Gates has leaved Microsoft in crucial time when it is facing a stiff competition from the now software giant, Google. The competition rules for the desktop environment that Microsoft had dominated since the last few years, have changed. The situation has changed..the focus is now on Cloud computing; thanks to the easy availability of Internet on the PC as well as on mobiles. Today, a mobile is more than just a communication device.

Though Bill Gates retires, he will still be the Board Chairman and taking important company decisions. He is going off to spend more time on his philanthropy, the Bill and melinda Gates Foundation. His legacy will be remembered forever. Here is my tribute to him through this wallaper.

The first 24 hours the web browser was available the software was downloaded more than eight million times, says its creator Mozilla.

The attempt to set the download record was scheduled to begin at 1300 PST (2000 GMT) on 17 June. However, the record attempt was almost wrecked from the start as the servers handling the downloads collapsed under the weight of visitors checking to see if new version was available.

Once the servers were up and functioning normally the record attempt began.

At their busiest the servers were handling more than 9,000 downloads per minute. Within five hours the number of downloads for Version 3.0 exceeded the 1.6 million set by Firefox 2.0 in October 2006.

In total Firefox 3.0 was downloaded 8.3 million times over the 24 hour record setting period. The figure beats the five million Mozilla predicted before the day.

Read more: BBC News

After recent announcement by Apple, 3G iPhone has stirred the world again. Reactions in India were nothing different. It is said to have all the revolutionary features of the previous version plus a 3G for faster Internet, A-GPS and a software update which supports Microsoft Active Exchange and can run hundreds of 3rd party applications. It will be available on July,11 in 22 countries with a price tag of $199 for the 8GB model and $299 for the 16GB one.

Apple worshippers and tech-savvies have been waiting for the arrival of this much-hyped monster. After all its an Apple product and anything that Apple makes is revolutionary. Ah..well, not completely, IMO. I agree it gives pretty good feel and has great user Interface with multitouch. Viewing videos on iPhone is a nice experience on the 480x320px screen.

The cons: no video recording, no MMS, no A2DP, no choice of carrier! I can’t understand why a revolutionary phone with such high standards doesn’t have a video recording facility by default. iPhone Video Recorder is able to do that but the quality is cheap. MMS is a question of individual as not everyone uses MMS these days, but still its not out of fashion. Bluetooth is not completely functional. No cannot transfer file on bluetooth, no synchronization and no A2DP. iPhone is limited to only specific carrier. Ofcourse, you can unlock it for other carriers too. But unlocking the 3G model is not easy atleast until now. You will have to activate it in the store itself and not online. Also whenever you have an update from Apple, they relock your iPhone.

Airtel and Vodaphone will be the official network operators for iPhone in India. They are yet to announce the launch date and pricing. Speculations about the price of iPhone in India is in full swing. According to some iPhone will cost somewhere near 9000 rupees as Steve Jobs himself said, it will cost nothing more than $199. Did you really thought iPhone has become this cheap? What aboutimport duties, customs, taxes?? .. and thats not all, you will be tied with a 1 or 2 year contract. This is called subsidization. Add to that the Internet usage charges and premium data rates. You have to also shell out some bucks for premium features And about Airtel and Vodaphone, they haven’t even rolled out 3G yet.aaand their EDGE services are still not good. $199 seems cheap, but in the long run, it will cost you a bomb.

For those going behind only the multi-touch and aesthetics, it will be a nine days wonder. So be careful before you buy iPhone.

In this tutorial, you will need any good sound editor like Audacity or Adobe Audition.

1.   Before you proceed, make sure you mute Windows Event sounds.

Run the game program and go into the options where you can hear the soundtrack you wanted. For online radio, below are few links to some desi radio stations. Just copy-paste it in Windows Media Player/Winamp using File>Open URL..

Radio FM 91.5 - Mumbai ==> mms://69.26.220.46/RadioSuno

RadioTarana-NewZealand ==> mms://l1.r2.co.nz/tarana-1

DDLive Video - India ==> http://164.100.51.209/ddlive?MSWMExt=.asf

2.   Now we need to record sound fgoing through your soundcard.
Double click your Volume icon in the taskbar. Then goto Option>Properties.

Select Recording and check besides the Stereo Mix.

Note: I have onboard nVidia soundchip. Based on your motherboard/soundcard, you will have more or less similar options.

3. Now open your sound editor and hit the record bitton. Accept the settings and your recording will now start. Edit/Save the file as per your preference.

Most of the radio stations are streaming at 17-48kbps which is very poor bitrate for mp3 file. But you could search in the Google for higher bitrate online radio links(audio feeds). Some of few I have listed below but if ‘d come across such link please post it here:

http://www.radio-directory.com/
http://www.live-radio.net/info.shtml
http://www.radio-locator.com/

Note: Screamer Radio is a good freeware Internet radio player. Many of the stations stream in high bitrate and you can also record it into mp3 directly.

You can change the theme by clicking the Change theme on the top of the navigation bar. Its also available in the Edit Profile page under Themes tab.

Here is one the theme(Beach) preview after updating:

Yet another feature update by Orkut. Including the default classic blue theme, there are 12 themes(Autumn, Coutryside, Winter, Beach, Springtime, JR-The friendly giant, Snowman, Bus Stop, View from a moon, AJA Tiger and Tea House) to choose from of which 7 were available at the moment. The themes have been designed to reflect the season changes. The color combination is good but I think the themes are pretty much kiddish..I mean they appeal more to kids. I expect a lot more in Orkut regarding themes and the themes could be much better. I want user level customization of themes..that would be much better. What say?

8 teams, 58 matches, 44 days and 1 champion!

The ‘underdogs’ finally managed to beat all and get the IPL T-20 first ever championship. Yes, the Warne’s Rajasthan Royals have won the IPL Championship after beating the Chennai Super Kings in the finals held at Dr. D. Y. Patil Stadium in Nerul, Navi Mumbai. Inspite of being under terror, the spectators enjoyed the most thrilling match ever with the result extended till the last ball of the tournament.

There will be nothing exciting than this. Super Kings set a target of 164. The Rajasthan Royals were finding it difficult to get runs. After 42/3, Yusuf Pathan and Shane Watson tried to save the team.  But again the their wickets tumbled to 143 for 7. After Pathan was out at 56 runs, Royals needed 21 runs off 15 balls.  This equation came down to 8 runs needed in the last over with just 3 wickets in hand. Kings skipper, Dhoni had no other choice, so he gave the final over to Balaji which was expensive in the match. 7 runs were conceded of the first 5 deliveries..with 1 run being from a wide-ball. One delivery was left and just 1 run was needed for the victory. Both the teams had equal score. Silence prevailed in the entire stadium. Balaji tried to maintain his cool while Sohail Tanvir on the opposite end geared up. The final delivery was made…and boom!! Tanvir seized the most important winning run and the Warne’s team walked away with the championship trophy.

Yousuf Pathan was the show stealer by taking 3 wickets for 22 runs and smashing 56 runs off 39 balls. No wonder he was awarded the Man of the Match. It was also the brilliant captaincy by Shane Warne who led the ‘underdog’ team upto the finals and managed to get the ‘royal’ championship.

This is not my first blog and I am not new to blogging. I had two blogs earlier. My first blog was a free fully Wordpress blog but hosted free for only one year. The other blog was just a general blog hosted with this site 2 years ago. But I lost track of the postings due to my studies. I didn’t want to continue to with that blog and needed a fresh start. So this is it! My blog!!

There are many things I want to change in this blog as time permits. I hope to continue with this blog as long as I can.  Lets see what future this blog has!

Regards,
blueshift