Saturday, June 19, 2010

Common engineering, Pre-medical test from 2011

NEW DELHI: From 2011, the CBSE-conducted All India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE) and the All India Pre-Medical Test (AIPMT) will be merged into a single examination. This will help students seeking admission into engineering and medical colleges for they will take a single entrance exam instead of two now.
This was announced by HRD minister Kapil Sibal during a meeting of state education ministers here on Friday. Though states supported the move, it remains to be seen if they emulate it for state entrance tests.


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Mumbai RRB chief suspended

NEW DELHI: The multi-crore railway recruitment scam unearthed by the CBI involved leaking of question papers for money.
Describing the modus operandi, a CBI officer said, "Each candidate contacted by agents working on behalf of the masterminds had to pay Rs 3.5 lakh. The aspirants were required to deposit their original certificates with the ADRM, one Jagannathan. The question paper was provided to them one day prior to the examination. To ensure that the candidates paid up the entire amount, Jagannathan would keep the original certificates of candidates with him till he received the full amount."


A red-faced Rail Bhavan went into damage-control mode by suspending the chairman of the Railway Recruitment Board, S M Sharma. The promptness made sense, considering that Sharma, like heads of other Recruitment Boards, was handpicked by the current dispensation. Railways asserted that nobody found guilty would be spared. However, it is doubtful that the tough talk would deter those who have rigged the recruitment processes, making a mockery of similar claims in the past.


The questions leaked in the latest instance concerned the countrywide test for recruitment of Assistant Loco Pilot and Assistant Station Master. The raids, according to the agency, were carried out at Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Raipur and Kolkata.


The scam, according to officials, runs into several crores of rupees. "We have seized Rs 60 lakh during searches in Mumbai in bank accounts of the family members of S M Sharma and the agency has seized bank passbooks and laptops. The Pajero was found to be registered in the name of one of their relatives," said CBI spokesperson Harsh Bhal. In Hyderabad, Rs 21.5 lakh in cash and original certificates of 444 aspirants were recovered from house of a former Assistant Divisional Railway Manager and Rs 12 lakh recovered from the possession of Jagannathan in Bangalore.


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Thursday, June 17, 2010

2010 FIFA World Cup Schedule

010_FIFA_World_Cup_logo1

 

The 19th FIFA World Cup Football tournament is scheduled to take place between 11 June and 11 July 2010 in South Africa.

Africa was chosen as the host for the 2010 World Cup as part of a policy to rotate the event among football confederations, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Morocco were the other countries which bid for the event.

The first match will be played between host South Africa and Mexico on Friday, June 11th at 4 pm Local time.The following 32 teams qualified for the final tournament.This is the first World Cup that does not include any teams that are qualifying for the first time.Five new stadiums have been built for the event, and five of the existing stadiums are  upgraded. Construction costs are above $8.4 billion.

The venues are Bloemfontein, Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg (two venues), Kimberley, Nelspruit, Orkney, Polokwane, Port Elizabeth, Pretoria, and Rustenburg.

FIFA 2010 WC Schedule pdf


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Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Google Chrome Extensions

With these Google Chrome extensions, you can add more features to the browser to help you with designing, debugging, and working on websites. We share with you the top ten Chrome extensions for designers and developers.

1. Resolution Test

Resolution Test

Resolution Test is an extension for testing web pages in different screen resolutions, with an option to define your own custom resolutions. This is very handy in making sure that your web design looks great under different monitor sizes.

2. Pendule

Pendule

Pendule extends the built-in Developer tools in Google Chrome. The extension gives its users plenty of features such as one-touch markup validation using W3C’s automated web services, hiding images on a web page, viewing scripts included in a web page, and more.

3. PlainClothes

PlainClothes

One of the best ways to evaluate the accessibility of a web page is to remove its CSS styles and see if content being presented is still readable without them. This simulates the experience of a user who cannot see their monitor screen and have to rely on the web page’s markup to access the content. PlainClothes does one thing well; it removes all CSS styles on a web page.

Though created primarily for web development testing, you can use this extension to view your favorite styles unstyled (so that the boss doesn’t catch you browsing Digg when you should really be finishing up that JavaScript function).

4. Image Cropper

Image Cropper

If you want to take certain portions of a web page, Image Cropper is the simple, no-frills Chrome extension for you. Just drag around the area you want cropped, and it’ll take just that part of the web page. Need pixel-perfect accuracy? It displays the dimension and location of your crops to help you get just the size you need.

5. Lorem Ipsum Generator

Image Cropper

This extension prides itself in being minimalist and simple—and that’s good because there’s no reason generating Lorem Ipsum text should be a convoluted affair. Lorem Ipsum generator helps you fill up your design mockups with dummy text for presentation purposes.

6. IE Tab (for Windows)

IE  Tab (for Windows)

Troubleshooting in Internet Explorer’s proprietary Trident layout engine is not a fun ordeal. With IE Tab, you can at least save some time from having to use Internet Explorer (and its limited list of extensions) for debugging rendering issues in your work.

7. jQuery Shell

jQuery Shell

jQuery Shell allows you to run JavaScript and jQuery commands in the context of the current web page. It’s a great extension for learning and experimenting with jQuery.

8. Color Picker

Color Picker

This one-trick Chrome extension does one thing really well: quickly getting the Hex and RGB values of any color on any web page. It can be very helpful in determining what colors your favorite website uses without having to take a screen grab of it into Photoshop and using the Eyedropper tool.

9. WebEdit

WebEdit

With the WebEdit Chrome extension, you can make any web page editable (the changes you make, of course, will not be saved). Why would this extension be helpful? If you are creating a website and want to play around with elements without making any significant changes to the code, this extension can come in very handy.

10. Chrome Sniffer

Chrome Sniffer

Have you ever wondered what technologies, frameworks, and open source apps a website is using? Experienced web developers can find this out by studying the site’s source code, but if you want a more convenient and quick way of doing this, then check out Chrome Sniffer. Chrome Sniffer lists all known JavaScript framework/libraries (jQuery, MooTools, etc.) and CMS (Drupal, WordPress, etc.) that a website uses.

11. Webpage Screenshot

Webpage Screenshot

A common task for web designers is taking screen grabs of web pages. With Webpage Screenshot, you can capture an entire web page, even if it spills outside of the browser’s viewport. It gives users the opportunity to resize the window before capturing and saves the screen grab as a PNG file.

12. Eye Dropper

Eye Dropper

Eye Dropper is a Google Chrome extension that gives you the ability to determine a color on any web page. What’s more is that it presents a color wheel and color swatches (found in most graphics software) so that you can experiment, tweak and pick colors.

13. SEO Site Tools

SEO Site Tools

A well-formed web page with great markup ultimately leads to awesome search engine results. However, if you would like to evaluate your website in terms of known search engine optimization factures, try out the SEO Site Tools, a Chrome extension that gives you a plethora of useful tools and features for evaluating SEO. It can pull tons of on-page and off-page metrics, social media information, and more.


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Tools To Check The Speed Of Your USB Flash Drive

How do we go about checking the speed of USB flash drives? Maybe the following light and free software can lend a hand ?

Check Flash

The Check Flash website is in Cyrillic (there is an English option too) but it shouldn’t stop anyone from downloading this light and free USB flash drive speed testing and error checking software.

With Check Flash you can test, manage and format your USB flash drive. You can also run a read-write cycle on your USB flash drive, which returns not only the speed but also any errors (read/write or physical) in your USB drive. The software does not rectify the problem but merely reports it.

Check Flash v1.07 runs as an 812KB sized executable and does not require an installation.

HD Speed

HD_Speed is a pint sized software that can be used to gauge the speed of data transfer on your hard disks, CD/DVD ROMS and USB flash drives. This program is compatible with Windows 2000, XP and Vista only, though it supports both FAT and NTFS volumes.

The 80KB utility does not require installation and runs with a click. Select the drive and hit start. The read/write results show up as a graph and also as real values.


Crystal Disk Mark

Crystal Disk Mark is another disk benchmarking tool that can double up as a USB flash drive speed tester. The screen is simple and gives readouts according to the type of tests performed.

Crystal Disk Mark can carry out sequential read/write tests (i.e. read/write data in order) or random 4KB/512KB reads/writes or text copy. The speed test results are displayed as large numerical in MB/s.The 396KB software runs as a standalone executable straight from the box and is compatible with Windows Vista/2003/XP.

Flash Memory Toolkit

Flash Memory Toolkit is advertised as a collection of utilities for flash memory devices. The toolkit includes options to get detailed device information, erase files and recover files lost after a format, hardware failure or an accidental deletion. Backup and restore functions along with our benchmarking task of measuring the read/write performance of the flash drive is available.

Unfortunately, the free standard version gives us only the ability to judge the Read speeds. To calculate both read/write speeds one has to upgrade to the Pro version. Even with this handicap, the ability to measure read speeds along with the File Benchmark feature (which calculates the time it will take to read or write files of various sizes to the device and returns the results as comparative graphs) is a nice help too.The 766KB software (v1.20) is installable on Windows 2000, XP, XP 64-bit, 2003 Server and Vista.

HD Tune

Similar to the aforementioned software, HD Tune also comes in the free and paid flavors. And again, the free version allows for only read speed testing of our USB Flash drives. It also gives a detailed disk information option along with an error scan.

For more advanced aspects one need to dole out for the pro version. If you disregard the missing features in the free version, it is a handy utility to have around because it gives us a lot of benchmarking information like the maximum, minimum and the average transfer rates (i.e. the read speed) along with access time, burst rate (defined as the highest speed at which data can be transferred from the drive to the OS).HD Tune v2.55 is available for Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows 2003 Server and Windows Vista.

USB 2.0 has a cutting edge data rate of 480Mbps, and it is rated 40 times faster than the now archaic, USB 1.1, which peaked at 12Mbps. Flash drives are catching up with most now hovering around the 30-40 MB/s mark.


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Tools to Backup & Restore Installed Windows Drivers

Top 3 freeware softwares that help you to view all the drivers installed on your computer and allows you to backup, restore, all drivers according to your choice.

DriverMax is a freeware utility that allows you backup and restore the drivers installed on your Windows computer more over a it has a option to download and check for latest driver updates for your computer hardwares.All you need to use DriverMax is a free account that DriverMax will ask you to create and mail you the activation code

DriverMax

DOWNLOAD : DriverMax

Double Driver is simple free software that allows you to analyzes your system and lists the most important driver details such as version, date, provider, etc and offers the latest version updates. All drivers that are found can easily be backed up the application and easily restored at a later point in one go.

Double Driver

DOWNLOAD : Double Driver

Driverbackup 2 is another free software created by Giuseppe Greco to backup and restore installed drives on windows Os .It requires Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0.Driverbackup 2 is available in three languages English , Spanish , Italiano and lack the option to check for updated version of Drivers . However Driverbackup 2 is quite simple to use .

Driverbackup2

DOWNLOAD : Driverbackup 2


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Tips To Increase Laptop’s Battery Life

Falling just short of carrying an extra pack of batteries in the back-pack, are several ways to keep the juice flowing through the batteries.

1. Ship shape with a defrag

Regular defragmentation helps to arrange data more efficiently thus making the hard drive work less to access the data. The quicker the moving hard drive works lesser is the load placed on the battery. Thus, your batter can last longer. The effect is minimal, but this efficiency goes hand in glove with hard drive maintenance.

2. Kill the resource gobblers

End the background processes that are not vital. Monitor the resource usage through a ‘Ctrl-Alt-Del’ which brings up the Windows Task Manager (in Windows). If you’re not on the internet, it is safe to shut down the immediate non-essential programs running in the taskbar like the antivirus and the firewall. Weed out unnecessary programs running as start-ups by launching the System Configuration Utility from Run – Msconfig – Tab: Startup. Uncheck the programs which you don’t want to launch and reboot the computer once.

3. Pause the scheduled tasks

It may be a defrag or a virus scan, but make sure it is scheduled for a time when you are near a power outlet. If not then nix them for the moment.

4. Unplug external devices

USB devices are the biggest drainers of battery power. Unplug all external devices like an external mouse, PC cards, Wi-Fi, external speakers, Bluetooth and even an attached iPod.

5. Empty the CD/DVD Drives

Even if you don’t intend to use it, don’t leave any CD/DVDs as leftovers in the drives. A spinning drive sucks battery power like a sponge.

6. Go local

Desist using the DVD/external drives while running on batteries. Shift the content to the hard drive or run using (free) virtual drives like Pismo File Mount or even Microsoft’s Virtual CD ROM Control Panel.

7. Lower the lights

The LCD screen of a laptop is another huge power sink. Calibrate the brightness to the lowest level you can tolerate using the Function key toggles or using the Display Settings applet in the Control Panel.

8. Kill the sounds

Mute the speakers and try avoiding the use of multimedia software to maximize the battery life. Installed sound schemes also drain a battery perceptibly.

9. Rid the screensaver

To maximize battery life by a little, switch off the screensaver.

10. Visit Power Options

Get familiar with power management through the ‘Power Options’ applet in the Control Panel. Both XP and Vista come with advanced power management features which shut off components like the monitor and/or the hard drive after specified intervals. This again depends on the chosen ‘Power Schemes’ (for XP) in the same applet. For instance in XP, ‘Max Battery’ under Power Schemes can be selected for maximum battery optimization.

11. Turn off the looks

Today’s OS’s like Windows Vista come with features like ‘Aero Glass’ which are resource guzzlers. One can turn it off and go for the ‘Classic’ appearance which consumes less power. In Vista, click on Desktop – Preferences – View Colour – Appearance – Classic Appearance and Windows Basic graphical interface. In XP it’s – Display Properties – Theme – Windows Classic.

Linux and even Macintosh are better optimized for longer battery life.

12. Hibernate is better than Sleep

In the Stand By mode (or sleep mode), the computer turns of the hard drive and the display but memory remains active while the CPU slows down. This draws on the battery. In contrast, hibernation mode is better because the computer saves the current state and shuts itself down completely thus saving power.

13. Get the most…work on the least

Working on too many programs while on the battery is a sure fire power drainer. Keep use of graphic intensive applications to a minimum. Working on a spreadsheet consumes much less than playing your favourite game. To increase the life of the battery open just one or two programs concurrently.

14. Ram in more RAM

Adequate RAM reduces the load on Virtual memory which by default resides on the hard drive. Though every extra bit of RAM uses up more power, it increases overall savings by short cutting access to the power hungry hard drive.

15. Keep it clean

A laptop with blocked air vents will generate more heat thus reducing the life of the battery. Clean the air vents regularly to keep operating temperatures low. Allow for open space around the vents for air to circulate freely. Keep the area around the laptop clean to avoid entry of dust.

16. Temperature is a silent killer

Undue heat kills off a battery slowly but surely. Avoid leaving the laptop under direct sunlight or inside a closed car.

17. Avoid the memory effect

A problem more for the older Ni-MH batteries than for Li-Ion batteries on which most modern laptops run. Memory effect relates to the loss of battery charge when they are repeatedly recharged after being only partially discharged. It can be prevented by discharging the battery fully and then completely recharging it. Li-Ion batteries on the other hand have no problems with partial discharges and re-charges and complete discharge is never recommended for this type.

18. Update software and drivers

This sounds a bit incongruous but then newer drivers and software are often designed to be more efficient (and hopefully less resource hungry).

19. Use the right adapter

Ensure that the adapter you use to charge the laptop battery is an original one or one with the correct specifications. A mismatch in the wattage could cause an overload thus damaging the laptop and the battery.

20. Pack it up

If you don’t plan to use the laptop on batteries for quite some time, ensure that the charge is nearly 40 percent – remove the batteries and store it in a cool place.

A typical lithium ion battery has an overall average life of 2-3 years. With some care and caution, its mortality can be delayed.

Have you found your own way to increase battery life of your laptop? Share the ‘life giving’ tips with us in the comments.


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Top 10 Electronic Reminder Services


With these e-reminder services; create to-do lists, share your calendar, and send reminders to your phone, e-mail, RSS reader, and more with these organizational tools.

 

1. Evernote

You’ll never forget your thoughts and tasks if you use Evernote. This powerful application stores all of your information in your personal Evernote account and can be retrieved on the Web, on your desktop, and on your phone. To get your stuff into Evernote, create new notes using the desktop, Web, and mobile versions of Evernote; take a snapshot using your camera phone or webcam, and the app will recognize the text in the image; clip Webpages and screenshots; drag and drop content into the desktop clients for Mac and Windows; e-mail notes to your account; scan receipts, tags, and the like; and record audio wherever you are and listen to it later.

2. Remember The Milk

Whether your preferred method of receiving reminders is through e-mail, SMS, or instant message, Remember The Milk offers them all. This to-do list Web service lets you create as many lists as you like, share them with others, and tag them. Say you create a grocery shopping list and need to know if there’s a coffee shop near the grocer on your way home; Remember The Milk will locate where the store is and what’s around it by interacting with Google Maps. Besides using the Web site to send your reminders, you can also use the service through Google Calendar, Twitter, Google Gears, MilkSync for BlackBerry, and download it to the Apple iPhone for free.

3. Backpackit.com

Web-based organizational service that’s both straightforward and intuitive, letting you download calendars and share documents online. We like to think of the service as an online loose-leaf notebook that you can use whenever you please, inputting medical records, travel plans, school itineraries, social gatherings, and so on onto every page. When you sign up, you’ll create a username and password as well as a unique Backpackit.com URL for easy access to your Backpack pages. You can add as many notes and lists as you want to your page, and Backpack’s messaging service lets you schedule e-mail or SMS reminders to be sent out at a specific time or at a Backpack preset time.

4. Doomi

Doomi is a simple-to-use desktop app that takes little effort to set up. All you do is add a task in the form field and press Enter. Click on the clock icon on the ride side to remind you of the task at a designated time. When you’ve finished a task, mark the checkbox next to it. Before you install Doomi, you’ll need to download Adobe AIR (Adobe Integrated Runtime): It’s a runtime engine for Windows, Mac, and Linux that supports rich Internet applications and allows an application to run without using a Web browser. That means you’ll be able to use Doomi offline, without running your Web browser.

5. Google Calendar

Organize your events and collaborate with others using Google Calendar. The application looks like a calendar, so all you do is click on which days you’d like to add your event or task. Then fill in the start time, end time, location, and description of your event, and set your desired notification setting, whether it’s by e-mail, text message, or a pop-up message on your computer. You can even send an invitation to your event, or information about your event, to others. Access Google Calendar on your mobile phone by pointing your browser to mobile.google.com/calendar.

6. ReminderFeed

Most reminder services alert you via e-mail and text message; but ReminderFeed delivers your messages right to your RSS reader. Just fill in the online form—including start date, end date, and description—and ReminderFeed will give you a feed URL that you can add to your favorite RSS reader. You’ll receive your reminder at the same time each day, which comes in handy for timely tasks such as picking up the kids from daycare or remembering a dinner date. Best of all, you don’t have to create an account, so just dive right in.

7. Toodledo

Never have to remember anything again with Toodledo. This online tool offers a “hotlist” where all of your tasks are permanently stored with due dates. Toodledo offers inline editing so that you can add, edit, and complete tasks without making the page reload. There are folders for organizing your tasks, a calendar for a visual presentation of your tasks due, and so much more. You can get Toodledo on your mobile phone, in your e-mail, on your calendar, in your RSS reader, via IM, and integrated directly into your Web browser. You can even print out a foldable booklet of all your tasks. Toodledo is now available for the iPhone/iPod touch.

8. Cozi

Designed specifically for families, Cozi is a free service that provides you and your family with everything you need to get organized. With the Family Calendar, all of your appointments can be color-coded by family member. You can build customizable lists to remember your grocery list, shopping list, chores, and more. Get appointment reminders by text and e-mail. Or send a quick message to your family from your family home page. Sign in to Cozi from your computer, phone (at m.cozi.com), or call Cozi toll-free to get your grocery list.

9. Jott

Not near a computer to create your to-do lists? Then you’ll want to use Jott for capturing thoughts, creating lists, and setting reminders—all by phone. Call 1-866-JOTT-123 to dictate your message, then say whether you want that message to be delivered via e-mail or SMS. Jott will capture your voice, turn it into text, and send it off. You can set Jott to remind you 15 minutes before a task needs to be started. Your notes are always available online at Jott.com in the Jott Express desktop tool, too. Download Jott to your Apple iPhone; it’s free for Jott subscribers and replicates most of the functionality in Jott’s call-in service.

10. Nozbe

Targeted at both individuals and businesses, Nozbe is a project-management and time-tracking application for those with a lot of stuff to do and no time to keep track of it all. Organize your tasks and notes into projects, ’star’ any task that needs to be done next, schedule appointments using the built-in calendar, and manage your Nozbe account on your iPhone, iGoogle, or Netvibes homepage, or even on Apple Dashboard.


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Online Free Web Based Applications

These are few online free web based applications that are very helpful for you to process your daily work. Whether you are designer, developer, office worker, manager, supervisor, student, home user, etc. But we make sure to add something interesting for everyone. Most of them are not very well-known, but they are really amazing in respect to their features. Just take a look at them and share your thought here.You are welcome to share if you know more free online web based application that our readers may like.

TweetLater

TweetLater

With TweetLater you can schedule future tweets for all your twitter accounts. Keep your Twitter stream ticking over with new tweets even when you’re not in front of your computer. Or, use it as your personal reminder system.

Screencast-O-Matic

Screencast-O-Matic

Screencast-O-Matic is the free and easy way to create a video recording of your screen (aka screencast) and upload it for free hosting all from your browser with no install!

Site-Perf

Site-Perf

With Site-Perf.com, you get an accurate, realistic, and helpful estimation of your site’s loading speed. The script fully emulates natural browser behaviour downloading your page with all the images, CSS, JS and other files – just like a regular user.

TextReminders

TextReminders

TextReminders.net is a free service that allows you to send out free text messages (sms) to others. Use the form below to send out an immediate text message to a friend. It won’t cost you anything to send the text message, however standard text messaging rates my apply to the receiver.

Letterfu

letterfu

Letterfu is a website that provides you foldable letter templates. You can take their print out. You will need to choose the template you like, print it, write message on it and finally just fold it according to the instructions on the website before sending to anyone. That means you will no need for the envelope anymore.

Yammer

yammer

Yammer is a tool for making companies and organizations more productive through the exchange of short frequent answers to one simple question: “What are you working on?” As employees answer that question, a feed is created in one central location enabling co-workers to discuss ideas, post news, ask questions, and share links and other information.

DrawAnywhere

DrawAnywhere

DrawAnywhere is an online diagramming website, where you can draw, modify and share flowcharts and other diagrams, with the look & feel of a desktop application. It runs on any browser with Flash 9 installed. There is no need to download software. It is an always-on-access-anywhere solution. It meets all your diagramming needs purchasing expensive software.

tinymail.me

tinymail.me

Tinymail is an anti spam blocker and protection tool which secures and blocks out your email address from bots and stops junk mail from cluttering your Outlook Exchange, Gmail, Yahoo client.

Quarkbase

quarkbase

Quarkbase is a free tool to find complete information about a website. It is a mashup of over 30 data sources and many algorithms gathering information from Internet on various topics like social popularity, traffic, associated people, etc.

Broong

Broong

Broong is an online social note service that lets people search, create and share multimedia content via a quick note from anywhere with everyone. People use Broong to search, create and share their thoughts, videos and pictures across multiple platforms over desktop and mobile devices.

formatpixel

formatpixel

Create your own online magazines, fanzines, brochures, catalogues, portfolios and more. Using the formatpixel online editor you too can design page based projects, layout text, upload your own images, add interactivity and customise their appearance.

pleasenotify.me

pleasenotify

pleasenotify.me is a simple, free service to let you send tasks to people, and be notified when they’re done. You can use the form to email someone a task. If they don’t mark it complete by the time you specify, both of you will be notified. You’ll both be reminded daily until it’s finally completed. It’s the simplest project management imaginable.

AbouThiSite

AbouThiSite

This website can help you to find out who is the owner of any website, where are the server located and other websites name hosted on the same server etc

kissa.be

kissa be

This is really helpful and interesting multipurpose web application that integrates 3 useful features in one website. These are URL shortener, email ‘mailto’ link protector and a tool that helps you overcome max. character limitation.

SantexQ

santexQ

SantexQ, or “the Q” as you like to call it, is a web-based tool created to assist businesses in the detail-driven world of time and task management. Designed to enhance team efficiency, the Q keeps the critical information close by: the progress reports, deadlines and time budgets for all of your projects…all available at a glance.

Anyvite

Anyvite

Anyvite is a site designed to give you the necessary tools to quickly and effectively coordinate plans with your friends, without any unnecessary or confusing features to slow you down.

Zapproved

Zapproved

Zapproved is a lightweight Web tool that makes group decision-making faster, easier and more accountable. It is a unique solution that introduces peer-to-peer and organizational techniques to improve the process of building consensus.
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Top 10 Tips to Protect Your Personal Email

 

E-mail and instant messaging (IM) are terrific forms of communication for keeping in touch with family, friends, and business associates. However, using them unwisely may make you and your computer susceptible to spam, phishing scams, viruses, and other online threats. Here are some tips to avoid these problems:

1. Obtain comprehensive security software. Be sure that the security software you select is like McAfee Internet Security and protects you and your PC from viruses, worms, Trojans, unwanted e-mail (spam), phishing scams, and other malicious software. It should also have a firewall like McAfee’s products, which can monitor your Internet connection and stop unwanted traffic to and from your PC. Be sure to keep your security software up-to-date. Ideally, you want it to be like McAfee’s Internet Security Suite that has automatic updates and upgrades.

2. Share your e-mail address with only trusted sources. Only your family, friends, and trusted business contacts should have your personal e-mail address. Do not post your e-mail address on Web sites, forums, or in chat rooms. If you post your e-mail address, you are vulnerable to receiving spam or having your e-mail passed on to others. If you would like to subscribe to a newsletter or Web site and receive confirmation e-mail for online transactions, consider using a generic e-mail address that is not linked to any of your personal information. An example of a generic e-mail address is giraffe@samplee-mail.com.

3. Be careful when opening attachments and downloading files from friends and family or accepting unknown e-mails. You can obtain a virus, worm, or Trojan simply by opening e-mail and attachments, and by accepting files from your friends, family, or others. If you choose to download files, make sure your security software is enabled and pay close attention to any warnings provided.

4. Be smart when using IM programs. If you use an IM program to communicate with friends and family, be careful when sending any personal information. Protect yourself by using a nickname for your IM screen name. Never accept strangers into your IM groups. Be smart about how you use your personal IM at work because your employer may monitor and view your personal messages.

5. Watch out for phishing scams. Phishing scams use fraudulent e-mails and fake Web sites, masquerading as legitimate businesses, to lure unsuspecting users into revealing private account or login information. To be safe, if you receive an e-mail from a business that includes a link to a Web site, make certain that the Web site you visit is legitimate. Instead of clicking through to the Web site from within the e-mail, open a separate Web browser and visit the business’ Web site directly to perform the necessary actions. You can also verify that an e-mail is in fact from a legitimate business by calling the business or agency directly.

6. Use e-mail wisely. E-mail is a great way to keep in touch with friends and family, and as a tool to conduct business. Even if you have good security software on your PC, your friends and family might not have the same protection. Be careful about what information you submit via e-mail. Never send your credit-card information, Social Security number, or other private information via e-mail.


7. Do not reply to spam e-mail. If you don’t recognize the sender, don’t respond. Even replying to spam mail to unsubscribe could set you up for more spam.


8. Create a complex e-mail address. With a complex e-mail address, it makes it more difficult for hackers to auto-generate your e-mail, send spam e-mail, or target your e-mail for other types of attacks. Make sure you come up with an e-mail address that you can easily remember. Try to use letters, numbers, and other characters in a unique combination. Substitute numbers for letters when you can. A sample complex e-mail is: Tracy3Socc3r2@samplee-mail.com.

9. Create smart and strong passwords. Make it difficult for hackers to crack your password. You can create a smart password by incorporating capital letters, numbers, special characters and using more than six characters. An example of a strong password is: Go1dM!n3.


10. Never enter your personal information into a pop-up screen. Sometimes a phisher will direct you to a real organization’s Web site, but then an unauthorized pop-up screen created by the scammer will appear, with blanks in which to provide your personal information. If you fill it in, your information will go to the phisher. Install pop-up blocking software to help prevent this type of phishing attack.


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Cool Facebook Applications

These apps are the most popular ones. But others are useful, innovative and praiseworthy. Whether you’re a Facebook veteran or newbie, you should find something worth adding. And it's important to keep your profile manageable, not least because there's always some cool new apps to add.

1. Sketch Me. Genuinely awesome app that takes a photo of you, and turns it into a faux pencil sketch, for that arty look. Get it

2. Send SMS. This neat app puts a box on your profile allowing friends to send you text messages for free (they have ads attached, mind). Get it

3. What I’m Listening To. Excellent application that updates live to show anyone viewing your profile what song you’re listening to RIGHT NOW in iTunes, Winamp or other music players. Get it

4. Simpsons Avatar Creator (pictured). There's already a website letting you turn yourself into a Simpson’s character, but now there's an unofficial Facebook application too. It's already got more than 83,000 users too. You’d look great in a natty shade of yellow. Get it

5. Photo Mosaic. Create nifty mosaics from your Facebook photo stash. It’s what the Romans would’ve done (if they’d had the internet). It's quite an arty collection of applications this week. This one lets you turn your Facebook photos into mosaics, for your friends to admire. Get it

6. Nike+ Runs. If you use the Nike+ iPod software, this app lets you publish details of your recent runs on your Facebook profile. No more pretending you slogged through an 18 mile hike when in fact you got tired by the corner shop and sloped home with a packet of cigarettes instead. Get it

7. Compare People. Decide who the best dancer, the cutest, is and the smartest friend. Oh, and the one who has most time to spend making comparisons on internet websites, obviously. Get it


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Explore images with Google Image Swirl, now in Labs

Back in 2001, to give people a new, quicker way to find images, Google launched Image Search. When you do a search for [Eiffel tower] you'll find an array of images of the tower in the daytime, in black and white, at sunset and more. With Similar Images, which recently graduated from Google Labs, you can click "Find similar images" to narrow your search to, say, pictures of the Eiffel Tower lit up at night. Today, Google 've launched an experimental feature in Labs called Google Image Swirl, which builds on new computer vision research to cluster similar images into representative groups in a fun, exploratory interface.
For example, if you search on Image Swirl for [
Washington], you'll see 12 image thumbnails including President Washington, the Washington Monument, a map of Washington D.C. and the Capitol Building:

washington

Once you find the group of images you're interested in, you can click on the thumbnail and a cluster of images will "swirl" into view. For example, here's what you'll see if you click the image of the Washington Monument:

washington monument

Each thumbnail on the initial results page represents an algorithmically-determined representative group of images with similar appearance and meaning. These aren't just the most relevant images — they are the most relevant groups of images.Image Swirl currently works for more than 200,000 queries and we plan to include more queries in the future. Available queries will auto-complete as you start to type in the search box, similar to Google Suggest.
You can try out Google Image Swirl in Google Labs today. The feature is experimental and the underlying technology is a work in progress.


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Disable Autoplay via group policy in Win XP

 

Autoplay or also called Autorun is a feature in Windows that automatically launches the content of your CD or DVD when you insert your CD or DVD into the drive. The autoplay or autorun  can be easily disabled.Because there are many versions of Windows and because Windows can be managed in many ways, the autorun or autoplay feature can be turned off in many different ways as well.

    * Autorun & Autoplay can be turned off via Windows CD-DVD drive interface
    * It can also be turned of by modifying your computer registry

We talk more about these methods at the Turn off and disable CD-ROM autorun and autoplay page.There is one other way of disabling the autorun / autoplay feature which is more global relative to your computer.Disable autorun / autoplay via group policy.You can configure your Windows to disable the autoplay feature for all of your system's drives. This can be done using so called group policy for your computer.

Group policy is a feature in modern Windows that provides centralized management and configuration of computers and remote users in an Active Directory environment. You can find more details about group policies at the Group policy page.This way of disabling the autoplay capability is often used for security reasons on shared computers.If you want to disable the autoplay / autorun feature, follow these steps:

Go to your Start menu and click Run. You can get to here also by pressing the Windows and R buttons simultaneously.Type GPEDIT.MSC and hit ENTER. This brings up so called Group Policy Editor.

Autoplay / Autorun in Windows XP:

If you are in Windows XP, then locate the

Computer Policy\Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\System

Scroll down in the right pane until you find the Turn off Autoplay item. Double-click the Turn off Autoplay. When you are in the Turn off Autoplay Properties dialog box, click Enabled. And finally choose All drives from the drop-down list underneath.

Autoplay / Autorun in Windows Vista:

If you are in Windows Vista, then locate the following policy

Local Computer Policy\Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\AutoPlay Policies

Find the Turn off Autoplay policy and double-click it, or you can also right-click it and select Properties. Click Enabled and then OK. Then, double-click the Default behaviour for Auto Run. Click Enabled, and choose Do not execute any autorun commands in the resulting drop-down list.You may need to log off for the change in the Autoplay group policy to take effect.Disable autoplay / autorun group policy guide

The print screen below shows how autoplay / autorun can be disable via a group policy in Windows XP.

SettingAutoplay_3_GroupPolicy


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Boost your internet Speed by releasing Reserved Bandwidth

 

By default, Windows Vista/XP reserves 20% of the connection bandwidth for QoS traffic. This tweak allows the setting to be altered to a different percentage of connection bandwidth.You can release this by following these steps.

  1. Go to run and type gpedit.msc .
  2. Navigate to Computer Configuration ----> Administrative templates ---->Network.
  3. Open QoS Packet Scheduler.
  4. Double click Limit Reservable Bandwidth.
  5. Not configured would be chosen. However by default the value is 20% .
  6. Select enable and make the value 0.
  7. This should boost your net speed considerably.


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EAMCET 2010 Results Declared

 

Minister for Technical Education Mopidevi Venkata Ramana this morning released the results of the Engineering Agriculture and Medicine Common Entrance Test (EAMCET 2010). A total of 3,16,083 candidates appeared in the engineering stream of which 2,80,396 (88.71%) qualified. In the agriculture and medical stream, 51,186 candidates appeared of whom 47,963 (93.7%) qualified.


Boyapati Pallavi of Vijayawada has secured first rank in the engineering stream by scoring 159 out of 160 marks. Md. Ghouse Jani of Vizag and Janardhan Reddy of Guntur bagged the second and third ranks respectively.

M. Rahul (156) bagged the first rank in the medicine stream. Ravinuthala Lalitha bagged the second rank while Narapaneni Kiranmayi got the third rank.


June 26th is the last date for submitting applications for revaluation and scrutiny. Web counselling will be held in the third or fourth week of July.

 

The results can be accessed from the websites:

 http://www.apeamcet.org/viewresults.php,

 http://202.62.64.51/ ,

 http://www.eenadu.net/results/eamcet2010.aspx.


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Reliance Power Ltd - Graduate Engineer Trainee Programme (GET) 2010

logo

Reliance Power is looking for young, dynamic professionals with Engineering background in the following discipline :Mechanical, Electrical, Instrumentation and Electronics, Information Technology, Mining, Civil, Mine Machinery

Requirements :

  • Must be Graduate Engineers who have passed Engg exams in the year 2009 or 2010.
  • Full time Bachelor’s degree in Engineering from an institute recognized by AICTE with first division in first attempt taking average of all the semesters / years.
  • Final year / semester students who expect their result by 01.08.2010 may also apply.
  • Age not more than 25 years on 30.06.2010.
  • First division in 10th & 12th and not more than one year gap.

Selection :
Selection will be done based on an online Technical Test and Aptitude Test which will be carried out at the following 24 Centres across India.

Final selection will be done through

  • Group Discussion
  • Personal Interview

Placement :
The selected Engineering professional shall undergo one year training at our various projects.Engineering professionals can be placed, across the country, in any of the functions at projects or offices and at any subsidiary companies of Reliance Power Limited.

Important Dates :-

  1. Commencement of online registration of application - 09.06.2010.
  2. Last date for online registration - 22.06.2010
  3. Admit card with roll no, test centre name & guidelines to be sent by email - 05.07.2010.

  4. Online Test in 24 cities - 17th and 18th July, 2010.

  5. Group Discussion and Personal Interview - 4th Aug - 7th Aug 2010.

  6. GET Programme begins - 8th Sept 2010

Click Here to register for GET Programme.

Details Here


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Indian Bank Recruitment for 685 Clerks (2010-11)

indian-bank-logo[5]

Indian bank, one of the leading public sector bank in India has a strong presence of over 1642 branches all over India.As part of the recruitment project 2010-11, Indian bank has announced recruitment for 685 clerks.

Position – Vacancies – Pay scale :Clerk – 685 posts (state-wise) – Rs.7200/-/Rs.19300

Important Dates :
  • Opening date of Online Registration – 7.06.2010 (June 7, 2010).
  • Closing date of Online Application – 6.07.2010.
  • Date of Written exam - 22.08.2010.
                Eligibility :

                > Must be within the age of 18 - 28 years as on 1.1.2010
                >Knowledge of computers is also essential for candidates.
                >Should be able to read/write/speak English & official language of the state applied.
                > Passed 12th/ equivalent with 50% marks OR Degree in any discipline from recognised. university, as on 1.1.2010.

                Selection : The process of Indian bank clerk recruitment has Written test & Interview.The objective test (Reasoning, Numerical ability, English & Clerical aptitude) has negative mark for each wrong answer & candidates have to qualify in each test.Shortlisted candidates from the objective, descriptive test will be called for Interview.

                Application : Candidates will have to pay Rs.50(SC/ST) & Rs.300(all others) at any of the Indian bank branches between 7.06.2010 & 6.07.2010 & obtain the payment details. All these info have to be submitted through the online application at www.indianbank.in

                Candidates can download the application, challan & apply online for this Indian Bank recruitment 2010 through the bank website here.


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                Recruitment of Probationary Officers 2010-11.

                Syndicate Bank,  invites applications from Indian citizens for recruitment of 1000 Probationary Officers,1000 Probationary Clerks & 426 Specialist Officers.

                1. Probationary Officers : 1000 Posts (UR-505, SC-150, ST-75, OBC-270) (PWD-30), Pay Scale : Rs. 10000-18240, Age : 21-30 years as on 01/06/2010, Qualification : Graduate with 55% marks (50% for SC/ST/PWD) OR Degree of CA/ ICWA/ CS/ PGDBM with 55% or more (50% for SC/ST/PWD).
                2. Probationary Clerks : 1000 Posts.
                3. Specialist Officers : 426 Posts.

                   

                Application Fee : Officers - Rs.300/- (Rs.50/- for SC/ST/PH) for the posts no. 1,2 and 3 and Rs.250/- (Rs.50/- for SC/ST/PH) for other posts, should be paid at any branch of the Syndicate Bank in the prescribed payment challans. Preserve original counterfoil of the challan with you as it is to be produced at the time of written test along with call letter.

                How to Apply: Apply online at Syndicate Bank website only from 08/06/2010 to 07/07/2010.  Take a printout for future references as this is to be submitted again at the time of interview.

                Please visit http://www.syndicatebank.in/scripts/Recruitment.aspx for details and a link to online application form.
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                Weird Facts About the Human Brain



                The Brain

                The human brain is the most complex and least understood part of the human anatomy. There may be a lot we don’t know, but here are a few interesting facts that we’ve got covered.

                1. Nerve impulses to and from the brain travel as fast as 170 miles per hour. Ever wonder how you can react so fast to things around you or why that stubbed toe hurts right away? It’s due to the super speedy movement of nerve impulses from your brain to the rest of your body and vice versa, bringing reactions at the speed of a high powered luxury sports car.

                2. The brain operates on the same amount of power as 10watt light bulb. The cartoon image of a light bulb over your head when a great thought occurs isn’t too far off the mark. Your brain generates as much energy as a small light bulb even when you’re sleeping.

                3. The human brain cell can hold 5 times as much information as the Encyclopaedia Britannica. Scientists have yet to settle on a definitive amount, but the storage capacity of the brain in electronic terms is thought to be between 3 or even 1,000 terabytes. The National Archives of Britain, containing over 900 years of history, only takes up 70 terabytes, making your brain’s memory power pretty darn impressive.

                4. Your brain uses 20% of the oxygen that enters your bloodstream. The brain only makes up about 2% of our body mass, yet consumes more oxygen than any other organ in the body, making it extremely susceptible to damage related to oxygen deprivation. So breathe deep to keep your brain happy and swimming in oxygenated cells.

                5. The brain is much more active at night than during the day. Logically, you would think that all the moving around, complicated calculations and tasks and general interaction we do on a daily basis during our working hours would take a lot more brain power than, say, lying in bed. Turns out, the opposite is true. When you turn off your brain turns on. Scientists don’t yet know why this is but you can thank the hard work of your brain while you sleep for all those pleasant dreams.

                6. Scientists say the higher your I.Q. the more you dream. While this may be true, don’t take it as a sign you’re mentally lacking if you can’t recall your dreams. Most of us don’t remember many of our dreams and the average length of most dreams is only 23 seconds–barely long enough to register.

                7. Neurons continue to grow throughout human life. For years scientists and doctors thought that brain and neural tissue couldn’t grow or regenerate. While it doesn’t act in the same manner as tissues in many other parts of the body, neurons can and do grow throughout your life, adding a whole new dimension to the study of the brain and the illnesses that affect it.

                8. Information travels at different speeds within different types of neurons. Not all neurons are the same. There are a few different types within the body and transmission long these different kinds can be as slow as 0.5 meters/sec or as fast as 120 meters/sec.

                9. The brain itself cannot feel pain. While the brain might be the pain centre when you cut your finger or burn yourself, the brain itself does not have pain receptors and cannot feel pain. That doesn’t mean your head can’t hurt. The brain is surrounded by loads of tissues, nerves and blood vessels that are plenty receptive to pain and can give you a pounding headache.

                10. 80% of the brain is water. Your brain isn’t the firm, gray mass you’ve seen on TV. Living brain tissue is a squishy, pink and jellylike organ thanks to the loads of blood and high water content of the tissue. So the next time you’re feeling dehydrated get a drink to keep your brain hydrated.


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                Transfer your Mozilla Firefox profiles


                Do you need to transfer your Mozilla Firefox profiles (bookmarks, saved password, plugins etc.) from one PC to another. There might be a number of reasons why you may want to do this. May be you plan to change your hard disk or operating system or you just bought a new PC/Laptop.It’s such a pain to install all the various add-on’s and to import all the Bookmarks again.

                I faced a similar scenario when i changed my operating system.I needed to transfer my firefox profile from the old Operating System to the new one. I found out, it’s the easiest thing to do!

                1.Take Backup of below specified files that are present in your Old Operating System:
                C:\Documents and Settings\(user)\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\(a folder with extension .default)
                2. Install Firefox in the new Operating System.

                3. Copy paste all the contents from your old Operating System location as below to a similar one in the new Operating System location :
                C:\Documents and Settings\(user)\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\(a folder with extension .default)

                The folder with the ".default" extension would be your default profile.You’ll be able to see Firefox the way it was in your old Operating System!

                Note: You can do the same process even when you change the Hard Disk.


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                Tuesday, June 15, 2010

                James Bond Novels

                Casino Royale by Ian Fleming is the first James Bond novel.



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                Top 25 Dividend Yield Stocks 2009-2010

                S&P CNX Nifty (NSE India) highest dividend yielding stocks top15

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