STD calls at Local Rates !! -Deccan Herald

In a move aimed at giving a major push to telecom and Internet penetration in the country, the government on Thursday ushered in Internet telephony and also massively reduced the National Long Distance (NLD) and International Long Distance (ILD) entry fees from Rs 100 crore and Rs 25 crore respectively to an uniform rate of just Rs 2.5 crore. Also, the annual licence fee would be reduced from 15% to 6%.

Not only that, the current networth requirement for NLD licences, standing at Rs 2,500 crore along with a paid-up capital of Rs 250 crore, has also been reduced to just Rs 2.5 crore in order to promote competition and induction of new players and eventually lower tariffs.

So far, Internet telephony was not permitted in India. It has now been decided that Access service provider can provide Internet telephony, Internet services and Broadband services. If required, Access service provider can use the network of NLD/ILD service licensee.

Jobs galore for 60,000 Usability Pros -Economic Times

With a shortfall of almost 60,000 usability professionals, Indian IT and ITES companies presently face a real threat of missing the current boom in this sector.

"Our usability staff represent the increased value offered by an offshore alternative. The Indian operations are more systematic than any other group in the world and our personnel are better trained, mentored and certified," Human Factors International (HFI) Managing Director and Vice President (Asia) Apala Chavan told reporters here today.

Infosys Communication Design Group Associate Vice President and Head Sridhar Marri said, "We have around 100 usability professionals at this junction and have decided to hire 100 more people in the next two years. There are around 3,000 projects happening right now and only 150 usability professionals produced in a year."

The Everywhere Displays Project -IBM Research

The Everywhere Displays project aims to develop systems that allow the transformation of every surface in a space into a projected "touch screen". You can actually use the projected surface as a touch screen!

Cybercrime Gangs -ZdNet

Superzonda
Superzonda have been known to be a threat for at least the last two years. The BBC reported in July 2003 that Superzonda operated 24 hours a day, seven days a week, all over the world. Until recently they were sending 50 million spams a day, but recent anti-spam legislation has reined them in.

The BBC also reported that Superzonda used British Airways without its knowledge to host a Web site advertising Russian mail order brides.

HangUp
HangUp, based in Russia, is suspected of writing viruses that steal financial information. Reports claim that they plant software bugs to steal passwords, and rent out huge networks to send out viruses and spam. HangUp allegedly has 4,000 members operating worldwide, including Americans, Brazilians, Britons, Russians, and Spaniards.

ShadowCrew
ShadowCrew were a massive underground network of criminals who bought and sold credit-card details, social security numbers and identification documents. They sold credit-card numbers, email accounts, passports, driver's licenses and student IDs, and were estimated to have caused over US$4 million in losses for card issuers and banks. However, the US Secret Service broke up the gang in 2004.

Google: Thinking about the future of TV ads -ZdNet

It is very possible that Google is creating their own branded digital television DVR / satellite service.

A DVR that lets you "Log In" with your Google Account before you begin your television watching would allow Google to serve up relevant ads based on: the program you are watching, your search history, the type of emails you have received in the past 24 hours (excluding spam hopefully), or anything else Google can track.

Imagine the possibilities… You are watching Google Satellite TV through your "internet ready" Google DVR:

1) You receive a new Gmail and it pops up automatically on your TV (if you choose to see new messages of course).
2) A ticker at the top of the screen shows recent news that interests you… or better yet, it shows new items from my Google Reader!
3) A more personalized TV experience which will serve up relevant commercials on commercial breaks based on your interests.

This is just the beginning, a service like this could easily tie into Google Talk, Google Base, Google Calendar… the possibilities are endless.

People love to watch TV, almost as much as they like to surf the net. Why not make them one?

New Media Brands -Forbes

Forbes lists the fastest growing brands. This is a FAR more interesting list than the usual Coke and Mc Donalds. It's also indicative of the power of new media .. 7 out of 10 are new media brands!

1. Apple Over 400 million songs have been purchased at the iTunes store.

2. BlackBerry Users average a 53-minute-a-day productivity gain, says Research in Motion.

3. Google World's largest search engine sorts through 8 billion Web pages.

4. Amazon.com New service lets users pay $79 annually for unlimited shipping.

5. Yahoo New online music subscription service gives access to 1 million songs.

6. Ebay 150 million users are registered at the online auction site.

7. Red Bull Sponsors extreme-sports athletes and parties on college campuses.

8. Starbucks Opened four stores a day on average in 2004.

9. Pixar The Incredibles is the bestselling DVD of 2005 to date.

10. Coach Business in Japan now accounts for 22% of company sales.

via Emergic

Microformats -Emergic

Information is often the most useful in bite-sized pieces. Storing information in convenient, tidy bundles sometimes called microcontent is still uncommon but this is changing quickly. Indeed, Web 2.0 trends will only increase the popularity of microformats that support discrete bits of lightly formatted information. This is one reason why Web 2.0 concepts strongly encourage small pieces, loosely joined: Monolithic specifications generally make for information that's trapped inert behind large, hard to consume, and brittle walls of formatting. Microformats seek to add just enough structure to make the information easy to create and use as well as eminently repurposable.

One example of microformat is the REL attribute in anchor tags, so that your relationships with those you link to on the Web can be provided.

MS, Yahoo to link message services -Economic Times

Microsoft and Yahoo are preparing to link together their free instant messaging services as they take on entrenched messaging leader AOL and market newcomer Google. The deal, the first major alliance between two of the Web's main providers of instant messaging, will allow users of Microsoft's MSN Messenger service and Yahoo Messenger to swap instantaneous text messages with each other.

Google Playing Mind Games -Emergic

Google wants to provide the means of getting to the information and create its own kind of lock-in over time, just as IBM and Microsoft did in their day. As Google releases more technologies for creating, storing and accessing information, the company's products and services grow stickier. How sticky they will eventually become will depend on a number of factors, including Google's execution and the response of companies like Microsoft.

Google is engaging in some misdirection, clearly aimed at Microsoft. I believe the Google folks are smart enough to recognize that when Microsoft fixates on a competitor the corporate personality becomes obsession. Google can lead Microsoft all over the place, with the software giant chasing the search/information company like a dog being led after a bone. Google can't be everywhere, even if information might seem to be everywhere. But the company can appear to be interested in everything and cause Microsoft to waste resources, be distracted chasing Google, while the rival executes brilliantly where the Redmond folks aren't looking.

Coming soon: Mobiles for the masses (Rs.1000 only) -Times of India

The mobile industry today is excited not just by the fact that over 2 million new mobile users are being added to the network, but more so because the entire network today covers only 20% of India. The 63 million plus mobile subscribers are a minuscule group when compared to what will happen when networks span out. Out of 6000 towns, only 3000 are covered today; out of 6 lakh villages, only 50,000 have mobile phone access. In a country of a billion plus, such coverage gaps mean immense opportunity.

So, apart from asking what else you will do with your phone today use it as a computer, a jukebox, a television—the industry has realised that there are millions of new users who may want to put a mobile to use quite differently. To start with, the new population may be largely technophobic. Just like us, who were unsure of sinking money into a gadget we didn’t know would be useful beyond voice calls when we first stumbled upon them. The challenge the industry is facing is to bring this population into the network in order to achieve its goal of bringing 200 million (roughly one fourth of the population) under mobile telephony by 2007.

All of a sudden, there is a spurt of announcements from the likes of Motorola and Philips that they are making low-cost handsets for emerging markets including India. Technology has shown that a feature rich mobile phone can be produced and sold for as low as Rs 1,000 in the Indian market.

Beware of fake Google, MSN & Yahoo websites and toolbars ! -Economic Times

People with infected machines who try to visit those popular search sites are redirected to spoof versions. The spoof sites serve up bogus search results intended to generate traffic and revenue for other sites that are presumed to be in on the scheme. This is a business, this is organized crime. People are making money on it.

Machines can become infected with the programme, called PremiumSearch, when visiting Web sites that distribute pirated software and pornography. The programme also installs a fake Google toolbar that similarly interferes with results.

Armed and dangerous: Flipper the firing dolphin let loose by Katrina -Guardian:

It may be the oddest tale to emerge from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Armed dolphins, trained by the US military to shoot terrorists and pinpoint spies underwater, may be missing in the Gulf of Mexico. Experts who have studied the US navy's cetacean training exercises claim the 36 mammals could be carrying 'toxic dart' guns. Divers and surfers risk attack, they claim, from a species considered to be among the planet's smartest. The US navy admits it has been training dolphins for military purposes, but has refused to confirm that any are missing.

Dolphins have been trained in attack-and-kill missions since the Cold War. The US Atlantic bottlenose dolphins have apparently been taught to shoot terrorists attacking military vessels. Their coastal compound was breached during the storm, sweeping them out to sea. But those who have studied the controversial use of dolphins in the US defence programme claim it is vital they are caught quickly.

Your keyboard's clatter can reveal your e-mail's content! - Newindpress.com:
Next time when you are typing something secret on your computer keyboard, make sure no one is snooping around, as even if the person is not in sight, the very sound of your typing can reveal all the secrets of your confidential text, with researchers in America now claiming that eavesdroppers can decipher your messages just by listening to the sound of your keyboard.

Using a 10 dollar microphone, which needn't be placed in the same room as the typist, they are able to recreate up to 96 percent of what was typed. Our algorithms require no information about the typist, keyboard, room, or text typed," New Scientist quoted Tygar, as saying. The method relies on the 'tap' produced when your finger strikes the keyboard, as keys at the edges sound different to those in the centre. Every key makes an ever so slightly different noise. It's a very clever attack.

Thanks Ayan for the link.

Speakers till 10 ..Earphones after then ! -Midday
This happens only in Mumbai. Members of the Naidu Club Navratri Mandal in Kora Kendra, Borivli, have found a unique way to play garba till the next morning, without violating the Supreme Court order of the 10 pm loudspeaker deadline. All the dancers will be given wireless earphones and the music will be relayed through a radio frequency.

Says the mandal’s chairman Ganesh Naidu, "Recorded music will be relayed through a transmitter in the earphones. We are going to use radio frequency for which we have got a license. We are also getting permission from the Telecom Department. People will have to pay a deposit for the earphones, which they have to return when they leave".

Thanks for the link Amrita :)

Price fears for next gen games -BBC
The games for the new consoles, such as the PS3, Xbox 360 and the Revolution, are set to wow players with heightened realism and cinematic graphics.

Some of the next-generation games showcased at the E3 games expo have already drawn gasps of amazement from the audience. But there is a price to pay for getting to play something that is years ahead of current games.

New games are set to cost twice as much as current ones to make, say analysts. With the bill for some big budget games now reaching $10m, producers are facing costs of up to $20m a title. EA has teams as large as 200 people or potentially as large as 300," he said, "but we also have teams as small as 50.

Nintendo plans one-handed joypad -BBC
In a demonstration at the Tokyo Game Show, Nintendo boss Satoru Iwata showed off a wireless controller that closely resembled a TV remote control. Motion sensors on the controller translate its movements into game action, allowing it to be used as a virtual sword, baseball bat or racket.

Oh my God, Google hires Vinton Cerf !! -OmMalik

Google just announced that Vinton (Vint) Cerf, the longtime technologist who is widely known as a “founding father” of the Internet, as Chief Internet Evangelist. This is their continuing bid to acquire the best brains in the world. Cerf, one of the founding fathers of the Internet clearly qualifies. The kind of stuff that forces Steve Ballmer to throw chairs at office walls. Cerf, 62 will will remain chairman of ICANN and will continue as a visiting scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where he has been focusing on a very Google-like project - trying to figure out a way to connect the Internet to outer space. He will help Google build network infrastructure, architectures, systems, and standards for the next generation of Internet applications.

Google has already made tremendous strides in making access to information on the web a reality for users across the globe, but we’re still in the Internet’s early innings,” he said. “This medium will enjoy wider-spread use than television, radio or phones, and will ultimately expand beyond planet Earth. Google has always believed in doing things differently, and I believe that places us in a unique position to help bring even the wildest Internet visions into reality.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer: 'I'm going to f***ing kill Google'


Dunno how much of this is true, but this is what the article says.

Probably due to the Microsoft suit against Google over human resources, some very heated exchanges have turned up in some court documents. Microsoft CEO Steve Balmer has apparently vowed to kill Internet search leader Google, according to documents filed in the increasingly bitter battle between the rivals. From the article: At some point in the conversation, Mr. Ballmer said: 'Just tell me it's not Google,' Lucovosky said in his statement. Lucovosky replied that he was joining Google. 'At that point, Mr. Ballmer picked up a chair and threw it across the room hitting a table in his office,' Lucovosky recounted, adding that Ballmer then launched into a tirade about Google CEO Eric Schmidt. 'I'm going to f***ing bury that guy, I have done it before, and I will do it again. I'm going to f***ing kill Google.' Schmidt previously worked for Sun Microsystems and was the CEO of Novell.

Also, google hired former Microsoft executive Kai Fu-Lee to oversee a research and development centre that Google plans to open in China. Lee started at Google the day after he resigned from Microsoft. Microsoft is trying to demonstrate that Google wanted Lee largely because he knows intimate details about Microsoft's strategy for expanding in China and for the booming search engine market. Microsoft alleged that Lee sent confidential documents about the company's China strategy to Google a month before he was hired.

Google paid Lee a $US2.5 million signing bonus and promised a $US1.5 million bonus after one year, plus a $US250,000 salary and options on 10,000 shares of Google stock, according to court documents. If he stays for four years, Lee also will receive another 20,000 Google shares, currently worth $US5.8 million. Lee also demanded that Google pay all his legal fees if Microsoft sued, a request that was granted.

Fake Yahoo site phishes for identities -ZdNet
The fake site, which was still live on Wednesday afternoon, is being hosted on a Yahoo Geocities account and asks users to log in with their Yahoo user ID and password. Victims are being lured to the Web site by spam sent over Yahoo's instant messenger service. This means a user will receive a message often from someone on their friends list telling them to visit the site, which makes the scam more believable.

Viruses making use of instant messenger are becoming far more popular. This is really showing that identity theft is where the next big threats are heading. The only reason for this site to exist is, it is not stealing credit cards or taking any money off you in any way, it is just after personal details.

Mobile Middleware -Sadagopan

Mobile middleware allows mobile devices with different capabilities to communicate with the complex programs that reside on the enterprise server, regardless of compatibility issues that might otherwise thwart a direct connection between the two. These compatibility issues include differences between operating systems and applications, or even the memory and processor characteristics of the accessing devices.

Mobile middleware market includes a broad range of different application types like CRM for customer information or helping field workers get the information they need. Then there is mobile-workforce management, a set of middleware applications designed to track time and travel expenses. Also, there is a growing number of mobile security applications, the foremost being centrally controlled mobile-device lockdown, encryption and authentication.