Flickr addiction : How NOT to get rid of it by Rahul on August 30, 2009

 0 Comments

Add me in Flickr
If you are an avid lover of photography and a bit net savvy you have surely heard of Flickr. And not to forget it’s Pro feature which comes at a cost of 24.95$/year. Having used this for quite sometime now, I feel it offers you much more than you can actually imagine. If you are already  to sharing your photos with your friends and families and really cherishing the full resolution unlimited storage of your photos, it’s time to for you to explore the thousands of groups that exist there based on specific categories like nature, wildlife, sunrise, flowers, etc. You can start with this group. Extensively sharing your photos in as many groups you can will give your photo a very decent exposure and you will often several comments, some of which you will find pretty well though and can be a learning curve as well. Keep sharing your photos in the groups as I said. Only limit you will face is sharing is up to 10 groups per photo for free users and 60 for Pro users.

Now that you have been sharing your photos all along, have you ever thought what it would be like to store all your digital photography collection in one place? Yes, the full collection, including those rotten ones you took. Backing up your photos into sets and collections will be incredibly easy now with your Pro account, your entire collection! Start doing some now! Keep them Private in case you don’t want me to see them.

Have you finished adding your photos to as many groups and backing them up. Well that’s only part of Flickr that you have explored as yet. With Flickr’s new video option, you can make and upload your own videos (90 seconds and 150MB limit). Don’t upload TV shows and lengthy movies, well you can try but only first 90 seconds will be shown. You can even make your own time-lapse movies of the sun gradually setting or two snails racing etc. If you do not know how to make a time-lapse await my next blog article soon. So keep making your videos or uploading your existing ones and keep them sharing in as many groups you can!

This might be called as a bit of Flickr addiction by others by as for the user who gets addicted, there’s nothing more pleasurable than to keep taking snaps and sharing them on this awesome platform. So follow these steps above and keep going!!

Read more...

How Google Labs will continue to be an integral part of Google products by Rahul on August 26, 2009

 0 Comments

As is apparently interpreted by many that Google Labs is only a testing ground for crazy fun and not real prime time implementation, I feel Google’s Labs are really in with an awesome amount of potential. If you are not yet aware, this is one of the testing grounds for Google for some of their coolest products which mainly serve purposes of easing our use of technology and some entertaining tech stuffs to hang out with. Be it Squared or the News Timeline, it is surely a pretty decent platform where Google seems to be coming up with some humble yet great stuffs, enough to keep an average techie engrossed.

If you have already checked out the labs feature in your Gmail account you would be totally flabbergasted as to how so much of features has been made available besides it’s already existing awesome settings. Actually they provide a lot of well-thought out tweaks and options which you may want to use, only making your user-experience a lot better.

With so much of flexibility round the corners, Google’s engineers and researchers have no doubt been achieving something which many of us would have thought of but couldn’t find those services. Hope they come up with more such lab stuffs and integrate some of them into their core products.

Read more...

Sourav Ganguly appointed chairman of Cricket Association of Bengal's (CAB) new Cricket Development Committee by Rahul on August 22, 2009

 0 Comments

Sourav Ganguly has been finally officially appointed in an administrative post in West Bengal cricket. After his retire from international level, he had expressed his desire to enter into administration. In a turn of events, news came out today that he has been appointed as chairman of CAB’s new cricket development committee. 

According to Cricinfo, “Ganguly, who had expressed an ambition to join cricket administration in his home state of West Bengal, will head a committee of three other former first-class cricketers.

"We have decided to form the committee which will also have Arun Lal, Ashok Malhotra and Pranab Roy as the other members," Jagmohan Dalmiya, president of the CAB, told reporters in Kolkata.

While describing the responsibilities of the committee, Dalmiya said: "The committee will receive a report from the selectors (senior and junior) at the end of every cricket season, assess the accountability of the selectors and will make necessary recommendations as well."

Dalmiya said the committee will also handle issues related to umpiring standards, the technical aspects of all tournaments organized by the Bengal board and will have advisory powers concerning cricket-related matters at various levels to improve the standard of cricket in the state.”

So it’s again time to see what unique strokes he has to offer off the field. He is sure to be different from the thousand others already in the system, to say the least.

Read more...

Best Photo Sharing and Photo Backup site : Flickr Pro by Rahul on August 21, 2009

 1 Comments

This might seem a bit over the line but it’s true to its very essence. Flickr Pro is something I have found extremely awesome. Unlike any other service, it offers you unlimited storage for your photos. So in case you need to share original quality photos of huge resolutions and sizes with your family or friends separately, you will find it a cakewalk. You can set your settings such that no one will be able to see any of your photos unless you approve them. Sounds cool, eh! Feel free to add me in Flickr here. 

Now for another use of Flickr Pro. If you are looking to store all your photos as backup you can do so easily (because Flickr Pro offers unlimited storage remember?). You might say there is Zooomr which offers unlimited for free of cost, then why this? Really logical. But Flickr stands apart in ways. Firstly, Flickr is much more professional with lots of privileges and settings for your own account. Secondly, it has backup of a well-known company by Yahoo. Thirdly, Flickr has lots of social and community features which often seem to be helpful and navigation is also very easy. Fourthly, Flickr has made its API codes open. So everyday developers are coming up with cooler apps which has taken Flickr to the level where it is today. Fifthly, Zooomr often has hiccups as too many users are running for its free services. 

Now again some people will start crying that their favorite Picasa has been left out. Not at all, who else can compete with Microsoft and Yahoo better than Google! This would be a really close call between Picasa and Flickr based on your needs. So I suggest you this which will help you decide instantly. Let me know where you are sharing your cool snaps!

Read more...

GDrive : Google’s online storage by Rahul on August 18, 2009

 0 Comments

Amidst lots of rumors, Google’s new online storage platform is all set to launch soon, maybe within an year. No official launch date has been announced as yet. The specialty of this system with respect to others is in the fact it will let you backup your entire hard disk and will provide some synching techniques of some sort between your desktop and your GDrive files.

This product will be more than anticipated by worldwide users as Google has been really competent about their products and their innovativeness is outstanding. So there is constant rumor and a hidden hype that is engulfing all users. There will be free version and may be a paid one to offer unlimited (well, almost!) storage.

Here’s another battle that will start. No points for guessing, Sky Drive vs GDrive! The old rivals meet again in a similar battle ground. Only concern users may face which might come in their way of using GDrive is privacy. It’s only the level of trust which you have for Google that will let you fully explore GDrive no matter however confidential your data is. So things will become clear after it is launched, if GDrive is impressive enough regarding safety and security then there’s no reason why I shouldn’t be going for their paid service!

Read more...

Accenture joining date for 2009 batch by Rahul on August 16, 2009

 2 Comments

At a time when everything is looking uncertain in the global economy, Accenture delivered their high performance by declaring the joining dates for some of the freshers on 31st August. Ecstatic mood amongst all freshers can be seen in social networking sites like Orkut etc. Freshers placed in other companies who haven’t got the joining yet are keeping their fingers crossed.

The Accenture freshers have got placed in places like Pune, Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai etc. But most colleges are waiting, only some colleges like NIT and few others have got their joining dates. The mood sure is optimistic now that the process of induction has started and the remaining freshers getting in is just a matter of time. Here is a collection of links and stuffs they might find useful.

Hope all the companies provide the joining dates to the freshers soon. The market is also looking pretty optimistic, things also seem to be settling down and everything would be over by 2011 as everyone is predicting. So simply hoping for the best, the situation for the next few batches doesn’t seem to be that bad after all. 

Read more...

Pune Engineering Colleges ranking by Rahul on August 15, 2009

 0 Comments

This is another one of the most sought after ranking list with so many engineering colleges in Pune. After the West Bengal engineering colleges list, Orissa engineering college list, Tamil Nadu engineering colleges list and Mumbai engineering colleges list, I got several requests to make another one for Pune as well. This list will keep updating itself. Feel free to share your views below. Some of the key factors that had been taken into consideration are the starting and ending ranks of some of the top streams, feedbacks from students studying in these colleges regarding the faculty, placement, infrastructure and various other factors.

COLLABORATORS NEEDED! (Just submit the survey form below with your "View" as "Collaborator". You will be contacted shortly.)
This list is updated regularly based on several feedbacks on various issues and criteria. With such a robust concept behind building this list, it seems very likely to be standing the test of time over the years to come.

LIST IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Read more...

Flickr photos on sale report by Jim Goldstein is shocking! by Rahul on August 14, 2009

 0 Comments

It’s not Flickr’s fault to start with. And no photos of users that were marked “Private” were compromised. But however this incident is sure to raise a few eyebrows of Yahoo and it’s API licensing authorities.

The issue was that when users upload their photos in Flickr they mark it either “All Rights Reserved” or under one of the categories of “Creative Commons”. This is to ensure that before downloading the users can be aware of the rights held by the owner of the photo. But the API used by MyxerTones (a mobile entertainment site) had a bug which led to downloading of several photos from Flickr regardless of their licenses and sent to several mobile phones of users to be used as wallpapers! 

One of the victims was photographer Jim Goldstein. He elaborately described how one of his photos were used through this process in another site. But what seemed frustrating that his efforts to resolve the issue through Yahoo went futile. His article clearly demonstrates his efforts.  

The main issue that is of concern and should be addressed by Flickr or the API developers here is that they adhere to the guidelines set by Flickr at all costs. Not following it would lead to trouble. Like when a Flickr user has explicitly set his settings that no one can download his photos in full resolution except himself, using a faulty API anyone can download his photo in full resolution, which will not be possible in the Flickr website. So clearly this API has not been built following the rules and regulations set by Flickr.

Such APIs therefore clearly needs to be tested and then released else such mistakes are bound to happen. What could be a bad news is that unscrupulous developers might make such APIs for their personal benefits and download plenty of photos for their personal use, in which case the APIs may forever stay in the dark and continue to reap harvest. However, testing the publicly released APIs and keeping them debugged would go a long way to calm the photographers out there.

Read more...

Mumbai Engineering Colleges ranking

 0 Comments

This is one of the most sought after ranking list with so many engineering colleges in Mumbai. After the response I got with the West Bengal engineering colleges list, Orissa engineering college list and Tamil Nadu engineering colleges list, I got several requests to make another one for Mumbai as well. Here is the rank list that keeps updating itself. Feel free to share your views below. Some of the key factors that had been taken into consideration are the starting and ending ranks of some of the top streams, feedbacks from students studying in these colleges regarding the faculty, placement, infrastructure and various other factors. This list is updated regularly based on several feedbacks on various issues and criteria. With such a robust concept behind building this list, it seems very likely to be standing the test of time over the years to come.

Read more...

Tamil Nadu Engineering Colleges ranking by Rahul on August 13, 2009

 0 Comments

This is one of the most sought after ranking list with so many engineering colleges in Tamil Nadu. After the tremendous response with the West Bengal engineering colleges list and Orissa engineering college list, I got several requests to make another one for Tamil Nadu. Feel free to share your views below. Some of the key factors that had been taken into consideration are the starting and ending ranks of some of the top streams, feedbacks from students studying in these colleges regarding the faculty, placement, infrastructure and various other factors. This list is updated regularly based on several feedbacks on various issues and criteria. With such a robust concept behind building this list, it seems very likely to be standing the test of time over the years to come.

Read more...

Orissa Engineering Colleges ranking by Rahul on August 12, 2009

 0 Comments

This is one of the most sought after ranking list with so many engineering colleges in Orissa. After the tremendous response with the West Bengal engineering colleges list, I got several requests to make another one for Orissa. Feel free to share your views below. Some of the key factors that had been taken into consideration are the starting and ending ranks of some of the top streams, feedbacks from students studying in these colleges regarding the faculty, placement, infrastructure and various other factors. This list is updated regularly based on several feedbacks on various issues and criteria. With such a robust concept behind building this list, it seems very likely to be standing the test of time over the years to come.

Read more...

Add your Tweets in Google by Rahul on August 10, 2009

 0 Comments

This is some tech workaround way. I don’t know whether this is worth the effort but with so many social networking sites around nowadays, you can try this. Click on the time below your tweet. That particular tweet of yours will open in a new page. This is the page you would want to appear in search results. So you can submit it to various  social bookmarking sites like Digg, Reddit, Stumbleupon etc. I have tried one for my Picasa vs Flickr article and as you can see here it works fine. Only drawback is that the user has to click across two extra pages which could be frustrating. So do it wisely for your tweet!

Read more...

TCS CEO assures freshers of joining in Q3 by Rahul on August 7, 2009

 13 Comments

In an event in Kolkata amidst talks of strengthening the product line-up to position the company for the future, Mr. Ramadorai assured that freshers will be joining from Q3 of the current financial year. People who were the least worried can breathe easy now.

Here is what he said as reported in the Economic Times, “These recruits will join us from third quarter onwards. We will balance our domestic and international hiring. While a large

number of fresh hiring will take place in India, but in strategic overseas locations we will hire foreign nationals.”

So hiring and joining of both domestic and international candidates will continue parallely. With the economic situation not absolutely stable, many companies are looking to expand their growth and client base globally. With some of the top companies as TCS’s clients, surely they have lot of work to recruit and train people to keep the system running smoothly. A fresh wind of hope again for the freshers.

Read more...

Why Bing would be an eternal threat to Google by Rahul on August 6, 2009

 0 Comments

This competition is no doubt one of the greatest in the Internet at present. This is also between the two biggest honchos in the market at present and none of them seem to really take the beating hands down from the other. Equipped with lots of innovative strategies and their awesome search engine, Google, the undoubted king of the internet right now has been expanding by leaps and bounds over the last few years with their services like Gmail, Orkut, YouTube, Blogger etc. But Microsoft, however harder they seem to try couldn’t break into any field except their Windows XP platform  which continue to run across millions of PCs across the world now.

But here comes Bing, Live search rejuvenated in a completely new avatar and threatening Google search like never before. It clearly has its priorities sorted out. Doing things Google doesn’t do and doing things which they didn’t make Live search do but Google did. All in all, a match for Google after their domination of the market for 11 years. Bing is doing things in an extremely flashy stylish way. It beats Google hands down in the Video search. As you can see here, just taking your mouse over a video makes it start playing.

But this is no reason at all for Googlers to move away to Bing! On the contrary, most my friends including me are sticking to Google because of it’s awesome quality of search results, user-friendly interfaces and innovativeness. But Microsoft too want to be sole leader in the market, with already ruling the operating system segment, they want the internet market back from Google no doubt. So they will be constantly monitoring Google as Google has to keep a watch out for them. So it’s a close war for quite some time now!

Read more...

File sharing services review by Rahul on August 5, 2009

 0 Comments

With what seems like the most useful tools for anyone looking to transfer or share files online, online file hosting and sharing is getting tremendous importance and exposure like never before. Needless to say, hundreds of services have started offering such features.  Few of them look promising however. With reviews by users shared here, it is going to be extremely easy to analyze which beats the other in what segment. Some of the top sites like SkyDrive, Rapidshare, MediaFire has also been included to make the competition tougher for the rest. FileDEN, FileQube and FileFactory are some of the sites that badly needed this kind of review because of the features and packages they provide. Feel free to share your views on any service about which you have the slightest idea..


With the reviews so far submitted, here is a brief summary. Click "Finish" on right bottom of this box below to see the results. (Needs Adobe Flash). To use this chart, select anyone in the top right side from   . Dotted one will represent each service by dots and size of dots will represent how good it is. The bars chart represents the services by bars and heights of bars indicates the quality. For example, if you are using the bars chart, select an attribute from the extreme left side. Check the services on the right bottom you want to compare. Double click on the bars to check them. For each attribute on the left side do like this. Choose colors on top right to differentiate more easily. Enjoy!

You can also use this. Just select “Define groupings and calculations” below and add “Service Provider” to “Group by” column. Click “Next”. Select “Average” for each of the features. Select “Ok”. Now you will be presented with the average score of each service as submitted by the readers. Click the “-“ sign beside each of the service providers if you don’t want to see the details.

Read more...

Subhas Chakraborty dies, West Bengal Sports and Transport Minister, at 66 by Rahul on August 3, 2009

 0 Comments

West Bengal Sports and Transport Minister and senior Communist Party of India-Marxist CPI(M) leader Shubhas Chakroborty, who was under treatment at AMRI hospital in Kolkata, died today morning at 11:35 AM (IST) at the age of 66. His health was critical and he was on ventilator over the past few days. The condition deteriorated today morning further. This came as a shock to everyone, including his fellow party members. 

"He came to the hospital with respiratory problem, an infected lungs and high fever. His heart is also not ok. So we have shifted him to ventilator," the hospital's medical superintendent Debasish Sharma told IANS.

His loved ones who arrived in huge numbers at the hospital broke into tears when this news was announced. Over the years, he grew up as one of the finest and able leaders handling tough situations with ease. Surely his name will be remembered for quite sometime now.

Read more...

How Google should add real-time search results of Twitter and other sites by Rahul on August 2, 2009

 0 Comments

Most of us who are familiar with real-time search engines have heard about some of the top guns in this business like Scoopler, Collecta, CrowdEye and Tweetmeme. These engines, apparently unexpectedly, are making Google think about integrating some real-time search results into its results. It will appear to be a very complex task considering Google's present algorithms and functionality is totally different in the way it calculates search results, and they are not adapted yet to integrate real-time results at all. If they start doing that, the relevant search results which appear now may be pushed down by lesser important tweets or results by other micro blogging services, simply because in the concept of real-time you are giving importance to an incident that is happening right at this instant, it may be of no priority at all, but since it takes place “now” it has to find its place at the top of the real-time search results.

What many people are doing right now before Google officially does something is that they are adding scripts to their Firefox Grease monkey which enables them to see the top 5 Twitter results whenever they search Google for any topic. This looks pretty cool and Google may stop thinking of adding any real-time results at all. But with its new close rival Bing already having added this feature, it appears to be very soon that Google will come up with this new integration of real-time search.

The best way to do what I feel should be to leave the actual search results as they appear totally intact. This is something which has made Google what it is today. Better to leave it untouched, but just add a link at the top of the page where Google shows “Web”, “Images”, “Maps”, “News” etc. Now if they add a link “Real-time” there, which on clicking would display all the millions of results from all micro blogging services (probably including Digg, Flickr as well). Now this could prove to be futile as most links that appear on top could be less relevant and the ones pushed down could be the better ones. Also a mixture of all services like Twitter, Digg and Flickr could also seem cumbersome. But with so many real-time search engines around, its pretty easy to see what are the users preferences and what they like, which would provide valuable information while adding this service. These are the issues that really need to be addressed very well by Google.

Read more...

Best Image Search Engine|Tool Online by Rahul on August 1, 2009

 3 Comments

If you are looking to find great quality images and photos, this tool, called Kewll, may be just the one you need. Get it here. Already with hundreds of users, it is really making heads turn. With the world’s top photo sites listed into it, it will provide the best of the images on a particular keyword in just a click. Hence the need to keep looking across sites for that one nice picture you would choose has just been made simpler. The top quality photos and images from all across the online world virtually provided to you just a few clicks away.

Some of the sites searched by Kewll include Flickr, Picasa Web Albums, Google Images, Yahoo Images, Bing Images, Compfight, Webshots, Photobucket, Imagery, Getty Images, AltaVista, Ask, Pixsy, Picsearch, Corbis and more. Feel free to suggest more options in the Kewll tab and they get added soon.

Here are some of the screenshots for the search term “macaw” using Kewll. Many of the images have copyrights and restrictions associated with them, so just check out before using them.

 

Read more...