DWine Insight

Do you see what I see...has Google changed their favicon across all it's services? I generally user Google Suggest for all my daily searches. But intrigued by its new favicon, I tried various services...but seems like only Google Search and Google Suggest have theirs changed. I have no clue why, do you any?



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Talking of Windows 7, I stumbled upon these neat slick wallpapers of same. The unofficial logo concepts and these wallpapers are created by Long Zheng of istartedseomthing and hosted at deviantART for public download. The download pack contains walls for most screen resolutions including widescreen. You can see a couple of them here...get tons of them here.





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Microsoft is mum about the much hyped Windows 7, but there are enough rumours flying around in circles. Windows 7 was formerly codenamed Blackcomb and then Vienna. As I could understand after reading through a few top-notched blogs, Windows 7 might end up just being a non-disruptive update to the groundwork laid by Vista! Readers please be advised that Windows 7 is not here until 2010, or at least till end of 2009. You can watch a video of Windows 7 (as claimed by the owner of the video) in one of my earlier posts.

Current news about Windows 7

• Milestone 1 (M1) is already made available to select partners. Microsoft's developer division is testing all teir builds against Windows 7
• Windows 7 will likely feature a more modular approach, Windows Server 2008 like architecture that lets developers install selective features while leaving the unwanted untouched
• Microsoft is looking for ways to tightly tie next-gen Windows Live Services with Windows 7, including ways to provide unique Live Experience for Windows 7 users.
• M1 testers report a new version of Windows Media Center adn support fro multiple graphics cards

Read more interesting articles on Windows 7 here & here.

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As a sequel to my earlier post on Google Talk's Language Bots, I found this interesting stuff on bots.

JBuddy Bot Builder is an integrated development environment (IDE) designed to make developing, testing and deploying interactive IM Bots and Text Messaging applications simple and easy. It is built on top of the JBuddy Bot Framework and JBuddy SDK with powerful public and enterprise IM capabilities and is cross-platform. This best of class solution is available as a FREE download and includes a FREE license to jump start your project.


JBuddy Bot Builder boasts of the following features:

• IDE for rapid bot development, testing, and deployment cycles
• WYSIWYG test chat windows for local online and offline testing
• Cross Platform (Windows Vista, XP, Mac OS X, Linux, Solaris, etc)
• Built on top of the JBuddy Bot Framework 2.0
• Leverages the IM capabilities of the JBuddy SDK 6.1
• Free 3 concurrent chat session license perfect for prototypes and occassional use

Only after a month of subscription to visitor maps, which are stabled at the footer of this page; I can see a lot of hits on my pages. Though I stand incomparable to Amit or Gina, not bad at all, I should say to myself. Most of the concentration is from the United States, Europe and India as you can see below for yourself, though there are finger number hits from the rest of the globe.

Below are the visitor locations on my blog in various formats. These were captured at 2200 hrs EST of May 18th.

I didn't know till date that Google's instant messenger, Google Talk, more popular as GTalk, also helps to learn English language through its chat module.



Yup, you read it right. As of now, there are 10 language conversions available on GTalk. 9 of these conversions help converting a foreign language to English while 1 helps convert English to Chinese. If you already run GTalk, go ahead and test these language converters. Add these, what do you call these by the way...errrr...translators, language bots, transbots...sounds nice...add these 'transbots' to your buddy list and start chatting in foreign languages in no time...zip-zap-zoom!

• ENGLISH to CHINESE - en2zh@bot.talk.google.com
• ARGENTINA to ENGLISH - ar2en@bot.talk.google.com
• GERMAN to ENGLISH - de2en@bot.talk.google.com
• SPANISH to ENGLISH - es2en@bot.talk.google.com
• FRENCH to ENGLISH - fr2en@bot.talk.google.com
• ITALIAN to ENGLISH - it2en@bot.talk.google.com
• JAPANESE to ENGLISH - ja2en@bot.talk.google.com
• KOREAN to ENGLISH - ko2en@bot.talk.google.com
• NETHERLANDS to ENGLISH - nl2en@bot.talk.google.com
• RUSSIAN to ENGLISH - ru2en@bot.talk.google.com

Though I have not tested all, you can go ahead and comment back here. I might have missed some or posted something that might not be working. Also, you can try some other possible combinations like the following:

• ENGLISH to ESPANOL - en2es@bot.talk.google.com
• ENGLISH to FRENCH - en2fr@bot.talk.google.com
• ENGLISH to ITALIAN - en2it@bot.talk.google.com
• ENGLISH to JAPANESE - en2ja@bot.talk.google.com
• ENGLISH to KOREAN - en2ko@bot.talk.google.com
• ENGLISH to RUSSIAN - en2ru@bot.talk.google.com

OK...OK...I'll also tell you how to do it. Say you wish to learn Chinese. Add 'en2zh@bot.talk.google.com' to your buddy list. It goes green instantly showing that it is available for chat. Now type something, say 'How are you today?' The bot shall reply with an equivalent in Chinese. Nice, isn't it?

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Readers...wait a minute. I think I found a hack to the restriction levied by Google on its online payment processing service; Google Checkout. It just struck my little brain that this could be done. But let me check this myself before I throw light on my readers. Though it'll need spending a few bucks towards testing this hack, I'm willing to do it. I'm away trying to hack Google Checkout...will post my findings soon...Einstein at work ;)

A Quick Response Code, or a QR Code as it is usually addressed, is a matrix code (or two-dimensional bar code) that allows its contents to be decoded at high speed. This is somewhat similar to the bar codes we come across in regular life. One can see these QR codes inside the packages of electronic items bought at your local store.

Wiki says "QR was initially derived for tracking parts in vehicle manufacturing. Today, QR Codes are used in a much broader context spanning both commercial tracking applications as well as convenience-oriented applications aimed at mobile phone users. QR Codes storing addresses and URLs may appear in magazines, on signs, buses, business cards or just about any object that a user might need information about. A user having a camera phone equipped with the correct reader software can scan the image of the QR Code causing the phone's browser to launch and redirect to the programmed URL. This act of linking from physical world objects is known as a hardlink or physical world hyperlinks. A user can also generate and print one's own QR Code for others to scan and use by visiting one of several free QR Code generating sites."

Types of QR codes

Micro QR Code

Micro QR Code is a smaller version of the QR Code standard for applications with less ability to handle large scans. There are different forms of Micro QR Code as well. The highest of these can hold 35 characters.

Design QR

Design QR makes it possible to incorporate eye-catchy images of logos, characters, or photos into QR code, while calculating without losing any information of the code.



There are lots of application on the web that act as QR Readers. They allow users to scan the QR codes from mobile phones and get the response instantly. One of such applications is the KAYWA Reader that is available for download for free.

Below you can see the CR code for this blog's URL which when read through a QR Reader would display: http://dwineinsight.blogspot.com/. You can generate yours here.

This video from YouTube displays how to read a CR code on your mobile screen.

Needs no more explanation...



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Can this be real??? Though it looks pretty impressive, I'm not sure how well Microsoft can retain their market share by the time 7 is released. I strongly support Linux, it really has been refining shape in the past few years. Ubuntu, Linux for human beings, has already kissed en mass. And by the time 7 is out, Linux will already have many more flavors, probably more closer to the humans.

For a start about the much hyped Windows 7, here's a video I grabbed from YouTube.

The Presurfer says "Names will be collected and placed onboard the LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter) spacecraft for its historic mission bringing NASA back to the moon. You will also receive a certificate showcasing your support of the mission."

I got my name pinned to the list; and here's my certificate of participation. Get yours here.

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Wikipedia describes a CAPTCHA as "a type of challenge-response test used in computing to determine that the response is not generated by a computer." It is a contrived acronym for "Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart", trademarked by Carnegie Mellon University. They are widely used everywhere on the web to avoid spamming.

Of lately, are these CAPTCHAs getting redefined, are they up for a face lift? Or have they already got it? If you've come across a CAPTCHA that needs you to make an effortless numerical adding up and supply the answer as the key, or answer a simple common sense question; you've just bumped into the fresh class of CAPTCHAs out there...the all new

MAPTCHAs

or Mathematical captchas. MAPTCHAs are based on the principle of ‘Security through obscurity’, a principle related to security engineering. This principle is defined as ‘A system relying on security through obscurity may have theoretical or actual security vulnerabilities, but its owners or designers believe that the flaws are not known, and that attackers are unlikely to find them.’ Functionality wise; they are positively superior to their previous generations. Today we might already have smart spam bots (you can say smart enough) running around the web that could read and interpret the conventional CAPTCHAs which are mere images that are slightly tricky to understand. But MAPTCHAs are simply too much for them. The user essentially needs to be HUMAN to execute a simple math calculation or to be able to respond to a simple question. I don't see any way in for spam bots, at least in the near future.


Now the question is: are MAPTCHAs intelligent enough to understand the user answer? Say, a MAPTCHA on a web form says 'what is 3 + 5?’ The user in reality needs to supply the sum of 3 and 5 to clear the MAPTCHA. So does the user punch in '8' or 'eight' or 'Eight' or 'EIGHT'? If the MAPTCHAs was designed to accept '8', that's fine. If it were designed to recognize the answer in alphabets, which one of these is right: eight, Eight, EIGHT or something else? I don't think MAPTCHAs are intelligent yet like Google's 'did you mean'. Also, there is absolutely no hint which one to answer. With the intervention of a pinch of common sense, we presume the answer is '8', because the question in context was '3 + 5' and not 'three + five'. Correct me if I'm wrong. Trust me, I've tried all four mishmashes but it wouldn't allow me through. Frustrated I simply closed the web page. I knew I was bad at math right from my school days but definitely not terrible. Any thoughts or answers on this?

And if RSS is the way to go...this is what the near future looks like. Might sound crazy, but you can't rule it out! See what I mean...

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Found this interesting ebook on Youtube at Scribd...

The document "How To Do Everything With YouTube" has been ripped off from this post as a result of a third-party notification regarding a copyright infringement. Regret the take-down.

I found this really simple & explanatory video illustrating about RSS (Really Simple Syndication). This comes as a sequel to my earlier post featured on RSS. On the occassion of World RSS Day, I'd like to lend my support in heightening RSS usage around the globe.

Wubi is a Ubuntu installer for Windows users that will bring you into the Linux world with a single click. Wubi allows you to install and uninstall Ubuntu as any other application. If you heard about Linux and Ubuntu, if you wanted to try them but you were afraid, Wubi is for you.

The goal of the project is to assist a Windows user unacquainted with Linux in trying Ubuntu without risking any loss of information due to disk formatting or partitioning. Wubi can also uninstall Ubuntu from within Windows.

It is not a virtual machine, but rather, it creates a stand-alone installation within a loopmounted device, aka disk image, like Topologilinux does. It is not a Linux distribution of its own, but rather an installer for Ubuntu.

Users interested in directly installing to a dedicated partition, like a standard Ubuntu install does, without needing a CD should use UNetbootin instead.


Wubi adds an entry to the Windows boot menu which allows you to run Linux. Ubuntu is installed within a file in the Windows file system (c:\wubi\disks\system.virtual.disk), as opposed to being installed within its own partition. This file is seen by Linux as a real hard disk.

A related project, Lubi, uses Linux as the host system instead of Windows. A version for the Mac OS as host, Mubi, "will eventually be supported."

Microsoft’s Surface, which was once considered to be an imaginary computer, has now turned into a sales pitching device at five AT&T stores across United States - two in New York, one each in Atlanta, San Francisco and San Antonio.

Techbuzz gives us a first report of its first ever appearance to the public. Techbuzz says "I just saw the Surface in action, and I have to admit that it looks pretty impressive. Gizmodo Editor, Benny Goldman tried doing some stress test by throwing 30 fingers on the table and all 30 were registering. This is awesome, one person can zoom on an object, while others are doing something else. Atleast this way, nobody needs to wait to for their turn to touch the table. Microsoft can be just as good as Apple (sometimes)."

Watch the video.

via techbuzz

Microsoft Virtual PC allows you to use more than one operating system at once on a Windows PC. This is a great way to keep the computer's main operating system (the "host") safe. There are also many other uses.

Things You'll Need

• A Computer
• Windows XP or higher for the host operating system.
• The operating system install disks (I personally don't like this option. If it were VMWare, then we'll only need to have disk space and not the disks).

Steps

• Download Microsoft Virtual PC off Microsoft's website.
• Install the program. Note: You must be running Windows XP or higher.
• Once you start the program, it should ask you to make a virtual machine. If not, click the"New..." button.
• Click the Create A Virtual Machine Button and click next.
• Type a name for the machine (like, for example, the operating system you are going to install).
• Click next.
• Select the operating system you are going to install. (This sets up the the recommended specs for your virtual machine) If the operating system you are going to install is not there, click "Other".
• Depending on the operating system you are using, you may want to adjust the amount of RAM it will use. Remember: Don't choose more RAM than your real computer has. The main operating system is still running too. For example, if you have 1 GB (1024 MB) of real RAM, you may want the virtual RAM to be 256 MB. And also, some older operating systems don't support RAM over 512 MB. So it's just a waste to have more than what that operating system supports.
• Click "A New Virtual Hard Disk" and click next. Now you get to choose where to put the Virtual Hard Disk. Usually the default is fine. Also set the size of your hard drive in megabytes (1024 Megabytes = 1 Gigabyte).
• Finish the wizard. You should see something new in the Virtual PC Console box. It should have your virtual PC.
• Click on it and click "Start". You should see a bunch of lines of text, similar to the lines you see when you first start your computer.
• Insert the install disk for your operating system.
• Follow the directions on the install disk for your operating system. (If you get bored while
• it's installing, and you can't move the mouse out of the windows, hold the right Alt key and drag it out of the operating system's box. The install will keep proceeding as normal). If done properly, the install should go smoothly. If it asks you to restart the computer, hold the right Alt key and press R. When the virtual system asks to restart, just restart the virtual system, not the real computer. The system should boot just as you were using it as a real computer.
• Congratulations, you set up your first virtual system!

Tips

• If the system seems sluggish and you are using a laptop, plug the laptop in. Many laptops reduce their processor speed to maximize battery life.
• If you are installing Windows 95, the system will not always start properly. If this is the case, keep restarting the virtual PC until it starts (If you do not do anything with the computer while the computer is in the boot screen, it increases your success rate).
• Virtual PC can can be used to check if a program works on a old version of Windows or just for nostalgic reason like to see what an old version of Windows was like.
• Explore! You really can't mess up the main operating system. The host and the guest systems are totally separate from each other.
• The 'emulation' Virtual PC uses does not emulate most processor technologies (certain operating systems like Linux may not run).

via killertechtips