Official Google Blog: Google Gadgets on your Dashboard
If you were looking for gadgets for your Google desktop Mac, Now there's a new feature for Google Desktop, Google Gadgets for the Mac, which is ready to install. With this launch, Google is bringing hundreds of Google Gadgets to the Mac OS X platform. You can take advantage of gadgets to do things like browse YouTube videos, nurture a virtual flower pot, or even check your day's agenda in Dashboard.
Google has always promoted various Open Source contests challenges like Google Summer of Code. But so far these initiatives were built around industry professionals or University Students. I have had some of my students spending a very productive summer at Google.
Today at the Open Source Developers' Conference in Brisbane, Australia Google announced a Google Highly Open Participation Contest to help introduce secondary school and high school students to open source software development.
Students can now visit http://code.google.com/opensource/ghop/2007-8/ to write code and documentation, prepare training materials, conduct user-experience research, and win prizes -- t-shirts, cash, or, for ten grand-prize winners, a chance to visit the Googleplex in Mountain View, Ca. USA.
Please spread the word to your areas high schools and students. They deserve better than just looking at the world through a window.
Mountain View, Calif. (November 27, 2007) – Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) today announced a new strategic initiative to develop electricity from renewable energy sources that will be cheaper than electricity produced from coal. The newly created initiative, known as RE
"We have gained expertise in designing and building large-scale, energy-intensive facilities by building efficient data centers," said Larry Page, Google Co-founder and President of Products. "We want to apply the same creativity and innovation to the challenge of generating renewable electricity at globally significant scale, and produce it cheaper than from coal."
Page added, "There has been tremendous work already on renewable energy. Technologies have been developed that can mature into industries capable of providing electricity cheaper than coal. Solar thermal technology, for example, provides a very plausible path to providing renewable energy cheaper than coal. We are also very interested in further developing other technologies that have potential to be cost-competitive and green. We are aware of several promising technologies, and believe there are many more out there."
Page continued, "With talented technologists, great partners and significant investments, we hope to rapidly push forward. Our goal is to produce one gigawatt of renewable energy capacity that is cheaper than coal. We are optimistic this can be done in years, not decades." (One gigawatt can power a city the size of San Francisco.)
"If we meet this goal," said Page, "and large-scale renewable deployments are cheaper than coal, the world will have the option to meet a substantial portion of electricity needs from renewable sources and significantly reduce carbon emissions. We expect this would be a good business for us as well."
Coal is the primary power source for many around the world, supplying 40% of the world's electricity. The greenhouse gases it produces are one of our greatest environmental challenges. Making electricity produced from renewable energy cheaper than coal would be a key part of reducing global greenhouse-gas emissions.
"Cheap renewable energy is not only critical for the environment but also vital for economic development in many places where there is limited affordable energy of any kind," added Sergey Brin, Google Co-founder and President of Technology.
Read Official Blog post at the following link
According to WSJ, Google is getting ready with their online storage service. It was dubbed "gDrive" by people who were speculating about it for a while now. It will offer two tired service, free and paid. Size and the price has not been published yet.
Google already effectively offers storage for consumers' files through Web applications such as its Docs word-processing, spreadsheet and presentation applications and its Gmail email. Users can upload photos to its Picasa Web Albums photo-hosting service, which provides one gigabyte of free storage. They can purchase from 10 gigabytes to 400 gigabytes additional storage for $20 to $500 per year. This storage can be shared by users' Gmail and Picasa accounts and soon with files for Docs. Google bring out that web OS.
The GMail drive, a shell extension to windows has been available for a long time now. This allows one to store files on ones assigned Gmail space, which is around 5GB for my account.
After seeing that research staff, who calls themselves, exo.blog did multiple tests with Vista, and office suite and XP and same office suite.
Their first test showed all these but was rebuked by Vista followers for using 1GB of memory. So they did the same test, again with 2GB of memory. Not much of a change. If you were wondering what the benchmark test was, the testers gave following information.
"The script makes use of a variety of common application functions, including:
1. Formatting/scrolling, copy/paste, search/replace and print preview/printing (Word)
2. Scrolling/selecting and chart generation/printing (Excel)
3. Creation/formatting/slide style application, sorting and printing (PowerPoint).
The script also makes use of IE to simulate access to an online knowledge base-type site. At the end of the script you have a completed document, supporting spreadsheet and slide show suitable for conducting an internal meeting or similar business case scenario.
Note: You can learn a lot more about OfficeBench by simply downloading. It's part of the DMS Clarity Studio testing framework and is available for free through our web site: www.xpnet.com."
So Microsoft, how about that Windows XP NT?
San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) today urged the U.S. Supreme Court to protect consumers' traditional right to use, repair, and resell the products they own, even if those products are patented. At stake is the enforceability of "single use" and "not for resale" labels on patented products.
The amicus brief -- submitted on behalf of EFF, Consumers Union, and Public Knowledge -- was filed in Quanta v. LG Electronics, currently pending before the Supreme Court. The case will test the vitality of the "patent exhaustion" doctrine, which entitles a consumer to use, repair, or resell patented products that they have purchased.
EFF amicus brief and Press Release.
San Francisco - San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has won reexamination from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) of a bogus patent on Internet subdomains -- the fourth successful reexamination request from EFF's Patent Busting Project.
The patent, now held by Hoshiko, LLC, claims to cover the method of automatically assigning Internet subdomains, like "action.eff.org" for the parent domain "eff.org." Previous patent owner Ideaflood used this illegitimate patent to demand payment from website hosting companies that offer such personalized domains, including Freehomepage.com, T35 Hosting, and LiveJournal, a social networking site where each of its three million users have their own subdomain.
In the reexamination request, EFF and Rick Mc Leod of Klarquist Sparkman, LLP, showed that the method Ideaflood claimed to have invented was well known before the patent was issued. In fact, website developers were having public discussions about how to create these virtual subdomains on an Apache developer mailing list for more than a year before Ideaflood made its patent claim. The open source developers established a public record of the technology development, providing the linchpin to EFF's patent challenge.Note from Developers;
WE do not recommend that anyone other than developers and testers download the Firefox 3 Beta 1 milestone release. It is intended for testing purposes only.
Firefox 3 Beta 1 is now available for download. This is the ninth developer milestone focused on testing the core functionality provided by many new features and changes to the platform scheduled for Firefox 3. Ongoing planning for Firefox 3 can be followed at the Firefox 3 Planning Center, as well as in mozilla.dev.planning and on irc.mozilla.org in #granparadiso.
New features and changes in this milestone that require feedback include:
(You can find out more about all of these features in the “What’s New” section of the release notes.)
Bristol, 12th October, 2007 – SN Systems, a subsidiary of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI) is pleased to announce SN-DBS (Distributed Build System) will be available as a license-free download, to SCEI’s licensed PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3™), PlayStation®2 and PSP™ (PlayStation®Portable) game title developers from today. SN-DBS significantly reduces compile times by distributing source code builds between cooperating PCs on a local area network. SN-DBS can also be used for building assets via the command line. In addition to SN-DBS being made available at no cost, developers also have the added benefit that a new version 2.0 has been launched.
Major improvements of version 2.0 include:
· Building of multiple projects in parallel.
· Faster builds compared to SN-DBS v1.4 or earlier
· Improved GUI with project view.
· Improved support for asset builds.
SN-DBS is a multi-platform product and will work with all PS3, PSP and PlayStation 2 projects when used in conjunction with a platform-specific compiler. Support fees will no longer be associated with this product, however SN Systems will continue to offer support and develop SN-DBS on an ongoing basis following feedback from game title developers.
For more information regarding SN-DBS please contact sales@snsys.com or visit
http://www.snsys.com/products/SN-DBS.asp
REDMOND, Wash., Nov. 19, 2007 -- Microsoft today announced that Visual Studio 2008 and the .NET Framework 3.5 have released to manufacturing (RTM) and are now available for MSDN subscribers to download. The release of these products is another important milestone on the road to the Global Launch of Windows Server 2008, Visual Studio 2008 and SQL Server 2008 on Feb. 27, 2008, and represents the latest in a series of innovations from Microsoft targeted at developers and development teams.
Visual Studio 2008 and the .NET Framework 3.5 are also core components of the Microsoft application platform, a set of integrated capabilities, tools and infrastructure that enables organizations to build more dynamic, connected applications and ultimately deliver better business value.
PressPass spoke with S. “Soma” Somasegar, corporate vice president of the Developer Division at Microsoft, about these releases and how all developers – from hobbyists to smaller development shops to enterprise development teams – can benefit from the latest version of Visual Studio and the .NET Framework. Somasegar also discussed how the internal processes Microsoft used to develop Visual Studio 2008 can provide some best practices that development organizations can apply to their own processes to deliver software on budget, on target and on time.
Dell has signed an agreement to acquire privately-held Everdream, a leading provider of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions for remote-service management. Terms were not disclosed and the purchase will not be final until all closing conditions are met. Everdream is based in Fremont, Calif., with a second facility in Charlotte, N.C. The planned acquisition is a key component in Dell’s strategy of enabling customers to Simplify IT. Everdream’s capabilities complement those provided by the recently acquired SilverBack Technologies, further enabling end-to-end remote management of customers’ IT environments. With this acquisition, Dell can now extend remote management of critical IT assets from servers, storage, printers, etc. to desktops, notebooks and other end-user devices globally. “The planned Everdream acquisition is a significant step in Dell’s next-generation service offerings and provides Dell an expanded presence in the rapidly growing SaaS-enabled managed services market,” said Steve Schuckenbrock, Dell senior vice president. “Everdream has an extremely talented team that has developed industry leading technology enabling customers and partners to easily and affordably manage PCs from anywhere in the world.” Everdream products will continue to be developed for and offered through channel partners, and will also serve as the foundation for future Dell service offerings. For more information on Dell services, visit www.dell.com/services.
The OLPC that we have spoken about so much is a Social PC now, according to WeSeePeople. I hope more people will see it too.
WeSeePeople: OLPC, One Laptop Per Child, is a Social PC
I found the following on /. but after reading the story it seems it is a bit under (or over) cooked!
"An InformationWeek story points out a recent deal between Microsoft and Japanese printer maker Kyocera Mita. Under the agreement, Kyocera obtained from Microsoft a license to patents used in 'certain Linux-based embedded technologies.' The question the author asks is why Kyocera needs a patent license from Microsoft to develop its embedded Linux products."
Of all the comments. the following seem to evaporate what ever the M$ FUD machine expects!
"The GPL states that they may only distribute the code if they accompany it with the rights for any derivatives to use any patents it infringes. If they discover that they infringe some patents in Linux then they must stop distributing Linux until they have obtained a license to the patents that is compatible with the GPL (which means that anyone who is in the transitive closure of recipients of the code from them also gains the license). In summary, if they have obtained a license from Microsoft then either they are in violation of the GPL or no one else needs to obtain such a license and Microsoft's FUD evaporates in a puff of logic."
Pop music star Prince who was honored with a Webby Lifetime Achievement Award for his "visionary use of the Internet to distribute music." and long considered an Internet innovator and a friend to the culture of free file sharing. He was among the first major recording artists to sell music online. This summer, Prince distributed more than 2 million free copies of his album Planet Earth as part of a newspaper promotion in the United Kingdom.
But Prince, one of America's most successful recording artists for three decades, seems to have had a dramatic change of heart. Within the next few days, he is expected to cap an aggressive two-month legal campaign to protect his copyright by suing The Pirate Bay, a popular BitTorrent tracking site best known for helping people find unauthorized copies of music and movies.
"Prince is obliged to come up with the plan because no one else has done anything about this blatant piracy," said John Giacobbi, president of Web Sheriff, the antipiracy firm Prince hired to coordinate his copyright fights.
Yes He must be very happy, and it might be that only Web Sherrif and lawyers will end up with Green Stuff. I don't know about Pirate bay other than what read in the news but are they rich enough to pay for three court cases at the same time? Even if verdict is for Pirate Bay to pay, will they have money to pay?
Reuters reports that Google, the search giant, is being sued by Jarg Corp and Northwestern University. But if you dig deep, it looks like Jarg is the head, as the Chief Technical Architect and Co-Founder, Professor Ken Baclawski is the inventor of the said patented method for indexing the qualitative context of information. I have not seen the case yet but it will be interesting to see!.
I have known the Google project when it was at Stanford and I was dealing with a competitor "Hotbot" at that time, now a part of Lycos.
The complaint was filed on November 6 in Marshall, in the Eastern District of Texas (Clue lawyers ready take on your patent in the the U.S. court with a history of decisions that are highly favorable to plaintiffs in patent cases) but the case has only come to light over this weekend.
But I like the statement from Michael Belanger, president and co-founder of Jarg, who said in a phone interview that his company had become aware of the infringement several years ago, but lacked the resources to press its case until it found a law firm willing to fund the case on a contingency-fee basis then they signed on.
Reuters article Google sued over patent by Northeastern University
The Microsoft Authorized Refurbisher (MAR) program is an offshoot of its current Community MAR, which is designed for charities, educational institutions and nonprofits.
"Microsoft is excited to announce the availability of the new commercial Microsoft Authorized Refurbisher (MAR) program. This program is tailored to the needs of large refurbishers that wish to work with Microsoft to deliver genuine Windows software licenses on systems they refurbish and sell."
But why go through all these problems, why get a used computer with OS that is .......... (fill in with your own words) when you can get;
Under all the noise, gPC Arrives in Wallmart from Google and Everex.
A complete new pc with everything you need , Operating System, Office suite, games, VoIP and most importantly, just for $199.00.
Wisen Up People!
Updated for correction
Most folks have a tough time saying goodbye. And if Microsoft gets its way, communication software vendors may find it tougher to give users the ability to say goodbye online.
Microsoft wants to patent the technological mechanisms by which instant messaging, chat, and VoIP applications automatically send goodbye messages, according to a recently published patent application with the U.S. Patent Office.
Microsoft Tries To Patent Online Goodbyes
Educated world will be a much better place to live than an uneducated one. (Yes sometimes you wonder why educated people make such a big mess' in certain cases, but collectively, we will all gain, by aiding respecting and honoring each other.) Although I am a not so wealthy teacher, entrepreneur, physicist, dreamer.. et al, I have managed to donate a few laptops so far, with the support of my dear ones. Think about it this Xmas, may be your family could make a bunch of children happy somewhere! Just like the kids from a school in Cambodia in above photo.
Starting November 12, One Laptop Per Child will be offering a Give 1 Get 1 Program for a brief window of time in North America. For $399, you will be purchasing two XO laptops—one that will be sent to empower a child to learn in a developing nation, and one that will be sent to your child at home. If you're interested in Give 1 Get 1, Just sign up in the box (once you follow the link below!)to the left and you'll receive your reminder prior to the November 12 launch date.
Also if you'd like to donate an XO laptop today, simply click the donation button on the right (Agian after clicking on the link below) . A donation of $200 will pay for and deliver one XO laptop to a child in a developing nation, $400 will pay for and deliver two XO laptops, and so on.
One Laptop Per Child Give One Get One Program
Now you can get there without asking directions, thanks to Google Maps coming soon to a gas pump near you. You will be able to find offers within the Gas Station Store, Find Restaurants, hotels and Motels nearby. If you are bored attractions around the area, will also be displayed on a Google Map. Once you know what you want one can print the driving directions and be on your way.But I wonder when most vehicles get GPS with all these information and connectivity to your cell phone, will these be still attractive?
GREENSBORO, NC – November 7, 2007 – Consumers can now display maps, find local listings, and even print driving directions and money-saving coupons from Gilbarco’s Encore® dispensers with color screens and the Applause™ media system. The live internet connection means all information is in real time. The Gilbarco® Applause™ media system is the first content management system that uses Google’s world-class open content infrastructure to deliver valuable information at the pump.
Consumers can view maps on the pump’s screen and locate their desired destinations. They can also search Google’s local business listings by category (restaurant, hospital, gift shop, etc.) to find the nearest choices. Once a destination is selected, consumers can also print the driving directions at the pump. Easy-to-read instructions are printed on the receipt printer, making it convenient to take them with them in the car.
"Getting directions at the pump is safer than using internet-enabled devices from the driver’s seat and far more reliable than just asking a stranger," said Kirsten Paust, vice president of global retail systems at Gilbarco Veeder-Root. "We believe consumers will prefer convenience stores that deliver useful information and ultimate convenience. Retailers who use these tools will make themselves more valuable to consumers and gain the competitive edge."
Applause™ is an extension of Gilbarco’s existing SMART Merchandising™ System for providing promotions, advertisements, and coupons at the fuel dispenser. Current users of the SMART Merchandising system will be able to easily migrate to the enhanced functionality available from Applause™ media system.
Applause™ and Encore S dispensers with color screens are currently on exhibit at the 2007 NACS Show, November 7 – 9, at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, Booth 2525.
News Source
I have followed RadioHead's album release and basically happy about what they did. Today I read many news outlets talking about what is the amount of money that came to Radiohead.
The site seem to have got something like 1.2 Million and people who downloaded music on average paid $6 for the album.
My simple question is if RadioHead went with it's record producers or publishars, how much royaltes would they have received per album? my wild guess is that $2-$3. So RadioHead is making twice the amount that it is used to make!
When they release the 40 pound ($80) disk set that includes two CDs and 2 twelve inch vinyls, they will sell at least some more as not every RadioHead fan is "On the Net" and there are reasons for having a CD or record. So if they sell 100000 albums, they will make $8 Million (minus cost).
So Music Creators, you do not need RIAA controlled music Studios. Yes to start off, do not sign 20 year contracts!
Congrats RadioHead
I started experimenting (actually playing, I need to justify what I do) the Google Analytics' recently introduced new features. One of the best parts was the of site search reporting, this allows you to link and analyze your website's internal search engine with Analytics account.
If you are not much familiar with Analytics site search feature or want to learn how to put it to best use, Avinash Kaushik, a web analytics evangelist, has this great post about how to use site search reporting which I leaned about at the Official Google Blog;
Official Google Enterprise Blog: Use Google Analytics with your Google Enterprise site search engine.
Even if you do not have Google Search Appliance, Google Mini and Custom Search Business Edition both are (Web Analytics and Avinash's site) still good learning tools to learn about how your site perfoms.
Google Analytics
Avinash
VOIP IP Telephony: No gPhone (Google Phone) But Open Handset Alliance and Android.: "No gPhone (Google Phone) But Open Handset Alliance and Android."
I am waiting to upgrade my cluster with new AMD Processors, Quad core Phenom X4. My boards are all AM2 slots and I wonder if I could simply plug the new CPU's in. If so I will have 16 cores in my hands. If not I will have to shell out money for two motherboards.
ISA Hardware published these prices. Does not look bad for Quads.
Although a little late in reporting, Jamie Thomas' appeal case will get assistance from EFF. According to a post on EFF, Electronic Frontier Foundation;
"the outcome will likely turn on Jury Instruction #15, which equates "making available" with "distributing" a copyrighted work. If the appeals court rejects that jury instruction, the verdict against Ms. Thomas would have to be thrown out and the case re-tried."
According to the same post they will argue on "Distribution", how it is defined in the Copyright Act (might not extend to Internet!) and or actual proof of that the distribution of copy righted material took place. As INAL, please read the EFF article that describe everything in detail.
Samuelson, Annenberg Report: Consumers Believe Privacy Policies
Prohibit Common Advertising Practices
October 31, 2007 -- In advance of the Federal Trade Commission's Town Hall on behavioral advertising, (“Ehavioral Advertising: Tracking, Targeting, and Technology.” The event will bring together consumer advocates, industry representatives, technology experts, and academics to address consumer protection issues raised by the practice of tracking consumers’ activities online to target advertising - or “behavioral advertising.”)
The Samuelson Clinic and the Annenberg Public Policy Center have released a report (PDF) showing that most consumers think privacy policies prohibit common online advertising practices.
The study shows that individuals do not understand the basics and legality of information collection techniques. In a new poll of California adults sponsored by the Samuelson Clinic and conducted by the University's Survey Research Center, 37% thought that privacy policies prohibit websites from analyzing the data they collect directly from users. When Annenberg explained the third- party network advertising model to survey respondents, 85% did not agree that a "valued" site should be able to serve clickstream advertising to them based on visits to other websites. The Annenberg survey also makes clear that many consumers do not understand or think through the privacy implications of sharing their real name and email address with a website. The report builds upon a joint paper released at the Federal Trade Commission's 2007 "Tech-Ade" event, and recommends that the Commission police the term "privacy policy," so that sites advertising the term provide protections consistent with consumer expectations.
The Behavioral Ehavioral Advertising: Tracking, Targeting, and Technology townhall meeting webcast is available and people are advised to submit a comment.
FILING A COMMENT— Deadline: COB Friday, November 16, 2007
Any person also may submit written comments on the topics to be addressed at the Town Hall. Comments may be submitted via e-mail to behavioraladvertising_comments@ftc.gov or by mail to Secretary, Federal Trade Commission, Room H-135 (Annex N), 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580. Comments must be received by COB Friday, November 16, 2007.
In Arista v. Does 1-17, a new ex parte case to get discovery from the University of Oregon about the identities of its students, the Oregon Department of Justice has made a motion, on behalf of the University of Oregon, to quash the subpoena obtained by the RIAA.
This is the first such motion of which we are aware that has been made by the university itself, rather than by the students.It is also the first instance of which we are aware of a State Attorney General bringing a motion to quash an RIAA subpoena.
complete detail at Recording Industry vs The People
When we were all looking and searching for gPhone and OpenSocial API, which is harder to find than the gSpot, (VoIP IP Telephony suggested gSpot will be the store name that will sell Google Phone, gPhone) has released gPC, to Wallmart.
The venture is an effort between Everex (Ha! I thought they were dead and gone eons ago) and Google and perhaps Ubuntu, gOS(h!) the operating system shipped with the gPC is variant of Ubuntu desktop. gOS is accompanied by OpenOffice, GIMP photo software, the Xing DVD and video player, and Rhythmbox music management software already installed. In addition Google applications such as Documents and Spreadsheets, Calendar, News, and Maps are on the desktop. Also pre-installed is the Firefox web browser, Meebo IM, and Skype.
The "Linux for Masses" initiative by Google, OSS community and Everex has done a real good job of staying G,
Good OS or Google OS
Green as the processor, 1.5GHz Via C7-D processor, Via UniChrome Pro IGP graphics core, are very low power consumption compared to most Intel and AMD chips.
Why did not the designers look at things like Mac Mini before developing this PC? all those good things explained are stuffed into a 80s looking PC Box.
It is available at Wallmart, and the details are at Everex. I will replace my old pentium III home test server with this, which has been running for last 5-6 years.
If you are a developer, this is the place to go.
