Microsoft's Bing to Compete with Google

Back in March, a screenshot of Microsoft's new search engine Bing was Leaked on the web. John PaczKowski of Digital Daily mentioned that Microsoft will unveil its new Bing search engine at D: All Things Digital conference which will kick-start on May 26. Looks like search engine wars will get interesting as Wolfram Alpha is already here and now Microsoft is going to bring Bing.

At the D: All Things Digital conference, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is expected to unveil and talk more about new search engine dubbed Bing. Recently, at the TechEd 2009 India, Ballmer did give some hints about Microsoft prepping to challenge the existing search engine leaders - Google and Yahoo.

Microsoft has been testing Bing since months. As Ballmer stated at TechEd 2009 India, search results should be presented in a more organized manner so that users don't waste more time looking for links. Hence, the search results are grouped for effective representation. For instance, a particular Mobile phone model will show links of reviews, technical discussion forums, addresses of the retail shops, repair shops, videos and so on.



The software giant will battle search engine giant Google. Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal Reported that Yahoo plans to improve its Web search queries with specific data like addresses, photos and other 'real world information' rather than merely showing other web-links. Google's search engine is constantly Op to come up with smarter results.

Undoubtedly, Google is leading the search engine market share currently, with Yahoo following it. So, it's obviously that folks over at Microsoft are still looking to ink a deal with Yahoo on ad marketing on Yahoo's search engine markets.

Like we said earlier, in the coming months, search engine wars between Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and the new player Wolfram Alpha will get exciting. But will the purpose to offer best and user-friendly search results be served?

India one of the best in Tackling Recession !

India has been ranked as third best country that will tide over the global economic crisis by a worldwide survey among business persons to understand the business morale and impact of the economic downturn.

According to the Servcorp International Business Confidence Survey, India has been ranked as the third most promising country to survive the economic crisis. Australia has been voted as the best place to be during the recession times by international business people, followed by China.

The third position is held jointly by India and Singapore while Hong Kong and Canada are in the fifth and sixth place respectively.

Interestingly, developing nations have emerged favourites among international businessmen as places which are best placed to tide over the recession as 21 of the 36 countries listed by the Servcorp International Business Confidence Survey are emerging market economies.

Source :- Times of India

Lecture Videos by IIT professors

Few months ago the seven Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and Indian Institute of Sciences (IISc) Launched many of the lecture videos by eminent Professors in their college into the internet through Youtube. Also Various courses and notes are available in the internet.

The IITs have taken up an initiative of starting on-line teaching and thus have started offering course materials on-line for every engineering stream.The main objective of NPTEL program is to enhance the quality of engineering education in the country by developing curriculum based video and web courses. This is being carried out by seven IITs and IISc Bangalore as a collaborative project. In the first phase of the project, supplementary content for 129 web courses in engineering/science and humanities have been developed. Each course contains materials that can be covered in depth in 40 or more lecture hours. In addition, 110 courses have been developed in video format, with each course comprising of approximately 40 or more one-hour lectures. In the next phase other premier institutions are also likely to participate in content creation.

Many professors from all the IITs have provided course materials for each chapter and each subject.

One has to register at the link provided below and can access the course material free of cost.

Every Chapter has been described with diagrams and charts. Please spread this message to everyone, as many can benefit from this program taken up by the government and IIT.

This is just a trial period going on and hence they requested everyone to register at the link given.

1] Type the following address on internet explorer http://www.nptel.iitm.ac.in

2] Click on Courses
3] sign up as a NEW USER
4] And one can access any course material.

One can also see the lecture videos online using Youtube . The URL for this is - http://youtube.com/iit

I have personally seen some of these videos and they rock!

So if u guys need some help on some topic then take a look at these videos and courses

Amazing Keyboard ! - Optimus Maximus keyboard

Keyboards are some of the most heavily abused components of any computer. Yet the abuse and torture they go through in our hands gets no consideration, and people usually head for the cheapest. Finally a keyboard has spoken up, and proven that keyboards can do more than just be hit on.

Presenting the Optimus Maximus keyboard, a keyboard so wonderful that you’ll probably give up typing, just so it doesn’t get spoiled. This 113 key monstrosity has an OLED display embedded in each key! The keyboard is capable of changing what is displayed on each key, and no, not so you can watch a movie while you type.

The keyboard supports changing its layout on the fly, so you can actually choose a different key layout for each application you use! So a keyboard layout in Photoshop could show the icons for the action you are going to perform rather than show alphabets, a layout for a music play can show the media controls. Furthermore you can create your own keyboard layouts, by editing a template, and painting right onto the keys! Otherwise you can edit the font, and styles of each key individually.

The keyboard is capable of showing immediate responses to key presses, such as capitalizing the letters on the keyboard when you have caps lock pressed, or showing the extended keyboard when your press alt+ shift.

This presents a huge advantage to gamers, or people who type in multiple languages, or in fact anyone who uses different applications that use the keyboard differently. The keyboard is currently in its design stages, and doesn’t work as well as expected, but manages to impress nonetheless.

Shocks in lok sabha (general) election 2009

Following are some of the shocks in General election 2009 that i have found out :-

1. Left front routed from West Bengal and Kerala - Last time they had as many as 61 MPs from India . This time they only managed half of it. This is mainly because of their poor show in WB and kerala. It was expected that their performance will dip this time , but nobody expected a 50% fall.
2. Indian national congress bagging more than 200 seats - This was most unexpected. Everyone expected that they will get around in the range of 160. But they got 40 odd seats too many.
3. Congress bagging 20+ seats in UP - The big players SP and BSP failed this time. And congress ,the underdog in UP got 20 seats in UP. This was mainly because of the Rahul Gandhi factor.
4. TMC getting all the seats in kolkata and 100 Kms away from kolkata - Another big shocker. The left was completely routed from kolkata. What was even more surprising that they lost by huge huge margins in some constituency.
5. SP and BSP giving unconditional support to UPA - SP leader Amar singh before the results said that they will force the congress and humilate the congress by making them beg for Samajwadi party's support. But things are quite different now. Its the other way around . Also SP and BSP supporting the same govt!!... quite a surprise.
6. Congress alliance with DMK doing expectionally well in TN - Everybody expected AIDMK+ to do well in TN this time . Everybody expected Jaylalitha to play the role of kingmaker this time. But nobody now even talks of Jaylalitha .
7. Congress doing well in Maharastra - I personally felt that congress will do poorly this time in Mahasrastra simply because of poor governance there and the 26/11 attack. But congress managed to increase its tally by 2 this time around.
8. The Naveen Master Stroke - Naveen Patnaik broke away from the NDA this time before the polls. He took a huge gamble. But surprisingly BJD managed to sweep polls in both lok sabh and also state elections!
9. Paswan failure - Ram Bilas Paswan the 6 time MP and LJP leader lost in the election for the first time. I was personally shocked to see this.

If you have any more points to add onto this please comment!

Next Version of Internet May Include Brain!

The problem with the web today is, it has no idea what the hell you’re talking about! It doesn’t understand what you are asking of it. Search for an artist you like and you’re OK but ask it “what was the highest temperature in Kolkata week”, and it fails embarrassingly.

A new technology Wolfram|Alpha, a system which is capable of computing answers to questions is likely to be launched this year.So the web is expected to be smarter by the end of this year. However it isn’t limited to any field or type of question. It actually understands what you are asking of it, and computes the answer! It is like as calculator which can give you answers to questions like “What was the length of the longest whale discovered in the pacific ocean between the years 1900 and 1990”. It doesn’t come with preprogrammed questions; considering the scope of the questions it aims to answer, that would be almost impossible. Instead, the developers have actually generated models of the kind of factual questions that it may be asked, and broken them down into units that can be computed.

The potential of this system is limitless, but it itself is not. It doesn’t not plan to give answers that may have multiple opinions, just for facts so don’t expect it to answer question on anything like “Should I marry my boyfriend who has been with me for the last three years, but we broke up for like 3 months in the middle, and he didn’t even call once! Well actually he did, but I wasn’t there, but he didn’t call again! So should I? ”. This means the system has less chance of being biased, i.e. having answered based on the opinions of the people who are entering the data. This also means that it can only supplement google, not replace it. It may never be able to rule the world, but I’m pretty sure it will rule the web!

My GATE 2009 Experience

GATE is an All India Competitive exam conducted by IISC and the IITs for admission in various post graduation courses in the field of engineering and science. So if u are interested in doing Mtech from these institutions then GATE is a must for u.

I decided to take this examination the moment i took admission in Under graduate college for Btech!! It may sound strange that before even i began studying for Btech , i started thinking for Mtech. But it was planned by me to try to go for Mtech from IITs. The reason was simple - I always dreamt to be an IITian. After i started studying for Btech , i developed the love to study subjects related to computer science. This further increased my hunger to go for Mtech... the intersest to study computer science.

I deceided to appear in GATE 2008 as the GATE score was valid for 2 years. I didnt have much preperation going into the examination . I gave the exam just to know how much tough it really is. The conclusion i got was that if i study a little harder and in a planned way then cracking GATE 2009 might not be difficult. That year my rank was 1904.

The preparation for GATE 2009 began after i got placed in Infosys. That gave me a huge amount of Energy and boost to study for GATE. I took admission in Gateforum , a coaching institution for GATE. Two of my friends also joined with me. I started regualrly attending the classes. I also started preparing slowly and steadly . What it did was it moved me away from the semester exam study and made me concentarte on GATE related study. More than what they taught there , the practice and staying in touch was more important for me.

The person who lifted my study for my GATE exam was our TOC and compiler teacher. I was weakest in these two subjects , but the way he taught us these subjects was simply superb. Eventually TOC became my strongest point! But more importantly he gave us huge amount of confidence and self-belief.

Also the most important point that i personally picked up from his lecture was to go for a plan study. He discussed with us how he planned his study. I would like to discuss this issue here. He showed us a notebook which was divided into 8 parts each for one module in GATE. In each part he noted down some problems and important points that were most important thing in that module. And he believed that if he practices those problems and remembers those important point and tricks then he can solve any problem from that module. He believed that 20-25 problems from a single mdoule was more than enough to cover the total module. Also when we asked me to give us that notebook he warned us that these notes will vary from person to person!!!!!I found this concept and idea an interesting one. I decided to follow his plan ... and i must say it really worked for me also. This planned study saved a hell lot of time. Also another thing that he did was prepare a one page note on some of the subjects. The objective of this plan was to study the important facts and tricks the day before the exams quickly , and doing so will save a hell lot of time.

After all the study it was time to sit for a series of Mock All india Tests. The tests were conducted by Gateforum. These tests were extremely useful for all of us. I must say that it played the single most important role in getting a decent rank in GATE 2009. In fact one of my friends didnt ever study for GATE. He appeared only the test series and guess what he was able to get rank 57! The reason for this is that the test series constantly showed where we stant in the competitition . We were told that if we are able to secure a rank of within 20 in these exams then we will surely rank with 100 in GATE 2009. Also these exams helped us in stay with constant practice . Even if u didnt study previously , here we solved problems of all kinds that covered all the areas. Also the discussion among my friends after the exams was very very important. We were able to discuss various tricks and ways to solve the problems. These helped a hell lot.

The final one month before the exam was all about constant practice and nothing else. Totally dedicated towards GATE study and nothing else.

Finally the examination day came. I was surprised to see such easy questions to begin with. I became too relaxed and started solving problems slowly and steadily. And that was the mistake i made. In the end there were some tough problems and i struggled to finish off the paper. I made a total mess of the whole exam. To make it worse when i discussed the answers with my friends i found out that i made about 8 marks of silly mistakes. All my hopes of studying in IIT was completely gone.

On march 15th the results came out. I was surprised to see the rank(87) that i eventually got.Two of my friends got 37 and 57 rank. I was extremely delighted to get this rank. At the moment i am hoping to study in IIT and fulfiling my dreams.

Some points that are essential for preparing for GATE(might be useful for 3rd years preparing for GATE) -

1. To succeed in GATE u must be truly interested in pursuing Mtech. U must have high interest in computer science. I have seen people who dont have some much love for the subject but want to pursue Mtech. U are bound to fail in such case.
2. Participating in some all India test series . I gives u constant practice in the last 5 months. Extremely useful. Also shows u where u stand and how much u need to work harder.
3. There is a myth that u need to study the books that toppers study. This is compeletely rubbish. One should study the books that he or she is most comfortable in. I didnt have any book for many subjects.
4. Forget ur semester exams and all. Just concentrate on the GATE related study. The CGPA matters liitle(it only plays a significant role in IIT Delhi).
5. A planned study is essenstial as i described above.

All The Best to everyone preparing for GATE!

How NRIs celebrate Pujas

My cousin who stays in florida(doing phd from university of florida) described me the way they celebrate various indian festivals like durga puja etc . I was highly impressed by their way and it also shows how they utilize their precious time.

The NRIs also celebrate the pujas the way we do... but there is one difference. They dont have any fixed date to oragnize the puja. They always perform the puja and celebrate on weekends. For example if the durga puja here starts on tuesday , they wouldnt perform the puja on tuesday. Rather they will do it on the coming satruday and sunday!

In this way the manage to not waste their working days and also utilize the weekends to good effect. According to me when u perform the puja or when u celebrate doesnt matter. We should utilize our time properly and also celebrate the festivals equally.