Thursday, October 23, 2008

KallOut, Powerful Contextual Search

killer application

 
 

Sent to you by Somy via Google Reader:

 
 

via Google Operating System by Alex Chitu on 15/10/08

When you read an article, you often find concepts or names that aren't properly explained, but it's inconvenient to interrupt your reading and use a search engine to find more information. KallOut is a Windows application that addresses this problem: whether you read the document in a browser, a word processor or in a PDF reader, you can select some text and obtain some useful information in a mini-browser.

KallOut lists many search engines and reference sites from which you can choose, but it also suggests good options. For example, if you select "DMCA takedown", KallOut suggests an article from Wikipedia, for "Flickr" KallOut points to Flickr's homepage, while "NY" is linked to Google Maps and geotagged photos from Flickr.



The software displays search results, maps, videos, Wikipedia articles, definitions, translations - all without opening a new page. For now, KallOut supports Internet Explorer, Firefox, Microsoft Office 2003/2007, Adobe Reader, WordPad and Notepad.

Internet Explorer 8 introduced accelerators, a similar feature that already has a public API and an impressive gallery, but KallOut is not limited to Internet Explorer, it's easier to use and it requires less clicks.


 
 

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Friday, October 17, 2008

Lessons in Building Scalable Systems



 
 

Sent to you by Somy via Google Reader:

 
 

via Google Talkabout by Bill Kee on 19/09/07

I gave a presentation about the Google Talk Service a while ago at the Google Scalability Conference hosted by Googlers in Seattle. You can watch the video below.

Here is the abstract:
Since launching Google Talk in the summer of 2005, we have integrated the service with two large existing products: Gmail and orkut. Each of these integrations provided unique scalability challenges as we had to handle a sudden large increase in the number of users. Today, Google Talk supports millions of users and handles billions of packets per day. In the presentation, I discuss several practical lessons and key insights from our experience that can be used for any project. These lessons cover both engineering and operational areas.



Posted by Reza Behforooz, Software Engineer

 
 

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New transliteration bots make it easy to chat in Indian languages



 
 

Sent to you by Somy via Google Reader:

 
 

via Google Talkabout by Brian Hutchins on 12/08/08

Have you ever wished that you could chat with your family and friends in your native language? Sometimes there's just no substitute for expressing a thought in your own language. Google Talk now has transliteration bots that will convert text from English to Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil or Telugu. Think of a bot as an invited guest to your chat session that will transliterate what you type in English to the right local script. For those who are not familiar with transliteration, it is a service provided by Google India that allows you to type in Indian languages using phonetically equivalent English script (it is also available on our labs page, orkut scraps and blogger). If you're chatting in Hindi, when you type 'haal kaisa hai janab ka?' the en2hi.translit@bot.talk.google.com bot will reply in Hindi as 'हाल कैसा है जनाब का?'

There are currently 5 transliteration bots - Hindi (en2hi.translit), Kannada (en2kn.translit), Malayalam (en2ml.translit), Tamil (en2ta.translit) and Telugu (en2te.translit), and remember that their names end with "@bot.talk.google.com". To use one of these bots follow these three steps:

1) First add the bot that you want to your friend's list. (For example, add en2hi.translit@bot.talk.google.com for Hindi). You just need to do this once.
2) Start a chat session with your friend
3) Convert the chat session to a group chat and invite the bot to it.

Read this to know more about the bots, and let us know what you think.


तो शुरू हो जाइए...





Kuntal Loya
Software Engineer

 
 

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5000+ Resources to Do Just About Anything Online



 
 

Sent to you by Somy via Google Reader:

 
 

via Timeless Tales by Deepak on 13/10/08


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6 Key Ways to Measure Your Blog's Success - Six essential tools for measuring how your blog is performing.

30+ AJAX-Powered WordPress Plugins - AJAX provides a way to have pages auto-update to reflect new data without page reloads. These are 30+ tools written for your WordPress blog with this in mind.

50+ Ways to Track Website Traffic - It's difficult to grow your blog or website without having some data on how people are finding you and using your site.

120+ Resources for Bloggers - From design to hosting, there's something here for every level of blogging experience.

40+ Firefox Add-ons for High Speed Blogging - Let your browser help you speed up your time working on your blog.

40+ Free Blog Hosts - Sometimes you want a blog, but not the hassle of maintenance; these pre-built, free blog hosts are the answer for you.

8 Pownce Rivals Compared - We don't all have time to run a full-featured blog, so why not use a mini-blog to still get your voice heard or keep friends up-to-date?

70+ Podcasting Tools and Resources - Pretty much everyone has heard of podcasting, but it's hard to learn where to start. This list includes tools for both the beginner and the seasoned veteran.

12 Twitter Apps for Your Phone - Do your mini-blogging while on the go.

50 Great Widgets For Your Blog - All sorts of services offered by third-party websites for you to add new features and functionality to your blog.

120+ RSS Resources - It's amazing how many people still haven't adopted RSS, (Really Simple Syndication, a way to publish and subscribe to frequently updated content like blog entries and news items), and this toolbox aims to educate to the new way of keeping up with all your favorite blogs.

30+ Tools For Working With Wordpress Posts - Tools for tweaking and customizing the your WordPress posts.

30+ 1-Column WordPress Themes - A group of WordPress themes for those who want nothing but the easiest look they can go for.

30+ WordPress 2-Column Themes - Apply some 2-column design ideas to your site.

30+ WordPress 3-Column Themes - For those folks who want their WordPress blog to show a little bit more information and organization.

50+ Tools For The WordPress Admin - Tons of tools for helping you manage the backend of your blog; these tools help you out with the administration side of things.

50+ WordPress Plugins for Multimedia - The Internet is becoming more and more of a multimedia experience and there's no reason why your blog shouldn't provide some too.

30+ WordPress Plugins To Get More Blog Readers - As the name implies, it's made up of tools to help you find more readers, the lifeblood of any blog.

30+ Tools to Turn WordPress into a Personal Hub - Tools for making WordPress do more than just run your blog.

17 WordPress Plugins For AdSense - Everyone would like to make a little money from their blog and these plugins will help you do just that.

30+ WordPress Plugins for Statistics - For those who want quick, built-in to the site statistics for a WordPress blog.

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20+ Firefox Plugins For Managing Email - Use Firefox to help you manage and control your email.

90+ IM Tools - Instant messenger clients and buddy aggregators abound!

75+ iPhone Resources - Apps, bogs, podcasts and more about the iPhone.

75+ Email Services That Aren't Gmail - More choices for online email services than you can shake a stick at.

60+ Tools For Gmail - A lengthy list of tools for managing and manipulating your Gmail.

50+ Enhancements for Skype - Love it or hate it, there is a loyal following for Skype and a busy developer base.

30+ VoIP Services - It's hard to resist the allure of VoIP, and with this list you should find the service that best suits your needs.

110+ Thunderbird Themes and Extensions - Thunderbird is a highly customizable open source email client - try these themes and extensions to make it even better.

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100+ Tools For Flickr Addicts - The possibilities with Flickr seem endless, and this toolbox shows you just some of what is out there for you Flickr addicts.

90+ Online Photography Tools and Resources - Tools for editing, finding, and storing photos.

80+ Photoshop Tools and Resources - Adobe's online version is coming very soon, but this toolbox shows there's still lots of life left in the desktop version.

150+ Online Video Tools and Resources - Tools for just about every aspect of getting your video online including editing, converting, hosting and more.

6 Online Photo Editors Compared - There are tools out there to let you edit photos without having to strain your desktop. This list compares six of them.

30+ Mobile Photo Sharing Tools - How to share your photos on the fly as you go through your day.

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50+ Websites For the Kickass Control Freak - More tools to get your life organized and get more done online and out in real life.

40+ Ways To Access Your Computer Remotely - Don't you hate it when you have multiple computers and you realize, after it's too late, you forgot something? With remote access, you just login and grab it on the go.

70+ Tools For Job Hunting 2.0 - Sometimes we all need a new job, and more and more folks are turning to the web as a means of finding their new vocation.

30+ Leading E-Commerce Sites - Sites to help you shop or set up your own e-commerce presence.

40+ Tools For Google Calendar - Clients, notifications, interface changes and more can be found here.

30+ Mailing List Services - Keeping your customers or associates up-to-date is essential to business, and newsletters are one of the easiest ways to do it.

100+ Tools and Resources To Make Money Online - Over 100 legitimate ways you can make money online.

30+ Online Freelance Resources - Sites to help freelancers find projects that require their skills.

45+ Mobile Productivity Resources - Mobile phones are a part of everyday life now, so you might as well put them to more uses than just making phone calls.

230+ Tools for Running a Business Online - Learn how to run and manage your business without ever logging off.

30+ Presentation & Slideshow Services - Sites that help you make presentations or just make slideshows of images to share with colleagues or friends.

30+ Resources to Get Things Done - It's easy to get distracted on the web; this list will hopefully keep you a bit more organized and focused.

60+ Collaborative Tools for Groups - Tools for teams or businesses to work together from remote locations.

40+ PDF Tools to Rip, Mix and Burn - PDFs are a useful tool for transferring all sorts of documents in their original form; these tools will help you with all aspects of dealing with them.

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60+ Tools For Back To School - Tools for college students.

20+ Dating Sites For Geeks and Freaks - We're living the rest of our lives online, so we might as well look for love there too.

50+ Sites to Learn About Food - From ordering groceries to looking up menus and sharing tips, new websites are making the Internet a food lover's paradise.

80+ Green Sites - A list of sites to help you live a more Earth-friendly life.

40+ Resources for Managing Your Money Online - Managing your money can be a nightmare, but these 40+ tools aim to help ease some of the pain.

90+ Social Games, AJAX Games and Mashups - We all need to to chill sometimes and these sites will provide well earned distractions.

50+ Online Map Tools and Resources - Tools for looking up maps and generating customized ones for all types of purposes.

30+ Tools For Questions and Advice - Sites to help you get advice, knowledge in specific fields and more.

30+ Ways to Find Wi-Fi Hotspots - Who doesn't want to find Wi-Fi on the go sometimes? These tools will help you find all the hotspots you can handle.

40+ Amazon Tools - New ways to search Amazon, compare prices and make sure that if the price drops, you get a refund.

30+ iTunes Tools - The media player can do lots more than just sync your iPod and iPhone.

90+ Essential Music and Audio Websites - Listen to music, discover new bands, make your own remixes, and much more in this comprehensive music toolbox.

50+ Tools For Torrenting - There is a lot more to torrenting than just downloading pirated music; this list helps you find legal torrents and pick the right downloading program for you.

50+ Tools for eBay Buyers and Sellers - There's a lot more to eBay than meets the eye, and these tools will help you manage both your buying and selling.

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230+ Keyboard Shortcuts for Top Web Services - All those little secrets to save you time on various websites.

15 Ways To Create Website Screenshots - Tools to help you preserve the image on your screen.

30+ Web Browsers - There are a lot more choices out there than Internet Explorer and Firefox: here are several handpicked for you.

30+ Firefox Add-ons For Downloading Images, Videos & Files - You're browsing your little heart out, you see something you want to keep, you need just the right tool to do it with.

50+ Firefox Add-ons For Security and Privacy - Ways to protect your identity online and cover your footsteps as you move around.

7 Ways to Enjoy Music in Firefox - Enjoy music as you browse the web.

60+ Download Managers - Programs that use little tweaks to get every ounce of speed possible out of your download bandwidth.

30+ Firefox Themes - Change the look of your browser from the plain old, default selection.

50+ Google Reader Extensions and Scripts For Firefox - Use Firefox to help manage your Google Reader subscriptions.

30+ Language Tools For Firefox - Tools for Firefox to allow you to translate, write, and learn other languages.

19 Alternative Ways to Use Firefox - Why not make your browser do more than just surf the web?

40+ Online Polling Sites - Take polls, create polls, and gauge public opinion.

7 RSS Tools For Firefox - Tools to help you turn Firefox into your RSS reader.

30+ Skins For Opera - Spice up the look of this sleek web browser.

30+ Peer to Peer Services - All sorts of services that utilize peer-to-peer technology to deliver information to you.

14 Personalized Homepages Compared, Feature by Feature - We all have to see something as the first page when we start up our web browser, so you might as well make it something that is useful to you.

30+ Tagging Tools - We all like quick, easy access to things, and tagging helps you do just that.

45+ Web Operating Systems - It's not hard to imagine someday that your computer will not store anything, but only connect you to your programs online; these OS sites represent one of those steps forward.

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120+ Web Development Resources - A huge list of tools to assist you with developing your website.

16 Sites and Resources For Amazon S3 - See how others are leveraging the power of Amazon's Simple Storage Service.

80+ Open Source Content Management Systems - a Content Management System (CMS) is an easy and quick way to get a website built and organized.

30+ Firefox Add-ons for Web Developers & Designers - Use Firefox to help you develop & design your site with an assortment of tools.

70+ Resources for Creating a Forum - Add an interactive aspect to your personal or company presence on the web by creating a forum.

80+ File Hosting and Sharing Sites - Every file on the web needs to be stored somewhere, and this list will help you find a solution that best suits your needs.

50+ Tools for Web Design - With these tools, just about anyone can try their hand at web design.

30+ Wiki Tools and Resources - Various tools for building a wiki.

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30+ Firefox Tools for Bookmarking & Search - A list of useful tools to help you bookmark and search more efficiently using the Firefox browser.

180+ Del.icio.us Tools and Resources - After reading this list, you will wonder what you CAN'T do with del.icio.us.

50+ Digg Tools and Resources - Firefox extensions, WordPress Plugins, RSS feeds and much more for your social news site.

29 Coolest Custom Search Apps Built on Google - Unique ways to drill down your Google search results to more specific ideas.

50+ Social Bookmarking Sites - A list of tools to work with all the social bookmarking sites out there.

40+ Social Search Engines - Everything on the web seems to be being shared and voted on nowadays, including search results.

18 Sites for Social Shopping & Deals - Go shopping with your friends…even in your pajamas at 2am!

6 Alternatives To Digg - Digg isn't the only site out there to allow you to vote on stories.

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10 Most Beautiful Social Networks - Some social networks are just plain old ugly; these 10 definitely aren't.

150+ Facebook Apps, Scripts and Add-ons - From desktop apps to Firefox plugins, this list is a nearly endless resource of ways to manipulate Facebook.

13 Google Maps Mashups - There are tons of Google Maps mashups out there, and some are better than others. Here are 13 good ones.

11 Things You Can Bet On (Legally) - All for fun, but you can try "betting" on everything from stocks to video performances.

10 Richest People in Tech - Who are the 10 people in the world that have gotten crazy rich off society's addiction to technology?


Well, thats the list .. if you got more, please do share them.

Source : mashable.com


 
 

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Thursday, October 16, 2008

30+ Solutions to Start Your Own Wiki



 
 

Sent to you by Somy via Google Reader:

 
 

via Timeless Tales by Deepak on 13/10/08


wikiWhether you're setting up an Intranet for your company or a collaborative website for your family, there are a variety of wiki solutions to choose from. We've gathered a list of more than 30 of them for those that wish to try their hand at running one themselves or are looking for a fully hosted solution.

Do you have a wiki? If so, what solution do you use?

Stand Alone Wikis

    pikiepikie

Corendal Wiki - A free and open source wiki package directed at corporate users. It's been a while since it has had any updates.

DokuWiki - Aimed at small companies' documentation needs. Offers templating and plugin support.

FlexWiki - A free and open source wiki built on the .NET framework.


GetWiki - A modified version of MediaWiki that provides new features including XML importing.

IpbWiki - A system that integrates MediaWiki with Invision Power Boards to make for a whole new wiki experience.

JAMWiki - A Java based clone of MediaWiki that uses the same syntax for things such as footnotes, templates and more.

MediaWiki - The same software that powered the omnipresent Wikipedia, MediaWiki is a PHP based, customizable system that is one of the most popular solutions due to its familiarity.

Mindtouch - Free and open source wiki if you choose to run it on your own host, but if you prefer a managed solution for an enterprise install, they offer various managed solutions.

MoinMoin - Has different built-in templates and allows for the support of documents. Popular framework being used by the likes of the GNOME and Ubuntu sites.

Ogham - A wiki-like CMS system that runs in JavaScript and is aimed at people who feel standard wikis are too technically challenging.

PHPWiki - One of the oldest wiki solutions, first appearing in December 1999.

PikiePikie - Files are stored in such a way that they are easily manipulated with a text editor on the server, and has safeguards against spammer attacks that make it easy to roll back edits.

PmWiki - Built more for non-IT people and those that have no wiki background. Easy to change skins and appearance.

QwikiWiki - Built for speed and minimal features, QwikiWiki is built for ease and a quicker learning curve.

TikiWiki - A content management system capable of handling many different jobs, but as the name implies, it favors wikis.

Wikka Wiki - Forked from Wakka Wiki, Wikka has some new features such as support for mindmapping.

Wiki Farms

    pbwiki

@wiki - A completely free wiki service that offers WYSIWIG editing and password protected posts.

ClearWiki.com - Gives you your own subdomain, up to 10 users, 256 MB of storage for the free accounts, does have paid solutions with more of everything. Directed towards businesses.

EditThis.info - Allows you a free 25 MB MediaWiki install with unlimited users and pages.

eTouch SamePage - Allows teams to work in a collaborative environment on projects, free version allows for up to 5 users, 3 projects and 15 pages.

LittleWiki - Create a public or private free wiki with WYSIWIG or plain text editors.

Netcipia - Free wikis with no limits on what you can do and even allows you to monetize your site to sell your expertize on a subject.

On-Wiki - Somewhat directed towards academics and business in that it allows media, graphs, plotting and more for free.

PBWiki - Offers free wikis, but they only have 10 MB of space. Paid solutions start at $99.50 a year. The service offers password protected wikis for private or corporate situations.

ScribbleWiki - A MediaWiki hosting service that has free accounts for personal use and paid solutions for companies that need their pages ad-free. Site has tech support and a few other premium features.

ViaWiki - Offers free 25 MB sites and paid solutions for multiple users up to an unlimited number.

Wetpaint - A free wiki farm that focuses on bringing together the wiki format with blogs and forums. Very much directed towards fan-style sites.

Wiki-Site - Free MediaWiki accounts for individuals and groups, paid accounts get unique domains, access to stats and no advertisements, amongst other perks.

Wikia - Co-founded by Jimmy Wales of Wikipedia fame, Wikia has to approve each wiki that is started, and they have to be believed to draw a large amount of traffic and editors.

Wikidot - 300 MB free Wiki for whatever you want, Google AdSense can be placed in your wiki with you keeping 80% of the revenue.

Wikispaces - Starts at free 2 GB site for friends and families up to paid white label solutions.

XWiki -Offers free solutions as well as paid options for enterprise users. Allows for application development and embedding in pages, along with RSS feeds to keep teams up on changes.


 
 

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Sunday, October 12, 2008

mysore dasara 2008


This was my first time to mysore dasara. Thought would go alone but some how sharavn gave me company to mysore and also bought his santro. We really had lovely ride...stopping along the journey to sugar cranes fields, The old retro kannada music was all soothing..... Thanks to Chandra who made all the arrangements to stay in mysore......