Friday, June 27, 2008

Sivaraman's Column-1: A look into Google Docs

(Good morning to all of you! This is Suri from Karaikudi. The time of 09.10 hrs IST. Here is a new column, which I hope you will enjoy and benefit, especially beginners.
My young friend, Mr.K.Sivaraman, is about to complete his M.C.A. He is a soft and kind-hearted person. Taking advantage of his helping tendency, I have been exploiting his knowledge of software and Net. I have requested him to regularly contribute a column in this blog and he has very kindly agreed to it. The first article appears below.)

Sivaraman’s Column-1:
You want to keep your files safely and access them from anywhere?

Google has come up with yet another wonderful feature, viz., “Google Docs”.

1. The first advantage is it is entirely FREE.
2. You can personalize and have your own “Google Docs”, which you alone or people who have your permission can alone access/edit.
3. You can convert any document file into PDF or RTF or HTML format.
4. You can upload every single document into your Google Docs if it does not exceed 500 KB.
5. If the document is in PDF format and you want to upload it, the size should not exceed 10 MB.
6. You can create spreadsheets and can convert them to XLS and HTML.
7. It also accepts popular file formats like ODT, ODS, CSV, PPT etc.
8. You can create folders and organize your files into various folders.
9. As it has autosaving feature, power failures and system breakdowns will not affect our work; they will remain safe.
10. As for sharing, you can share your files with anybody by directly instant mailing them from Google Docs itself.
11. For Bloggers, it is a boon. They can go to Google Docs and read for themselves the other interesting and useful features. For example, you can post directly from Google Docs.
12. You don’t have to HTML as it will convert files into HTML itself and then you can directly publish in your blog or website. Likewise, you can remove postings from your blog/s or website/s you want to delete from Google Docs itself.
13. The interface is user-friendly and anybody can easily understand without difficult and start using it right away.

Personally, I found it to be very fast, including upload and download. Conversion is also very fast. I would like go deeper into Google Docs and shall come back to you with more interesting and useful features.

Bye, see you soon again!

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Digital Solutions to serve the elderly

Smart devices to improve security and interfaces for those with impaired vision or hearing.

European Union (E.U.) member-States have agreed to develop innovative digital products and services to improve the lives of older people at home, in the workplace and in society in general.

The plan foresees smart devices for improving security at home, mobile solutions for vital-signs monitoring and user-friendly interfaces for those with impaired vision or hearing.

The plan, proposed by the European Commission in June 2007, had already been approved by European Parliament in March 2008 in a first reading. Twenty EU member states, as well as Israel, Norway and Switzerland would participate in this 600 million Euro joint research project called, “Ambient Assisted Living” program.

Between now and 2013, another 400 million Euro are allocated to research and innovation for the elderly people under the EU’s seventh Framework Program for Research and Technology Development. “There is no reason for older people in Europe to miss out on the benefits of new technologies. The solutions and services resulting from this program will help them to remain active in society as well as staying socially connected and independent for a longer time,” said Viviane Reding, E.U.Commissioner for the information society and media.

The E.U. is a fast aging society. By 2020, a quarter of its population will be over 65 years of age. Spending on pensions, health and long-term care is expected to increase by 4% to 8% GDP in the coming decades. EU research and innovation in “aging well technologies” has already had a successful track record in creating innovative digital solutions for the elderly. Two examples are MobilAlarm, a tracking service allowing older persons to initiate an alarm call and get support whenever and wherever they need or want to do so, and 12HOME, the world’s first standardized remote control for domestic appliances, making televisions, heating systems, microwaves and washing machines more accessible for people with physical or cognitive impairments. – Xinhua.

Courtesy: The Hindu, Madurai, June 26, 2008

For article on Xinhua News Agency from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xinhua

For article on European Union from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Union

For article on European Parliament from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Parliament

For more info on “Ambient Assisted Living”:
http://proposals.aal-europe.eu/

“€1bn in digital technologies for Europeans to age well” –
http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/einclusion/policy/ageing/launch/index_en.htm

Grateful thanks to Xinhua, The Hindu
and Wi
kipedia.

Mobile World-1: Nokia to buy balance 52% in Symbian by Anand Parthasarathy

Finland-based handset-dealer Nokia on Tuesday (June 24, 2008) announced that it planned to acquire the remaining 52% shareholding of Symbian, the US-based maker of phone operating software that runs most of the world’s smart phones, in a deal worth $410 million. It already owns almost 48%.

The announcement came coincidentally on the tenth birthday of Symbian, whose operating system today fuels over 65% of ‘smart’ phones – that is mobiles that double as Internet devices – as well as some 6% of all handphones, totaling 206 million phones worldwide.

The move, seen as shrewdly heading off challenges from the other smart phone operating system – Windows Mobile – as well as the software that drives Apple’s iPhone, is also a shot across the bows of Google.

Courtesy: The Hindu, Madurai, June 25, 2008

For a detailed article on:

Nokia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokia

Symbian OS: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symbian

Windows Mobile: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Mobile

Apple's iPhone: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iphone

Grateful thanks to Mr.Anand Parthasarathy, The Hindu and Wikipedia.

Dotcom World-3: Microsoft emerges Winner in Reputation Study (Special Correspondent, The Hindu)

U.S. software-giant Microsoft has topped the list of most reputed companies in India, followed by Infosys and State Bank of India(SBI). Intel, Maruti Suzuki and TCS take the next three spots on the reputation front, says the ‘Corporation Reputation Manager’ study conducted by global market information and insight group, TNS.

The study, considered to be the annual barometer of corporate reputation in India, further says that the Tata group features strongly in the top 12 list with TCS, Tata Steel and Tata Motors. Looking at performance within specific sectors, Microsoft leads in the technology sector, SBI in the financial services sector and Maruti Suzuki in the automobile sector. In the engineering and infrastructure, Reliance leads while Nestle edges Hindustan Unilever for the top position in FMCG. The TNS study says Reliance Communications and Hindustan Petroleum are the leaders in telecom and petroleum sectors, while Ranbaxy occupies the top slot among pharmaceutical companies and LG Electronics leads the way among consumer durables.

According to Muder Chiba, ED, TNS India: “As companies become valued beyond last quarter’s financial results, and as corporate valuation shifts from a focus on physical assets alone, building and retaining corporate confidence becomes key.”

Courtesy: The Hindu, Madurai, June 25, 2008.
For a detailed article on Microsoft:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsfot
Grateful thanks to The Hindu and Wikipedia.

Dotcom World-2: 'New Firefox in download record'

San Francisco: Mozilla on Tuesday (June 17, 2008) released an improved version of its Firefox web browser that has gained popularity as a free alternative to Microsoft’s ubiquitous Internet Explorer.Mozilla said Firefox 3 promises Internet surfing that is fast, secure and easy to customize because it is designed to adapt to people’s online activities.The company claimed that the new Firefox version, available in 50 languages, is at least twice as fast as its predecessor and boasts “15,000 improvements” including malware protection.“We are really proud of Firefox 3 and it just shows what a committed, energized global community can do when they work together,” Mozilla chief executive John Lilly said in a release.Interest in the California-based organization’s new-generation browser was so intense before its release on Tuesday that traffic to the Mozilla website caused it to crash. Free downloads of Firefox 3 started at http://getfirefox.com after the problem was fixed.Firefox 3 is available free for computers using Windows, Linux, and Macintosh OSX operating systems – AFP.
Courtesy: The Hindu, Madurai, June 19, 2008.
For a detailed articles from Wikipedia on:
Mozilla Firefox:
‘Web Browsers’
Grateful thanks to AFP, The Hindu and Wikipedia.

Dotcom World-1: 'New e-mail addresses from Yahoo"

Yahoo on Thursday (June 19, 2008) tripled the size of its globally-popular free online e-mail service by adding two domains as options to “yahoo.com” addresses.

The introduction of “ymail.com” and “rocketmail.com” as Yahoo e-mail address options comes as the Internet firm strives to convince investors it is on a path to reclaim faded glory and eroded revenues.

Yahoo Mail is the most popular web-based e-mail in the world. Its profitable, advertisement-supported service has approximately 266 million users, according to industry statistics.

Adding new domains is intended to let users who have outgrown or never really liked their yahoo.com e-mail addresses to have chances at better choices.

“We recognize that people want an e-mail address that reflects who they are,” said Yahoo Mail vice president, John Kremer. “We have a lot of user Ids out there and it is pretty crowded. We want to remedy that and make sure users get the ID they want.”

Free e-mail addresses are typically assigned on a first-come, first-served basis. This means newcomers choosing yahoo.com Ids are unlikely to get their prime choices when signing up.

A Harris Interactive study commissioned by Yahoo concluded that 70% of adults w0ould select an address that includes all or part of their names.

Yahoo says the rocketmail and ymail choices are meant to give another chance to email users saddled with addresses such “CutiePie4ever80” or “Mary2455”.

“A happy user is one that stays around and is a Yahoo user for life.” Mr.Kremer said, “If you have an e-mail address that is your name at ymail, that becomes part of your identity.”

Yahoo expects users to readily recognize “ymail” because it is used for a version of the e-mail customized for mobile devices.

Rocketmail has a “hip retro feel” because it is a resurrect3ed e-mail address that belonged to a company Yahoo bought in 1997, according to Mr.Kremer. “This adds millions and millions of new Yahoo accounts out there for users. Effectively, we are tripling the size of the Yahoo name space.” – AFP

Courtesy: The Hindu, Madurai, June 20, 2008.
For a detailed article from Wikipedia on Yahoo:
For a short article, "Ymail Opens" from Memento Mori:
Grateful thanks to AFP, The Hindu, Wikipedia and Momento Mori.