http://gautham.maediratta.com » Cyberscape http://gautham.maediratta.com V6.24! Fri, 14 Dec 2007 01:57:32 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 en hourly 1 Has Facebook hacked it again? Transportable Identities! http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/10/20/has-facebook-hacked-it-again-transportable-identities/ http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/10/20/has-facebook-hacked-it-again-transportable-identities/#comments Sat, 20 Oct 2007 02:11:21 +0000 Gautham Gauruv Maediratta http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/10/20/has-facebook-hacked-it-again-transportable-identities/ Pete Ryan pointed me to two posts on allfacebook that helped rid my blogging inertia :)

“Mark Zuckerberg dropped an indication that Facebook is considering opening up at some point. While there was no mention of when that would occur, the fact that they are considering an opening of their network is significant. By opening up their platform to make identities transportable will help them to become a Google competitor. Without opening their platform, Facebook is indeed risking becoming a fad. Conversely, the older generation’s presence on Facebook is expanding rapidly and this generation is known to stick with the sites that they use.

While it is impossible to say what would happen if Facebook falls off their high horse that they are currently riding or what will happen when Google launches their social platform, Facebook does have a shot at becoming an industry leader. It’s as simple as that. Facebook now needs to make all the right moves and currently they have a board of advisors that can help them execute successfully. If Facebook does indeed decide to make identities transportable, I believe they could become the center hub for a large portion of identities online.”

Though the Customer DNA wars have been on for a while Facebook can potentially crash this party with homegrown intelligence… would be interesting to know how this impacts their own valuation and companies like OpenID and Plaxo. What’s also really interesting is Google’s opinion that The web is the platform.  Devaluing Facebook? Or love for the web the way it was supposed to be? I could argue either way. :)

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]]> http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/10/20/has-facebook-hacked-it-again-transportable-identities/feed/ 0 Engagement: Google Gadgets a Yahoo! killer? http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/09/27/engagement-google-gadgets-a-yahoo-killer/ http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/09/27/engagement-google-gadgets-a-yahoo-killer/#comments Thu, 27 Sep 2007 21:47:31 +0000 Gautham Gauruv Maediratta http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/09/27/engagement-google-gadgets-a-yahoo-killer/ The last week has been fantastic.  Between the IAB Mixx & Expo and other events associated with Advertising Week, i’ve learned much more than i imagined.

I attended this session by Google on Ad-Innovation, where they spoke extensively about Gadgets and  other innovation on Youtube etc.  If Google Docs is Google’s attempt at hitting at Microsoft (albeit a VERY long shot), Gadgets (IMHO) is aimed square at Yahoo! by hurting their biggest stronghold (rich media & innovation) by adding longevity (users can save ads) and no hosting/serving costs in a bidded marketplace.

Engagement is clearly the new benchmark.  The Live platform is rife with gadgets developed for it and given that these can integrate across the platform on Spaces or Messenger or any other catchment area owned by Microsoft…the only person missing this party is Yahoo!

Given their dependance on rich media (and the possible impact), it will be interesting to see how they comeback.

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]]> http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/09/27/engagement-google-gadgets-a-yahoo-killer/feed/ 5 Eric Schmidt on Web 2.0 vs. Web 3.0 http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/08/05/eric-schmidt-on-web-20-vs-web-30/ http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/08/05/eric-schmidt-on-web-20-vs-web-30/#comments Sun, 05 Aug 2007 13:25:27 +0000 Gautham Gauruv Maediratta http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/08/05/eric-schmidt-on-web-20-vs-web-30/

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]]> http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/08/05/eric-schmidt-on-web-20-vs-web-30/feed/ 2 Now handing out Spock Invites http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/08/05/now-handing-out-spock-invites/ http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/08/05/now-handing-out-spock-invites/#comments Sun, 05 Aug 2007 06:38:55 +0000 Gautham Gauruv Maediratta http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/08/05/now-handing-out-spock-invites/ Discovered Spock last week but didn’t have an opportunity to spend much time on it. To quote their site, “Spock is the online leader in personal search, helping users find and discover people. With over one hundred million people already indexed and millions added every day, Spock is building the broadest and deepest people specific search engine.”

What i like is the fresh look at image/people search and novel means of user participation such as users rated ‘tags’ to increase/decrease relevance.

In true internet spirit…am just trying to spread the love :) …. Let me know if you want an invite.

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]]> http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/08/05/now-handing-out-spock-invites/feed/ 6 Can someone please send me a Crossloop Beta Setup file? http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/07/14/can-someone-please-send-me-a-crossloop-beta-setup-file/ http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/07/14/can-someone-please-send-me-a-crossloop-beta-setup-file/#comments Sat, 14 Jul 2007 12:50:12 +0000 Gautham Gauruv Maediratta http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/07/14/can-someone-please-send-me-a-crossloop-beta-setup-file/ Last week i blogged about remote desktop sharing and about how happy i was with Crossloop (the screen sharing app which i use to control Papa’s computer back home) … earlier this week i stumbled across a limited version from Crossloop and they’ve included some neat features namely FREE File Transfers (i wonder why nobody thought of that earlier, this is a first), a view only mode for added security (this exponentially increases the chances of corporates adopting crosloop as a secure communications channel) and lastly switching control with one click…

Appears that i’ve missed the deadline to download this since it was a beta test. Looks like there is a long long list of fans…if any beta testers are reading this can you PLEASE send me the setup file? I’ll be both eternally grateful and very willing to trade Joost invites and a host of other private betas … thanks in advance!
Did i hear someone say that barter was dead … :)

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http://www.crossloop.com/3y6io3/index.html#filetransferhelp
CrossLoop 1.1 Beta Test is Over

We sincerely appreciate your interest in taking CrossLoop 1.10 for a drive. Currently due to the overwhelming demand, we have closed our private invitation to ensure a phased release for the best of all our users.

We recommend that you go to our blog and subscribe to it via RSS or via email on the top right of the page – we will inform all our users of the availability and status through a blog post.
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]]> http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/07/14/can-someone-please-send-me-a-crossloop-beta-setup-file/feed/ 1 Remote Desktop Access http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/07/07/remote-desktop-access/ http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/07/07/remote-desktop-access/#comments Sat, 07 Jul 2007 14:00:46 +0000 Gautham Gauruv Maediratta http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/07/07/remote-desktop-access/ There are 10 kind of people in the world. Those who understand binary, and those who don’t.

If you happen to be of the first kind, i can confidently say that you gladly double up as a sysadmin to friends and family, not just for “best practices” / must have software, but more importantly during emergencies where computers refuse to work…nothing can be more frustrating than providing ‘blind’ telephone support and dealing with error messages that you’ve never encountered before.

Our pad in Gurgaon was pretty hooked up…a monster desktop, 3 laptops, 2 windows mobile computers, 2 smartphones and a long long list of peripheral devices hooked up around these…goes without saying that almost every gadget had multiple forms of connectivity with any/all other devices (wifi, bluetooth, usb, firewire)… and for any ideas i may have had, De had the ability to bring it to life….while we weren’t close to Googleplex capability, we’d easily excite any technology enthusiast in the region…

The most convenient mode of controlling a device on any network is when you can browse the device in first person…and essentially thats what “Remote Desktop Control” is all about. While the best application for local devices on a network is ‘Windows Remote Desktop Connection’, the best tool i’ve used to playing sysadmin for my folks back home is Crossloop.
It’s pretty light (couple of MB), extremely simple to use, doesn’t sap precious system resources nor cause conflicts with other programs running on your computer. I’ve been able to run all sorts of tasks remotely, without any issues and would strongly reccomend this to anyone looking for a remote screen sharing solution.

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Update 1:
i just found out about remote desktop sharing via Windows Live Messenger (the process is outlined below) …however fails to work with folks on the Reliance network…

msn-messenger-remote-access.JPG

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]]> http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/07/07/remote-desktop-access/feed/ 0 The Long tail, in short! http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/07/07/the-long-tail-in-short/ http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/07/07/the-long-tail-in-short/#comments Sat, 07 Jul 2007 10:38:58 +0000 Gautham Gauruv Maediratta http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/07/07/the-long-tail-in-short/ The single critical success factor of any new startup (including any 2.0 idea) lies in its ability to leverage the ‘Long Tail’. Though the long tail is not exclusive to the internet, it is almost synonymous with the wealth creation we have seen over the last couple of years… here is a very brief attempt to demistify the fundamentals.

The Long Tail

To put it simply (in internet terms), the sum total of all PageViews/Visits/Monetization Opportunities in the so-called ‘Tail’ is more than the popular consumer hangouts (read: portals). A new blog born every second and brings with it another potential influencer, voice and opinion sets.
As we’ve evolved from an era of Mass Media (the days of Doordarshan) to My Media (cable television, early internet) to We Media (Wikipedia, Y! Answers, Facebook….), choice has become a whole new reality …. and human beings can’t get enough of it. For traditional media, the Internet is the paradigm shift….the rate of evolution – the checkmate.

Consumerism isn’t merely limited to owning physical objects…we’re now (thankfully) seeing it in the ever increasing need to know .. (refer Quaero Quero Ergo Sum). It is the Long Tail that drove usage/adoption/popularity of Search Engines… people wanted to find new sites, new information, new applications. However, search merely connected people to long tail… and the next wave of wealth creation (popularly known as Web 2.0) came when technology allowed bits of the Long Tail to connect with other bits …. in the seamless aggregation and distribution of Content (Text/Photos/Videos/Other) & Advertising.

The Long tail is here to stay, and the rules to build a viable business model are no different from a traditional one. Affinity (in cyberspace/blogosphere) is a function of niche; media spend is a function of affinity, reach and relevance.

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]]> http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/07/07/the-long-tail-in-short/feed/ 1 Democracy – A Consumer Insight http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/04/22/democracy-a-consumer-insight/ http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/04/22/democracy-a-consumer-insight/#comments Sun, 22 Apr 2007 07:30:56 +0000 Gautham Gauruv Maediratta http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/04/22/democracy-a-consumer-insight/ Many of you have written/mentioned in passing that I hardly ever talk about Y! and what’s next, and only mention press releases/coverage from time to time about Y!…i’ll just say that the multiple Y! blogs (starting with http://yodel.yahoo.com) would do a much better job of describing what Y! is upto…also, this is a personal blog…and alot of the content here are thoughts about how the space is evolving…yeah, so on with my post…

The internet is the world’s biggest democracy…i first came up with that line back in 2004 when i was writing my SoP for an eBusiness Management course for a school in england…i didn’t go due to a multitude of reasons, but the SoP really helped me crystallize my thoughts…and this was my opening statement…

The Internet has no parallel, it is the world biggest community (11.5% of world population)*, the world’s biggest marketplace (740 million users), and is growing and evolving everyday. We have witnessed the social implications it has had on our lives and how it has revolutionised the way we do business. Today, we are witnessing the second Internet revolution, the era of Wireless Networking. This will increase the reach and growth of the Internet making it a more central part of how we live and operate. I am driven by my passion for the Internet, and am decided on being a part of this global movement, that continues to add value to our lives.

That was 2004, 3 years in a conventional landscape (30 in cyberspace)…those numbers have already clawed up to a billion users globally (15% of global population…growing at 10% a year)…media moguls across the globe are now watching the wireless revolution evolve and attain critical mass…wi-fi and wi-lan are available in india, mobile access continues to grow at 5MM new users in india alone, mobile VAS revenues exceed P2P… we are all witnessing faster evolution of our species thanks to the ever widening proliferation of media and technology…the key trend we’re seeing is, the company that builds the best ecosystem, that allows for the fairest democracy, and that allows the user to be the real winner will eventually win…
Google made online advertising democratic when they first launched ad-sense…they weren’t the first online ad-network, but were the first the allow virtually everyone to run ads on their site and make money of it…in retrospect, the manner in which fastclick, advertising.com and the other networks treated small webmasters was pathetic, and thats why they paid the price…Google continues to grow, and in no small part due to the number of webmasters across the globe that run their ads, swear by their practices and, how their system allows advertiser, webmaster & user to win… the online ecosystem is built (and continues to grow)…Google is not aiming to be a destination….Google wants to be the platform…and has done everything it needs to do, to be the center of the world’s biggest ecosystem…
Don’t for a moment write Microsoft out of this game…they’re still very rich (USD 30BN in cash, billions in profit every quarter) and if you read between the lines of last weeks $3 windows student license announcement for developing economies…you find that they are the only company on earth that could aim at doubling the number of PC owners in the next 8 years… almost all of us use Windows, and alot of their products across the productivity (windows, office 2007, mobile) and entertainment axis (mediacenter, xbox360) are leaps and bounds ahead of the competition… we’re only too used to personalising our computing experience…the key here is we can personalise it because MS has built the ecosystem… even though some of their tactics can be mildly termed aggressive, that’s just business right? …. in the words of kevin kelly, the infinite game is played to keep playing, and to win at every level you play at….

Today we can install almost anything we find on the internet on a windows machine…and thats what affords us options, choices, freedoms which in turn empower us….we can now share our ideas with the world (this blog being a classic case), get feedback, collaborate and jointly evolve…this is the role that technology & media combined are playing in the evolution of mankind… technology was always supposed to be open, to be free, shared, transparent…and media today makes it viable… web 2.0 is the biggest attempt and success story ever towards socialization of media & technology … its anyones guess about which company will eventually prevail… but the one thing i can say with absolutely no hesitation is that the consumer will win (and is already winning) … we’re really really really lucky to live in this day and age… subsidised by media, empowered by technology… democratic, free and liberated!

This is just ONE more reason why i LOVE the internet…

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]]> http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/04/22/democracy-a-consumer-insight/feed/ 0 Zapak.com Aggression http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/04/07/zapakcom-aggression/ http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/04/07/zapakcom-aggression/#comments Sat, 07 Apr 2007 05:07:40 +0000 Gautham Gauruv Maediratta http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/04/07/zapakcom-aggression/ Zapak is firing all cylinders….preparing for blast off….got this in my mailbox today…
(However, the typo …’click here to check your mails‘ .. is a total dampener)…

Hey maedi,

How are the games going? To start with, thank you for being a part of my Zapak family. You’ve been playing a lot and that’s why, I’ve decided to add more levels of excitement. Get ready for finger tapping thrills.

Let’s gift you 2 Games! Since I like your style, I’ve decided to give you 2 great games worth Rs. 990 for free. You can just download them, have it on your PC and play it anytime.

No Paisa, No Gyan… only Masti! So click here to download the games.

Let’s challenge your buddies! When we throw a party, we throw it big. That’s why; you can share that game with ALL your friends for a limited time. Tell them to log on to Zapak.com and I’ll give it to them. It’ll be an exclusive game for just your gang.

Let’s go crazy! I know you must have played most of our games but did you know we have launched 35 new games in last 2 weeks? You can now play over 225 games on Zapak.com and we are adding 1 new game everyday. Your fingers will get tired, but the games won’t end.

Mail me from your new Account! Did you know, you already have an email id maedi@zapak.com? it’s Fast , simple to use & has unlimited storage space. I am using it right now and it works great. You can experience it too. Click here to check your mails.

That’s all from my end. I’m getting back to my games now. You should get back to yours. Log on to Zapak.com for a new adventure everyday!

Keep playing,

Rohit Sharma
Chief Operating Officer,

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]]> http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/04/07/zapakcom-aggression/feed/ 2 Yahoo! India launches Maps http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/03/30/yahoo-india-launches-maps/ http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/03/30/yahoo-india-launches-maps/#comments Fri, 30 Mar 2007 15:11:39 +0000 Gautham Gauruv Maediratta http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/03/30/yahoo-india-launches-maps/ Discover India. Go Anywhere.

Before that, check http://in.maps.yahoo.com

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]]> http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/03/30/yahoo-india-launches-maps/feed/ 0 How Consumers Hijacked the Media Model http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/03/27/how-consumers-hijacked-the-media-model/ http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/03/27/how-consumers-hijacked-the-media-model/#comments Tue, 27 Mar 2007 14:44:53 +0000 Gautham Gauruv Maediratta http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/03/27/how-consumers-hijacked-the-media-model/ From Marketwatch:

It is no secret that the traditional media are under assault from audiences.

Not only are some consumers not paying for content, some are displacing those heretofore assigned to create it and others are affecting the economics by their online-sharing behavior.
That additional power given to the audience is evident in the financial results of many companies.

In the magazine industry, advertising pages at Time Warner Inc.’s Time magazine were down 23.8% in 2006 from 2000, according to Publishers Information Bureau. Newsweek’s ad pages fell about 17.6% in the same period. In the newspaper industry, the New York Times stock has been halved since trading above $50 in 2002. In the music industry, sales of CDs have been declining in the last seven years and fell 20% in the first quarter of this year. Contd…

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Most indian marketers and traditional media professionals would discount these as western trends. Keep in mind, indians are highly aspirational and have shown a higher affinity for technology-entertainment than most developed countries (a classic example is india’s booming Mobile VAS Industry). India’s share of global internet users has hovered between 3-4% since 2000, clearly illustrating a set of advanced users and new user growth proportionate to the rest of the planet. We’re already approaching the tipping point and distribution continues to get better (wi-lan, mobile…). While traditional media waits and watches, online media models change …real-time…by the user, for the user, of the user!

He who laughs last, laughs loudest…

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]]> http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/03/27/how-consumers-hijacked-the-media-model/feed/ 0 Gootube has met its match http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/03/24/gootube-has-met-its-match/ http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/03/24/gootube-has-met-its-match/#comments Sat, 24 Mar 2007 09:27:52 +0000 Gautham Gauruv Maediratta http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/03/24/gootube-has-met-its-match/ Simple math.

Quality of Video is directly proportionate to volume of Streams.
TV Programming is high quality. (NBC + News Corp produce adequate content globally to keep every demographic entertained)
Y! + MSN + AOL = Huge Captive Audience (30% of online video is viewed on Y! alone)
Y! (and the others) have a lot of respect for rights & IP …
UGC quality still lags commercially produced content. (I illustrated this point in my post titled….the funniest phone review EVER)
A certain portion of the USD 1.65BN bid for youtube was premium to prevent the competition from getting their hands on a portion of it… a huge portion of this was for audience (since google video had poor adoption)
So Gootube now has a USD 1BN Viacom lawsuit to deal with (obviously factored in during acquisition), NBC + NewsCorp + Y! + MSN + AOL, Joost, Apple TV (will eventually converge), Grouper and the rest of the long tail of online video.

Excess pride in a nascent, evolutionary and shifting mediascape is dangerous.


I must add…all views on my blog are mine alone….i am not a spokesperson for any of the companies listed above…and as much as i’d like to believe i know enough, there’s still a long long long way to go :)

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]]> http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/03/24/gootube-has-met-its-match/feed/ 0 Yahoo! launches Widgets 4 http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/03/23/yahoo-launches-widgets-4/ http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/03/23/yahoo-launches-widgets-4/#comments Fri, 23 Mar 2007 12:42:32 +0000 Gautham Gauruv Maediratta http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/03/23/yahoo-launches-widgets-4/ Excerpts from the Y! Widget Blog

Yes! Yahoo Widgets 4 is now available for download. This version has a lot of cool new features for users as well as developers of Widgets.

For those that think we’ve been sitting around drinking tequila and not really focusing on Konfabulator/Yahoo Widgets, today’s the day we show you what we’ve really been up to for these past months. Well, we’ve been drinking some tequila too, but let’s stay focused, shall we? What?!

Read the rest of this entry »

PS – Am downloading it, as i type this. Excited, and how! Yahoooooooo! :)

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]]> http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/03/23/yahoo-launches-widgets-4/feed/ 0 Yahoo! Offers Best Mobile Web Experience http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/03/15/yahoo-offers-best-mobile-web-experience/ http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/03/15/yahoo-offers-best-mobile-web-experience/#comments Thu, 15 Mar 2007 09:21:12 +0000 Gautham Gauruv Maediratta http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/03/15/yahoo-offers-best-mobile-web-experience/ Boston, MA – March 12, 2007 – The newly launched Strategy Analytics Wireless Media Lab service has released, “Yahoo! Offers Best Mobile Web Experience as Interest in Web 2.0 Outstrips Media Industry Content,” which concludes that Yahoo! has the leading mobile web experience, based on evaluation of leading mobile web offerings by a Strategy Analytics Wireless User Panel.

Yahoo! beat Google, Napster, YouTube and MySpace, after participants carried out a set number of tasks specific to each provider on both a laptop PC and a wireless device.

“Yahoo! Mobile achieved the highest rating, primarily due to the fact that it represented the best replication of the full website on the Third (mobile) screen,” according to Paul Brown, User Experience Analyst at Strategy Analytics. “However, mobile implementation of these brands is tangibly inferior to the fixed user experience across a range of metrics.” Mobile implementations of these brands are tangibly inferior to fixed with user experience ratings ranging form -12 to – 34 index points. MapQuest is the most sought-after web location on mobile followed by Google.

David Kerr, VP of the Global Wireless Practice, added, “Many users, especially among digital enthusiasts, show a preference for web search, web mail and web 2.0, user generated content and social networking content over branded content. However ease of access and discoverability of content on mobile handsets continue to be a huge pain point which is directly limiting content consumption”

Benchmarking Key Brands: Fixed and Mobile Experience

Yahoo! offers the best mobile experiene

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]]> http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/03/15/yahoo-offers-best-mobile-web-experience/feed/ 2 Gimme some Joost quickly please… http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/03/15/gimme-some-joost-quickly-please/ http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/03/15/gimme-some-joost-quickly-please/#comments Thu, 15 Mar 2007 05:55:31 +0000 Gautham Gauruv Maediratta http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/03/15/gimme-some-joost-quickly-please/ Just in from my friends at Joost….if any beta testers are reading this…could you pass me an invite?
Hi Gautham Gauruv Maediratta,This is just to let you know that we haven’t forgotten your request to try Joost. We’re now speeding up the process of adding testers and we’ll shortly be inviting everyone who has signed up to try Joost.

This includes you, so expect an invite within the next couple of weeks – in the meantime, thanks for bearing with us – we appreciate it.

See you soon on Joost!

The Joost Team


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You are receiving this email because you applied to be a Joost beta tester (The Venice Project). If you no longer want to be a beta tester, please send an email to xxx with the subject line: Please Remove

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]]> http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/03/15/gimme-some-joost-quickly-please/feed/ 1 The things websites do for traffic http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/03/05/the-things-websites-do-for-traffic/ http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/03/05/the-things-websites-do-for-traffic/#comments Mon, 05 Mar 2007 04:20:38 +0000 Gautham Gauruv Maediratta http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/03/05/the-things-websites-do-for-traffic/ Got this email from Indiatimes today….and am baffled….not surprised, not astounded….but baffled! I haven’t logged onto my Indiatimes email for over 3 years (the email mentions 3 months) and Indiatimes wants to do a springclean…the question i’m still grappling with is….to what benefit?

“In the next few days, we will be launching a host of new services, and would need to delete mail ids which have been lying dormant and have not been used for a long time.”

How hard is it to learn from the mistakes of the past..mistakes made by popular mail portals, who dictated terms to users – ‘no more than 250 contacts, 2 MB is all you get….maybe 10MB is what we’ll give you….sign in every 90 days or you lose your ID…’ … this list was pretty endless…and in walked google and swept away the heavy users… who didnt wanted to be dictated terms….is this a novel way of getting users to sign in to indiatimes mail again? Tough luck buddy….i don’t give a flying one about your mail….

As an experiment i’m not going to log in to indiatimes (i’ve only used them to shop for airtickets in the past and have a couple of carrots to my credit .. nothing substantial)….lets see what i miss out on…i’m reasonably sure its not going to be anything worth dying for….

Appended below is the email from Indiatimes….

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Dear Member,

We are delighted to have you as a part of the Indiatimes mail family. But we have noticed that, for some reason, you have not used your Indiatimes mail for over 3 months!!

In the next few days, we will be launching a host of new services, and would need to delete mail ids which have been lying dormant and have not been used for a long time.

To retain your id and to continue accessing your Indiatimes mail – with a far better experience, please log on to http://mail.Indiatimes.com today. Start using the mail once again and get ready to get surprised!

Looking forward to your continued support and patronage.

Thank you!

Warm Regards
Indiatimes Mail Member Services
–

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]]> http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/03/05/the-things-websites-do-for-traffic/feed/ 0 Salman Khan, Spam, Potty Training & Mother Teresa http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/02/17/salman-khan-spam-potty-training-mother-teresa/ http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/02/17/salman-khan-spam-potty-training-mother-teresa/#comments Sat, 17 Feb 2007 08:28:21 +0000 Gautham Gauruv Maediratta http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/02/17/salman-khan-spam-potty-training-mother-teresa/ Pick the odd one out.  Want a clue? Click on the image below.
Spam, Salman Khan, Potty Training & Mother Teresa

Was clearling my spam folder and came across spam from ‘Salman Khan’…i had to hand it to the spammer…he had earned an ‘open’ for sheer creativity…while the mail was loading i was curious about the kind of contextual ads that might get thrown up, and if any would correspond to the brands he endorses…
When the page loaded i laughed so hard, it took me a minute to get my breath back… goes to show that contextual targeting is still a WIP…

PS - No offence to Mother Teresa, i’m still wondering what word the SEM targeted his ad on…Salman Khan? Pheronomes?

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]]> http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/02/17/salman-khan-spam-potty-training-mother-teresa/feed/ 3 Expanded Alexa Traffic Rankings http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/02/17/expanded-alexa-traffic-rankings/ http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/02/17/expanded-alexa-traffic-rankings/#comments Sat, 17 Feb 2007 04:02:09 +0000 Gautham Gauruv Maediratta http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/02/17/expanded-alexa-traffic-rankings/ Alexa has added more meat to their traffic rankings page, after about three odd years.  I must add that they updated the graphs about a month back, offering more options with data smoothing and time period…
What’s nice are the geo-specific ranks and geo-composition of Alexa toolbar users for any site.  The top sites accessed from india can be found here
Expanded Alexa Traffic Rankings
(Click on the thumbnail for the full-sized image)

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]]> http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/02/17/expanded-alexa-traffic-rankings/feed/ 0 Google Apps to start Charging for Services http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/02/07/google-apps-to-start-charging-for-services/ http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/02/07/google-apps-to-start-charging-for-services/#comments Wed, 07 Feb 2007 18:30:17 +0000 Gautham Gauruv Maediratta http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/02/07/google-apps-to-start-charging-for-services/ Trackback:
http://tech.cybernetnews.com/2007/02/06/google-apps-to-start-charging-for-services

Businessweek recently wrote about Google ‘charging a few dollars’ for its ‘Apps for domains’ which would include the entire suite of programs from their Writely Acquisition to their homegrown calendar, gmail and notebook….Since they are chasing SOHOs, Educational Institutes and Public/Private Corporations it takes the Microsoft Office Live Suite which is priced at USD 39.99/month.

Seemingly unrelated, when Toyota launched in India, they launched with an outdated model called the Qualis. Some people argued that lanching with a ‘Multi Utility Vehicle’ was a strategic move primarily to ensure dealerships opened in B Tier towns,district capitals etc. While it was undoutedly a key factor, i learnt later that this was done for a slightly different reason. Reason being…to choke sales of their biggest potential local competitors…Tata (whose Sumo was their most profitable product) & Mahindra (India’s biggest MUV (people mover) manufacturer. Choking sales of the best sellling product would ensure that these manufacturers would have substantially less money for R&D of future launches, and so the beginning of the end of the competitor … classical Art of War stuff that Google is aiming to do to Microsoft.

Web companies are a product of the paradigm shift of computer to network & subscription to advertising…and thats just where MSFT is struggling. Billiions of dollars of R&D, need to be earned back… MSFT either passes the subscription cost to the consumer or advertising ROI to the advertiser. Google is offering lower subscription (the growth-lever is consumer adoption) and already offers good value to advertisers.

We live in interesting times…robust sales of Tata’s low cost Indica & Mahindra’s higher cost Scorpio kept them out of trouble… i wish i knew the answer to the trillion dollar microsoft question!

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]]> http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/02/07/google-apps-to-start-charging-for-services/feed/ 1 Web 2.0 … The Machine is Us/ing Us http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/02/04/web-20-the-machine-is-using-us/ http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/02/04/web-20-the-machine-is-using-us/#comments Sun, 04 Feb 2007 21:46:38 +0000 Gautham Gauruv Maediratta http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/02/04/web-20-the-machine-is-using-us/ This has to be the best UGC video i’ve seen this year…thanks Rajit, this is absolutely brilliant!

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]]> http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/02/04/web-20-the-machine-is-using-us/feed/ 0 The real implications of Web 2.0 http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/01/16/the-real-implications-of-web-20/ http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/01/16/the-real-implications-of-web-20/#comments Tue, 16 Jan 2007 17:36:58 +0000 Gautham Gauruv Maediratta http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/01/16/the-real-implications-of-web-20/ Over the last couple of months, i’ve been bombared by questions about social media (or web 2.0 products) and my responses have been consistently varied on the real implications for users, brands and communities. I finally managed to cut myself out of tech explanations and put down the real, simple, business / marketing implications:
1) Marketers, brace yourself for the handover of power; large corporations & brands to individuals & communities.
(We consumers now officially rock :) )
2) Webpreneurs, the value-store (read VC valuation) is not in content but in shaping & delivering a unique experience seamlessly across digitally converged devices. (read computers, mobile phones and other devices. The other devices are where the next wave of innovation is going to be led, and the best thing is
3) The barrier to entry, and time to market, in innovation is a thing of the past. Due to the permutations/combinations, and constant evolution of the platform itself, it is much harder for innovation to be driven top-down. The sheer nature of experience, demands it be built bottom-up.

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]]> http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/01/16/the-real-implications-of-web-20/feed/ 1 Is ‘Web 2.0′ Another Bubble? http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/01/01/is-web-20-another-bubble/ http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/01/01/is-web-20-another-bubble/#comments Mon, 01 Jan 2007 13:54:24 +0000 Gautham Gauruv Maediratta http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/01/01/is-web-20-another-bubble/ The Wall Street Journal Online invited two technology venture capitalists, who were active in the dot-com days and have invested in the current crop of startups, to debate the topic. Todd Dagres spent nearly a decade at Battery Ventures before starting Spark Capital last year. David Hornik, a partner at August Capital and a former Silicon Valley attorney, writes the popular VentureBlog. Their conversation, carried out over email, can be found here

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]]> http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2007/01/01/is-web-20-another-bubble/feed/ 0 Add the Yahoo! Search box to Mozilla Firefox Beta 2 http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/12/03/add-the-yahoo-search-box-to-mozilla-firefox-beta-2/ http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/12/03/add-the-yahoo-search-box-to-mozilla-firefox-beta-2/#comments Sun, 03 Dec 2006 04:45:38 +0000 Gautham Gauruv Maediratta http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/12/03/add-the-yahoo-search-box-to-mozilla-firefox-beta-2/ For those of you who want to add Y! Search or Y! India Search to your Mozilla Firefox 2 Beta 2, here is an easy way to do it.

Instead of using the convulated route of managing search engines / adding new providers etc etc etc, all you have to do is visit http://mycroft.mozdev.org/quick/yahoo.html. Listed are about a 120 different Y! Search services which can be activated extremely easily.

Happy Searching! :)

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]]> http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/12/03/add-the-yahoo-search-box-to-mozilla-firefox-beta-2/feed/ 0 Boys Toys: Nothing beats this! http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/11/22/boys-toys-nothing-beats-this/ http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/11/22/boys-toys-nothing-beats-this/#comments Wed, 22 Nov 2006 16:30:59 +0000 Gautham Gauruv Maediratta http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/11/22/boys-toys-nothing-beats-this/ I can live with the fact that i am a kid at heart…not just heart, make that mind and soul …and in order to be true to myself and keep myself interested, intrigued and engaged i’m constantly on the lookout for more toys…

As a child, i was fortunate enough to have parents who ensured i had the right toys to think the right way…..so Lego blocks, my Technic bucket, assorted ‘dinky toys’ (over 80 of them), a railway set, Atari & a ‘Media’ gaming set, tonnes of ‘101 in one’ gaming catridges (and the list goes on) kept me busy…with the advent of the PC…the PC became the new toy… i spent most of my college life playing NFS (something i’m not sure i’ve grown out of)…and once the PC / Mobile Phone combo arrived, they suddenly turned into all the toys I needed…

In college, i became a gaming enthusiast, and once i started working with Juno i discovered the joys of unix, daemons, servers & the internet. While the internet is by far my biggest toy / playground (i’m on the threshold of starting to develop a 3D Vision of it – Audience, Tech & Brand), the PC & Mobile combo isn’t far behind…. can we ever get enough of whats new….think of it …. Windows OS – Symbian OS, Office 2007, PC Apps – Java Apps – Symbian Apps, Web Services, Plugins for Firefox, Yahoo! Widgets, Microsoft Gadgets, Google Gadgets, Opera Widgets, Float’s Mobile Agent, Bluetooth controls, p2p, torrents, advanced charting tools for excel, Second Life, Comscore Stats, Forrester Data, eMarketer Info, NFS, Search Engines, Blog Tools, Wordpress, Rich Media, Web 2.0, rss, Syndication, and this list goes on and on and on…. could anything ever tear me away from a world centered around the PC / Internet?

Till two weeks back, i honestly believed i had access to most of the toys i wanted…(except my imaginary auto collection) and was relatively content with the toys i could afford…. and then, De introduced me to a concept called MindStorms NXT. Made by Lego, the guys i owe my sense of reasoning, logic and proportion to, this is the stuff dreams are made up of!

Mindstorms is about building Robots… not tiddly fink $0.02 robots….but robots with base functionalities that include Light Sensors, Touch Sensors, Sound Sensors, a programmable brain, intelligent robots that walk, have ultrasonic sensors to make the robot see, a 32bit microprocessor, 4 input / 3 output ports, USB / Bluetooth compliance, a speaker, display and the Lego Mindstorms NXT software which allows you to program your NXT and upload new programs via USB or Bluetooth connectivity. The software, comes with building instructions & programming guides to easily begin constructing and programming. As simple as Lego, as complex as Asimo; they might as well take rizla’s tagline – It’s what you make of it!

If the base functionality isn’t enough for you the software you could scale up to NXT Extreme!!!
Since Mindstorms is open-source you can use the SDK (Software Development Kit) which includes the NXT driver interface specifications and tools to create 3rd party programming environments.
The HDK (Hardware Development Kit) includes documentation and schematics for the NXT and all related sensors. This enables you to design and develop your own sensors and actuators that can interact with and control the NXT through various digital and analog interfaces.
And to top it off, the Bluetooth Developer Kit can be used to create apps for various Bluetooth devices to communicate with MINDSTORMS NXT robots.

So to put it in perspective, one of the simplest things you can do with your mindstorms, is have your Mindstorms crawl the room on voice command (via a bluetooth headset or voice) , spot a red object, send a photo of the object to your phone, send a command to play the file crisis.wav on your computer, then turn around and come back at 2x the pace. If the lights go out during this period, then move to the closest corner, turn on all its lights, camera and beam the video to a remote ftp server.

So what does Mindstorms cost …. you wouldnt believe it – USD 249!!!!!!
However, that is $240 more than i can afford at this time and so i’m setting up a paypal fund so that nice people like you can contribute a dollar each to help me live my dreams! (does that sound convincing enough :) … the paypal account you can pay into is gautham@maediratta.com … my top 10 donors get my inventions named after them and some emotional satisfaction and most importantly some ‘very good karma’)! :)

Here are some cool links:

The coolest Mindstorms applications : LEGO MINDSTORMS Hall of Fame
The team that built Mindstorms: Meet the MDP
NBC (Next Byte Codes) http://bricxcc.sourceforge.net/nbc
Microsoft Robotics studio http://msdn.microsoft.com/robotics
HiTechnic Products http://www.hitechnic.com
Mindsensors.com http://www.mindsensors.com

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]]> http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/11/22/boys-toys-nothing-beats-this/feed/ 1 How to use Yahoo! Social Media tools effectively http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/11/19/how-to-use-yahoo-social-media-tools-effectively/ http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/11/19/how-to-use-yahoo-social-media-tools-effectively/#comments Sun, 19 Nov 2006 06:13:46 +0000 Gautham Gauruv Maediratta http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/11/19/how-to-use-yahoo-social-media-tools-effectively/ Social media consists of Blogs, podcasts, wikis, RSS feeds, and social networks; nexgen tools that bring sites, users and communities into a dynamic, ongoing conversation. Syndication and sharing are key to social media since they accelerate the (r)evolution of that specific content/page.

Yahoo!’s dedication to social media and variety of offerings to its users is well known. Many webmasters and bloggers miss the opportunity to drive boats of traffic from the biggest portal on the internet by using these tools effectively enough.

Given below are a list of tools, what they offer and relevant URLs
blo.gs – a pinging service to broadcast updates

del.icio.us – social bookmarking site that allows users to attach tags to saved entries. These tags allow users to attach keywords to their bookmarks. Since no webmaster, blogger can cover every relevant keyword in his description of his page in meta content and reflect them well enough in his keyword density, delicious tags are a useful way of allowing users to generate content on your behalf and thus drive more relevant traffic organically. Especially useful for niche topics. You can include an ‘Add to del.icio.us’ button to the bottom of every post thus turning your users to evangelists.

Save to MyWeb 2.0 – Allows users to save, share and re-visit your sites pages. MyWeb Tools are numerous and consist of everything from buttons to save to myweb which you can include at the bottom of your post to Badges & APIs.

Y!Q: Sounds like IQ :) and allows you to provide related searches and information to your users at the mouseover! Users love sites that provide them the worlds information in the easiest manner. Y!Q allows you to offer your visitors a more wholesome experience. Recommended for advanced bloggers as the install is a more complex.

Add to My Yahoo!: My Yahoo! is amongst the most popular services that keeps Yahoo!s users engaged. The ‘Add to My Yahoo!‘ button allows your RSS feed to be integrated into a users personalised page thus allowing him to find you in his daily dashboard of online updates. Whenever your blog gets updated he is automatically notified on his next login to My Yahoo!

Similarly you can add buttons for users to post your content and on their 360 Pages, and get them to build buzz around your content. Similarly you can upload your podcasts onto the popular Yahoo! Podcasts and display what users think of your podcasts on your own site thus adding to the credibility of your content.

This week Yahoo! also released some easy-to-plug-in (interactive) Social Media Optimisation Tools for anyone who creates content on the internet (publishers, podcasters and bloggers) making it extremely easy for users to share, save, recieve updates and blog about your content. These tools are in multiple formats and can be customized to the look and feel of your site.
Feel free to email me on ‘gautham at maediratta dot com’ if you have any questions.

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]]> http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/11/19/how-to-use-yahoo-social-media-tools-effectively/feed/ 0 quaero quero ergo sum: Search Engines & Descartes! http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/11/15/quaero-quero-ergo-sum-search-engines-descartes/ http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/11/15/quaero-quero-ergo-sum-search-engines-descartes/#comments Wed, 15 Nov 2006 18:02:13 +0000 Gautham Gauruv Maediratta http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/11/15/quaero-quero-ergo-sum-search-engines-descartes/ Gaurav Pradhan enlightened a couple of us on the true story behind ‘cogito ergo sum – i think therefore i am’ and i have ‘been’ eversince :) . So much so that i found myself on a an English Latin Translation Site to check for translations for ‘i search’ and promptly titled this one ‘quaero quero ergo sum’.

Thanks to Capitalism, Democracy AND the Internet we live in an age of opportunity, in an age where doubt is something you address on a Search Engine.
IMHO the assurance that the answer exists out there somewhere further fuels curiousity (doubt). Living in an age as complex/connected as ours, multiple cycles of doubt, resolution, discussion, further doubt, further investigation….leaves little time for existential concerns. While cogito still holds water, quaero quero holds the key to success.

PS – So much for my $0.02, De coined ‘cogito ergo tum’ – ‘I think therefore you are’ years ago! The latin-hindi probably has Descartes turning in his grave but i don’t think De ‘thought’ about it! :)

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]]> http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/11/15/quaero-quero-ergo-sum-search-engines-descartes/feed/ 0 What Media Mix Modeling WON’T Tell You http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/11/07/what-media-mix-modeling-wont-tell-you/ http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/11/07/what-media-mix-modeling-wont-tell-you/#comments Tue, 07 Nov 2006 17:33:32 +0000 Gautham Gauruv Maediratta http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/11/07/what-media-mix-modeling-wont-tell-you/ This has to be one of the most realistic articles i’ve read in a while…the only issue from an indian perspective is marketers in india are SO BLOODY oblivious to what the blogosphere and cybersleuths are talking about it sucks!

Marketers: Ignore at your own peril!

What Media Mix Modeling WON’T Tell You
By Tom Hespos

I am often asked how a brand should allocate its media dollars to achieve the best possible ROI. This is a topic that media planners constantly think about. Some media agencies even have proprietary technology that helps determine the appropriate media mix for a client. Some media agencies even have proprietary technology that helps determine the appropriate media mix for a client.

One area I find somewhat lacking in attempts to address the question is, just how interactive factors into the mix.

Contd..

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]]> http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/11/07/what-media-mix-modeling-wont-tell-you/feed/ 0 YouTube vs. MySpace? http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/10/17/youtube-vs-myspace/ http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/10/17/youtube-vs-myspace/#comments Tue, 17 Oct 2006 13:02:17 +0000 Gautham Gauruv Maediratta http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/10/17/youtube-vs-myspace/ Just a few months ago, News Corp. (NWS) landed a crucial deal with Internet leader Google (GOOG). News Corp. designated Google as the search engine for MySpace, the social networking leader that News Corp. acquired last year for $580 million. The Google deal guaranteed $900 million in revenue for MySpace over a three-year period, more than
enough to recoup News Corp.’s cost of acquiring MySpace, plus a tidy profit.

Today, YouTube doesn’t compete directly with MySpace, where members keep home pages loaded with photos, videos, music and messages. But YouTube has a social networking component, because its users can share playlists and other information. That could be the foundation for more YouTube social networking features that would put it into more direct competition with MySpace.

Read on…

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]]> http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/10/17/youtube-vs-myspace/feed/ 0 Internet Mergers & Acquisitions 2006 http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/10/05/internet-mergers-acquisitions-2006-2/ http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/10/05/internet-mergers-acquisitions-2006-2/#comments Thu, 05 Oct 2006 13:37:40 +0000 Gautham Gauruv Maediratta http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/10/05/internet-mergers-acquisitions-2006-2/ From Mediapost

MERGER AND ACQUISITION ACTIVITY IN online media grew dramatically in the first three quarters of this year, compared to 2005, according to media investment bank Jordan, Edmiston Group Inc.

The online media industry saw 131 deals in the first nine months of this year–up from 72 in the same time frame of 2005, according to Jordan, Edmiston. But without any blockbuster deals this year, the total value of online media mergers and acquisitions came to only $5.17 billion–down from $8.14 billion last year.

“In 2005 we had a wave of large acquisitions, from MySpace to AskJeeves to MarketWatch, and now there’s a lot more middle-market deals,” said Adam Gross, vice president of marketing and communications for Jordan, Edmiston. “But these are very, very dynamic businesses, in the forefront of where online businesses are going.”

Gross added that the companies involved in the latest round of M&A are among the most dynamic in the Web space. Gross pointed to DoubleClick’s recent acquisition of online video services company Klipmart (which his firm was involved in) as an example of a “good business that’s growing but that’s not of the size as the ones bought last year.” Also representative of the latest trend are MTV’s purchase of Atom Entertainment for $200 million, TheKnot.com buying Weddingchannel.com for $79 million, and Reader’s Digest buying Allrecipes.com for $66 million.

By contrast, last year IAC/Interactive bought search engine AskJeeves for $1.85 billion, News Corp. purchased MySpace for $580 million, eBay acquired comparison shopping engine Shopping.com for $620 million, and Scripps purchased comparison shopping engine Shopzilla for $525 million.

The dollar volume decline began in the first six months of 2006, which saw 85 online media mergers and acquisitions amounting to just $3.7 billion, compared to 48 deals in the first half of 2005 worth almost $6 billion. Big deals in the first half of 2006 included NBC’s purchase of iVillage for $600 million. Overall, the first nine months of this year saw 493 media deals that totaled $40.2 billion, including 116 consolidations among marketing and interactive services companies, 64 newspaper mergers and 37 consumer magazine deals. In 2005, by contrast, there were 398 mergers totaling $41.4 billion during the first nine months.

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]]> http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/10/05/internet-mergers-acquisitions-2006-2/feed/ 0 An IMPORTANT notice from the Writely team http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/09/20/an-important-notice-from-the-writely-team/ http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/09/20/an-important-notice-from-the-writely-team/#comments Wed, 20 Sep 2006 05:27:49 +0000 Gautham Gauruv Maediratta http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/09/20/an-important-notice-from-the-writely-team/ Another Google Property integration…just got this email from Writely…oops i meant the Google Writely Team.
—————————————-

Dear gautham,

In a few days, we will update your Writely account to use your gautham@maediratta. com Google Account registration settings.

This means you’ll need to use your Google Account password when signing in, not your Writely password (if they’re different).

If you’ve forgotten your Google Account password, just go to https://www.google.com/accounts/ForgotPasswd

Thanks!
Google Writely Team
———————————–

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]]> http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/09/20/an-important-notice-from-the-writely-team/feed/ 0 Solar Wi-Fi To Bring Internet to Developing Countries http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/08/07/solar-wi-fi-to-bring-internet-to-developing-countries-2/ http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/08/07/solar-wi-fi-to-bring-internet-to-developing-countries-2/#comments Mon, 07 Aug 2006 05:24:09 +0000 Gautham Gauruv Maediratta http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/08/07/solar-wi-fi-to-bring-internet-to-developing-countries-2/ It’s nice when green thinking can be applied to closing the gaps between underdeveloped countries; indeed, when power’s not available, green solutions are practically a neccessity. Already, MIT and the UN have teamed up to provide kids living in the world’s least developed nations $100 laptops, their 2 watts of juice provided by hand or foot crank. Cool, but—and this was one of Bill Gates’ criticisms—what’s a computer without internet access? Enter Green Wi-Fi, a non-profit that seeks to provide “last mile internet access with nothing more than a single broadband internet connection, rooftops and the sun.” Their wi-fi access nodes, which consist of a small solar panel, a heavy-duty battery, and a router, can be linked together to extend one internet connection into a larger network. By using an “intelligent” charge controller that moderates power use and access based on amount of sunlight, the $200 nodes can run for as long as a month on low sunlight. The two guys who started the company—Bruce Baikie and Marc Pomerleau—happen to be veterans of Sun Microsystems. Sun microsystems indeed! Deployment is set to start in India at the end of this summer. : : Green Wi-Fi

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/08/solar_wifi_to_b.php#perma

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]]> http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/08/07/solar-wi-fi-to-bring-internet-to-developing-countries-2/feed/ 0 The Rise of Social Networking http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/07/29/the-rise-of-social-networking/ http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/07/29/the-rise-of-social-networking/#comments Sat, 29 Jul 2006 03:27:49 +0000 Gautham Gauruv Maediratta http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/07/29/the-rise-of-social-networking/ Social Networking is one of those many buzzwords you hear flying around the place. While Myspace dominates
discussions and headlines, the silent mover / dark horse is Google’s Orkut. Its not easy to spot Google’s
revenue model in Orkut, but this is as close as i can get to it. Search Quality!!! Google aims to provide more
relevant results on the basis of social networks, associations, interests and skew of geographic inputs.I’ve been using Orkut for over 4 years now, and must add that stickiness is high. While the scrapbook ensures
you login, the Recent Visitors tool ensures you keep adding folks in.

Appended below is a sneak peak of my Dashboard

Welcome, Gautham
Invite your friends and grow your network now!You are connected to 24,184,827 people through 75 friends.one fan You have 1 fans. scrap icon 90 scrapsYour profile views:
Since Feb ‘06: 714, Last week: 35, Yesterday: 8
Recent visitors:
srujana murali, Adnan Farooqui, Arunita Phukan, kanchan sharma, Nitin NayyarNext steps:
Have a great friend? Write a testimonial and let people know!Today’s fortune:
You never hesitate to tackle the most difficult problems

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]]> http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/07/29/the-rise-of-social-networking/feed/ 0 User Generated Content – The Online Edge! (MTV FLUX) http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/07/24/user-generated-content-the-online-edge-mtv-flux/ http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/07/24/user-generated-content-the-online-edge-mtv-flux/#comments Mon, 24 Jul 2006 19:04:24 +0000 Gautham Gauruv Maediratta http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/07/24/user-generated-content-the-online-edge-mtv-flux/ MTV Networks has announced a bold move into “social networking” and “user generated content”, and unravelled plans for a TV channel fed by content created by viewers. MTV Flux will marry mobiles phones, computers & allow people to create and consume media and while facilitating consumers to connect to each other. In addition to that MTV will give users the option of choosing music videos & displaying the users own videos and messages alongside.

Traditional Media is dead, long live traditional Media!

The idea is not as earth shattering as it’s made out to be. The move is MTV’s shot at leveraging the popularity of new user generated platforms like MySpace and YouTube, both of which have found exponential growth.

Alexa Rankings MySpace, YouTube, AOL, MTV & NYTIMES

Youth TV, a popular newspaper & an Internet 1.0 site Vs. User Generated Content. Who wins? Surprise, surprise! :)

Am i excited by the proposition?
No.
And why not?
TV, at best, could form multiple ‘local’ “social networks”. MTV appears to believe that they would be able to monetise these audiences effectively. TV is subject to high distribution & monitoring cost, which would impact bottomlines.
On the other hand, the web offers a virtually limitless audience with negligible distribution cost. MTV would have to go cross platform (and integrate serving content online) for them to truly witness exponential growth or earth shattering ROI.

Is FLUX a write-off?
By no means! I believe that MTV has been making steady progress into convergence. It is natural that a Flux 2.0 would be out soon, complete with podcast content, available on the go, integrated with URGE and accessed primirily over wireless internet.

What say? I’d put my money on 2010!

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]]> http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/07/24/user-generated-content-the-online-edge-mtv-flux/feed/ 0 Alexaholic, anyone? http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/07/23/alexaholic-anyone/ http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/07/23/alexaholic-anyone/#comments Sun, 23 Jul 2006 18:38:01 +0000 Gautham Gauruv Maediratta http://gautham.maediratta.com/?p=57 For those of us who can’t do without SearchStatus and getting basic perspective on the alexa ranking of a site….here is a turbocharged & smoothened version of Alexa’s graphs! Though this isn’t funded by Amazon, Alexa has mentioned Alexaholic in the Official Alexa Blog (Another blog that is a must-follow).

The long periods of not blogging have done serious damage to my alexa rankings! However, here is the alexaholic chart for maediratta.com (pardon the vanity)!

PS: Appears to be a problem loading the chart so have pulled it off! You could always check it at… http://www.alexaholic.com/maediratta.com

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]]> http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/07/23/alexaholic-anyone/feed/ 0 Vanity http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/04/13/vanity/ http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/04/13/vanity/#comments Thu, 13 Apr 2006 22:10:14 +0000 Gautham Gauruv Maediratta http://maediratta.com/gautham/?p=43 Roller coaster of a week

www.fling.in
www.7up.co.in

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]]> http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/04/13/vanity/feed/ 0 Netreaucrat! http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/03/16/netreaucrat/ http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/03/16/netreaucrat/#comments Thu, 16 Mar 2006 03:51:21 +0000 Gautham Gauruv Maediratta http://maediratta.com/gautham/?p=32 In 72 hours, http://www.netreaucrat.com = http://gautham.maediratta.com :)

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]]> http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/03/16/netreaucrat/feed/ 0 Web 2.0 – The new cyberscape! http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/03/16/web-20-the-new-cyberscape/ http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/03/16/web-20-the-new-cyberscape/#comments Thu, 16 Mar 2006 03:41:32 +0000 Gautham Gauruv Maediratta http://maediratta.com/gautham/?p=30 Sometime back i was asked about what I would my ideal environment would be, and my answer was relatively simple…IPv6 connectivity, a WiMax card on my tablet and a Web2.0 Life Management System running on maediratta.com.

I didn’t stop there :) (check the post titled 2019 for the abridged version) but the rest was more wishlist and not what i’d need to be seamlessly integrated with my online oxygen.

For the blissfully ignorant, IPv6 is short for “Internet Protocol version 6”. A replacement for the aging IPv4, which was released in the early 80s, IPv6 will exponentially increase the number of available Internet addresses or IPs (from 32 to 128 bits) and consequently the number of devices attached to the Internet. It would serve as a base for data delivery from everything from telecom to television. There are a host of resources which talk about the benefits and features of IPv6, some of which can be found here and here!

Combine IPv6 with Wimax/WiFi, the growth of embedded systems and AI and you find yourself in wireless paradise where all your devices i.e. car, fridge, camera, phone, tablet, TV talk to each other! Sound like sci-fi fiction? Opera already has a dedicated division which builds internet browsers for devices! Still sound like Star Wars? Before i give you a host of other reasons about why its not, i’ll give you some background on where the web is headed and the concepts behind Web 2.0.

To quote wikipedia “Web 2.0 is a term popularized by O’Reilly Media and MediaLive International as the name for a series of web development conferences that started in October 2004. It has since come to refer to what some people describe as a second phase of architecture and application development for the World Wide Web. Web 2.0 applications often use a combination of techniques devised in the late 1990s, including public web service APIs (dating from 1998), Ajax (1998), and web syndication (1997).“

This IBM Page (courtesy De) is a great resource for developers.

To put it simply, the next wave is server based & collaborative computing, limitless bandwidth and seamless connectivity. Any analysis of M&A activity by Internet heavyweights will give you a good idea about Web 2.0 products and why they’re where any netrepreneur needs to be focussing his attention. There is already a long list of products from companies like 37signals, Salesforce.com, Trumba, Adventnet (Zoho) which deal with life management systems ranging from CRM to online collaboration. Flickr & Live.com are Web 2.0 products that need no introduction.

A peek at Google’s portfolio of products and services and Google’s acquisitions all point in one direction – Owning the Web 2.0 platform. Microsoft is what it is because it owns the PC platform. And that’s just what Google has aimed to do.

Yahoo! isn’t a stranger to 2.0 either, the new Yahoo! Mail, Live Words and Widgets are all 2.0 products. In addition to that, their acquisitions include Oddpost, Flickr & del.icio.us

While it’s easy to lose yourself admiring Google, you could very easily lost sight of Microsoft and be fooled into believing that they’re not very active on the 2.0 front. Ever wonder why the rumoured MS acquiring Macromedia didn’t work out? Maybe, for Vista to be a success, it had to be more nimble. A little digging into MS Investments & Acquisitions throws light on my humble 2cent theory. Sharepoint, Windows/Office Live, Origami, Windows Mobile 5.0 are not just concepts! MS publicly can now be in every room of the house & Windows has long been associated with BMW. Origami is WiFi enabled, it does have a tablet version of XP running on it (and should be able to run Vista). There are no limitations on the browser, the connectivity, the OS. Whats there to stop them?

It’s hard to imagine that something as big and wide as the Internet, can evolve so fast! While i still haven’t been able to identify any opportunities that the Semantic Web will present, i’m sure i’d be just as amazed, just as curious and just as ignorant as i am now.

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]]> http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/03/16/web-20-the-new-cyberscape/feed/ 3 WeSmirch http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/03/15/wesmirch/ http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/03/15/wesmirch/#comments Wed, 15 Mar 2006 05:35:20 +0000 Gautham Gauruv Maediratta http://maediratta.com/gautham/?p=29 There are sites that feed off RSS but we hardly ever see (small scale) quality sites that perfectly integrate AJAX. We’ve debated the use of RSS all too often but marrying the concept to BB’s across the place is a novel concept.
WeSmirch – Automatic Dirt Digger par excellence!
Just my idea of a smart webmaster, make it neat, crisp, scalable and automated!

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]]> http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/03/15/wesmirch/feed/ 2 PC Magazine: Top 101 Web Sites http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/02/18/pc-magazine-top-101-web-sites/ http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/02/18/pc-magazine-top-101-web-sites/#comments Sat, 18 Feb 2006 06:47:42 +0000 Gautham Gauruv Maediratta http://maediratta.com/gautham/?p=26 PC Magazine: Top 101 Web Sites

:) – When it comes to any list of ‘Top Sites’ …. be it the Webby’s or anything else….i just can’t get enough! :)

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]]> http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/02/18/pc-magazine-top-101-web-sites/feed/ 0 37 Signals: Ta-da Lists http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/02/12/37-signals-ta-da-lists/ http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/02/12/37-signals-ta-da-lists/#comments Sun, 12 Feb 2006 19:49:45 +0000 Gautham Gauruv Maediratta http://maediratta.com/gautham/?p=25 When i last met Seby , we discussed a host of issues….one of which was service based subscription models slightly higher in the pecking order than website counters, but largely self help tech that allowed webmasters to grow their businesses. It was then that he mentioned 37Signals to me.

I’ve been tracking 37Signals for a while, and though i haven’t subscribed to BaseCamp or any of their process mgmt software i have signed up for Ta-da lists. :)

What rocks about their models are they’re based on increasing productivity and are so usable that they can give Google Products a run for their money. I’ve signed up for Ta-Da lists so that I can organise my to-do lists (read life) better….also coz i can syndicate data via RSS (one of my favourite pastimes these days) and work it out of a central location (read maediratta.com).

Am also hoping to test out BackPack sometime next weekend, so will post my review sometime in the next fortnight.

Have a rocking week ahead!

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]]> http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/02/12/37-signals-ta-da-lists/feed/ 0 Get my RSS feed! http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/02/12/get-my-rss-feed/ http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/02/12/get-my-rss-feed/#comments Sun, 12 Feb 2006 15:34:15 +0000 Gautham Gauruv Maediratta http://maediratta.com/gautham/?p=24 Not sure if you’ve seen the feed address at the footer on my blog, but all entries are available via RSS. Just add the URL http://maediratta.com/gautham/?feed=rss2 as the feed source on your RSS reader/personalised home page as such my.yahoo.com etc…

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]]> http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/02/12/get-my-rss-feed/feed/ 0 Google Page Rank of various Indian Sites http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/02/12/22/ http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/02/12/22/#comments Sun, 12 Feb 2006 07:58:02 +0000 Gautham Gauruv Maediratta http://maediratta.com/gautham/?p=22



Google Page Rank Output
Page Rank 8 www.google.co.in
about 511 pages linked to this url
Page Rank 6 www.msn.co.in
about 337 pages linked to this url
Page Rank 7 in.yahoo.com
about 28,400 pages linked to this url
Page Rank 7 www.rediff.com
about 36,100 pages linked to this url
Page Rank 8 www.indiatimes.com
about 10,100 pages linked to this url
Page Rank 7 www.sify.com
about 5,130 pages linked to this url
Page Rank 7 www.hindustantimes.com
about 4,830 pages linked to this url
Page Rank 6 www.naukri.com
about 473 pages linked to this url
Page Rank 7 www.shaadi.com
about 9,410 pages linked to this url
Page Rank 6 www.bharatmatrimony.com
about 424 pages linked to this url
Page Rank 6 www.moneycontrol.com
about 238 pages linked to this url
Page Rank 7 www.ciol.com
about 1,990 pages linked to this url


HT used to be at PR8, appears that their links to JP’s sites and others has attracted a Google Penalty! Similarly with the Indian Express bunch of sites….they’ve been penalised too!

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]]> http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/02/12/22/feed/ 1 Alexa Rankings of Indian Portals http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/02/12/the-internet-scene-in-india/ http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/02/12/the-internet-scene-in-india/#comments Sun, 12 Feb 2006 07:32:26 +0000 Gautham Gauruv Maediratta http://maediratta.com/gautham/?p=21

Though Alexa is not a yardstick we employ while drafting media spend, it is an indicator of server activity. Might interest you that google.co.in is at No. 1 now….

And FYI….yesterday maediratta.com was at 160k with a weekly average of around 300k! Not so bad eh?

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]]> http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/02/12/the-internet-scene-in-india/feed/ 0 Download Opera 9 http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/02/12/download-opera-9/ http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/02/12/download-opera-9/#comments Sun, 12 Feb 2006 05:52:56 +0000 Gautham Gauruv Maediratta http://maediratta.com/gautham/?p=19 Opera Labs

Sharp, intuitive, personalised…The best just got better!

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]]> http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/02/12/download-opera-9/feed/ 0 Widgets! http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/02/05/yahoo-widgets/ http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/02/05/yahoo-widgets/#comments Sun, 05 Feb 2006 06:39:48 +0000 Gautham Gauruv Maediratta http://maediratta.com/gautham/?p=17 Just got my hands on the Yahoo! Widget Engine….and i’m hooked….to widgets that is! Though the look and feel is trademark Yahoo! the widget gallery has very limited downloads so its best to hunt elsewhere for widgets…

Am downloading Preview 2 of Opera 9 as i type this…..expect it to more intuitive. In addition to the general bugfix and rendering improvements there’s supposedly a host of new features such as x-platform type widgets, better content blocking, support for bittorrent (yipeeeeeeeee :) ), thumbnail preview of tabs etc etc.

To quote slashdot “Improved functionality also comes in the fact that a good lot of the scripts from userscripts.org will now work, advanced settings have improved in opera:config, and more browser customization is available at the opera community. However, some clear indications that this is still an alpha release is the experimental support for NTLM which breaks the proxy functionality for some users, and the fact that widgets are always on top.”

Opera’s Ambassador to India has his head high :) . It’s stuff like this that has him smiling, making him feel like a schoolboy in tomorrowland waiting for his trip to the moon!)

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]]> http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/02/05/yahoo-widgets/feed/ 2 Browsers & Me http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/01/26/browsers-me/ http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/01/26/browsers-me/#comments Thu, 26 Jan 2006 10:08:01 +0000 Gautham Gauruv Maediratta http://maediratta.com/gautham/?p=15 I’m crazy about browsers.

Opera and Firefox are my main favourites, Opera coz it takes care of all the little things you always wanted but didn’t know how to get (like a german automobile…or should i call it a typical european product). Firefox coz it’s the spirit of open source, embodied in a solid, quick and stable browser. I function as an ‘Ambassador to India’ for Opera and used to run banners on most of my pages promoting Firefox.

I came across an article, or rather a series of comprehensive tests about the search for the fastest browser “Whats the fastest browser available”.

Very similar to quarter mile runs, these tests don’t throw light on the experience of living on a browser…..which is where i feel Firefox and Opera score way above the others…i LIVE online and my browser is my vehicle on my cyberspace expeditions and adventures…without a customised version of Firefox and without Opera remembering zillions of passwords & logins i need….i’d be a whole lot slower as an individual and professional.

Firefox plugins:
Available at Mozilla’s Extension Page you have a bunch of options ranging from Tabbed Browsing Tools, to plugins that help speed, information display, entertainment and most things you can think about. It’s these plugins and options that make your experience so much more complete….my favourites and reccomendations at this point are:

SearchStatus: Displays Google PageRank and Alexa Ratings on the bottom right window of every page. Very helpful in getting a basic picture about the site.
Blog This: An API for blogger.com, allows you to blog via Right Click. Very convenient if you use Blogspot/Blogger!
Mouse Gestures: It’s like paddle shifting gears on your steering wheel, complete with Enzo experience.
FireFTP: Allows me to login to maediratta.com FTP and make changes from within the FireFox browser. One less program to manage (used ot use Cute FTP earlier….now i don;t need it)
StumbleUpon: Used to be my favourite tool, except that its not compatible with Fox 1.5. Will someone please set this right?
IE View: Allows you to open pages via IE. So for example traditional Microsoft & Windows
Update pages which require IE only, are one click away. You don’t need to open IE separately, open it from within Firefox.
Customise Google: Married to the Google Search API, this is an absolute must!
SessionSaver: Automatically saves all the pages you were viewing on your last session. I couldn’t live without it.
You can download Firefox 1.5 from here

As regards Opera, I’d just say download it from here. Your internet experience is incomplete without it.

God speed and safe journeys, Opera and Firefox would guarantee both!

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]]> http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/01/26/browsers-me/feed/ 1 Mommy mommy my Firefox got ad-ware! contd… http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/01/26/mommy-mommy-my-firefox-got-ad-ware-contd/ http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/01/26/mommy-mommy-my-firefox-got-ad-ware-contd/#comments Thu, 26 Jan 2006 06:59:06 +0000 Gautham Gauruv Maediratta http://maediratta.com/gautham/?p=14 Ok restarted my computer, and its STILL there!

Cleared cookies, cache and browser history on Firefox. Will restart again….have already hollered for help on StopBadware . Launched yesterday, I as the 2443rd person posting for help…..in ONE day! See what having lenovo, google and sun promoting somethign can do!

StopBadware.org is a “Neighborhood Watch” campaign aimed at fighting badware. They seek to provide reliable, objective information about downloadable applications in order to help consumers to make better choices about what they download on to their computers, become a central clearinghouse for research on badware and the bad actors who spread it, and to become a focal point for developing collaborative, community-minded approaches to stopping badware.

Harvard Law School’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society and Oxford University’s Oxford Internet Institute are leading this initiative with the support of several prominent tech companies, including Google, Lenovo, and Sun Microsystems. Consumer Reports WebWatch is serving as an unpaid special advisor.

John Palfrey, Executive Director of the Berkman Center and Harvard Clinical Professor of Law, and Jonathan Zittrain, Harvard Law Visiting Professor and Professor of Internet Governance and Regulation at Oxford University, are StopBadware.org co-directors. Supporting them are an advisory board and working group made up of some of the top experts in the field, including Internet pioneers Esther Dyson and Vint Cerf.

Restarting again, if the measures i’ve adopted don’t serve as salt for my leech, i’ll hit the forums for help.

brb!

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]]> http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/01/26/mommy-mommy-my-firefox-got-ad-ware-contd/feed/ 0 Mommy mommy my Firefox got ad-ware! http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/01/26/mommy-mommy-my-firefox-got-ad-ware/ http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/01/26/mommy-mommy-my-firefox-got-ad-ware/#comments Thu, 26 Jan 2006 05:51:08 +0000 Gautham Gauruv Maediratta http://maediratta.com/gautham/?p=13 Believe it or not, i got Ad-ware on Firefox. My beloved, safe, trusted fox is now corrupted… HEELPPPP!!!..Everytime i start up i get an ‘Errorguard’ message….which when closed throws up an interstitial advert which looks like a windows warning and clicking on the Red X on the top right takes you to the errorguard page…..
Rush to Google…..google the term ‘errorguard’ and results include an adwords advert in prime top band showing the high CTR that the Adword creates. (i normally don’t click on adwords/adverts for anti-spyware software coz they’re never free…see how important WOM is?) :)

Solutions:

Sypbot S&D
I normally swear by Spybot S&D, i’ve been using it for several years now and its never let me down…..not this time though! I attempt updating my Immunization Database and it throws up an error message saying ‘Bad Checksum’! Did you say bad checksum?
The last time i remember the term ‘checksum’ was when i was updating Juno documentation on how Anti-Virus systems work and what technologies we could incorporate into making the Juno Anti-Spam & SMTP Daemons throw up fewer false positives. Very confused, and extremely eager to rid myself of this latest leech i get back to Spybot and run a scan. Since my definitions are normally upto-date i’m reasonably sure i’d catch it…. 7min and 18 seconds later….
Spybot (proudly announces): ‘Congratulations you’ve got no immediate threats’!
The Maed-hatter: Really? Can i uninstall your ass off my machine?

Ad-Aware SE (Personal):
I used to use Ad-Aware but it really slowed down my earlier box, and i always believed that Spybot could rid me of *anything*, except ‘maybe’ the common cold! So, back to Google, or wait lemme try MSN Search this time….Type Ad aware, Enter, http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/, Click Download, redirect to download.com (where the editor rating on the topof the page screams 5/5) and the download begins….while im bored i check the editors rating of Spybot S&D (also 5 :) …. satisfied that im not way off target….i install AA on my computer and run an update and system scan).
15,000 files scanned, 30, 45, 60….nothing as yet….75….5 new critical objects…..93….15 new critical objects (in the past ad-aware has thrown up cookies as critical objects, so i have my doubts….ad-aware ploughs on…..105,000….(the maed-hatter: go ad-aware go)….

15 odd minutes later….the scan is complete! What i’ve got is one Browser Hijack alert…..really? Ad-Aware you’re my new best friend…..click on details…..
http://runonce.msn.com…. ARGGGHHHH….
and just as i thought 15 tracking cookies, varoius ad-networks…. tribalfusion, pointroll, revenue.net, zedo, falkag, imrworldwide (?), ww3.shoshkeles.com (possibler culprit), overture, adserver.com….

Quarantined and deleted stuff….Restarting now….hope and pray it works….appended excerpts from the log for your reference below

===============
Ad-Aware SE Build 1.06r1
Logfile Created on:Thursday, January 26, 2006 10:50:43 AM
Created with Ad-Aware SE Personal, free for private use.
Using definitions file:SE1R89 24.01.2006
»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»

References detected during the scan:
»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»
Tracking Cookie(TAC index:3):16 total references
»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»

Ad-Aware SE Settings
===========================
Set : Search for negligible risk entries
Set : Safe mode (always request confirmation)
Set : Scan active processes
Set : Scan registry
Set : Deep-scan registry
Set : Scan my IE Favorites for banned URLs
Set : Scan my Hosts file

Extended Ad-Aware SE Settings
===========================
Set : Unload recognized processes & modules during scan
Set : Scan registry for all users instead of current user only
Set : Always try to unload modules before deletion
Set : During removal, unload Explorer and IE if necessary
Set : Let Windows remove files in use at next reboot
Set : Delete quarantined objects after restoring
Set : Include basic Ad-Aware settings in log file
Set : Include additional Ad-Aware settings in log file
Set : Include reference summary in log file
Set : Include alternate data stream details in log file
Set : Play sound at scan completion if scan locates critical objects

1-26-2006 10:50:43 AM – Scan started. (Full System Scan)

Memory scan result:
»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»
New critical objects: 0
Objects found so far: 0

Started registry scan
»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»

Registry Scan result:
»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»
New critical objects: 0
Objects found so far: 0

Started deep registry scan
»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»
Possible Browser Hijack attempt : S-1-5-21-1254056498-1354289438-4094575798-1005\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\MainStart Pagerunonce.msn.com

Deep registry scan result:
»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»
New critical objects: 0
Objects found so far: 0

Started Tracking Cookie scan
»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»
Tracking Cookie Object Recognized!
Type : IECache Entry
Data : acer@red01.as-us.falkag[1].txt
TAC Rating : 3
Category : Data Miner
Comment : Hits:1
Value : Cookie:acer@red01.as-us.falkag.net/
Expires : 9-22-2005 12:53:58 AM
LastSync : Hits:1
UseCount : 0
Hits : 1

Tracking Cookie Object Recognized!
Type : IECache Entry
Data : acer@zedo[2].txt
TAC Rating : 3
Category : Data Miner
Comment : Hits:265
Value : Cookie:acer@zedo.com/
Expires : 8-28-2015 9:00:00 PM
LastSync : Hits:265
UseCount : 0
Hits : 265

Tracking Cookie Object Recognized!
Type : IECache Entry
Data : acer@ads.pointroll[2].txt
TAC Rating : 3
Category : Data Miner
Comment : Hits:9
Value : Cookie:acer@ads.pointroll.com/
Expires : 1-1-2010 5:30:00 AM
LastSync : Hits:9
UseCount : 0
Hits : 9

Tracking Cookie Object Recognized!
Type : IECache Entry
Data : acer@cgi-bin[1].txt
TAC Rating : 3
Category : Data Miner
Comment : Hits:8
Value : Cookie:acer@imrworldwide.com/cgi-bin
Expires : 12-16-2015 7:28:04 PM
LastSync : Hits:8
UseCount : 0
Hits : 8

Tracking Cookie Object Recognized!
Type : IECache Entry
Data : acer@tribalfusion[1].txt
TAC Rating : 3
Category : Data Miner
Comment : Hits:2
Value : Cookie:acer@tribalfusion.com/
Expires : 1-1-2038 5:30:00 AM
LastSync : Hits:2
UseCount : 0
Hits : 2

Tracking Cookie Object Recognized!
Type : IECache Entry
Data : acer@sel.as-us.falkag[1].txt
TAC Rating : 3
Category : Data Miner
Comment : Hits:2
Value : Cookie:acer@sel.as-us.falkag.net/
Expires : 9-22-2005 12:51:22 AM
LastSync : Hits:2
UseCount : 0
Hits : 2

Tracking Cookie Object Recognized!
Type : IECache Entry
Data : acer@revenue[1].txt
TAC Rating : 3
Category : Data Miner
Comment : Hits:1
Value : Cookie:acer@revenue.net/
Expires : 6-10-2022 10:35:42 AM
LastSync : Hits:1
UseCount : 0
Hits : 1

Tracking Cookie Object Recognized!
Type : IECache Entry
Data : acer@z1.adserver[1].txt
TAC Rating : 3
Category : Data Miner
Comment : Hits:8
Value : Cookie:acer@z1.adserver.com/
Expires : 1-23-2007 11:32:40 PM
LastSync : Hits:8
UseCount : 0
Hits : 8

Tracking Cookie Object Recognized!
Type : IECache Entry
Data : acer@overture[2].txt
TAC Rating : 3
Category : Data Miner
Comment : Hits:7
Value : Cookie:acer@overture.com/
Expires : 9-4-2015 9:58:24 AM
LastSync : Hits:7
UseCount : 0
Hits : 7

Tracking Cookie Object Recognized!
Type : IECache Entry
Data : acer@centrport[1].txt
TAC Rating : 3
Category : Data Miner
Comment : Hits:3
Value : Cookie:acer@centrport.net/
Expires : 1-1-2030 5:30:00 AM
LastSync : Hits:3
UseCount : 0
Hits : 3

Tracking Cookie Object Recognized!
Type : IECache Entry
Data : acer@ww3.shoshkeles[1].txt
TAC Rating : 3
Category : Data Miner
Comment : Hits:3
Value : Cookie:acer@ww3.shoshkeles.com/
Expires : 11-19-2007 4:42:40 AM
LastSync : Hits:3
UseCount : 0
Hits : 3

Tracking Cookie Object Recognized!
Type : IECache Entry
Data : acer@as-us.falkag[1].txt
TAC Rating : 3
Category : Data Miner
Comment : Hits:10
Value : Cookie:acer@as-us.falkag.net/
Expires : 1-15-2006 9:49:16 AM
LastSync : Hits:10
UseCount : 0
Hits : 10

Tracking Cookie Object Recognized!
Type : IECache Entry
Data : acer@questionmarket[1].txt
TAC Rating : 3
Category : Data Miner
Comment : Hits:1
Value : Cookie:acer@questionmarket.com/
Expires : 2-5-2007 4:28:12 PM
LastSync : Hits:1
UseCount : 0
Hits : 1

Tracking Cookie Object Recognized!
Type : IECache Entry
Data : acer@statcounter[1].txt
TAC Rating : 3
Category : Data Miner
Comment : Hits:13
Value : Cookie:acer@statcounter.com/
Expires : 1-4-2011 1:32:08 AM
LastSync : Hits:13
UseCount : 0
Hits : 13

Tracking Cookie Object Recognized!
Type : IECache Entry
Data : acer@2o7[2].txt
TAC Rating : 3
Category : Data Miner
Comment : Hits:33
Value : Cookie:acer@2o7.net/
Expires : 1-22-2011 11:29:32 PM
LastSync : Hits:33
UseCount : 0
Hits : 33

Tracking cookie scan result:
»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»
New critical objects: 15
Objects found so far: 15

Deep scanning and examining files (C:)
»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»

Tracking Cookie Object Recognized!
Type : IECache Entry
Data : acer@2o7[2].txt
TAC Rating : 3
Category : Data Miner
Comment :
Value : C:\Documents and Settings\acer\Local Settings\Temp\Cookies\acer@2o7[2].txt

Disk Scan Result for C:\
»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»
New critical objects: 0
Objects found so far: 16

Deep scanning and examining files (E:)
»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»

Disk Scan Result for E:\
»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»
New critical objects: 0
Objects found so far: 16

Scanning Hosts file……
Hosts file location:”C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\hosts”.
»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»

Hosts file scan result:
»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»
1 entries scanned.
New critical objects:0
Objects found so far: 16

Performing conditional scans…
»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»

Conditional scan result:
»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»
New critical objects: 0
Objects found so far: 16

11:06:28 AM Scan Complete

Summary Of This Scan
»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»
Total scanning time:00:15:45.296
Objects scanned:133333
Objects identified:16
Objects ignored:0
New critical objects:16
===================================

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]]> http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/01/26/mommy-mommy-my-firefox-got-ad-ware/feed/ 0 Google – The World’s Biggest Media Company? http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/01/18/google-the-worlds-biggest-media-company/ http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/01/18/google-the-worlds-biggest-media-company/#comments Wed, 18 Jan 2006 18:02:29 +0000 Gautham Gauruv Maediratta http://maediratta.com/gautham/?p=11 Media (the plural of medium) is a truncation of the term media of communication, referring to those organized means of dissemination of fact, opinion, entertainment, and other information. Media as we know it is dead, long live Media! Media is information, and Google call themselves and Information Company!

Though it’s hard for you imagine a clean uncluttered search engine as the biggest media mogul of the lot, i’d bet my last rupee on it!

Google has already invested in Black Fibre, Internet-over-Power Grid and Wi-fi! We all understand the accelerated power of the Google Linux and that delivering multimedia content to your desktop is a breeze both financially as well as operationally (facilitated by wi-fi).

They’ve just invested in dMarc which gives them access to automated advertising for radio (which i’m sure can be scaled to video). Brin’s CES note laid stress on Google Video, and Brin and Page have chosen to fund “Broken Arrows,” written and directed by a friend of theirs, Reid Gershbein. Add to this that blogger.com is a Google company, and podcasting is a phrase that’s no longer alien to us.

What do we have?
User generated content, Popular TV/Video content and Google Productions available in text, voice and video. Automated advertising available in text, voice and video in a wireless world, where bandwidth isn’t an issue. Contextual & Behavioral targeting abilities so little or NO media spillage.

And i haven’t even explored how their investment in AOL would add to all this.

Do you still believe traditional Media has the power or ability to evolve above and beyond the Internet?

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]]> http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/01/18/google-the-worlds-biggest-media-company/feed/ 2 Google Analytics invitations now being handed out http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/01/13/9/ http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/01/13/9/#comments Fri, 13 Jan 2006 16:58:35 +0000 Gautham Gauruv Maediratta http://maediratta.com/gautham/?p=9 Google Analytics invitations now being handed out —
After being live for only a very short time, Google Analytics shut the doors on new users who wanted an account. While registrations were closed, the signup form prompted users to enter an email address where Google could notify them when signups were being accepted. [...]

We found some extremely skewed stats the last time we used Google Analytics. Not surprising since anyone and everyone who wanted an analytics solution used Google Analytics as it rolled out….appears that Google is only allowing active adwords advertisers to adopt and implement Google Analytics….lets hope the inconsistent data vanishes this time around….

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]]> http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/01/13/9/feed/ 0 Windows Live Messenger http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/01/13/windows-live-messenger/ http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/01/13/windows-live-messenger/#comments Fri, 13 Jan 2006 14:07:59 +0000 Gautham Gauruv Maediratta http://maediratta.com/gautham/?p=8 For some reason we love to see the mighty fall, but more than anything we love to see a great comeback….that was Arun’s handle on MSN Mssngr today…oops, did i say MSN Messenger? I meant the new Windows Live Messenger (Messegner 8.0 Beta) which Arun so generously sent me an invite to. Might interest you that this is an extended version of Windows Messenger and not MSN Messenger….which i feel wouldn’t be offered for download beyond a point…MS should keep it functional though…esp in developing economines where Win 95/98 are dominant and wouldn’t support WLM.

Excited as i was on getting my hands on a new toy, i shot off an invite to De (not as soon as i wished i could though) …and we discussed the number of bugs (or should i say, lack thereof) in the beta version. (there is one though…which i’ll post later…while i continue digging for more :) )

The irony of Arun’s handle is that MS has released a beta which is spot on, offers new features (like sharing folders) , and in a very Google manner has stitched it all perfectly well. Would be really interesting to see how well this integrates with Yahoo! Messenger when they merge both messengers.

Messenger 8.0 Beta – A Mini Review

a) One nice feature is the ability to colour your messenger (Main Window & Conversation Windows). I love the default orange and the square tabs ….
b) Watch out Google….MS wants to throw in Search in as many places as they can…..even if it means throwing in a ‘Find Contact’ right above your contact list….helpful feature though….esp with all those changing handles….(it automatically searches handle & ID)
c) Another small change that finds favour with me (being as lazy as i am) is the number of mouse-over options offered to interact with a particular contact.
d) Users who are ‘Away’ are represented by Light Green logos thus differentiating them from those ‘Online/Available’.
e) Can’t help say this out loud….Google’s shouting Google Video….and so MSN’s driving traffic to http://video.msn.com/ right from the bottom of the Messenger window….and wait a min…..there’s an option to search the web there too….. :)
f) Whats best about WLM is the Add Information for this contact feature….De mentioned that he had added info into his Hotmail Address Book ages back….forgotten all about it….and now he’s found old numbers/addresses etc….moving into Plaxo turf are we?

For now, Windows Live is the hot topic of conversation and speculation… http://ideas.live.com throws light on some interesting apps coming our way….on the other hand there is one more app that i can’t get enough of, my beloved Firefox…got a bunch of updates today and Thunderbird 1.5 is here too….when are we getting that MS Outlook beater Mozilla? They’re already talking about Windows Live email…

God bless and have a rocking weekend!

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]]> http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/01/13/windows-live-messenger/feed/ 0 Google Pack… http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/01/09/google-pack/ http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/01/09/google-pack/#comments Mon, 09 Jan 2006 18:36:51 +0000 Gautham Gauruv Maediratta http://maediratta.com/gautham/?p=3 3 days ago google posted Google Pack on their blog (http://googleblog.blogspot.com) and my reaction was ‘neat pack google – nice touch’….though it had nothing my existing computer doesn’t have, except gallery player (like anyone cares!), it didnt offer Openoffice 2.0 or even hint at it….it serves the masses and not so savvy well….which is what google’s done well in the past and effiicient computing is all about….

Over the last couple of months…we’ve come to expect the highest standards from Google….being an avid industry watcher, Page’s keynote at CES is something that I’d hate to miss…..

So we all waited with bated breath for Page’s keynote at CES….there was some hoopla around video and why paid content would get big and some even more hoopla around video….and then when we all thought the big one was cominng up…we hear about Google Pack? Get a life dude!

Totally unimpressed with the hype created around NOTHING…absolutelely nothing (except updater maybe….but that too has been lifted from firefox)!

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]]> http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/01/09/google-pack/feed/ 0 Opening Statements http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/01/03/opening-statements/ http://gautham.maediratta.com/index.php/2006/01/03/opening-statements/#comments Tue, 03 Jan 2006 18:24:50 +0000 Gautham Gauruv Maediratta http://maediratta.com/gautham/?p=2 2005 transitions into 2006, i hope you have a safe and prosperous new year.

I’ve finally decided to start blogging. On the advice of the wise Govind Menon, i’ve adopted the open source WordPress. Though a slight convulated install, feels good to be powered by the most powerful open source editing tool available .
What can we look forward to in 2006?

Loads actually….from Redmond, we can hope to get our hands on Vista, a peek at MSN Biz Apps, pay-per-go Office, MSN (India) Rich Media and India specific Ad-Center, Growth and evolution of Windows and Office Live! IE7, upgraded newsbot and personalised search are other areas we can expect activity on….

From Google we can expect pay-per-call advertising, Google Wallet, increased activity on Google Base (which would result in a showdown of sorts between eBay and Google), a more accurate analytics software (currently google analytics has inconsistent data) and more tie-in between AOL/Google. Another thing that would keep the attention of industry watchers are Google’s plans of Wi-Fi, their investment in black fibre and internet over power grid.
Jobbs and Co. have technophiles all excited with more powerful and affordable Intel processors powering Apple computers…can’t wait to get my hands on one of those….

The gods of open source should hopefully beef up OpenOffice and if all goes well an integrated Google Linux could be with us soon…..the only question being when….also Mozilla, we want a MS Outlook killer soon…..thunderbird falls way short….

All that i’m looking forward to from the Yahoo! stable this year is the new Yahoo! Mail Beta….am already on the wait list….and will be posting a detailed review as soon as i get onto it….

As far as the Indian Internet scene goes….with PC and Internet access costs spiralling southward we should continue to witness growth like we have in the last couple of years…with marketeers understanding that the Internet is a necessary part of the media mix, we should find newer and more interesting advertising solutions….expect some great ideas from mOne this year….we’re ready to rock the market!

I’m lucky to be a part of this revolution thats already changed the way millions of people work, live and function across the globe. It’s the same platform, accessible to everyone…a land of equal opportunity, the world’s biggest democracy, the world’s biggest community, the world’s biggest playground…with nothing to limit you, except yourself….have fun people…while the cyberwars of 2006 have netro-sexuals like me enthralled, it’s never been better for the end-user!

Go, Play!

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