Internet Salsa

Google buying Youtube??

2006-10-09T17:43:00.000-05:00

Yes...for $1.65 Billion.
Deals to close by the end of the year.
More details to follow.

Get your Right Jeans--Zafu.com is there to help you.

2006-10-06T01:52:00.000-05:00

"We Match Jeans To You."---Yes, thats what Zafu does. Zafu.com is a nice website where it gives you an idea on the type of Jeans to buy upon answering some questions. Do the following and you will get the right type of jeans :

i)Select the Waist Fit
ii)Select the Waist Gape
iii)Select the Waist Shape
iv)Select the seat
v)Select the thigh
vi)Select the Stats
vii)Select the Wishlist
viii)Select Rise

Its very easy to go through all those steps and each step is provided with visuals.
It also takes your age, height, show size into consideration.

After you are all done then it will suggest you the jeans with price. Oh by the way you will be able to select the brand names as well during selection criteria.

You can even save your results by creating an account.

Zafu has done about 5 years of research to make this happen. "We have drawn on five years of fit research and algorithm development from our sister company Archetype and then measured, assessed and photographed thousands of women trying on hundreds of pairs of different jeans."

One more thing--this site is for ladies Jeans....

So ladies if you are confused about selecting the right type of jeans then you might wanna take a look at Zafu.com

Adult movie under Children's Category??

2006-10-05T12:27:00.000-05:00

You must have heard of a comparison site called "Nextag." They boast around 11 million visitors a month, which is impressive.

The other day I was checking my yahoo email and I saw a Nextag advertisement. I usually do not click on ads but I just clicked on that Nextag ad not that I have never heard of Nextag. I just wanted to see how Nextag was handling mortgage stuff.

Long story short--While I was on Nextag.com I also browsed for some movies for my daughter. And guess what kind of movie I found..I found an adult movie under Children category. Is that a mistake on Nextag's side?

Click here and you will see what I m talking about.

Igor Falecki, 4 years old drummer!!!

2006-09-24T15:04:00.000-05:00

I m sure you have seen/heard about this kid in news/internet.
He is really amazing.

Been Away

2006-09-21T17:44:00.000-05:00

As you can see that I haven't been writing for almost 2 weeks.
We have a new baby now. He was born 2 weeks ago. Its one of the reason that I haven't been able to devote time to write here.

But I will start writing soon.
Keep Watching...

Can Myspace.com win over Itunes?

2006-09-05T02:59:00.000-05:00

Myspace.com, one of the major site has decided to sell music of more than 3 million unsigned bands. They are also working with Paypal for online payment system and don't forget that Myspace is owned by Newscorp.

I m not sure how this will affect Itunes, becuase Itunes offer signed bands as well and covers about 70% of US market in online digital music.

Other big player to jump is Microsoft who is going to launch "Zune", which is like a music download store.

Can A Call Center Employee use your credit card?

2006-09-05T02:51:00.000-05:00

By now many of you (those of you who are in US) might have spoken/dealt with some one in India or other countries over the phone. Many call centers have opened up in India in recent years. Even major companies have opened their call centers to save cost.

But how safe is it? In other words, how safe is it to give credit card information to someone who is far away?

Recently, a call center Employee was arrested who was accused of using credit card of the customer for herself. This was not the only incident, but also back in June, and Employee in India took about $418,500.

You can read more here

Where did The Beatles Get their Name?

2006-09-04T02:33:00.000-05:00

Have you ever wondered about the origin of the name of the bands/groups?
I came across a website where you can find (not all) some interesting facts about the origin of the band's name. Not all are the real answer but the webmaster has tried to come up with some alternatives.

Here is some from the website

CREED - This popular Florida band was named after former bassist Brian Marshall's
earlier band Mattox Creed. www.creednet.com

DEF LEPPARD - Joe Elliot, lead singer, wanted to use the idea provided by the band Led Zeppelin's logo and transformed what he originally had as deaf leopard.

DEPECHE MODE - from the name of a fashion magazine, meaning hurry up fashion

BOB DYLAN - His real name is Robert Zimmerman - he liked the poet Dylan Thomas.

Click here to see more

Is this Magic or what?

2006-09-01T00:49:00.000-05:00

Is it fun to throw away cell phones?

2006-08-31T19:13:00.000-05:00

Well must be for some. Believe it or not you can win a medal by throwing a cell phone the furthest. Some throwers did the same at the Mobile Phone World Championship that was held in Savonlinna, Finland.

Lassi Etelatalo of Finland won the gold medal who threw a Nokia cell phone at a distance of 89 metres.

So I guess this is an alternative to those who don't make it to the Javelin throwing competition.

Finnish have also started other competitions such as Wife Carrying and Sauna World Championship.

How did he get that Umbrella So Small?

2006-08-25T18:11:00.001-05:00

Something for fun after all its Friday.

Amazing Height for a 13 year old

2006-08-24T01:50:00.000-05:00

When was the last time you saw a 13 year old weighing 256 pounds, 6 foot 8 inches tall? If your answer is no then here is the picture of that kid during a Little League World Series 2006 in South Williamsport, PA.

14-year-old girl sues friend over missing iPod

2006-08-24T01:40:00.000-05:00

You gotta love the litigousness of youth -- especially when there's an iPod involved. A spat over a missing iPod resulted in a lawsuit in Wheaton, Illinois.

read more | digg story

Are you for Google Video?

2006-08-19T17:56:00.000-05:00

The search giant's video service is easy to use, but skimpy when it comes to programs you actually want to watch. But Google is putting enough emphasis on the site
â??nudging aside Froogle on its main page to make room for the video search toolâ??that it seemed worthy of inclusion in our series on Web video sites.

read more | digg story

Good Bye to Internet Service on Boeing

2006-08-17T18:07:00.000-05:00

Were you going to check emails at 35000 feet? Well, it doesn't look like that you will be able to since Boeing is shutting down its service that was going to offer internet service on its planes. It is also a complex process to install internet service and will be expensive. Airlines are more concerned about the high cost of oil rather than the internet service.

However, LiveTV LLC and AirCell Inc are developing such service but at low price. There are however few Asian and European airlines that have signed up for such service. Lufthansa offers free internet service for its business class during long flights.

Verizon is also discontinuing its phone service soon.

I think its fine to drop such services specially of the recent threatening incidences.

Bellies Painted

2006-08-16T21:32:00.000-05:00

I had seen bellies used as a billboard/advertisement, but today I saw this picture of pregnant women from China who had their bellies painted during a painting contest. The first picture shows a husband painting on his wife's belly.

Source: Yahoo Photo

Google to Distribute Discount Coupons Online

2006-08-15T16:37:00.000-05:00

How often do you search for coupons online?

I did use a coupon that I printed online couple of weeks ago for my car repair, and was useful.
I m sure you all at some point have gotten mails full with coupons. But now Google is also taking part where it is displaying coupons from merchants that are listed in Google. According to the news, VALPAK will be providing initial coupons to Google and will be updated every night. It will be available on Google's mapping service.

Google will also allow other businesses to come up with coupon and take part and its free for them to do so.

But how does it affect other online coupon services? I m sure it will hurt them since Google has lots of traffic. It is taking advantage of its huge traffic. VALPAK got lucky but at the same it is also boosting other businesses, and I would like to see how it will affect the google ads. Google is planning to display short, text-based ads as well.

President of Iran has a blog

2006-08-14T14:35:00.000-05:00

I guess these days everyone is getting into blogging. Even Iran's President Mahmood Ahmadinejad started to blog.
His first posting was posted on Aug 11th where he wrote about himself (autobiography) and talks about Iran as well.

You can also view in English.
Click here for the link of his blog.

18,000 websites devoted to Miss World 1994

2006-08-14T00:15:00.000-05:00

Since winning the title of Miss World 1994, Aishwarya Rai has been exposed to the western world a lot (Hollywood, Cannes Festival, Oprah's Show, etc). You can even see her in many commercials outside of India. She has also starred in her first English film "Bride and Prejudice." According to the recent report/news, she lost about 22 pounds in 3 days for a movie where she could be wearing a bikini.

Anyways, the reason I wanted to write on her here is that there are more than 18,000 websites devoted to her. Thats a lot...

Click here to see her interview on CBS (The Early Show)

25th Aniversary of Personal Computer (PC)

2006-08-12T22:52:00.000-05:00

Who is PC? Thats the question I was asked by couple of people when I had written "25th Aniversary of PC" on my MSN messenger window.

Anyways...25 years ago on this date, IBM launched a Personal Computer (PC) - the IBM 5150. The PC was priced at $1565 with only 16k memory. "The machine was developed by a team of 12 engineers, led by Don Estridge, who was also known as father of the IBM PC."

Over the years a lot has changed and have brought a revolution in the field of computing. IBM's PC division is now owned by a Chinese company Lenovo.

Apparently nothing was mentioned on IBM.com.

The 25 Greatest PCs of All Time

2006-08-12T12:43:00.000-05:00

Here are the top PCs ever, from machines you owned and loved to systems you've never heard of.

read more | digg story

One of the world's Largest Libraries going Online

2006-08-11T15:29:00.000-05:00

Google is rolling...They never stop. They have many projects under their belt. The next major one is to put the whole library online. Its not just any library but one of the World's Largest Libraries. Google is planning to put all the books from the libraries of University of California. UC has about 100 libraries in all of its campuses.

I don't know how they are gonna do this but its a major project. Amazon.com had done similar stuff where you could search inside the book. Well its not really similar. Either way this is going to be a very tough.

According Google, the copyrighted materials "will be limited to title, author, a few lines of text related to the query and where it could be bought or borrowed."

what's in for Google?
Well, first thing that comes to my mind is that they could charge the University some fee to put the library online, and I guess some ads.

Other universities such as Harvard, Stanford is also interested in this project.

Will this affect the employment at those libraries?

2006-08-11T11:54:00.000-05:00

World record trampoline slam dunk!

Check out the whole video. Do not do this at home or work.

Notebooks, iPods, mobiles, books banned on UK flights

2006-08-11T11:36:00.000-05:00

Air travellers leaving the United Kingdom on Thursday faced the strictest security measures in years: iPods, cellular phones, laptops, and even books and magazines were no longer permitted as carry-on items.

read more | digg story

Topless Car Wash

2006-08-10T17:11:00.000-05:00


Do you want to see a Sexy Topless CarWash.....Play the video

Google: the Godfather of Open Source?

2006-08-10T15:53:00.000-05:00

It's well known that Google runs its vast array of servers using a custom version of GNU/Linux. But this is only one aspect of its support for free software. Others include its Summer of Code, now well established as an incubator of both coding talent and projects, and more recently its open source code repository.

read more | digg story

446 Million Watching TV on Their Cell Phones By 2011

2006-08-10T02:08:00.000-05:00

From the "Take it or leave it" network: IMS Research forecasts that by the end of 2011, nearly half a billion people will be watching TV on their cellular handsets. Driven primarily by the adoption of broadcast-based services such as DVB-H, mobile digital TV will experience 50% year-on-year growth through 2010.

read more | digg story

Spring Break MISHAP !

2006-08-09T11:31:00.000-05:00


I thought this was funny. I m not sure this was a set up or not.

Yahoo! Search Builder launches

2006-08-08T11:20:00.000-05:00

With Yahoo! Search Builder you can create a custom Web search engine by selecting a set of trusted sites to search across or you can tune the search algorithm to the topic of your choice.

read more | digg story

Google Research to Release 1 Trillion Words Online

2006-08-04T12:17:00.001-05:00

"We believe that the entire research community can benefit from access to such massive amounts of data. It will advance the state of the art, it will focus research in the promising direction of large-scale, data-driven approaches, and it will allow all research groups, no matter how large or small their computing resources, to play together."

read more | digg story

Linux -- The next TV Operating System

2006-08-04T12:17:00.000-05:00

The TVs aim to make accessing video and similar online content easier than with computers, spokeswoman Mina Naito. The other companies involved are Sharp Corp., Toshiba Corp. and Hitachi Ltd.

read more | digg story

About Time: AOL Goes Free

2006-08-03T04:34:00.000-05:00

After much speculation, AOL announced today that it would finally bite the bullet, and become a free portal, complete with free AOL email addresses for anyone who wants one. The company says it now wants to exploit the "explosive rise in broadband usage and online advertising", though, of course, it's already missed out on much of the explosion.

read more | digg story

America's First Train with Fast Wireless Internet Debuts in California.

2006-08-03T04:33:00.000-05:00

The proof of concept, which was conducted along 16 miles of track between the Millbrae and Palo Alto stations, was deemed a success when multiple people surfed the Internet simultaneously, watched streaming video, answered e-mail and completed a large file download all while maintaining continuous connectivity at broadband speed.

read more digg story

Terminator Gives British Prime Minister Blair iPod After Visit...

2006-08-02T19:19:00.000-05:00

"Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, handed Blair an all-new 60GB black video iPod as a souvenir of the trip yesterday...The music player was pre-loaded with 160 songs about California." Unknown if Blair said, "I'll be back"....

read more | digg story

Las Vegas hosts two hacker conferences

2006-08-02T19:18:00.000-05:00

The middle-aged G-men who wear crisp suits and consort with teenage hackers sporting purple hair can make the two conferences that will converge in Las Vegas this week look like a scene from a science-fiction movie.

read more | digg story

Compilation exposing 9/11 Truth

2006-08-02T00:46:00.000-05:00


This video takes a closer look at the collapse of World Trade Towers in Sept 11th.

China shuts blog by Tibetan author that wished Dalai Lama happy birthday

2006-08-01T16:20:00.000-05:00

I guess Chinese are good at it. Must be watching online activities pretty seriously. According to the report, China government shut down a blog written by a Tibetan author who wrote Birthday Wishes to Dalai Lama and touched...

read more | digg story

YouTube Overtakes MySpace

2006-08-01T16:12:00.000-05:00

YouTube has established itself at the top of the league of the new generation of community websites by becoming even more popular than MySpace, according to research. According to Nielsen/NetRatings, YouTube's American user base grew by 297% in the first half of the year.

read more | digg story

Google beats other Online Giants in Global Brands!!!

2006-07-31T16:55:00.000-05:00

We all know that Google is now like a house hold name. People even use it as a verb and on finger tips . According to the survey done by BusinessWeek and Interbrand, Google ranks 24 as the best global brands. Google is ahead of companies like Dell, Sony, Oracle, Apple, EBay, and Yahoo among others. Below is the list of some technological companies that's on the list who is behind Google.

Google was at 38 last year.

You want to know how it is calculated and who is on the top of the list?

Well click here for the complete list.

Behind Al-Qaeda's I.T. Department...

2006-07-31T16:51:00.000-05:00

there are real people, in real space, maintaining what is, in effect, al-Qaeda's I.T. department. Last October, the most important member of that group so far -- the man who has been called "the Godfather of cyber-terrorism" -- was arrested. He is a 22-year-old Muslim immigrant to Great Britain named Younis Tsouli.

read more | digg story

Some of the oldest Domain names ever registered

2006-07-30T23:32:00.000-05:00

I was on a website where I found some of the domain names that were registered way back in 1985. According to the website "symbolics.com" is the first one on the list and was registered on March 15th, 1985. The website of "symbolics.com" however is not that impressive.
Please click here for the 100 oldest domain names ever registered.

http://www.jottings.com/100-oldest-dot-com-domains.htm

Google Donates Search Appliance to Joel on Software

2006-07-30T02:20:00.000-05:00

Seth Godin persuaded Google to donate one of their new Google Mini appliances to power Joel on Software.

read more | digg story

India plans free software for all

2006-07-30T02:19:00.000-05:00

India is expanding a government-led program to provide free, local language software to all of its citizens, as it tries to broaden computer use in the country.

read more | digg story

Pentagon Watching Youtube Closely

2006-07-29T12:56:00.000-05:00

The Pentagon is keeping a close eye on what its troops post online, with special attention being paid to videos that show the aftermath of comba

read more | digg story

YouTube Denies $1 Billion Valuation, But Okay with $600 Million

2006-07-28T14:25:00.000-05:00

YouTube's founder seems fine with $600m. $1 Billion valuation doesn't make sense.

read more | digg story

Pay your bills on Time..Otherwise...

2006-07-28T13:37:00.000-05:00


This is a cool add from Thailand. Very cool concept.

How is Kazaa paying the huge amount?

2006-07-28T13:20:00.000-05:00

I m sure you have heard in the news about Kazaa paying over $100m in lawsuit. The founders of Kazaa also founded popular "peer to peer voice service" Skype. Skype was then sold to Ebay for couple of billions of dollars. So do you think they (founders of Kazaa) is using some of that money to pay the legal fees? Either way they can still live large.

Why Yahoo!, eBay, Amazon, and AOL are tanking?

2006-07-27T18:38:00.000-05:00

"From the ashes of the 2001-2002 crash there emerged four horsemen of the dot-com apocalypse: Amazon.com, Yahoo!, eBay, and AOL." "But in recent weeks, at a time when online advertising and e-commerce are enjoying strong growth, all four have pulled up lame."

read more | digg story

Who gets what in a 99 cents download?

2006-07-27T02:22:00.000-05:00

Record companies keep about 72.5 cents on average for a 99 cent song, the credit card company then gets a small slice. The rest goes to the people who sold the song.

read more | digg story

The numbers are in for Google Talk, and they're not good

2006-07-26T12:33:00.000-05:00

"Google (Talk) is a distant, distant 4th after MSN, Yahoo and AIM. They hold a pitiful 1% of total instant messaging market share, with 3.4 million unique users in May 2006." The numbers however do not factor in Google Talk's usage within Gmail.

read more | digg story

Facebook giving away 10 million iTunes songs

2006-07-26T12:32:00.000-05:00

Starting today Facebook will give away 1 million, 25-song music samplers from iTunes each week for the next 10 weeks. Each iTunes sampler will feature Ã¢ï¿½ï¿½select songs from a different genre ranging from Alternative to Rock, Hip-Hop to Dance and Electronica.

read more | digg story

Collection of Interesting Google Links

2006-07-25T16:19:00.000-05:00

Check out these some interesting and strange lonks that are under Google. Some are fun and some interesting.

read more | digg story

First Kazaa, Then Skype, and now "The Venice Project"

2006-07-24T18:25:00.000-05:00

Serial entrepreneurs Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis are at it again, this time with a venture for distributing TV and other video over the Net.

read more | digg story

YouTube Worth $1 BIllion? But Who Will Buy It?

2006-07-24T18:24:00.000-05:00

John Battelle ponders who could buy YouTube, recently speculated to be worth $1 Billion, without getting burned.

read more | digg story

2006-07-23T16:24:00.000-05:00

Do you have faster internet connection??

Why would you need a faster internet connection? Check this video out and you will see what I mean.

2006-07-23T16:08:00.000-05:00

What is "Internets?"

Is there a word called Internets? Well watch this video...

China's online population hits 123 million

2006-07-23T13:09:00.000-05:00

China's Internet population has jumped to 123 million at the end of June, consolidating the nation's status as the world's number two after the United States, the government said.

read more | digg story

The World's Most Misunderstood Programming Language

2006-07-22T11:17:00.000-05:00

"Despite its popularity, few know that JavaScript is a very nice dynamic object-oriented general-purpose programming language. How can this be a secret? Why is this language so misunderstood?"

read more | digg story

YouTube Is The Fastest Growing Website

2006-07-22T11:16:00.001-05:00

The popularity of YouTube is growing at an astronomical rate, as web traffic to the video-sharing site grew 75% just in the week ending July 16.

read more | digg story

Congress goes after sneaky 'sex' sites

2006-07-22T11:16:00.000-05:00

Web pages that use innocent words like "Barbie" or "Furby" but actually feature sexual content will be subject to felony charges, thanks to a bill the U.S. Senate approved Thursday.

read more | digg story

Shakira - Hips Dont Lie spoof

2006-07-22T00:32:00.000-05:00


Another funny video on Shakira's song. Casts.. Shakira - Ryan Gangsters - Sal, Matt Directed/Filmed/Edited - Tom Go to the official shakira spoof homepage at www.myspace.com/shakiraspoof

George Bush singing "Sunday Bloody Sunday"

2006-07-22T00:23:00.000-05:00


This video is really funny, and well done.

Automated Freebie Finder Updated

2006-07-21T00:46:00.000-05:00

Freebie Finder still aggregates freebies while filtering out scams and referral pyramids by detecting links on multiple sites. The new Freebie Finder also predicts categories and countries for new freebies and then utilizes user input to refine these initial predictions through user votes on categories, descriptions, countries, and ratings.

read more | digg story

Nigerian 419 Scams: Still going strong

2006-07-21T00:45:00.000-05:00

Savvy Internet users don't bat an eye when they receive e-mails offering to make them a partner in shady money-laundering schemes. The venerable Nigerian 419 scam has been around for so long that it can be difficult to believe it still takes people in - A recent world coverage shows that this scam is still going strong.

read more | digg story

MySpace for Jobs Receives $18M

2006-07-21T00:43:00.000-05:00

Interestingly, Jobster doesn't make its money from consumer-facing services. Instead, it builds Friendster-style social networks for nearly 400 corporate customers, who pay between $1,000 and $9,000 per month for the service. Customers include Boeing, Microsoft, Expedia, Google and Starbucks.

read more digg story

Top 10 Dumbest Online Business Ideas That Made It Big Time.

2006-07-20T00:21:00.000-05:00

1. Million Dollar Homepage, 2. SantaMail, 3. Doggles, 4. LaserMonks, 5. AntennaBalls and so on.

read more | digg story

Google Exec Challenges Berners-Lee

2006-07-20T00:15:00.000-05:00

"A Google executive challenged Internet pioneer Tim Berners-Lee on his ideas for a Semantic Web during a conference in Boston on artificial intelligence."

read more | digg story

Yahoo? Google produces 40% more revenue from each search

2006-07-20T00:11:00.000-05:00

"Shares of Yahoo fell to their lowest level in nearly two years in after-hours trading yesterday as it reported weak revenue from Internet search advertising..." "Google, which continues to increase its share of both users and advertising revenue, produces 40 percent more revenue from each search than Yahoo does"

read more | digg story

Google sends blogger aspirin after complaining about Google headaches

2006-07-15T00:31:00.000-05:00

After writing a blog post titled â??Dear Google, Youâ??re Giving Me a Headacheâ??, Google sent the author a small pack of acetaminophen, with a message saying "I hope this helps you keep up with the many Adwords changes."

read more | digg story

100 Best Places to Work in IT!

2006-07-12T20:25:00.000-05:00

For the 13th year in a row, Computerworld conducted a survey to identify the 100 Best Places to Work for IT professionals. A total of 20,435 IT professionals responded to the employee survey from the final 100 companies selected.

read more | digg story

How will YouTube make money?

2006-07-12T20:23:00.000-05:00

"Can YouTube make money from these millions of mouse clicks? Is there a business plan that ensures the 1 1/2-year-old San Mateo start-up is not just another Silicon Valley one-click wonder?"

read more | digg story

eBay Bans Sellers from Using Google Checkout

2006-07-06T11:21:00.000-05:00

eBay is banning sellers from requesting payment through Google Checkout. The online auction giant updated its Safe Payments policy this week to add Google's new payment service, Google Checkout to its list of online payment methods not permitted on eBay.

read more | digg story

Its Google Checkout not GBUY

2006-06-29T15:28:00.000-05:00

So its not GBUY that most of us heard in the past. Its called Google Checkout which was planned to be released on June 29th, 2006. Unlike many of it's (Google's) services which used to be launched as Beta version; Google Checkout will be launched with its final version.

It was also speculated that Google was trying to compete with and Paypal, but that's not true according to the Gartner analyst Weiner. As a matter of fact, Google Checkout will offer more than Paypal. Google is also taking advantage of its advertising platform. Google has even considered including Paypal as a payment option, which I think can be a good move, since Paypal has more users and Google can take advantage by reaching even wider audience with its advertising scheme.

I guess we will know more when it will finally shows up. Do you think this will be a big hit for Google unlike their news service?

Google File System - how Google does it

2006-06-28T17:43:00.000-05:00

While many IT shops deal with the issues related to hundreds or thousands of users, Google regularly manages, administers and upgrades software and systems for millions of users. How do they do it? This article presents an excellent overview of the Google file system and its unique capabilities.

read more | digg story

DSL to Overtake Cable Internet by 2010

2006-06-20T14:32:00.000-05:00

The number of households using broadband is expected to double within the next three years as DSL surges past cable Internet as the high-speed service of choice for consumers, analyst firm JupiterResearch said Monday.

read more | digg story

How One Spammer Got BILLIONS of Pages into Google in 3 Weeks

2006-06-18T01:50:00.000-05:00

One Romanian company has taken spamming Google to new heights. Learn how they got over 7 billion spam-filled pages into Google in under 1 month.

read more | digg story

Almost Every South Park Episode Online

2006-06-18T01:47:00.000-05:00

Almost every episode from seasons 1 through 10 with no commercials. Amazing.

read more | digg story

Google's Not-So-Very-Secret Weapon: Googleplex

2006-06-13T23:03:00.000-05:00

"Google is working on a secret weapon in its quest to dominate the next generation of Internet computing. But it is hard to keep a secret when it is a computing center as big as two football fields, with twin cooling plants protruding four stories into the sky."

read more | digg story

EBay now has 200 million registered users

2006-06-13T22:31:00.000-05:00

EBay can be the 5th largest country in the world behind China, India, USA, and Indonesia if its 200 million registered users can form a country. This is very impressive and this number doesn't include the users from its other properties such as Rent.com, Shopping.com, etc. Who knew that an auction site would come this far within a decade?

eBay is mostly popular in US, UK, Germany and South Korea, and has about 75 million active users world wide.

Adidas VS Nike, Yahoo VS Google

2006-06-13T03:47:00.000-05:00

Would you compare the rivalry between Adidas and Nike with Google and Yahoo? I m trying to explain about the rivalry between Adidas and Nike over the world cup soccer. No doubt that Nike is the number one shoemaker in the world, but its Adidas that has the exclusive rights to advertise during World cup Soccer 2006. How did they get that deal? is it because Adidas is from Germany...Anyways..

Adidas has been pouring in millions of dollars into soccer, which is the number one sport in the world. More people around the globe watches World Cup soccer than Olympics, and Superbowl. Adidas has even rights to advertise in all the TV ads in US for all the 64 matches. They even lead in Japan over Nike specially when Adidas sponsored the Japanese National team for World Cup 2002.

However, Nike took a different approach, i.e. a virtual approach. Nike along with Google started a soccer community online called Joga.com. Its a community like Myspace.com except that Joga serves as a platform for all the soccer fans where one soccer player can meet other soccer players and share their experiences including pictures and videos. Nike even has an online ad featuring Ronaldhino, a Brazilian player who is considered to be the best in the world. Nike says that the ad has been downloaded over 30 million times. Ronaldhino is amazing in this ad where he tries on the golden soccer/football shoes and shows his magic with the ball. Nike became serious about the soccer since 1994 and they have spent almost 1.5 billion dollars.

Adidas has even secured to be the exclusive sneaker sponsor for 2008 summer Olympics that is going to be held in China. That is a big step entering a huge market. Nike of the other side sponsored the Indian cricket team with around $44 million. Adidas has been gaining markets in other sports besides soccer. Adidas is not that behind when it comes to the overall share outside of US. Adidas has 28% whereas Nike has 31%.

Adidas is supporting for Germany and guess who has the support

Get updated with World Cup scores

2006-06-12T12:52:00.000-05:00

Google lets to you add scores and schedules on their page. Its pretty good. You can get the results live, schedules, and also the rankings.

I do also check yahoo's section as well. Since they are the official website for FIFA world cup, they have more coverage, but google is for quick stats/info.

By the way Czech indeed outplayed US with 3-0 score.

How far can a MYSPACE.com user go?

2006-06-09T17:15:00.000-05:00

Really....how far can a myspace.com user go?
Well, one teenager did go as far as Jordan. Actually 16 years old Katherine R. Lester from Michigan met a man from West Bank on myspace.com, and went to meet the guy and was stopped by the officials in Jordan.

Straight A student lied to her parents saying that she was going to CANADA, and the officials tracked her in the outbound flight from NY to Israel.

So why do you think the teenager was thinking of? One has to be very careful with sites like Myspace.com where 100s of possible sex predators resides...

PayPal Fee Calculator

2006-05-27T00:49:00.000-05:00

If you use Paypal frequently then there is a website where you can calculate the fee charged by Paypal.com. It is a Paypal Fee Calculator. It has all the necessary options. You can even select the country that the payment is coming from, and which country the payment is going to. Different Paypal rates (Standard, Merchant Rate I, eCheck, etc) are also included. Reverse calculator is also included on the website.

See for yourself by going to PPCALC.com .

found through Problogger.net

Yahoo.com And Ebay.com Partnership

2006-05-26T17:41:00.000-05:00

By now you all have been aware of the partnership deals between two mega players on the internet. Yes, the partnership is between Yahoo.com and Ebay.com. Yahoo.com will be providing better search results on Ebay.com where millions of Ebay customers can search the products efficiently. In addition Yahoo.com will provide ads on Ebay exclusively. In return, Yahoo will have to promote Ebay's merchant services, Paypal.

I m sure both Microsoft and Google might be feeling some kind of pressure. But does this deal really hurt Microsoft and Google?

In my opinion it might not hurt Google that much after all it leads the search market with impressive 42 percent with Yahoo at 28%. But Google is not quiet either. Yes the Chinese president met with Bill Gates not long ago at the latter's residence, but its Google who got a good deal with Dell. Google's software will be installed on Dell's Pcs which can be a big blow to Microsoft.

Anyways, getting back to the Yahoo and Ebay deal...Who will benefit more? Yahoo or Ebay? I think Ebay might benefit more since Yahoo already has both the merchant and auction services, whereas Ebay will be banking on the ads that Yahoo will provide, and also Ebay's Paypal will gain more marketshare.

On the other side of the spectrum, I still think Microsoft should take some action about this whole situation. May be Microsoft should be eyeing on Myspace.com and Amazon.com.

So lets see what happens down on the road.

Yahoo's New Look!!!

2006-05-16T10:20:00.000-05:00

I have been away these past several days.
I m still away and now in Key Largo..

anyways, some days ago I had said that the Yahoo was not coming out with new look.
The reason I said that was that I didn't see any mention of their new look after their announcement of new look. They announced only for one day and didn't hear anything after that.

But today I saw it again, and I think it looks better this time. However, the rest of the pages look the same.

So check it out. They have a sneak preview. I m not sure whether they will have a sneak preview tomorrow.

Amazing Juggler's Video

2006-05-04T16:04:00.000-05:00

This is one amzing Juggler indeed.

No More New Look for Now

2006-05-03T22:20:00.000-05:00

I guess many didn't like the new look of Yahoo.com. Its not there now.
I think they should not rush. The current look of Yahoo.com is not that old yet.

New Look Of Yahoo.com

2006-05-02T12:25:00.000-05:00

What do you think of new look of Yahoo.com ?

When I went to yahoo.com this morning I was confused to see the new look. Actually I didn't realize that they were testing the new look. I thought it was "myyahoo" page, but it wasn't.

You can view the page both in narrow and wider version. Its kind of early for me to tell whether I like this new look. But I didn't like the wider version of the site. The narrower version is obviously is less scattered. I guess they would also change the whole site besides the index page. That's a lot of work, and why are they doing this so soon...

Lets see how others react to this look?

Google is not the boss in South Korea.

2006-04-29T16:45:00.000-05:00

Yes, Google's interface is very simple with one search box, and it is the leading website/search engine in the world. However, that's the not case in South Korea. Google is not the leader in that country. People in South Korea are considered some of the most internet-savvy in the world. According to WebSideStory (Web Analytic company) Google represented about 17% of unique visitors in March, 2006.

Who is the leader in Search Engine in S Korea then?
Its called Naver.com (Korean site), which links accounted for about 58% of search referrals. Daum communications was in second place with more than 48% and Yahoo Korea with 32% landing in third position.

Why is Google lagging behind?
Unlike Naver, and Yahoo, Google's search relies heavily on a software. Naver is driven by human expertise to deliver search results. Other feature of Naver is called "knowledge iN" that has help create a database filled with questions and answers. Users can ask questions and are answered by other users. It now totals over 4 million entries. Such feature has been attracting South Koreans internet users to Naver where they interact with other people. So basically its a "people-created" website.

Despite advertisements/publicity/spending by Google in S. Korea, it still is lagging behind sites like Naver.com.

Google.com can not be the boss in every country.

Another Online Buddy--Gasbuddy.com

2006-04-27T00:08:00.000-05:00

Have you heard of a travel site called Bookingbuddy.com ? Its a pretty neat site that helps you find good deals on your travel.

Well, there is another buddy online, and it has to do with travel. It is called gasbuddy.com. Gasbuddy.com helps you find cheap gas in your area(USA/CANADA). There are at least 173 other local sites that is operated by Gasbuddy.com, which shows the listings of various Gas station with prices. You can search gas stations to find such price. Registered members submit the prices that they see at gas stations.

Gasbuddy.com also displays the followings :-

10 lowest by state
10 lowest by city
Regular Average Price of Gasoline in US and Canada
Most Active user (who submit the price the most)

Price is taken out every 48 hours. Its a pretty cool site. Check it out to know more.

Is Yahoo a detective?

2006-04-19T15:56:00.000-05:00

That's right..Is Yahoo.com a detective or in other words a virtual/online cop?

Yahoo.com was accused of putting another Chinese user in prison. This is the third time that Yahoo.com has helped the authorities.

According to the report, Jiang Lijun was arrested for in late 2003 and was put into prison for his activities against the communist government.

The verdict also said that the draft email that was saved into Jiang's account was titled "Declaration" and indicated that Jiang along with other activists were planning to prepare a party and throw Communist Party using violence.

Just recently China's president was having a dinner with Microsoft's Bill Gates. I m wondering whether he will also visit Yahoo for helping his government in arresting Jiang.

Back again

2006-04-19T15:53:00.000-05:00

It was nice trip to Seattle, Portland and Vancouver(Canada).
I think I liked Vancouver the most. Very vibrant city with both ocean and mountains.
Portland is also not bad with lots of outdoor activities to do.
Will be posting some pictures soon.

On Vacation

2006-03-28T03:41:00.000-05:00

Hey Folks..
I m still here but on vacation.
I will be back soon.

Till Then take care.

Where do you get your news from?

2006-03-23T23:01:00.000-05:00

Where do you get your news from? Do you get your news from your local newspaper/TV, national paper/TV or the Internet?

With growing number of Internet users, many are getting their news via Internet. According to the survey done by Pew Internet and American Life Project, there are about 70 percent of Americans have internet access, and half of those (74 million) have faster internet connection.

Below is some of the figures reported by the study:

Out of 40% of broadband users,

71% had used internet for their source of news
59% used local television
53% cited radio

Based on Age :

Broadband users under 36 are most likely to get news online than the older folks who uses internet
43% of those over 50 are getting news online

Foreign Sources:

Due to the faster connection people have been using foreign sites such as BBC and Al-Jazeera to get news

So is it affecting other medias such as local news papers, local TVs, etc with more and more people getting their news online? I don't think so, because we have to remember that the local news paper, and local TVs also have their websites with up to date news. And the people are using such sites as well. May be the question could be--Is it affecting the advertisers who is advertising on local news papers/Tvs?

Google Finance!!! Whats Next?

2006-03-21T22:41:00.000-05:00

Google has introduced yet another section-- and its "Finance." You can now visit http://finance.google.com to get into the finance world and can learn more about their Finance section. Most of you know that Google started as a simple search engine and over the years it has been adding many more services.

Google Finance according to its website says that it is in beta phase, and provides a "broad range of information about North American stocks, mutual funds and public and private companies along with charts, news and fundamental financial data. "

Their website claims that it has some specific features, but I didn't find anything special about this section. I still prefer Yahoo's finance section. The finance section at Google is pretty simple and the content on the front page is basically the headlines from various sources.

However, it might be better for bloggers since Google Finance displays blog posts, when you search for information on any company. This can be a big promotion for good bloggers. Well Good Bloggers don't need that much of a promotion but still helps a lot.

I guess the Google Finance will start featuring Advertisements.

So lets see what's next? I guess Google will be coming with new interface now that they gave many features already on the roll..

A Town will be on Sale again on Ebay!!!

2006-03-19T00:39:00.000-05:00

Just couple of days ago I had mentioned about a town being auctioned at Ebay. Now the same town will be back for sale at Ebay in April. The opening bid will be $1,750,000.

The town called Bridgeville was first auctioned at Ebay and ended up with a winning bid of about $1.7 million. However, the winner didn't get the town, because the seller didn't disclose information about the poor condition of the town. Later in May 2004, Bruce and Elisa Krall bought the town for $700,000.

The town of 25 people have been maintained with big investment from the current owners. Current owners are selling it due to some family reasons.

Details such as history, opportunities, property overview/description/investment opportunities are mentioned on its website.

The town which is about 83 acres has its own Zip code 95526.

".XXX" Domains for Porn Sites

2006-03-17T15:39:00.000-05:00

Are you a Kiss fan? I mean the musical group "Kiss." If you are, then you might have heard of a song called "Lets put X in sex."

Well now the senators are proposing for ".XXX" domains for porn sites. Basically they do not want porn sites to be associated with popular domains such as .com, .net, .gov, .edu, .org. I am not sure there are sex/porn sites with .edu or .org domains. But you get the idea here...The other point they are making is that by providing ".XXX" domains; it will be more easy for parents to monitor their kids from visiting porn sites.

Not a bad idea, but I think it might lure kids to sneak in and visit such sites since ".XXX" sounds spicy.

Source: Yahoo News

Who was selling Canadian Military Items on Ebay?

2006-03-16T14:41:00.000-05:00

I have to tell you that Internet/Online can be crazy at times. I m sure you have noticed that too.

You have heard about under wears being sold on EBay. I mean used under wears. Have you heard a town being auctioned at EBay? I don't want to continue with the list..You get the idea.

This morning I read about Canadian military uniform and equipment being put up for sale at Ebay.com. It has however taken off from EBay now. Canadian military is investigating the incident.

So who is putting on EBay? How did he/she get the item (unless the military personnel themselves putting the items on sale)? Don't EBay monitor such stuff?

May be luggage got lost in the airport and whoever later found it thought that by putting on EBay would make him some money..Who knows?

Canadian uniform is unique. George MacLean, an international security analyst said "Canadian military uniforms would be highly coveted because of their pixilated pattern, which makes them difficult to see even with night vision equipment."
I hope they work harder to prevent such incidence to occur in the future. According to the report, this is not the first time since this happened.

How about EBay? Don't they monitor such stuff? I guess they care less since they are overwhelmed with millions/billions of transactions that take place every day. They should have one big security department that monitors suspicious items being put for sale.

Don't worry Be Happy..You have one another Search Engine to Use

2006-03-14T15:53:00.000-05:00

Have you heard of "Accoona.com"? Well, its another search engine that was launched in 2004. Their logo looks similar to Google.com....well not exactly but both of have two Os.
According to its website, word Accoona is derived from the Swahili phrase "Hakuna Matata," which means "Don't worry be happy."

Privately held Accoona.com said that it "uses a heavy dose of artificial intelligence to find results that Google and other search sites may miss."

Unlike Google and Yahoo, Accoona is based in Jersey City. According to New York Times, the site started in China "as a partnership between the China Daily Information Company, the official English-language news site of the Chinese government, and China Communications Corporation, a search technology company."

They were trying to take advantage of the upcoming Olympics in China making e-commerce between China and USA easy which led to the creation of a search engine.

I also tested the site, and I m pretty impressed with the result I got. The site also says that it returns only relevant searches even if the the search word do not appear in the result (but the result will be relevant). SO I guess that means it will not produce millions of search results including bogus ones.

Another feature is that it links advertisers with its potential customers. For instance if you search for an electrician then it will also give you an option to be contacted by electricians. You will need to provide your contact information if you are interested in the service so that the highest bidder will contact you. Sounds like service auction. Must be tough for smaller guys the money will be limited to bid. So will the big guys (those who spend most) always win?

Still too early to tell how this each engine will compete with Google or Yahoo. Wait!!! Yahoo also has some stake (investment) on Accoona.com!!!

So, "Don't worry be happy" you have one more search engine to use.

Microsoft is serious about adCenter!!!

2006-03-12T22:08:00.000-05:00

It was Amazon.com who waited this long to get started in videos now its Microsoft who is trying to challenge/compete Google and Yahoo.

Based on the article by Daisuke Wakabayashi at Reuters, Microsoft wants to pocket large portion of "15 billion dollar US market for Internet Advertising." Microsoft is going to sell pay-per-click ads similar to that of Yahoo and Google with its new program called "Adcenter." The program was already announced last year but now they are serious about it.

Microsoft is planning to use the ads on Microsoft related sites, and can be beneficial for Microsoft since millions of people are already using its services such as hotmail, and messenger. However, it can be tough to challenge both Yahoo and Google. MSN's search engine is behind Google and Yahoo. MSN generated only $1.4 b compared to that of Google($6B) and Yahoo ($4.6b) in 2005.

Article also mentions that most of the "paid search ads" on Microsoft is handled by Microsoft. I m wondering how that will affect Yahoo when Microsoft wants to go solo.

But it can go in favor of Microsoft also since the online ad market is moving up as Microsoft's Bradford says "The online advertising market is growing at such a rapid pace and we want to participate in some of that, this isn't a winner-take-all proposition."