IT Masala

While browsing today, I saw that Register.com site is trying out its new look.  Looks like they have tried out embossing styled buttons and images. The use of colors is really nice, the combination of greyish black and green buttons and images makes the site look lively.

People who haven't seen their old site, I have a screenshot of that old site too. It looks so dull and so common. Besides, they have still not changed their site theme, maybe they are experiementing..

But the new look rocks !

Way to go Register.com !

Old site :                                    New Site:

Google said on Monday it has agreed to acquire e-mail security company Postini for $625 million expanding its package of online applications to compete with Microsoft's Office software.

Google said its Google Apps has been adopted by more than 100,000 businesses to date.

"With this transaction, we're reinforcing our commitment to delivering compelling hosted applications to businesses of all sizes," said Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt in a statement.

Google said Postini will become a wholly owned subsidiary. The deal is expected to close by the end of the third quarter.

Even Postini has put up on their homepage(title too) too have a look. Postini 

When we search on Google…here's a screenshot..have a look.

Learn More.. 

via [ zdnet ] 

These overhyped social networks will soon crumble under the weight of overhyped expectations.

Dont get too much attached to these social networking sites. PC Magazine says all these sites will be gone by this decade. MySpace could be the first to collapse. Oh !! So why does they say this ..lets see some of the reasons.

- All share a common thread: overreaching ambition and impossible expectations. They live, to an extent, inside the second Internet bubble.

- Myspace : It's huge, ugly, unmonitored, unrestrained, and pointless.It all looks like garbage. Seriously, have you ever looked at a MySpace page? The frames are ugly, the backgrounds even uglier, and the overall look is horrible..

- More and more predators are using these sites to prey on underage teens.

- Second Life : Reality is, are these virtual company stores building any additional brand recognition simply by being there. The Companies' virtual stores sit empty. 

So everybody feel the reality - enough of virtual space and money ..

- Twitter : Twitter is popular now because the Web cognoscenti are using it. This bunch of eggheads prides itself on irony and witticism. They treat the site like some sort of ongoing haiku contest.

We agree to the reasons given for saying that these sites will be doomed by this decade, but there are few of them who have maintained and have an organized way of people interaction. We love Google's Orkut. This was neat before and now too..  So as far as Orkut is concerned, it will be the next best thing which will happen in this decade. People cherish their experiences about Orkut- We meet old friends, forgotten friends…so its the ultimate platform for people interaction. 

Online auctioneer eBay Inc. has pulled its advertising from search company Google Inc.'s AdWords network in the United States, an eBay spokesperson said Wednesday.

"This is part of an ongoing experiment to look at how we market across all media channels," said eBay spokesperson Hani Durzy.

Social-networking site MySpace, owned by Murdoch's News Corp., has agreed to acquire Photobucket, the Web's No. 1 photo-sharing service, according to a source close to the deal.The source, who requested anonymity because he isn't authorized to discuss the deal publicly, confirmed a story about the acquisition in the blog Valleywag on Monday.

TechCrunch blog said it had confirmed the acquisition at $250 million. Both MySpace and Photobucket representatives declined to comment–which could very well mean that something is going on between the two companies. Or not.

Only last month Myspace had blocked slide shows and videos stored on photobucket, saying the company was violating its terms of service by embedding its own advertisements in the media files.

Many changes and events going on @ Myspace , recently launched news on myspace..and now its acquisition of photobucket..whats next in the row ??

Some Facts about Photobucket :

- Photobucket cited 41 million users.

- site is free for basic use, but charges $25 a year for a premium subscription that includes extra storage space and the ability to store videos more than five minutes long.

- It also displays advertisements to in users account pages.

- unique monthly visitors approx 18 million

- about 45,000 videos added to the site daily. 

Some recent happenings about myspace & photobucket:

- Hackers Promise Month of MySpace Bugs

- Wow-MySpace Account with Over 100,000 Friends Sells for $2,125 on Ebay

- How to Download Any Song on MySpace

- MySpace Blocks Photobucket

- MySpace News goes live

1952: A de Havilland Comet, flying for British Overseas Airways Corporation, becomes the first jet aircraft to enter commercial service, carrying passengers from London to Johannesburg, South Africa.

The early Comet was a four-engine aircraft, roughly the size of a small Boeing 737. It carried between 36 and 44 passengers, depending on its cabin configuration. Regardless of configuration, most early commercial jets were roomy and passenger comfort was a much higher priority than it is today.

The Comet, built by de Havilland, a British firm, was the backbone of the British commercial fleet. Other countries also turned to domestic aircraft manufacturers to populate their fleets: Boeing and Douglas (United States), Tupolev (Soviet Union), Caravelle (France).

Despite the line's overall success and longevity, the first Comets suffered from structural problems and the plane was involved in a number of accidents during the early and mid-'50s.

The plane that made that first London-Johannesburg flight, designated G-ALYP by BOAC (a forerunner of British Airways), was also among the first passenger jets to be lost. G-ALYP crashed into the Mediterranean Sea off the Italian island of Elba on Jan. 10, 1954, killing everyone on board.

(Source: Wikipedia)

IBM on Thursday said it's building a specialized-version of the mainframe that would incorporate the Cell processor used in Sony's PlayStation 3 videogame console. The new computer is designed to power 3-D virtual environments for online gaming, business collaboration, mapping, and other applications requiring intensive data processing.

The project, which includes the help of Brazilian online game company Hoplon Infotainment, is meant to develop a new, and potentially lucrative, use for the mainframe, which has traditionally been used in banking, manufacturing, and other industries that need to process hundreds, if not thousands, of transactions a second.

The mainframe is an ideal platform for virtual environments, particularly online gaming, because of its ability to run multiple processors for computing-intensive applications, while also handling millions of simultaneous users, according to IBM. "As online environments increasingly incorporate aspects of virtual reality — including 3-D graphics and lifelike, meaningful real-time interaction among many simultaneous users — companies of all types will need a computing platform that can handle a broad spectrum of demanding performance and security requirements," Jim Stallings, general manager for IBM System z, said in a statement.

via [ IW ]

Note : Remember , somebody sometime ago had said " Mainframes are dead " — anybody remembers ??  The person who said it might not have even thought of utilizing the power of Mainframes upto this extent ..anyway .. Long Live IBM ..Long Live Mainframes. 

This video could be the most creative commercial ever seen. Awesome but really a strange styled commercial , something never ever seen by me..It showcases a child who’s ability to gain knowledge never ceases. One of the fantastic commercial ever seen by me !!
The video emphasis about Open Source. ” Future is Open ”

Video Attached below..
Read the rest of this entry »

Adobe Systems plans to open-source Flex, its development framework for building Flash and Apollo-based applications.

What is Flex ?

Flex is one of a growing number of alternatives for building so-called rich Internet applications, which sport an interactive front-end interface. Using the development framework, programmers create an application that can run within Adobe's Flash Player or Apollo, its "player" for desktop applications. 

What the package includes:

The company said it will open-source the Flex software development kit, which includes a compiler and libraries designed to speed up development. It plans to continue to sell Flex Builder, an Eclipse-based development tool, and Flex Data Services, server software for accessing corporate databases. 

The company chose to create an open-source project for the Flex software to garner good ideas and contributions from developers outside Adobe, said Jeff Whatcott, vice president for product marketing at Adobe's enterprise and developer business unit.

The move is also meant to appeal to open-source developers who shun closed-source and proprietary products. Adobe already offers the Flex software development kit for free and provides the source code.

"For some people, (open source) is a philosophical requirement, a sign of integrity and trust in a vendor," Whatcott said. "This will close that gap and address any lingering doubts they have about our openness and commitment to community."

via [ adobe ]

Hugh MacLeod asks, if open source is so great, where are all the open source billionaires?

If Open Source software is free, then why bother spending money on Microsoft Partner stuff? I already know what Microsoft's detractors will say: "There's no reason whatsoever. $40 billion per year is totally wasted."

This, however is not a very satisfying answer, simply because it doesn't quite ring true. Otherwise there'd be a lot more famous Open Source billionaires out there, being written up in Forbes Magazine or wherever. And Bill Gates would've been ousted years ago.