—you've got a Gold Membership at Classmates.com, and that makes it a little more complicated. Contact the Member Support Team and someone will get back to you in e-mail or via live Internet chat. Classmates will dummy the account back down to free so you can do the removal. Another method is to set the account renewal option to "manual" so that it doesn't automatically debit your credit card; instead it automatically reverts to free when your Gold Membership runs out.
Can't get satisfaction online? Classmates.com can be reached at 425-917-5000. I tried it, hit 1 for customer support, then 2 for a question about the Web site, and got an operator after 4 minutes. She said she can cancel any account.
Recent issues with the Facebook terms of service—which would have given Facebook rights to everything you post there, for the remainder of time—had some users threatening to pull out. Which is probably why Facebook recanted on the changes and suddenly embraced democracy for its guidelines.
If you're still steamed, you have a couple of ways to leave FB behind. First is simple "deactivation." Visit your Facebook Account page and click the "deactivate" link at the bottom. Facebook will make an attempt to guilt-trip you into staying by pointing out just how many of your social-network friends won't be able to keep in touch. It even displays pictures of people you're in photos with, playing on your emotions with captions such as, "Mark will miss you" and "Wendy will miss you." Sure they will. Then how come they never poke me?
Once you've cleared the tears from your eyes, you'll notice another message on-screen, wherein the Facebook Team points out that you shouldn't deactivate because of that silly old terms of service change. That "was a mistake we have now corrected." Too much hullaballoo.
Soldier on. You have to provide a reason to deactivate, whether you'll be back or not, and you can also opt out of getting e-mails from Facebook while deactivated. That's the trick: Deactivation is not the same as deletion. Your account simply becomes invisible. Your friends on Facebook will all think you bailed. However, you have the option to reactivate it in the future, without losing any photos, notes, or pokes.
True deletion of a Facebook account means losing all of those—so be sure you have local copies of photos and notes before you take this step. You can't reactivate. Here's the link to the Delete My Account page.
Yes, Friendster still exists. If you were an early adopter of social networks, you may still have an account there doing nothing to get you new, real friends (like those you have on Facebook!). Time to cancel.
Assuming you can remember your log-in, do so and click Settings. Scroll down and find the Cancel My Account link. On a new page, you'll find the Cancellation Form in the middle. You need to provide your e-mail address, password, give a reason you're canceling, and check off the "Yes, I want to cancel my Friendster account" box. You can even list what new social network you've moved to, just to make Friendster feel bad. Refresh the window, and if you were logged in to Friendster before, you shouldn't be now. Say "so long" to any data you may have uploaded, assuming you can remember what it was.
It could be argued that LinkedIn is the most useful social network around, especially in this day and age of job networking. That doesn't mean you won't want to cancel with them. In fact, LinkedIn specifically suggests that if you have multiple accounts, you should close one to consolidate.
To close an account, log in, click Account & Settings at the top of the page, then click Close Your Account (under Personal Information). Give a reason you're leaving—most sites want to know what they can improve, or did wrong— and then click Continue.
You have time to reinstate your account, if you regret the deletion. Contact Customer Service and confirm your e-mail address to do so. LinkedIn doesn't give out a number, but the link to contact them is on the bottom of every page. I found the number anyway: 650-687-3600. When you ask for customer service, you'll probably get sent to a recording.
Canceling your MySpace account is easy—when it works. When it doesn't, things get a touch arcane.
Sign in, click the My Account link, then click Account, scroll down to the bottom, and click Cancel Account. Keep in mind, there is no reactivation. Go through with the cancellation and you can't bring back your account—though you can create a new account using the same e-mail address you used before. That's won't restore your previous music, pictures, and blog posts, however.
It should be that simple. But MySpace has some caveats. First, the account might remain visible for a while. Days, even a week, maybe. After that, if the MySpace page is still there, you may safely assume the deletion didn't go through. Now you need to e-mail help@support.myspace.com and ask for assistance.
Send a "salute" to MySpace support in the e-mail. That's a "handwritten sign with the word MySpace.com and include your MySpace Friend/Profile ID number." Hold it up while having your picture taken. Attach the digital photo to the e-mail or at least send MySpace a link to where the picture can be found online. This salute may prove you're you, but that will matter only if you've got a picture on your MySpace page for the support team to compare it with.
MyLife.com (formerly Reunion.com)
MyLife.com wants to bring people from previous school classes together. Unfortunately, it tends to be aggressively annoying, with a constant barrage of e-mails once you sign up. The earlier incarnation, Reunion.com, was even the subject of a lawsuit under a California anti-spam law (the suit was dismissed).
If you're not part of the class action, here's how to get away from the constant claims of acquaintances trying to track you down. It's tricky to find even in the MyLife.com help documents, where at one point it says "delete account" but there's no actual entry with that term. It switches to "remove account" on the actual help article.
First, you do have the option to change your e-mail settings so that you get fewer or no messages from Reunion.com. But Reunion/MyLife also claims it "may take up to 10 days for changes to take effect." Why on earth should this remotely be the case? Supposedly because "some may have been prepared for delivery already." That only fuels the desire to delete the account. So here are the steps: Log in, click My Account on the top right, find the Delete Account link, and click OK to confirm. This can't be undone; you'll lose all mailbox data, profile info, and photos.
Expect to get e-mail messages for a couple of weeks. If the spams continue after that, call customer service at 888-704-1900, even on weekends. Hit 4 for questions about premium membership. Then 3 to make changes. You can cancel both free and premium accounts through this number
The Age of Touch Computing: A Complete Guide
Your Audi slides up to an ATM and—mhzzzz—your window rolls down. There's a gleaming LCD staring at you. What's your first thought? Just a few years ago, it would have been to press a keypad and start your transaction. Today, there's a paradigm shift: You touch the screen instead. The computing world hasn't caught up to the banking, grocery, and casino markets quite yet, but that's about to change.
In 2009, touch computing will go mainstream.
Since the idea first arose, in the eighties, several products over the years have attempted touch control. For example, Dell released the convertible Latitude XT notebook in early 2008, to a mixed response: It was often easier just to use a stylus. Philips has experimented with touch in devices like the Pronto, for controlling your home-theater system with just a finger push. Marketing kiosks, home security systems, airport check-in terminals—many devices support touch in some way.The hardware comes in two flavors: resistive and capacitive. (See our interview with designer Sabrina Boler for a technical description of how these work.) Resistive screens such as those used in tablet PCs or older mobile phones have been around for a while. Capacitive screens, in which a thin, conductive layer over the screen senses your finger movement, are newer. (There's also a much older "active digitizer" touch screen that supports only a certain type of digital pen.) Multitouch hardware can read several inputs at the same time; there's also a concept called "dual touch" which reads only two inputs.
Among those traditional products, touch is hardly innovative. What's changing is the interface: In the next few years, more and more devices will be legitimately touch-enabled with gesture controls for browsing though photos, tossing objects around the screen, flicking to turn the page of a book, and even playing video games and watching movies. In fact, Gartner analyst Steve Prentice told the BBC recently that the mouse will be dead in three to five years.
The most obvious precursor to real touch computing is the Apple iPhone, a seminal device that's still selling like candy on Christmas and has no obvious competitor. Pinching the screen to zoom in, flicking two fingers to zoom out—these gestures are replacing awkward stylus clicks on Windows Mobile devices and baaad keaypaed antiics on BlackBerry phones. There's a better way, and millions of iPhone users have found it. The Samsung Instinct, Nokia N97, BlackBerry Storm, and T-Mobile G1 are all helping to usher in the age of mobile touch devices.
8 Tech Predictions for 2009
The current economic crisis makes forecasting much more difficult this year than in the past, yet December still seems like a good time to ponder the year ahead. To that end, I've compiled a list of seven tech predictions—things I believe will happen over the next 12 months, plus one perhaps outrageous bonus prediction that could happen…if the stars align just right next year.
1. Windows 7 will bring tech out of the doldrums. Sales of PCs and other tech will be down in the first half of 2009, but when Microsoft delivers Windows 7 by Q3 (as many expect), it could catalyze the tech economy. This new OS will drive businesses and consumers to new PC and notebook purchases by Q4. Think it's just wishful thinking? In the past when Microsoft delivered a new operating system for mass consumption, sales of PCs and notebooks accelerated dramatically for a period of 24 months. This didn't happen with Vista, but it has happened with many other major releases. Let's hope that history repeats itself.
I'm not alone in this prediction, either; I've talked to several IT directors who confirm this view. Many enterprises balked at buying Vista but are hearing enough good things about Windows 7 to be open to upgrading once it comes out. The big issue will be 2009 budgets, and at the moment, a lot of IT budgets are frozen. Still, IT managers have told me that many of their machines are so old that they have to do some hardware upgrades just to keep their shops competitive.
2. The tech industry will be the first to recover. While the real estate and auto markets will be very slow to come back, the tech industry will recover fastest and be moving forward again by Q3. As stated above, Windows 7 could jump-start things, but technology has become so important to our business and personal lives that the employed will buy new notebooks, music players, and TVs if the economy merely stabilizes sometime in 2009.
3. The unemployed will start small businesses to survive—and will need PCs to make a living. We saw this happen during the last recession and also when some of the big companies downsized. Many of those laid off are professionals who could start specialty consulting services as well as new businesses of various types just to survive. PC technology and communications will most likely be at the heart of their new ventures.
4. Netbook sales will double in 2009. People want cheaper laptops, ones that provide more mobility. Manufacturers should sell about 18 million netbooks this year, and at least another 36 to 38 million worldwide in 2009. These products have driven down the average selling prices of traditional laptops; now full-powered laptops are in the same price range as netbooks. Consequently, users will be faced with a difficult choice when purchasing a notebook in 2009: extreme mobility versus full-powered functionality. But the biggest impact from netbooks will be at the vendor level. These lower-priced models have small margins, and that will impact their profitability in 2009. The drop in revenues will force the major vendors to move faster to create their own ecosystems—hardware, software, and services tied to these netbooks through some type of cloud solution—and use this as a way to develop new revenue streams.
5. Smartphones will gain market share. By 2012, 75 percent of all phones sold in the US will be smartphones. Earlier this year sales of cell phones and smartphones grew, but under the current economic climate, sales for the latter part of the year seem stalled. Still, about 1.2 billion cell phones will have been sold worldwide in 2008. They're simply indispensible tools, and in the next 12 months, smartphones such as Apple's iPhone and the RIM BlackBerry will gain a stronger foothold in the U.S. and Europe. By 2015, smartphones will represent as much as 65 percent of all cell phones sold globally.
6. Android will expand its reach. When we talk about Android today, we mostly discuss its role inside a "Google phone" such as the T-Mobile G1. Indeed, in the near term, Android's focus will continue to be smartphones. But by next holiday season we should see it in set-top boxes, digital televisions, and Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs)—and perhaps even desktop terminals. In fact, Android could emerge as the biggest threat to Linux's desire to make the mainstream, and within the next three years Android could become a major OS in its own right.
For this to happen, Google will need to take a Microsoft-like approach to shepherding Android; the SDK needs to be much more solid, and the company needs to drive open-source components in a way that gives Android a consistent UI across all types of devices. And the Mountain View crew needs to take a page from Apple's playbook and create an easy way for people to get Android apps that are tested, approved, and trusted. If that happens, Android could become a most interesting broad-market OS—and could perhaps take on Windows in the future.
7. Apple market share in PCs and smartphones will grow. Even in a downturn, Apple will grow its market share by at least 2 points in 2009. The ease-of-use message and the complete ecosystem are attracting more new customers to Apple stores, and the company will gain new Mac users at the expense of Windows vendors. If Apple delivers a low-cost laptop sometime in 2009, as some rumors have it, its market share could climb even more than 2 points in the coming year. Also, Apple will continue to innovate around the iPhone and even add some models at lower prices to attract new customers worldwide. Apple knows that it is gaining ground on competitors and will use the competition's struggles in the coming year to its own advantage.
And for my outrageous prediction:
8. Microsoft makes a play to purchase RIM. If the Apple iPhone makes any serious inroads into the enterprise, Microsoft will make a bid for RIM and use it to enhance and solidify the company's enterprise smartphone position. Sure, new versions of Windows Mobile will be much richer in the future, but BlackBerry customers are almost as fanatical as Apple users. Microsoft would love to displace BlackBerry phones with Windows Mobile smartphones, and how better to get RIM's customers than by buying the company? Microsoft could then blend RIM into a service, which is where the long-term money will be someday.
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