Microsoft MCTS & MCITP Training In Interactive Format - Thoughts

As you're researching MCSE training programs, the chances are you're in one of two categories: You could be considering completely changing your working life to the IT sector, as it's apparent to you there is a growing demand for certified networking professionals. In contrast you're already a professional - and you'd like to consolidate your skill-set with the MCSE accreditation. As you find out about training colleges, stay away from any who reduce their costs by failing to provide the most up-to-date Microsoft version. Overall, this will frustrate and cost the student much more because they've been studying an old version of MCSE which inevitably will have to be up-dated pretty much straight away. Don't use training companies who are only trying to make a sale.

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Ask for comprehensive, personal guidance to make sure you are taking the right decisions. Don't be shoe-horned into their standard course by some pushy sales person. Technology and IT is one of the most exciting and ground-breaking industries that you could be a part of. Being a member of a team working on breakthroughs in technology puts you at the fore-front of developments shaping life over the next few decades.

We're only just starting to scrape the surface of how technology will affect our lives in the future. Technology and the web will massively change how we view and interact with the rest of the world over the next few years. The money in IT isn't to be sniffed at either - the average salary over this country as a whole for a typical man or woman in IT is much higher than the national average. Odds are you'll make a much better deal than you would in most other jobs. The search for certified IT specialists is assured for the significant future, due to the ongoing expansion in the technology industry and the massive shortage that remains.

Most trainers typically provide mainly work-books and reference manuals. This can be very boring and not ideal for remembering. Many years of research has consistently shown that an 'involved' approach to study, where we utilise all our senses, is much more conducive to long-term memory. Start a study-program in which you'll receive a selection of CD and DVD based materials - you'll begin by watching videos of instructors demonstrating the skills, and then have the opportunity to hone your abilities through virtual lab's. It's imperative to see examples of the study materials provided by your chosen company. They have to utilise full motion videos of instructors demonstrating the topic with lab's to practice the skills in. Purely on-line training should be avoided.

Physical CD or DVD ROM materials are preferable where offered, enabling them to be used at your convenience - you don't want to be reliant on a good broadband connection all the time. Getting your first commercial position is often made easier with the help of a Job Placement Assistance facility. It can happen though that people are too impressed with this facility, because it is genuinely quite straightforward for any focused and well taught person to land work in this industry - as there is such a shortage of qualified personnel. Whatever you do, don't wait till you've completed your exams before bringing your CV up to date. As soon as your training commences, enter details of your study programme and get it out there! Various junior support roles are offered to students who are still studying and have still to get qualified. This will at the very least get you into the 'maybe' pile of CV's - rather than the 'No' pile. The most reliable organisations to get you a new position are normally local IT focused employment agencies. Because they only get paid when they place you, they'll work that much harder to get a result. Certainly be sure that you don't conscientiously work through your course materials, only to stop and expect somebody else to secure your first position. Take responsibility for yourself and start looking for yourself. Channel the same time and energy into getting a good job as it took to get qualified. Frequently, your typical trainee really has no clue in what direction to head in IT, let alone what sector they should look at getting trained in.

How can most of us possibly understand the many facets of a particular career if we've never been there? We normally don't know someone who does that actual job anyway. Ultimately, any kind of right choice will only come via a methodical analysis across many unique criteria: * What hobbies you have and enjoy - often these highlight what areas you'll get the most enjoyment out of. * Are you hoping to obtain training for a precise motive - for instance, are you pushing to work from home (being your own boss?)? * Is your income higher on your priority-list than other requirements.
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* Understanding what typical work types and sectors are - including what sets them apart.

* The time and energy you will put into your training. For the average person, considering each of these concepts needs a long talk with an experienced pro that can explain things properly. And we're not only talking about the certifications - but also the commercial requirements besides.

Brachycephalic Dogs and making search SEO pretty

Brachycephaly in dogs means that they have noses that are shorter than their faces are wide. Well, it is just one of the traits. But we have all seen them. Pugs, Bull dogs, Peckingese, Shih Tzu, and Yorkshire Terrier's are all examples of dogs whose noses are shorter than their faces are wide. And it happens in people too. But unfortunately, in dogs, many find it cute, in people, not so much. And these poor dogs suffer. Many can't breath right, they can't keep themselves cool (because most of the cooling in dogs comes through their noses and head), they don't sleep right, they often don't eat correctly, are overweight, etc. All because we think they are "cute".

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But what is worse is that many owners don't figure this out until the problems start. And there are all kinds of problems. But it starts with people choosing with their eyes instead of doing what is right. Don't get me wrong, these dogs make great pets. They are loyal, generally trustworthy, etc. but I do feel for them sometimes. Why would you intentionally create a host of problems just because someone thinks that it is cute? Or profitable.

And so it is with search SEO. Anything for a buck. Let's do a little link stuffing. Or how about a bit of spam? Hm? How about messing with keywords? Oh that would just be perfect. Things that are actually important to society, increase wealth for everyone, get pushed down the search results because some marketing guy thought it would be so cool. Or "cute". This is one of those cases where greed is bad. Mostly because the real cost is delayed. And anytime you delay or defer costs until later, or to someone else, it always ends badly. Usually for the someone else.

"But Inoun, it's jusbiznezz. Don't take it so personally." Well, that is true. But I really do wonder how these people live with themselves. Brachycephalic dogs and Search SEO are not that dissimilar. Both look pretty at first, but after a while, you see how damaging it all really is. Not all, but many of these so called search SEO marking companies twist, turn, and mess up the face of the Internet. And it creates a variety of problems. Legal, expense, and hurts people. Usually the companies that resort to this type of low life activity are also the ones that are willing to hurt kids. Think about it. If you push someone else' results down the list for no good reason, you are literally stepping on them. Climbing over them and thumbing your nose at them. And you don't seem to care about kids either.

Don't believe me? Think about this:

Little Sally loves to play dress up at home with her friends. Because it is fun to play "grown up". So one day she sits down at the computer and types in: "Grown up clothes". Luckily Bing does a pretty good job of filtering out all of the filth that is out there, but inevitably some SEO marketing company thinks it would be so cool to cheat the system and make a quick buck. And hurts kids.

Whether it is the latest fat burning scam, the marketing of M rated games to children, or trying to manipulate the Internet so that you can make a quick fat burning buck, and then walk away, and never look back....

I urge you to reconsider your life, the words you choose, and the proper use of marketing in your life.

Drink and write responsibly.

Us dogs have feelings too.

iPhone 5 rumor rollup for week ending May 27

The anticipation of iPhone 5, iOS 5 or Something Big Anyway is mounting as Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC), which starts June 6, draws nearer.

This week: There will be no iPhone 5 launch at WWDC because of a fire at one of Apple's partner assembly plants, triggering panic among bloggers; there will be an iPhone 5 launch at WWDC because Apple is inviting British journalists and casting a TV commercial; iPhone 5 is already out there being tested but you can't tell because it looks just like the existing iPhone 4; and you will be able to tell because iPhone 5 will have a concave glass screen.
The Date, Part 1: No iPhone 5 launch at WWDC

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There is no, zero, nada chance of iPhone 5 being released in June, BeatWeek assures us. Why, you ask? Because of an explosion and fire a week ago at the Foxconn manufacturing plant where the iPhone, and the iPad, are built. The fire "should put to bed the pipe dream that saw Apple somehow introducing the iPhone 5 a mere six weeks after first shipping the white iPhone 4," BeatWeek sneeringly concluded.

But just to cover all the bases, BeatWeek also said, "But even if Apple were planning to secretly launch the iPhone 5 in June, those plans would certainly have to be scuttled after the factory damage."

The use of the word "certainly" when it comes to rumors and unfounded speculation is always good for a laugh.

MORE IPHONE 5 RUMOR ROUNDUPS: May 20, May 13, May 6

Gizmodo had a brief official statement from Foxconn, which didn't do much to clarify exactly what had blown up and burned, how bad the damage was, or whether there really would be any impact on either current iPad 2 shipments or on the iPhone 5 rollout.

The prospect of delay panicked some folks, like Derick Lemay, at The Red 99. The despair was almost palpable in his post:

"All we can hope is that Foxconn can get their plant up and running as soon as possible. Otherwise we may not be seeing a new generation iPhone at all in 2011."

2011: The Year of the Lost iPhone.

But by last Sunday, two days after the fire, MacRumors was linking to a reassuring China Times story (in Chinese) which claimed that "sources" were saying that "production of iPad 2 would not be delayed and related iPhone devices [could this be iPhone 5?] and new iPad products would still be in mass production in the third quarter."
The Date, Part 2: iPhone 5 will be launched at WWDC

We know this because 1) Apple is inviting British journalists to the WWDC in San Francisco, and 2) a casting call was posted on Craigslist looking for actors to appear in an iPhone 5 TV commercial.

U.K. tech site Mobile Pig tackled the issue head-on: "If you believe the rumours currently fizzing down Britain's broadband pipes, Apple has pretty much put the kibosh on iPhone 5 -- at least for 2011."

That statement actually qualifies as a separate rumor all on its own.

"But if that's the case," Mobile Pig triumphantly asked, "why is Apple's public relations department -- specifically the team dedicated to all things iPhone -- reaching out to selected British journalists in an effort to persuade them to attend Apple's WWDC developer jamboree on 6-10 June?"

Apple to Address Mac Defender Malware With Software Update

Apple has finally acknowledged the recent rise of a fake antivirus program for Mac OS X and has promised to deliver a software update to remove the malware.

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A few weeks ago, a piece of malware known as MacDefender started spreading to Mac OS X users. The software, also known as MacProtector and MacSecurity, warns a victim that his or her computer is infected and goes through a complex installation process for the rogue antivirus. The ultimate goal of the malware is to retrieve a victim’s credit card information.

“In the coming days, Apple will deliver a Mac OS X software update that will automatically find and remove Mac Defender malware and its known variants,” Apple stated on its support page. “The update will also help protect users by providing an explicit warning if they download this malware.”

Apple also posted instructions on how to avoid installing the Mac Defender malware as well as how to remove it from an affected computer.

Calls to AppleCare about the malware appear to be high. ZDNet estimates that anywhere between 60,000 and 120,000 Mac OS X users could have been affected by the Mac Defender attack.

VC Firm Acquiring Intermedia, A Leading Cloud Communications Services Provider

Intermedia.net Inc., a provider of hosted Microsoft Exchange and other communications services for small and mid-size businesses, is being acquired by venture capital firm Oak Hill Capital Partners for an undisclosed sum.

Intermedia has some 6,800 channel partners who private-label the company's services and account for more than half of its sales.

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Oak Hill and Intermedia said Thursday that they have signed a definitive agreement for Oak Hill to acquire privately held Intermedia and they expect to close the deal by the end of June.

The companies also said that Intermedia CEO Serguei Sofinski, who joined the company in 1998 and has served as CEO since 2006, will leave the company and is being replaced by Phil Koen, previously CEO of Savvis Inc., another provider of managed hosting and cloud computing services.

"As a pioneer and now significant player in cloud-based IT services, Intermedia has tremendous potential for further growth by delivering more cost-effective solutions to companies whose on-premise IT is moving to the cloud," Koen said in a statement. "We intend to build Intermedia into a leading provider of a broad suite of cloud services to SMBs and the channels that serve them, with Microsoft (NSDQ:MSFT) Exchange email as the core service."

New York-based Intermedia is a Microsoft Gold Partner whose primary business is hosting Microsoft's Exchange e-mail system. As of April 30 the company managed some 320,000 premium Exchange mailboxes. The company has credited much of its rapid growth to its Private Label Partner Program, which has more than 6,800 global channel partners who account for a majority of the company's sales.

The company also provides other hosted communications services, including hosting Microsoft SharePoint and Office Communications Server. Earlier this year it launched hosted PBX and e-mail encryption services.

"We are proud to have built this company from a startup to a profitable, major player in the IT hosting industry, with no outside investments. We are now the leading independent provider in a rapidly growing market," said Michael Choupak, the founder and majority shareholder of Intermedia, in a statement. "It is very exciting to see Intermedia take this important step to the next level as it aligns itself with great partners to drive further growth."

"We are still in the early stages of a dramatic shift in IT from the corporate premise to the cloud, and Intermedia is in an ideal position to accelerate this shift," said Robert Morse, a Partner at Oak Hill Capital, in a statement. "We look forward to working with Phil Koen and the rest of the management team to drive Intermedia’s next stage of growth."

5 questions to ask before buying Microsoft licenses

Let's face it: Microsoft software licenses are expensive. And that's just the way the folks in Redmond want it. Otherwise, that $62 billion a year revenue stream might drop to a mere $52 billion.

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But customers shouldn't cry for Microsoft. Instead, if they choose Microsoft products over cheaper open source alternatives, they should take a hard line in negotiations to get as much as they can for as little money as possible.

COST CONTROL: 5 tips for managing Microsoft licensing costs

But managing software licenses may be just as difficult as managing the software itself. That's why Forrester Research just came out with a report titled "Consider These Five Criteria When Choosing a Microsoft Volume Licensing Program."

The report details five questions customers should ask before signing a new license agreement, focusing primarily on Microsoft's Enterprise Agreement and Software Assurance subscriptions. Let's take a look at each one.
1. What price can you get?

This first question may seem obvious, but Forrester analyst Duncan Jones says too many customers fail to examine their options. "To get the best price, the buyer must be able to walk away from an inadequate EA (Enterprise Agreement) offer and go for a cheaper alternative, be it buying from the Select Plus program, delaying upgrades, or migrating to competing products," Jones writes. "Similarly, there is no need to reject the EA program until you've given the Microsoft sales team a chance to offer you a compelling deal."

For products like Windows and Office, Enterprise Agreements may offer the best deal for businesses with at least 250 PCs, according to Forrester. The EA includes Software Assurance, which provides access to future product versions, the ability to move licenses from on-premises deployment to a cloud network, and other benefits. There is also a leasing version of the EA called the Enterprise Subscription Agreement.

IN DEPTH: Microsoft's cloud licensing changes: what you need to know

For a couple of examples, A Windows Select Plus license costs $147 while a Windows Enterprise Agreement license costs $186. An Office Professional Select Plus license costs $399 and an Office Enterprise Agreement license costs $636.
2. When will you upgrade again?

The Enterprise Agreement and Software Assurance add to the price of a license, but the ability to upgrade -- say, from Windows 7 to Windows 8 -- without paying a second time may make it worth it.

Software Assurance agreements typically last three years, giving customers product upgrade rights if a new software version is released during that time. Then again, Microsoft may not come out with a new version, or your organization may decide the cumbersome process of upgrading isn't worth it.

"You are in effect making a bet on whether or not your organization will want to upgrade to the next product versions that Microsoft releases," Forrester writes.

With the Enterprise Agreement and Software Assurance, you're essentially "getting two versions for the price of one and a half."

Xbox 360 and Kinect boost Microsoft profits

Microsoft reports record revenues of $16.43bn (£9.86bn) this week for its third financial quarter (ending March 31 2011), with sales of the Xbox 360 and Kinect helping to boost Redmond's coffers.

Revenues were up 13 per cent year-on-year, with overall profits climbing 10 per cent to $5.7bn (£3.42).

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Record Xbox sales

The past year has seen record sales of Xbox 360 consoles, increased by the launch of the new Kinect motion controller in late 2010.

Microsoft's Entertainment & Devices Division (EDD) posted revenues of $1.94bn (£1.16bn), up 60 per cent compared to the first quarter in 2010, with EDD profits up 50 per cent to $225m (£135m).

2.7m Xbox 360s were sold over the quarter, which means total Xbox 360 sales are now near to 53m units worldwide.

Microsoft sold 2.4m Kinect units in the same quarter, which takes total sales since launch to around 10.5m

Further growth predicted

"We delivered strong financial results despite a mixed PC environment, which demonstrates the strength and breadth of our businesses," CFO Peter Klein said.

"Consumers are purchasing Office 2010, Xbox and Kinect at tremendous rates, and businesses of all sizes are purchasing Microsoft platforms and applications."

Microsoft predicts EDD revenue should increase by around 25 per cent in the next quarter.

The company also added that it has sold 350m Windows Phone 7 licenses.

Six rising threats from cybercriminals

For anyone who follows network computing or computing in general, adding these new features to a moving vehicle should raise a red flag as yet another way hackers can cause problems. Since these systems often tap into the car diagnostics and safety features, a hacker could potentially interfere with such systems and, for example, cause a car's engine to surge at just the wrong time, says Stephan Tarnutzer, chief operating officer at automotive control console manufacturer DGE.

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While no real-world exploits are known to have happened, security researchers from the University of California, San Diego, and the University of Washington have hacked into the computers of several late-model cars and remotely disabled the brakes, altered the speedometer reading, turned off the engine, locked passengers into the car and more.

The research team's initial tests relied on plugging a laptop into the car's diagnostic system, but later tests identified other entry points for an attack, including the cars' Bluetooth and cellular connections. More wireless communications in future cars will create even more attack vectors.

The good news, Tarnutzer says, is that most of the forthcoming wireless technology for cars is for short-range communications -- say, from one lane to another or just as you pass through an intersection. That makes it difficult for hackers because they need to be in close proximity to the car.

Nevertheless, wireless connections in cars will undoubtedly make a tempting target for hackers. The answer, says Tarnutzer, is for the auto industry to use strong, hardware-based encryption technology.

For example, the OnStar communications and security service offers a theft-recovery feature that makes use of wireless signals. If your car is stolen, you can report the theft to the police, who then contact OnStar, which can transmit a signal over a 3G network to stop the accelerator from working in the stolen car. OnStar's transmissions are encrypted to thwart unauthorized attempts to tap into signals and interfere with vehicle operations.

Car companies are, of course, aware of the potential for hackers to disrupt in-car wireless services. Representatives from Ford and GM, for instance, said they are developing strong encryption standards for vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-back-end-infrastructure communications.

The technology for the connected car is for the most part still in a testing phase, says Tarnutzer. The DSRC network in particular will undergo thorough testing by both the car companies and the U.S. Department of Transportation to make sure it is hacker-resistant and uses strong encryption, he adds. "This is why it takes two to three years for an OEM to qualify a new vehicle, compared to six months for a new smartphone," he says.

6. GPS jamming and spoofing: Threat or nuisance?

Another emerging criminal tactic -- interfering with GPS signals -- has security experts divided on just how harmful it could become.

Jamming a GPS signal at the source is next to impossible, says Phil Lieberman, founder of enterprise security vendor Lieberman Software. Blocking the radio signals broadcast from orbiting GPS satellites would require a massive counter-transmission. And because the satellites are operated by the U.S. military, jamming them would be considered an act of war and a federal crime, says Lieberman.

10 things IT groups need to know about The Rapture

First the background. Harold Camping, founder of the Family Radio network, has been insisting for months, via broadcasts and billboards, that on Saturday, May 21, at 6 p.m., The Rapture will take place and the end of world, as we know it anyway, will start. He's done this before, in 1994 to be precise, so it's a bit odd that he's getting so much attention this time.

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For many Christians, "The Rapture" refers to a moment when those who are authentic believers will be "caught up" into the clouds with the returning Jesus Christ. There are a range of interpretations about what that means. Then there comes stuff like the Tribulation, Armageddon (the real one, not the asteroid movie), Final Judgment, Eternal Life, with plenty of argument over the sequence and timing of these events.

ANOTHER MOVEMENT: Finding God through open source

Most Christians who accept these doctrines take them seriously. But Camping has convinced some to take it very seriously indeed, as this excellent CNN video report, "Road trip to the end of the world," makes clear: "They walked away from work, families and communities in places as far-flung as California, Kansas, Utah and New Jersey. Among them are an electrician, a TV satellite dish installer, a former chef, an international IT consultant and a man who had worked with the developmentally disabled."

The distinct impression from the relevant New Testament passages -- especially 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 -- is that The Rapture will happen very suddenly, with some number of people just disappearing in the middle of whatever they're doing.

Like, watching the NBA or NHL playoffs. Or being in the playoffs. Or orbiting the space shuttle Endeavor around the earth on its last mission.

Or ... backing up the entire corporate sales, billing and financial reporting database for the month. Or troubleshooting the CEO's iPad 2. Or launching the new, mission-critical, e-commerce website.

But forewarned is forearmed. Here are the 10 things you need to know in case Camping, this time, gets it right.
10. Don't panic.

The only people being caught up will be Christians. If you, and your staff, are pagans, Wiccans, garden-variety atheists (including many who actually attend church), followers of other religions (mainstream or tiny rivulet), devotees of Hawking or Dawkins, or refugees from the '60s, you have *nothing* to worry about. So, considering the state of religious or irreligious belief today, the odds are in your favor.
9. Having said that, automate everything.

God moves in mysterious ways. It's possible that someone who doesn't appear to be Christian, and doesn't even think he is one, could be at risk for Rapturing. (It's complicated. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, which is not typically regarded as a hotbed of Rapture-ism, affirms [paragraph 847] that "Those who, through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or his Church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart, and, moved by grace, try in their actions to do his will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience -- those too may achieve eternal salvation.")

CES: Microsoft Reveals HP Tablet Prototype

We’ve been drooling over a number of leaked images and details about a rumored slab of awesome from Microsoft heretofore dubbed the Courier. Tonight at CES Microsoft unveiled the real deal — kind of.

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Microsoft is making a tablet-like device — several in fact, with different partners (Pegatron, Archos and HP) — which CEO Steve Ballmer referred to collectively as “slate PCs.” But it’s clear these are still early days for the insanely hyped “Microsoft and HP tablet” that was to have challenged Apple‘s also completely mythical tablet that everyone expects to be announced later this month.

This device has no specs yet — not even a name. What Ballmer held up on stage was merely an early prototype of an HP tablet device. The only “details” we really know about it at this point is that it will run Windows 7 and be available sometime later this year. He showed the working prototype only briefly, running Kindle for Windows and being used primarily as an eReader-like device.

In other words, we still don’t have much to go on regarding how exactly the tablet form factor renaissance is going to shake out. Still, other vendors are rumored to be announcing tablets at CES, so we may still see a juicy entrant into this category later this week. But tonight’s expected big reveal was clearly anything but — merely a faint glimmer of the tablet swarm that’s sure to develop later this year.

Nintendo DSi R4

Dsi R4 card's main use is to allow the insertion of Micro SD cards into the Nintendo DSi. With the Micro SD card in your Dsi R4, you will be capable of watching movies, listening to music, browsing pictures and do other things with your gaming console.

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The R4 dsi card for the Nintendo DS can be measured to be a archaic form of the Dsi R4, which can accommodate SDHC substance unlike the regular R4. The Dsi R4 is enormously painless to use. Transmit of files from one's mainframe to the card can be done in a matter of seconds, thanks to the drag and drop feature of the R4 card. R4 DSi card has many different brands. These brands are known for their specification of r4 card in the market.

When you are going to buy r4 dsi, you should be careful of pirated product. It is critical that buyers had better learn the information about this software. There are various types of this software in the market. Most of the time buyers are not aware of the right kind of software required by them. In such situation, they must take the help of shop retailers and reviews in order to make a correct choice. Consumers must have past record about this software before heading for its selection.

It is always advisable to buy the long lasting dsi r4 card in the market. Moreover, several sources are available to learn about the usage of dsi r4. This card now has got a reasonable price. Many reported problems related to this card have been solved. So this is the trustworthy product with high quality and performance.

Microsoft details cloud ops

In addition to cloud computing, Wahbe also offered a few other tidbits about other Microsoft products, aspects of which will also be addressed at the conference this week. One topic will be the upcoming release of Mango, the update for Windows Phone 7 mobile handset OS. This update to the OS, due at the end of the year, will feature integration with Microsoft's unified communications offering Lync Server. Mango users will be able to call up their Lync contacts directly from within the phone itself. The service will also allow users to send instant messages to members of their contact lists as well. Support for accessing SharePoint repositories will also be included in Mango.

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On the VDI (virtual desktop infrastructure) front, Wahbe announced that banking giant HSBC is in the process of rolling out 100,000 VDI desktops across its organizations, making it "one of the largest VDI deployments" existing, he said. System Center 2012 will manage a wide variety of non-Microsoft devices, such as iPhone, iPad and Android devices. "System center will be the end-to-end management console," he said.

Wahbe also took the opportunity to show how the Microsoft Kinect gesture-based motion controller could be used for non-gaming purposes. One medical facility, the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, uses it to allow surgeons in the operating room to move around CAT scan images using arm and hand motions rather than moving the images by hand, which would require washing up afterward. The technology also is being used as the interface for the Microsoft Worldwide Telescope project, so that users can quickly navigate around an immersive collection of images of the universe.

Although Wahbe did not specify any plans for non-gaming support of Kinect, he did say these uses were examples of "future possible device interactions."

Google launches Chrome OS, says Windows is 'torturing users' Part II

Google made quick mention of a partnership with VMware and Citrix to deliver browser-based access to business applications, but said no more details would be revealed until later in the day during a panel discussion on enterprise computing. How the integration with VMware and Citrix will work, and what it will cost, are questions we'll be looking to get answered.

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Thousands of users have tested Chrome OS laptops in a beta period, although more than a million applied for the free trial notebooks. Google characterized the reaction as overwhelmingly positive but acknowledged that users felt the computers should be faster, afford better access to USB devices and provide offline access to email, calendar and Google Docs.

With the June 15 launch, Google will meet all of those concerns by upgrading to Intel dual-core processors, providing the offline access to Docs, Gmail and Calendar, integrating with USB devices and SD cards, and providing a file system to view movies, pictures, documents and other files. A built-in media player will play movies and music.

Google will also provide desktop versions in a small box that connects to a monitor, keyboard and mouse, but no availability date was given.

Users will be encouraged to back up data and settings to cloud-based services -- whether they be Google services or those from the likes of Box.net -- to ensure that applications and data are available from any device and allow users to upgrade computers without a cumbersome installation process.

"We really want to make it possible for users to store their important data in the cloud and access it anytime, anywhere," said Sundar Pichai, vice president of Chrome at Google.

The success of online services shows that many users do trust their data to the cloud. Whether enough will do so to replace 75% of Windows computers is a point that will probably be debated for quite some time.

But there are clear benefits. Google says the computers start up in seconds, resume from sleep mode almost instantly and have battery life of either 6.5 hours or eight hours. On a first use, it only takes a few minutes to set the computer up.

"Each time you open the lid, before you can move your fingers and touch the keyboard, you're connected to the Web," Pichai said.

Google's Chrome OS announcements came on the second day of its annual developer conference. The first day focused on Android, Google's OS for phones and tablets. Some have doubted the viability of Chrome OS given the giant market presence of Android. Whether Google can build two successful operating systems is something we are about to find out. (See also: Android expands reach, consolidates into one platform for all devices)

Uses of Solar Power

Conversion of solar power into electricity is one of the most popular political agenda in many countries, which can be used to resolve the issue of demand and supply gap of petroleum products in an eco-friendly way. Solar Power for home and industrial development is getting famous day by day due to its immense number of benefits. It can be used in many ways, and according to a recent researches, it is found that some scientists have developed a virtual houseplant, which has organic thin-film solar cells as leaves. Here are some of the utilization of solar power, which can benefit the users:

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Air-conditioning though Solar Power: Solar power is one of the most efficient ways to reduce your electricity bills, and that saving can be utilized on other useful purposes. Solar power can also be used to run air-conditions as well, which can be used for homes and industries. You can also get other home solar power equipments in the market, which can fulfill some of your requirements.

Water Heating Systems: Solar energy can also be used for the purpose of heating water for household and industries, and can save more than thirty percent of your average electricity bills. It can also be used to provide electricity for home users.

Solar Trash Cans: Solar trashcans are the latest invention of scientists, which can be used to reduce the impact of trash and various biological wastes in your area. These devices use the energy of sun to destroy the waste without even polluting the environment, and can also store more trash. They are more efficient than other devices and low in operating costs.

Electricity through Solar Power: In order to make a solar powered home, users can install PV panels on the roofs of their houses, which can provide the electricity to the most of home appliances. In addition, with the help of appropriate solar management techniques, one can easily make a full use of solar energy, and excess energy can also be sent back to the grid for further use.

Solar Intersections: Users can also find various equipments and devices, which are used to maximize the visual and lighting impact at any place through solar energy. They are operated on the principal of collecting energy from solar cells.

The above-mentioned measures can educate people about the unlimited powerful capabilities of solar energy, which can be utilized in many useful and productive ways.

The secret Windows tablets of CES

Asus, Fujitsu, MSI, Samsung and Motion aren’t the only PC makers with Windows slates at CES, although they’re the ones you’ll see shipping first (in fact you can order the Asus Eee Slate EP121 this month).

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There are companies you may not have heard of doing Windows slates (like Viliv and Netbook). And then there are some tablet PC makers who are being a bit more cautious. Toshiba has its Windows 7 slate rotating in a case on its stand, carefully labelled as a technology demonstration.

Whatever product that turns into will ship in the US only initially; Toshiba Europe will have a Windows tablet “as soon as possible when we understand the European requirements” Toshiba president Alan Thompson told us.

The other Windows tablets we’ve seen at CES haven’t been on the show floor as products that are ready to ship; they’re prototypes of products we won’t see for a while and some are tucked away in private meeting rooms but they’re evidence that not all the PC manufacturers are going to wait for the slate improvements expected in Windows 8.

Not iPad, LePad

Lenovo is bringing its hybrid LePad Android/Windows combo tablet/notebook out in China first and that might also be the first place it sells the prototype 10.1-inch Windows 7 tablet we caught sight of.

The prototype lenovo windows slate has a multitouch screen – and an active pen for smpoth inking and drawing

ACTIVE PEN: The prototype Lenovo Windows slate has a multitouch screen – and an active pen for smpoth inking and drawing

Lenovo tells us it has plans to bring this Oak Trail Intel Atom tablet out in 2011 and didn’t say any more, but we learned a little more from looking at the system. We didn’t get an official name, but the PC name in Windows is the LT10.

The prototype has a 1.5GHz processor, 2GB of RAM, a 32GB SSD plus USB and SD ports tucked away behind a hinged flap and a dock connector on the bottom edge. It has a 1280 x 800 screen with combined finger touch and an active digitiser for the pen. Both gave us a nice smooth touch experience.

The custom Lenovo interface (divided into Work and Play) has big, finger-friendly icons and it’s much more responsive than the convertible IdeaPad S10 netbooks we’ve tried. Windows was reporting battery life of around six hours with Wi-Fi on (less than the eight hours Motion is promising from its similar slate).

Lenovo

CUSTOM UI: Can’t face touching the Start menu? Lenovo’s custom interface is simple but finger friendly

Lenovo is also planning some nifty accessories, like a desk stand for the pen that holds it upright and ready to grab and a keyboard with a recess for the slate to dock into, as well as a simple dock that’s a stand and charging cradle together.

Acer has been getting attention for the dual-screen Iconia notebook Microsoft showed off in its CES keynote, but we also found an Iconia slate in the private Microsoft PC showcase. It’s another 10.1-inch screen with 2GB of RAM and a 32GB SSD, but this time running on an AMD CPU.

Acer iconia

ONE SCREEN: The slightly less iconic Iconia; instead of a second screen, this prototype has a detachable keyboard

It’s a nice sleek slate running Windows 7 Home Premium and weighing 2.2lb but what makes it stand out is the excellent detachable keyboard. This connects to the standard USB port placed on the bottom edge (where many manufacturers are putting a custom dock connector) with two lugs to keep it in place and a flap at the back to help you fold it down when you want to close the laptop you’ve just converted it into.

When we enthused about being able to rip off the keyboard and leave it at home to lighten the load, Microsoft told us about another tablet coming from Portland-based CTL (a small PC maker with the advantage of being geographically close to Intel, who came out with the $499 2go Pad SL10 for the education market last year).

Their Oak Trail Atom prototype has a detachable keyboard with an extra battery in, which will double battery life – from ten hours up to 20.

You can tell by the finish that this is a prototype slate; we like the physical volume buttons and the sd card slot for extra storage

EARLY VERSION: You can tell by the finish that this is a prototype slate; we like the physical volume buttons and the SD card slot for extra storage

Best Bluetooth Headset

Taking into account recent advances in cell phone accessories, it seems that Bluetooth technology has come a long way. If you take a look at cell phone stores today, you will be surprised to see what all the accessories have sprung up to help mobile phone users to improve communication and entertainment. Bluetooth headsets are compatible with one of the latest technological advances such. The use of these Bluetooth-enabled devices, a cellular phone user can talk on a call without using hands-free headset wires and even listen to music with Bluetooth stereo headphones. To use a Bluetooth headset, which necessarily have to have a mobile phone or personal digital assistant (PDA) with Bluetooth technology.

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Buy Bluetooth Headset
There are some things you need to consider before buying a Bluetooth headset. Check to see whether the device can be put on the glasses or goggles. Also check if you will be comfortable with the handset. Make sure you do not have a break in the ear when you put the headphones continuously for a long time. Comparison of different models and choose one according to his announcement and application requirements.

Also try the clarity of speech, if both parties can hear the conversation without any disturbances. No one can say that a particular Bluetooth headset is the best, as the benefits of individual headphones on usage and user preferences. The best Bluetooth headset that is not the same for another user. Let's move on to some of the best Bluetooth headset choice for people.

Best Bluetooth Headset
ICON jaw (Ace)This is probably the most beautiful Bluetooth headset. Due to the stylish design and latest features, is also considered as the best Bluetooth headset iPhone.

Motorola Endeavor HX1: This product incorporates Motorola's CrystalTalk noise cancellation in fact get rid of background noise.

BlueAnt Q1: With an attractive appearance, this model also has a voice user interface that allows users control functions by voice.

Jabra BT530: With advanced features and earloop role change, this is a Bluetooth enabled headset that fits properly in any ear shape.

Discovery Plaintronics 925: This is one for the Apple iPhone, which has one of the most beautiful and contemporary designs.

Sony Ericsson HBH-IS800: When it comes to the best stereo Bluetooth headset, which can be better than the Sony HBH-IS800, with a quality first-class sound for calls and audio.

Samsung SBH-600: This is a good stereo headset that is best suited for music to use in a mobile phone. It comes with a headphone jack 3.5 mm.

Jabra BT3030, Jabra This is believed to be easy to operate controls, a headphone jack 3.5 mm, and it is more important than the face of the features provided.

LG HBS-250: This product is a good option for those who want a good sound quality, without earplugs. This model is connected with short cables earrings, which sit comfortably on the ears.

Plantronics Voyager 855: The more appropriate for office and personal entertainment. It is primarily a Bluetooth headset to one ear, but using a cable, can be transformed into a stereo headset.

The price you pay Apple to be cool

U.S. retail average selling prices for Macs and PCs reveal a startling, but ongoing, trend. Mac ASPs are higher and Windows PCs are lower than a year ago, according to NPD. The higher pricing also directly ties to brand, which affinity Apple has increased through its retail stores and success of products like iPod and iPhone. Today, Apple topped BrandZ's annual list of most valuable brands during 2010. "The brand increased in value by 84 percent to $153.3 billion," according to the report.

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For Apple there is an integral relationship between brand and equity -- the value consumers are willing to pay to join the Apple Fan Club, which is more true for computers than any other product the company sells. The starting price for notebooks is $999 and $1,199 for desktops -- Apple unveiled new iMacs last week. Windows PCs are cheap, by comparison, selling for as little as $200. A surprising number of people are willing to pay more for Macs -- the Apple brand, really -- which shows up in average selling prices.

The ASP for Windows desktop PCs selling at U.S. retail in March was $515, down from $527 a year earlier. Windows notebook ASP: $505, down from $526, according to NPD. By comparison, Mac ASPs increased March to March -- $1,366 to $1,403 for desktops and $1,340 to $1,448 for laptops.

Stephen Baker, NPD's vice president of industry analysis, puts the ASPs in broader terms: "What is really most important is we are at a state of relative parity in pricing for both Macs and PCs. If you want a desktop or a notebook there is very little, or no pricing penalty (on average) for choosing one or the other. I think that is the real lesson as to what has happened to pricing over the past few years and what todays end result is."

It wasn't that long ago when notebooks commanded a price premium over desktops, even when offering lighter configurations. What hasn't changed is the premium some people are willing to pay for Macs over PCs. If anything, the pricing differences are greater.

Joining the Apple Fan Club for Less

By volume, Windows PCs easily outsell Macs. But Apple is more likely to cash in its brand to convert Windows PC buyers to other products, namely iPad. Globally, PC shipments fell 3.2 percent year over year during first quarter 2011, according to IDC, while Gartner put the decline at a less anemic 1.1 percent. Gartner had predicted 3 percent growth, while IDC expected 1.5 percent growth. "Weak demand for consumer PCs was the biggest inhibitor of growth," Mikako Kitagawa, Gartner principal analyst, says in a statement issued last month. "Low prices for consumer PCs, which had long stimulated growth, no longer attracted buyers."

In mature markets, Windows PC manufacturers have backed themselves into a tight space. Prices can't go much lower, and even if they did, consumers aren't likely to buy yet another computer. They're pining for something else. "Consumers turned their attention to media tablets and other consumer electronics" -- away from PCs during first quarter, Kitagawa says. "With the launch of the iPad 2 in February, more consumers either switched to buying an alternative device, or simply held back from buying PCs."

The iPad's allure is as much about brand as the product, and Apple's success building consumer confidence and cache around being cool. The BrandZ "Top 100 Most valuable global brands" report puts iPad in the broader context of cloud-connected mobile devices, what I've been saying for years will supplant personal computers and reaffirmed in February post: "The PC era is over." From the BrandZ report:

Apple continued quietly developing a cloud and loudly discovered an empty space in the computing category that it filled with a new device -- the iPad. In the last quarter of 2010, Apple sold more iPads than Mac computers. The iPad, which quickly met competition from other tablet makers like Samsung, helped Apple pass Dell and HP in total portable computer sales. An Apple cloud would further strengthen the brand as a trinity of platform, content and device.

According to Nielsen, Apple's tablet market share in the United States is 82 percent, and buyers are changing habits -- dramatically. Among tablet owners, 32 percent use desktops less and 30 percent laptops less -- 3 percent and 2 percent not anymore, respectively. Remember, since eight out of 10 tablet owners have iPads, the behavioral changes skew towards them.

Looked at another way, Apple has lowered the entry price to join the fan club -- to be cool. Now the cheapest Mac you can buy is the $499 iPad 2 (prices go up to $829). Analysts are divided over how to classify iPad. For example, Gartner and IDC don't regard the tablet as a PC, while Canalys does. But, ultimately, the debate is moot, if iPad pulls away Windows PC sales, which Gartner acknowledges is the trend.

Assessing Apple's Brand Value

Apple's brand strategy is multifaceted, but one part is often overlooked for its importance. A decade ago this month, Apple opened its first two retail stores -- in Virginia and California. I covered the opening of the first retail store at Tysons Corner Center in McLean, Va, for CNET News.com. Ahead of the store's opening, analysts, Mac enthusiasts and Apple dealers debated the branded retail shop strategy. At the time, the United States was gripped by recession and Gateway had started shuttering stores (later closing them all). From a purely profit objective, Apple Store didn't make much sense. But there was general consensus that Apple-controlled retail would promote the brand and sell the Mac lifestyle.

Today, Apple operates more than 300 stores, with plans to open 40 more over the next two quarters. Apple retail stores had 71.1 million visitors during the first calendar quarter, up 51 percent from 47 million visitors a year earlier. The stores provide tremendous brand exposure and focal point for the Apple lifestyle, around digital activities like listening to music and watching, making or sharing videos. The iPad and iPhone add a mobile lifestyle component, extending from the others but more connected through the applications and the Web.

The branding works, and people pay more to be cool.

There's a science to branding, for which logos like Apple's are hugely important. A 2008 Duke University branding study by professors Gavan Fitzsimons, Gráinne Fitzsimons and Tanya Chartrand compared different logos. In a Duke University video, Gavan Fitzsimons explains the study sought to measure "incidental branding" -- very short exposure to brand logos. On a typical day the average person is exposed to between 3,000 and 10,000 different brand logo impressions. "We assume that incidental brand exposures do not affect us, but our work demonstrates that even fleeting glimpses of logos can affect us quite dramatically," he says in a statement.

Researchers subliminally exposed students to Apple and IBM logos. Those exposed to the Apple logo "had a goal to be creative," based on a seemingly unrelated additional task using bricks, Chartrand explains in the video. "Apple has worked for many years to develop a brand character associated with nonconformity, innovation and creativity."

The studies' results could easily apply to anything or anyone that people identify with. They inherit characteristics from the thing or person they attach to. Peer influence can magnify the sense of purpose or belonging. Will using an Apple product really make people more creative over time? Certainly they may feel more creative or feel better about themselves for the brand association. Many people feel good enough about Apple's brand to pay much more for a Mac than a PC.

ViewSonic ViewPad 10 tablet: Windows plus Android doesn't add up

The onscreen keyboard is also awkward. It floats to the side, so you have to pull it out when you want it. Some applications let you open the keyboard via a button, but none opened it automatically when I clicked a text field as Android tablets, the RIM BlackBerry PlayBook, and the iPad all do. The keyboard works just like a physical model -- no keyboard layout changes to get used to, as in competing OSes, but given its small size and floating nature, you can't use it for touch-typing. At least the buttons were decently sized. I also tried the pen input capability: That was a painful experience, as the "ink" was slow to appear, and the translation to text was highly inaccurate. Frankly, pen input is good only for checking off boxes in a forms-oriented app.

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The ViewPad could be used as a portable PC into which you plug a keyboard, display, and mouse most of the time and use as a tablet rarely. But the slow performance would render that unworkable -- better to get a small laptop.

The awkward Android experience
When you boot into Android on the ViewPad, you'll immediately notice how much more responsive the Google OS is than Windows 7. The ViewPad runs a custom version of Android OS 2.2, a smartphone edition of the OS rather than the "Honeycomb" Android 3.0 OS for tablets. (Until mid-May, the ViewPad came with the creakingly old Android OS 1.6, which you can upgrade through a complex procedure that requires an external keyboard.)

I didn't care much for the Android 2.2 OS in Samsung's Galaxy Tab, but Samsung's is a better edition than ViewSonic's customized version.

First, the tablet's three physical buttons don't correspond to the four standard Android smartphone buttons, so it's a major relearning if you've used other Android devices. The most frustrating issue is the location of the Power button, which corresponds to the location of the Search button on Android smartphones. Its placement next to the ViewPad's Home (which corresponds to standard Android's Home) makes it very easy to accidentally press, shutting down the device. The Home button works as the Back button; it does not toggle between Home and applications as the standard Android Home button does. Fortunately, the Enter button does correspond to the Menu button that would be in the same location on a standard Android smartphone. There is no button where Search would be; that's not really an issue as other Android tablets don't have this button either.

The soft buttons generally don't correspond to the standard Android buttons either. Home works as expected, but the button where Back would be opens the File Manager, and the button where Menu would be opens a Facebook app called Skyfire.

The ill fit also appears elsewhere. For example, when you tap a text field in various apps, the keyboard displays as you would expect, but it's very hard to tap accurately on a keyboard that's stretched horizontally and compressed vertically. Often your screen is replaced by a black area that contains just the text field, with most of the context removed. It's disconcerting and confusing. (You usually need to tap Next or Done to get back to your original screen and move to the next text field.)

The fact that the ViewPad runs a smartphone version of Android instead of the tablet version really shows when you do things like check email in horizontal (Landscape) mode: The window is way too wide for the single-column layout; text is hard to read at such column widths, especially in the white-on-black text display that most apps employ. The tablet version of Android would make better use of that larger screen, showing your list of messages in one pane and your selected email in another, for example.

Microsoft Office 2010 takes on all comers

Microsoft Office 2010 takes on all comers: OpenOffice.org 3.3.0
OpenOffice.org has long been a commonly suggested replacement for Microsoft Office. It offers several common office-suite features at a much lower price -- free -- than Microsoft Office itself, although many of those individual features don't have the level of polish or advancement found in commercial office-suite products. That said, for people who don't need the absolute latest and greatest functionality in every category, OpenOffice.org is a solid piece of software. (In the interest of full disclosure, again, I admit I have been frustrated by its limitations, but I can recognize that for many other people it will more than do the job.)

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Don't be thrown off if you come to OpenOffice.org from the Microsoft Office side. The program's UI is very vintage 2003 -- dockable toolbars instead of the newer ribbon/tab metaphors that are now all the rage. That said, future versions of OpenOffice.org may sport a more modern look, although this is still very much under wraps -- nothing more than mock-up designs of such a UI have surfaced yet.
Office suites file format compatibility and other features
Office Open XML Office legacy format ODF Spelling and grammar checking PDF export HTML export VBA macro support
Microsoft Office 2010 Native format Excellent Good Excellent Good Very good Native
OpenOffice 3.3.0 Good Excellent Native format Fair Excellent Good Limited
LibreOffice 3.3.1 Good Excellent Native format Fair Excellent Good Limited
IBM Lotus Symphony 3.0 Good Excellent Native format Fair Excellent Poor (conversion by plug-in only) Limited
SoftMaker Office 2010 Excellent Excellent Excellent Good Very good Good VBA-like scripting language
Corel WordPerfect Office X5 Fair (.docx only) Good Fair (.dot only) Good Very good Excellent None
Google Docs Very good Excellent Excellent Fair Excellent Excellent None

13 features that make each Web browser unique

Many cynical users assume Web browsers do little more than dutifully render HTML. The content is the most important part, they say, so it makes little difference which browser you use.

This may be true for basic tasks, but for all their similarities, browsers differ in subtle and significant ways, thanks to the hard work of vendors looking to establish any edge that might attract more users to their stack of code. There are even some features that make each browser unique, and in the technology world, unique functionality often points the way forward.

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[ Find out how to hack your browser in 7 easy steps | Also on InfoWorld: "HTML5 in the browser: Canvas, video, audio, and graphics" | "HTML5 in the browser: Local data storage | "HTML5 in the browser: HTML5 data communications" | "HTML5 in the browser: HTML5 forms" | "HTML in the browser: Geolocation, JavaScript, and HTML5 extras" ]

To get a better sense of the evolution of today's browsers, we compiled the following list of promising features unique to one browser. Don't think this was an easy task; many of the most important and competitive areas are hard to pin down. For instance, all browsers tap the power of multiple cores and make use of the video card, but each approaches this territory in a slightly different way.

Also note that while some of these features are found on only one browser, many can be imitated on other browsers by installing extra code. Some of these extensions even allow you to change the appearance of a browser so that it looks like another -- you get the guts of one and the face of the other.

Given the pace of browser updates these days, don't be surprised to find the best of the bunch being copied by competitors soon. After all, yesterday's browser bells and whistles are today's must-have features. Grab quickly.

Chrome: SPDY
When the HTTP protocol was designed, Web pages consisted of text and a few images. Today's Web pages come packed with dozens of style sheets, JavaScript files, and an untold number of images. HTTP forces browsers to request each item individually, adding to the overhead.

Enter SPDY, an entirely new protocol Google has created to fight this sluggishness. Not many websites speak SPDY yet, but Google claims those that do can deliver their information about twice as quickly. Chrome is the only browser currently working with SPDY-enabled websites, many of which happen to sit in Google server farms.

Firefox: Deep extensions
All of the major browsers have plug-in architectures, but only Firefox offers a deep, sophisticated API. While other browsers allow you to write plug-ins in JavaScript, CSS, and HTML, essentially creating a Web page that wraps around the Web page, Firefox goes one level deeper, giving you access to an API that allows you to build full desktop applications out of browser parts. This is largely an accident of history because Firefox was one of the first with extensions, and the other browsers that came along afterward decided the world didn't need these extra features.

Nanotechnology A Developed Stream For Innovation

Nanotechnology is different than conventional technology that we see. Conventional technology does not use application of various procedures and properties which require a huge research. Nanotechnology is something different, something that can be invented and refined over a period of time. It also means it is something that differentiates the world within us and shows a new way of life. Application of nanotechnology is done in so many ways for better living. There are manipulating matter of different kinds on an atomic scale is known as nanotechnology. It is also called as nanotech which is the short form. Apart from procedures and properties it mainly deals between structural sizes of 1 to 100 nanometers. So small that it is impossible for the human eye to view such objects. Works on nanotech is mainly done with the use of microscope and special lenses. These lenses are designed to deliver high end performance. They can scan objects which cannot be seen by the human eye.

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Use of nanotech can be done to create new applications in the field of medicine, energy production, electronics and biomaterials. This is the bright side of the coin when it comes to nanotech. New inventions will give the human various options in leading a good and healthy life. Yes, we have sort of progressed in the field of extreme science, new elements are discovered which provide an alternate route for high end living. Then there is the other side of the coin which says that nanotech can end the human life. Various applications like nuclear warfare, weapons and other harmful substances make use of nanotech. Environment impact on nanotechnology is huge and has very bad effects. It has the capacity to destroy the heaven in which we are living at the moment. Toxicity present is very high which is not at all suitable for the environment.

Nanotechnology can therefore be defined in lay man's language as a technology that can characterize the future according to its uses. Human is always in the pursuit of creativity, he is never satisfied neither happy with what he has. To accomplish his needs, soon nanotechnology will be put to use. In that use the quality depends and its meaning, it nanotech is in wrong hands then the sufferer will be the human and no one else. But yes, a tremendous growth can be welcomed if it's in right hands. Every country will be soon developed and poverty will be erased.

Amazon to offer bulk e-mail under web services platform

Amazon on Tuesday debuted a new bulk e-mail solution for businesses and developers as part of its web services offering. According to the company, Amazon SES is intended to take out the complexity of sending large amounts of e-mail for smaller businesses while ensuring delivery in a timely manner.

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Users would receive their first gigabyte of data transfer at no charge, and would be free to those who use Amazon Web Service's EC2 cloud or Elastic Beanstalk application-management service as long as it falls within their bandwidth allocations. 2,000 e-mails per day would be covered under the free plan.

Additional e-mails would be charged at a rate of $.10 per thousand, the company said. After the first gigabyte, data would be charged at a sliding rate of between 8 and 15 cents per gigabyte.

SES may be of the most benefit to companies who may not have extensive IT budgets, as all the overhead is paid by Amazon. For Amazon itself, providing such a service even with such large volume should not be a problem: it already has extensive infrastructure due to its online commerce efforts.

Windows Thin PC: because budgets are shifting to tablets

When Microsoft announced the release of Windows 7 SP1 in early February, the company also released some information about a couple of upcoming products: Windows Thin PC (WinTPC) and Microsoft BitLocker Administration and Monitoring (MBAM.)

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Monday, Microsoft shared the first round of information about WinTPC, how it will fit in with volume licensing somewhere between Windows Virtual Desktop access (VDA), and Microsoft Software Assurance (SA), and why it is coming out in the first place.

"Depending on the device and the capability, a thin client could cost as much as a low-end PC," Microsoft's Karri Alexion-Tiernan said on Monday. "Many of you told us that budgets for buying new devices have been reduced, and that you prefer allocating funds towards devices that offer more functionality and flexibility, such as new Windows 7 PCs, tablets, or slates."

So WinTPC will help businesses turn their aging PCs into thin clients without incurring the VDA licensing charge for Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) typically ascribed to Windows Embedded thin clients or old PCs running Windows Fundamentals.

WinTPC instead will be a benefit of the Software Assurance (SA) program, and businesses enrolled in the program will be able to turn their hardware into WinTPC clients with no additional VDA licensing costs. Businesses that don't have SA on their Windows PCs will still be able to purchase a VDA license for each device to get access to WinTPC, but Microsoft hasn't outlined how much this will cost yet.

Microsoft will be disclosing more information about WinTPC at an event this Thursday March 10, and we'll be looking for more information at that time.

Former MySQL boss: Code 'in better shape than ever' under Oracle

Despite concerns that Oracle would be unfriendly to open source projects acquired through the merger with Sun, former MySQL CEO Marten Mickos says the MySQL code base is in fantastic condition.

In an interview this week, Mickos said Oracle may not understand or care much about open source and the task of fostering community involvement, but Oracle seems committed to the products themselves and he has no complaints about Oracle's technical expertise. Version 5.5 of the MySQL database "probably is the best MySQL version ever produced," and the upcoming version 5.6 is looking strong as well, Mickos said.

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NEW CHAPTER: MySQL users urge Oracle to improve commitment to open source

"It's brilliant engineering and they are under the GPL license, completely open source, fantastically built, a low number of bugs, well tested and QA'd. All of that is fantastic," Mickos said. "But where you see it already changing is that in community engagement, discussion forums, bug databases, online documentation, you see how they are moving MySQL into the same mode as other Oracle products. Many in the community will react against it and feel that it's not as open and open source as it used to be and that's true. That's why you see new companies springing up and catering to that need. But the core product, the actual code, is in better shape than ever. And I think they will keep it that way."

Sun acquired MySQL in 2008, with Mickos staying on as a vice president until the next year. Mickos said he loved working for Sun but "didn't think Sun could survive on its own." Shortly after he announced his departure, the Oracle merger was revealed, with Sun ceasing to exist as a standalone company in early 2010. Mickos is now the CEO of cloud vendor Eucalyptus and is in the Boston area this week for the Red Hat Summit.

Oracle, Mickos said, has continued development of MySQL under the same vision set forth before the mergers. MySQL's traditional limitation was that it couldn't scale up, preventing the database from exploiting Sun's big servers. But MySQL could scale out, and that is becoming a very important attribute in the new world of cloud computing, he said.

When asked if Oracle is doing a better job with MySQL than he did, Mickos said, "I would tend to think I was a wonderful CEO and I did everything absolutely right. And we did it very well. The plans we had, they [Oracle] continued to execute on it. The long-term version, they are continuing to execute on it. They are reaching new heights with the technology, exactly as we would have done on our own. But they are really doing it. Many times when technology is acquired by somebody they sort of stop developing it or development slows down. But it hasn't -- they are moving along on the same ambitious plan we had three years ago, four years ago."

Mickos is moving along too, with Eucalyptus Systems, maker of an open source cloud-building platform. "We are trying to build one of the most significant software companies of this era," he said.

Amazon Thinks Every Penny Counts

All those loose coins sitting around your house are music to Amazon's ears. The popular e-commerce site announced on Tuesday a program that will allow users of Coinstar counting machines to cash in their extra change for Amazon.com gift certificates.

Coinstar normally charges an 8.9 percent convenience fee for use of its machines. However, by selecting the option to receive an Amazon gift certificate, users would be able to bypass the charge.

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While Coinstar is not making money through convenience fees, it is making money off of each gift certificate sold, as Amazon is selling them to the company at a discount.

Both companies feel that such a deal will help expand their reach. Amazon's customer base is largely made up of those with credit cards, and Coinstar's growth has been limited by reluctance by consumers to pay the fee. With the deal, Amazon could now target cash-carrying consumers and Coinstar may be able to broaden its user base.

The program will initially be made available on 3,500 machines, with up to 5,000 machines offering the service by the end of the year, according to Coinstar. Since some machines also accept bills, a user could also load up a gift certificate by inserting bills into the machine.

Amazon is not the first company to sell gift certificates through Coinstar. Popular coffee store chain Starbucks last year successfully ran a pilot program that worked much in the same way. The Starbucks program now is offered on most Coinstar machines, along with gift cards from Hollywood Video and Pier 1 Imports.

Yahoo says DRM issue overblown by media, but will offer refunds

Yahoo told BetaNews that the media was hyping the expiration of the company's DRM certificates and didn't expect a user backlash, but said it has decided to offer refunds to those affected anyway.

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Last Week, Yahoo announced in an e-mail to customers that it would remove its DRM keys for authorizing song playback on October 1. This means that although purchased music would continue playing, it cannot be reauthorized, essentially locking it to the current computer. If a user buys a new PC or reinstalls the operating system, the purchased music would no longer be playable.

The move sparked criticism from industry groups and heavy media coverage. The Electronic Frontier Foundation rebuked Yahoo for suggesting users should simply burn all their purchased songs to CDs, saying the company "wants its customers to invest more time, labor and money in order to continue to enjoy the music for which they have already paid."

"What is worse, this suggestion could put customers at legal risk, as they may not have documentation of purchase," the EFF added.

For its part, Yahoo believes the situation is being overblown. The company claims it notified users of change in February, when it first announced it would be closing its Yahoo Music store. But although customers were told they would be migrated to Real's Rhapsody service, BetaNews found no mention of the expiring DRM on songs that were purchased.

Those customers who were merely paying for the subscription rates will simply see their music library converted over to Rhapsody songs, and shouldn't experience any problems. Yahoo said it will refund customers who opt not to switch to Rhapsody but still have time remaining on their subscriptions.

But after September 30, those who actually purchased songs from Yahoo will be left without any options. Yahoo says it is now considering how to make amends with such customers, although it seems they will need to contact the company directly and be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.

A Yahoo spokesperson told BetaNews she could not disclose the procedure for reimbursing customers who purchased songs. Reports have stated the company is looking into providing customers with DRM-free versions of the tracks they bought instead of a refund, but the spokesperson could not confirm this to BetaNews.

Some are questioning why Yahoo isn't following in the footsteps of Microsoft, which shut down its MSN Music store two years ago and had planned to expire its DRM license keys on August 31, 2008. After a large public outcry, Microsoft reconsidered the decision and in June said it would continue to authorize DRM playback for another three years.

Yahoo Music customers should contact the company to find out how they can be reimbursed for their purchases.

Microsoft: We're Not Bound by GPLv3

Microsoft shot back at the open source community Thursday, saying it would not provide support for software licensed under the GPLv3. The third version of the GPL -- a license used for open source software -- was officially launched a week ago by the Free Software Foundation.

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"Microsoft has decided that the Novell support certificates that we distribute to customers will not entitle the recipient to receive from Novell, or any other party, any subscription for support and updates relating to any code licensed under GPLv3," the company said in a statement.

The reasons for this are simple: GPLv3 adds provisions into the agreement that make it difficult for Microsoft to assert its patents against Linux developers.

Additionally, the GPLv3 also makes future deals like its pacts with Novell, Linspire and Xandros illegal, something the Redmond company obviously wants to avoid.

"Microsoft is not a party to the GPLv3 license and none of its actions are to be misinterpreted as accepting status as a contracting party of GPLv3 or assuming any legal obligations under such license," it added.

Certficates for Novell SUSE Enterprise Linux support distributed by Microsoft covered the GPLv2 version of the product. Novell is expected to sign on to the newer GPL version, which some have said would indirectly mean Microsoft would be bound by its provisions.

Additionally, since the certificates apparently have no expiration date, a customer could use the certificate for software issued in the future under whatever version of GPL is current at the time. This could potentially also cause problems for Microsoft.

Essentially, Microsoft is pulling out of the distribution part of its deal, as it says the certificates that it would distribute would not entitle the customer to any GPLv3 protected software, at least initially.

Regardless of what this means for GPLv3 and the future of the Novell deal with Microsoft, Microsoft watcher Mary Jo Foley said that some parts of the company's strategy here did not "add up."

Foley wonders how lawyers for Microsoft could let the company issue the certificates without any expiration date, as well as not thinking the Free Software Foundation would attempt to prevent Microsoft from making good on its legal threats in the future.

"Is Microsoft legal holding a trump card that no one knows about? Or is Microsoft really as inept in fighting off open source as it currently seems?" she asked.