Sunday, February 20, 2011

Why QWERTY?



Ever wondered why those 6 letters made your keyboard formation. Why not they just have the 'abcd' layout instead of the qwerty. Well there are a number of logics behind it. The inventor Christopher Latham Sholes used his brain to the extent and patented this keyboard layout. Now I answer Why QWERTY?
The QWERTY keyboard was originally for typewriters now inherited by the computer keyboards.
The keys were arranged in such a manner that the keys which were pressed consecutively their type heads were placed at an distance so that they do not jam up the type writer. Earlier fast typist used to jam up the typewriters.
Alternating hands while typing is a desirable trait in a keyboard design, since while one hand is typing a letter, the other hand can get in position to type the next letter. Thus, a typist may fall into a steady rhythm and type quickly. However, when a string of letters is done with the same hand, the chances of stuttering are increased and a rhythm can be broken, thus decreasing speed and increasing errors and fatigue. These days almost every phone has the QWERTY layout. In the QWERTY layout many more words can be spelled using only the left hand than the right hand. In fact, thousands of English words can be spelled using only the left hand, while only a couple of hundred words can be typed using only the right hand. In addition, most typing strokes are done with the left hand in the QWERTY layout. This is helpful for left-handed people but to the disadvantage of right-handed people. For example the word "minimum" and "pumpkin" could be typed only using the right hand "TRY IT FOR YOURSELF".
Another fact about the QWERTY keyboard is that you can type a lot of words without leaving the same row like the word "Typewriter" could be typed in the same row without jamming the type heads of typewriters.

Saturday, February 19, 2011

12 More File Formats added to Google Docs


Google Docs makes viewing the documents even more faster than first downloading them and opening them locally, it is just like service at your doorstep (Yes, in your Gmail Inbox!). It is used by millions of people around the world, now it just got a lot more useful. Earlier it only supported formats like PDF, Microsoft Word and PowerPoint files.
Today, Google has launched a dozen more file types for its viewer:
  • Microsoft Excel (.XLS and .XLSX)
  • Microsoft PowerPoint 2007/10 (.PPTX)
  • Apple Pages (.PAGES)
  • Adobe Illustrator (.AI)
  • Adobe Photoshop (.PSD) [Yay!]
  • Autodesk AutoCad (.DXF)
  • Scalable Vector Graphics (.SVG)
  • PostScript (.EPS, .PS)
  • TrueType (.TTF)
  • XML Paper Specification (.XPS)
In Gmail, there is a "VIEW" button for all these file types now. Yay! It supports PSD too! :D
Google Docs Viewer is available for any website, click HERE for more information.
But keep it in mind that can't create files using Docs. Viewing the PSD file on Google Docs was an unusual but awesome feeling, it is good to have a quick peek on the files before downloading them and cluttering your hard disk with unwanted files.
The VIEW button for a PSD file

Angry Birds: So damn Addictive!


Ever since Angry Birds entered our devices, we've stopped thinking about those Farms, Cars, and even Guns! We've been unwittingly stuck to its play-style. But the thing is, we become so engrossed in launching those birds from catapults... That we've never questioned, why birds need a catapult at the first place?! Why do the pigs have eggs, and why do they need 'em?! Why don't we just use the bombs everytime?!
If you are a hardcore Angry player, you know how seriously serious this game can become. 
As you go through different levels, you'll come across six different types of birds, each possessing one special power: Multiply, explode, accelerate, dropping egg bombs, boomerang and extra strength. Those pigs laugh on us when we are not able to kill them. And this makes the game even more intense.
 We've tried this game Nexus S, and with cute graphics and simple game play, this game can't be counted below Awesome-ness.
You just have drag the catapult string, and break those forts in order to kill the pigs.
This may sound boring, but believe me, it is So Damn Addictive!!
It is absolutely FREE for the Android users, but the iOS will have to spend there $0.99 to get this in there AppStore. Grab this game till its Hot!
Have a look at this trailer of Angry Birds, you may get a Hint!


Drop down a comment to tell us on which platform you use it!

Friday, February 18, 2011

Stay Away From Spamming

Today People on Facebook are victims of  stupid filthy spammers. We all hate spammers, we see false rumors that Facebook would be deactivated or it might face shut down. If Facebook shuts down then Mark Zuckerberg  our hero will live on the streets moving here and there and he would never want that. So never believe in such rumors and don't be a victim of spamming by posting these sick rumors on your friend's wall.
How to efficiently stay away from spamming on Facebook ??
Heres how 
Don't ever join those pages which ask you to invite these many friends to see what happened they are a big SPAM
Stay away from untrusted applications. Some of the applications on facebook I recently found is 'find your valentine' it posted your result to all of your friends' walls. Be careful from these kind of applications 
'Make Facebook a  better Place to be social'
  
STOP SPAMMING!!!

Make your Windows Complete


You have windows 7 and lack the basic softwares in it. We will tell you what softwares which are from Microsoft should be running there on your computer.
How about a free antivirus?
 You all might be using different antiviruses for your pc but they eat up your RAM like monsters and make your PC as slow as a turtle.. How about trying a free light on ram anti-virus
 And its trust-able.
Trust me even I use it, yes I am talking about Microsoft Security Essentials. An Antivirus serving all your day to day purposes like scheduled scans and everything else you need from an antivirus. Its free and fast..
 Next up is the windows live essentials pack i guess why they named it essential it has fulfills your need just the way they were meant to be.. Whether you want to Read a mail or edit a movie, Write a blog post its all in there.  
What else could be your basic need on windows ? 
Yes you guessed it right the web.. Now how will you get to my blog if your browser is missing from your PC you got to have the Microsoft Internet Explorer read our earlier review and you'll know why you should have it ..
Do you change your settings often? Then why not have the God mode enabled Complete access to your PC settings and not to forget you should get updated to the new Office 2010 the new powerpoint is just so amazing options like filters and photo extract which could be done using professional photo editing softwares like Photoshop, GIMP etc can be now done in just Microsoft powerpoint there are other interesting features in Office 2010 also .
Hope this post gets you updated on your windows 7 even vista or xp would do  for all of these softwares except for the IE .. Enjoy your Complete Windows.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Google Changes its Navigation bar

The largest search engine over the web has rolled out a few changes on its home page. They have Made their navigation bar a bit more beautiful. They have done away with those underlined Links at the navigation bar and now they have added more color to it and also a blue bar indicating which service you are currently using. There is even a settings icon on the extreme right. The navigation bar gives google a better look and you all guys might be dying to see it. Below is the screenshot of the new navigation bar.


Above is the older navigation bar and below is the new one

We know you might be Dying to use the google's new interface So here we give you the link try it out yourself 

The link Might not me working in some browsers, we cannot do anything about it 


Facebook photo viewer and Search [Updated]

Facebook's all new photo viewer design has been rolled out to many users now. There is no longer a separate page for every image, the photo viewer opens in a lightbox over the page for the selected image. One major benefit from the facebook's perspective, for this lightbox feature is that, users will not 'loose their place' from now onwards. The 'like' and 'comment' buttons lie at the bottom left corner of the photo box and the comment box sits beneath the the photo. Overall this is a good and fast photoviewer, but we can't open images in a new tab in it.


To revert back to the old photo viewer just remove '&theatre' from the URL. 

The Facebook Search is what that has impressed us, it segregates the Instant results into different categories, ie, Pages, People, Groups, etc.




Innovation is what keeps facebook going..! And that is what makes it 'more than 500 million active users'!!!


Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Google's first ever Tweet.

Google's first ever tweet was as satisfyingly Geeky as we could expect from it. Its first tweet read..
I’m 01100110 01100101 01100101 01101100 01101001 01101110 01100111 00100000 01101100 01110101 01100011 01101011 01111001 00001010

The fist impression of this for anyone is some text encoded in binary, but when we decode this in Google's favorite language, ie, Python., we get the answer.
Okay, here's a hint for anyone not fluent in Binary- It is Google's trademarked line and you find it on its homepage too. Correct! It reads "I'm Feeling Lucky"
Basically this post was for those who didn't understand my Facebook status :P

Windows Bit me - x86

This is going to be my last post until April. As i need to pass in my exams rather than discussing about it lets discuss about the OS basics that is What all Do we know about the Different  bit versions of the Operating system?
How does having a 32bit version or a 64bit version effect your computer performance?
Well If you don't know we will give you the answer for it..
The terms 32-bit and 64-bit refer to the way a computer's processor (also called aCPU), handles information. The 64-bit version of Windows handles large amounts of random access memory (RAM) more effectively than a 32-bit system. 
Now you know what is the advantage and here comes the second question 

How do you know which bit version are you running?

To find out if your computer is running 32-bit or 64-bit Windows, do the following:
  1. Open System by clicking the Start button Picture of the Start button, clicking Control Panel, clickingSystem and Maintenance, and then clicking System.
  2. Under System, you can view the system type.
    Now you are quite familiar with the basics now What else are the questions ?
     One popular question When should i choose 32bit or 64 bit ?
    The answer is if you have over 4gigs of ram then 64 bit version would be just the perfect for you.. It would make your computer more responsive and less chances of getting hanged up in middle of work.
    How do I tell Which version I am running and if running on 32 bit is it compatible with 64 bit ?
    To run a 64-bit version of Windows, your computer must have a 64-bit-capable processor. To find out if your processor is 64-bit-capable, do the following:
    1. Open Performance Information and Tools by clicking the Start button Picture of the Start button, clickingControl Panel, clicking System and Maintenance, and then clickingPerformance Information and Tools.
    2. Click View and print details.
    3. In the System section, you can see what type of operating system you're currently running under System type. Under 64-bit capable, you can see whether you can run a 64-bit version of Windows. (If your computer is already running a 64-bit version of Windows, you won't see the 64-bit capable listing.)
      Hope this Post added a lot to your knowledge 


    And here I provide you with a bonus knowledge you saw the title of the post x86 but what does that really means ??
    The term x86 refers to a family of instruction set architectures based on the Intel 8086 CPU. The 8086 was launched in 1978 as a fully 16-bit extension of Intel's early 8-bit based microprocessors and also introduced segmentation to overcome the 16-bit addressing barrier of earlier chips. The term x86 derived from the fact that early successors to the 8086 also had names ending in "86".
     x86-32 which means the 32 bit version is even called  x86
    Now you might be having an Idea of which bit-version of Windows i uSe

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Beauty of the Web [HTML5]

The web was redefined with the coming of IE 9 beta and its HTML5 support but today i am not going to talk about the IE9 beta version or its latest RC version. Today We talk about the Beauty of the web that is HTML5.
But what is HTML5 ?? The answer lies below
HTML5 is a language for structuring and presenting content for the World Wide Web, a core technology of the Internet. It is the latest revision of the HTML standard (originally created in 1990) and currently remains under development. Its core aims have been to improve the language with support for the latest multimedia while keeping it easily readable by humans and consistently understood by computers and devices . Many new tags have been introduced with HTML5 such as the <nav>,<canvas>,<article> etc etc..
But Now the Question arises How is it Different ??
The HTML5 draft reflects an effort, started in 2004, to study contemporary HTML implementations and deployed content. The draft:
  1. Defines a single language called HTML5 which can be written in HTML syntax and in XML syntax.
  2. Defines detailed processing models to foster interoperable implementations.
  3. Improves markup for documents.
  4. Introduces markup and APIs for emerging idioms, such as Web applications.
Html 5 though is not supported on all browsers but that does'nt mean we should not use HTML5 

. Html5 is now compatible with the widely used browsers such as Chrome, IE 9, Firefox, Safari.. So you need not worry about the compatibility...  
Html5 can also be used to create drag and drop applications online games etc etc which were earlier done by flash. 
Browse the latest Html5 demos @http://ie.microsoft.com/testdrive/ And get a experience of the Beauty of the web If still not satisfied  see it here in Action  

Monday, February 14, 2011

Google this Week

Google Search New Features


Instant satellite and terrain maps on Google results
We love the satellite and terrain views you can get in Google Earth and Maps, but shouldn’t you be able to get those views right away on the results page without having to click through to Maps and then click the “satellite” or “terrain” option? Well now, when you’re looking for these specialized map views, you’ll get them instantly on your main results page. For example, if you search for [honolulu satellite map], you’ll see the city’s lush green interior and deep blue ocean right in your search results. Click the map to jump directly to a larger view.

New ways to find Scalable Vector Graphic (SVG) files
Scalable Vector Graphics (SVGs) are files that describe how to draw the basic elements needed to create an image: elements like lines, circles, polygons and more complex shapes. Unlike the images typically returned by most search engines (for example, JPG, GIF and PNG), SVGs can be stretched to any size without the quality of the image suffering. This makes them ideally suited for things like clip art, maps, logos, flags and scientific diagrams. In December, we announced we were starting to return SVGs in our results; more recently, we made it possible to refine your search to exclusively return SVGs. Click “Images” in the left-hand panel, then "Advanced Search” and then select the SVG filetype. If you want to impress your friends, you can also add “filetype:svg” to any normal search, such as [graph theory filetype:svg]:


Chrome Instant ready for prime time

Starting from version 9, Google is offering Instant Search capabilities like their website in the Chrome Browser. This means that just like on their website, when you type text in the Address Bar (also called OmniBox), Chrome will open up the Google Instant Search page using the text as query. As you modify the text in the Address bar the search results below will update automagically.
What you need to do is first make sure you are on Chrome 9+ version. Type “about:version” in the address bar to confirm. If not, update to the latest version. Now Goto Chrome Preferences by pressing “Command + ,” on Mac (Wrench Menu->Options on Windows) and in the Basics tab, check “Enable Instant for faster searching and browsing, OmniBox input maybe logged”. It will show a warning, read it and accept it if you are ok with it. 
You can Get instant results for the websites and even Google Searches !!!








Saturday, February 12, 2011

Cloud Computing

An Inter house "On the spot PPT making" competetion was organised in our school. Our co-developer Naman Dhanuka Bagged the first prize in it. The topic was cloud computing an highly interesting topic... But what is cloud computing... Well let me ask you one question Do you all Cloud compute ?? Dont make your brains think hard the answer is yes...
I'll tell you how you daily cloud compute suppose you attended a birthday party of your friend, you clicked a snapshot of his cake uploaded it on Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Photobucket etc then next day you are with your friends, on the go your friends ask you how was the cake you open up your account show him the photo and there you go ."You're Cloud Computing". Cloud computing is basically accessing your information over the web (cloud) anywhere, any place regardless of the gadget you use.. be it smartphones, tablets, palmtops, laptops etc etc...
A presentation below would make you understand cloud computing in a better way (*This is the presentation made by our co-developer which got him the first prize in Inter-house)

Friday, February 11, 2011

Facebook Page Gets A New UI

The new Facebook Page user interface (UI) has unified itself with the normal facebook profile UI. Now you have a row of photos above your page just like your profile all the applications have been shifted to the left side of the page. Facebook Page experience has reached a new level. Now you can use facebook as your page, that means you can browse facebook as if you were the Page. For example, I can comment on any other page... But the username would be that of the page, that is, VirtualBots.
join us on facebook :-

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

R.I.P. Ken Olsen

A Computer pioneer, an inventor, scientist and entrepreneur, Ken Olsen passed away on Sunday at age 84. He was also the Founder and former CEO of Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC). His death was announced by Gordon College, Mass., where he was a trustee and board member.
DEC, which was launched by Olsen in 1957, is considered an icon in technology circles today.
In 1986, Fortune named Olsen the "most successful entrepreneur in the history of American business" and was also awarded the National Medal of Technology in 1993.
Olsen was the subject of a 1988 biography, The Ultimate Entrepreneur: The Story of Ken Olsen and DEC written by Glenn Rifkin and George Harrar.
DEC's innovations made there machines accesible to small and medium-sized operations and even individual users. DEC computers also trained and influenced many key people in the field of technology. Microsoft men, Bill Gates and Paul Allen used the PDP-10 to create the first version of the BASIC programming language.
In 1992, Olsen left the company at the request of the board. Robert Palmer, a DEC vice president, took over and set about trying to turn things around.
In 1998, Compaq bought DEC for $9.6 billion and four years later Compaq+DEC was acquired by Hewlett-Packard. (More commonly HP)
A memorial service for Ken Olsen at Gordon College is set for 14th May. A documentary on Olsen is scheduled to be released by the college later this year.

Rest In Peace Mr. Olsen!

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Facebook turns 7!

Facebook, one of the biggest sites on earth, celebrated its 7th birthday on Friday (2/5/2011).
Over the years, this network has converted itself from a small University hub to a more than 500 million monthly active users. People spend almost half of their day on facebook supplying loads of embarrassing, funny, emotional, serious, SPAM messages as their status updates.
Back in February 2004 did anyone think that this social network can change the whole internet era?

We've created a timeline for Facebook, to show its power and its 'Still Growing' members...


2004

February 4- TheFacebook.com launches from a Harvard dorm room.
June- The Facebook moves to Palo Alto, California.
September- Groups application is added and the Wall makes its debut.
December- Facebook reaches nearly 1 million monthly active users.


2005

August- Thefacebook.com changes to facebook.com
September- Facebook adds high school networks
October- Photos application is added.
December- Facebook reaches more than 5.5 million active users


2006

April- Facebook via Mobile debuts.
August- Facebook platform and Notes application launches. Facebook partners with Microsoft.
September- News Feed is introduced. Registration for facebook is open for everyone.
December- Facebook reaches 12 million active users.


2007

May- Facebook hosts F8 event to launch facebook Platform. Facebook Apps makes its debut.
August- Facebook releases iPhone optimized site.
October- Facebook reaches 50 million active users. Facebook Platform for Mobile introduced.
November- Facebook launches Facebook Ads.


2008

March- Privacy Controls are added to Friend List.
April- Facebook Chat debuts.
August- Facebook reaches over 100 million active users.
December- Facebook Connect goes Open.


2009

February- Facebook introduces "Like" feature. It joins OpenID board.
June- Facebook launches Facebook Usernames.
August- Facebook acquires FriendFeed.
December- Facebook reaches 350 million active users.


2010

July- Facebook launches beta of Questions
July- Facebook reaches 500 million monthly active users.
August- Facebook Places launches.
October- The Social Network marks its debut.
December- Time Magazine names Mark Zuckerberg "Person of the Year"


2011
January- Facebook valued at $50 million. The Social Network wins at the Golden Globes.



FACEBOOK TURNS 7 !!!!!


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