Translate this blog to any language

வியாழன், 11 நவம்பர், 2010

Google News Blog: Enhancements to Google News for smartphones

Google News Blog: Enhancements to Google News for smartphones

Monday, November 8, 2010 3:45 PM



Last November, we redesigned Google News for mobile access on smartphones including Android, iPhone and Palm Pre. Today, we're globally rolling out new usability and visual enhancements that we hope will make browsing news on your smartphone easier.

We expanded the story space to make tapping on articles easier and more accurate. Tapping anywhere on an article headline or snippet opens it up, and clicking on a section heading opens up that topic section on your screen.

In addition, the default view of stories is now collapsed which reduces scrolling time. You can 'expand' a story by tapping on 'More sources', which brings you to related stories from other sources. The screenshots below show the collapsed and expanded view of a story.


திங்கள், 8 நவம்பர், 2010

PC Sriram daughter - untimely call from God!

Shall God give strength to PC SriRam and his Family! 
(And why it happens in the kingdom of Merciful God either!)
Words are powerless to console any parent.
Let there be silence...a complete silence! 

                                     
                                  

Renowned cinematographer PC Sriram's daughter has passed away on Sunday morning (Nov 7) in an accident. She accidentally slipped off the parapet wall on the terrace of a four-story building at Landons Road, Kilpauk, Chennai and fell down on the ground. She was immediately rushed to the hospital but by then she has already passed away, confirmed doctors.

In the early hours on Sunday, S Shweta, 23-year-old daughter of cameraman and film director PC Sreeram, slipped and fell from the terrace of her friend's house on Landon's Road and plunged four floors down to death. Shweta, a B Tech graduate and an engineer with Infosys Technologies Limited, was celebrating Diwali with a group of friends and was dining with them at a restaurant in Nungambakkam on Saturday night, an investigating officer told Express. Later, they went to their friend's apartment on Landon Road.

                             

It was around 1.30 am, when it was drizzling, they were chatting on the terrace, while Shweta walked back and forth along the parapet. Suddenly, the friends heard a loud thud and initially thought that it was the sound of an exploding firecracker. They later realised that Shweta had fallen down, the officer said.
She was working as a software engineer and showed no interest to get into the film field.
We express our heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family and her friends and I pray for PC Sriram daughter's soul to rest in peace.

( PC Sri Ram's famous films are Mouna Raagam, Agni Nachatiram, Geetanjali, Thiruda Thiruda, Alai Paayuthe, and his National Award-winning work for Nayagan, and Thevar Magan etc,)

(Counseling Psychologist/Yozen Therapist)

ஞாயிறு, 7 நவம்பர், 2010

Android OS - The fast browsing for Mobiles ever!

Editorial: Windows Mobile vs Android!

 


Many times I’ve wondered: what is it that drives someone to use one platform or the other? The question was general, whether I asked about Windows 7 powered PCs versus apple iMacs or Windows Mobile powered devices versus those running Android or iOS. Some people put their money on aspect, others prefer to have usability; some like speed, others care for their pockets; some love the support while others need compatibility and so on. Regardless of what the reasons are, the crowds are well delimited but what does it take to switch sides and what makes a “no matter what I’ll stick to my choice” fan? Read on for the first part of our Windows Mobile vs Android faceoff, where we’ll discuss about aspect and speed!

I. Foreword:
Before questions are raised, we need to clarify that we have used top hardware from both worlds for this series, meaning we have the HTC HD2 running Windows Mobile 6.5 on one side and the HTC Desire running Android 2.2 Froyo on the other side. Both devices run the same Qualcomm 1 GHz processor and have almost similar hardware specs memory, resolution, sensors and generally hardware-wise. Before the release of the HTC Desire back in April 2010, everyone was talking about the Android HD2 because of the similarities. Oh, and both devices are fresh after a factory reset. The HTC HD2 is running stock 1.66.405.2 WWE ROM (stock SPL) and the HTC Desire is on Android 2.2 Froyo (2.09.405.8 unrooted). Both are set up with the same Exchange server I’m using to manage my email, calendar and contacts and both have granted access to social media like Twitter and Facebook. You can see a side by side comparison of the Hardware specs here




HTC HD2




HTC Desire


One other thing I’d like to clarify: even though some of the flaws and lacks presented and/or commented below can be fixed with applying certain tweaks or hacks, we will not discuss those since the purpose of this Editorial is to compare stock to stock from the “use it as it is” point of view. Remember, not all the users are willing or knowledgeable to apply tweaks or hacks. While I myself and some of you most certainly always will, for sure my girlfriend, your wife, daughter, sister or the average coworker will not.

II. HardSPL vs Root:
Those of you who follow my posts for a while might know me as a person who does a lot of tweaking but you must also know by now that I’m not a fan of HardSPL. I don’t like it because I feel no need for it and for sure I’m not advising nor preaching it. I am not into custom ROMs since I strongly believe I can get the same out of a stock ROM, performance wise. Since I’m a fresh Android user (just got my Desire a couple of days ago) I can’t tell you that I’m not a fan of custom ROMs. Most probably I never will be because with me, it became a way of life to just leave things stock and get the best out of them while at it. Sure I’ve applied the Froyo update right after first power on, but I’m amongst the first users to apply a fresh (official) ROM update for the HTC HD2 right at release.

There’s a difference between HardSPL on Windows Mobile devices and rooting your Android device. While HardSPL allows you to (safely – relative) flash any (and custom) ROM built for the specific device and that’s it (!), root access on your Android device has more to it. You will need root to perform some basic actions like installing applications to the SD Card. Speaking of this, Konrad Hubner from Skycoders said that “Android apps are installed on the internal memory and there is nothing you can do against it. This is part of the security concept”. Well, with the release of Android 2.2, things changed a bit. It’s up to the Software developer to allow the application or not to be moved to the SD Card but with Android 2.2 you can move the apps via Settings > Applications > Manage applications and tapping on the app to be moved from the Downloaded tab. But not everyone is able to run Froyo…

One other thing before continuing: you might notice I’m not sharing any of my own screenshots from my HTC Desire. That’s because I haven’t rooted it and taking screenshots on stock (unrooted) devices is not possible (or I didn’t find the way to do it in a few days since I’ve put my hands on Android – yes, I know about the SDK method but I simply refuse to install and go through such a process for something basic as taking a screen shot!).

III. Aspect:
Since both the HTC HD2 and the HTC Desire run HTC’s Sense UI on top of the Operating System, that’s the first thing that greets the user. You can’t help but notice how sluggish the animations are on Android Sense compared to those running on Windows Mobile Sense. Whether we talk about weather animation, flipping through emails or pictures, the framerate on Android Sense seems to be at least half of the one running on Windows Mobile which is rather unexpected and a real drawback considering the eye-candy-ness of Android. One thing in Android’s defense is that I believe that the fault is not with Android itself but rather a poor implementation in Sense by HTC. That aside, without going into details, both Sense interfaces are nice and feature lots of eye-candy (as they should, given that they’re the place to do all the common day by day tasks). 



HTC Sense on HTC HD2 and HTC Desire
  The thing that truly offers Android a real advantage here is the ability to use widgets. While Windows Mobile’s Sense is made out of “as they are” tabs which you can at best move towards the beginning or the end of the list considering ease of access – a total number of 11 tabs plus two fixed, a total of 13 tabs, Android Sense features seven fully customizable tabs. You can easily add widgets, apps, shortcuts or folders, arrange them exactly the way you want to and after customizing, save the Scene so you can apply another one and then switch back easily to it. And it’s not only about dragging the items on a tab that makes Sense really nice but the fact that many widgets have two or more variations to them, different sizes bringing different information. For instance you can have a Calendar widget showing a full month, the agenda or a small version showing only the next appointment same way you can have a full or a mini music player.

Widgets and the ability to customize and save Scenes are the foundation of Android Sense and that makes it not only an aspect and feature winner but also a productivity winner too in this category. And let’s not forget about the Leap feature on Android’s HTC Sense: you can pinch to zoom in any of the Sense tabs to view all your tabs in one place an easily tap on another one where you are instantly taken. For instance, I have my Weather set on tab -3 and my Calendar on tab +3. Instead of swiping like crazy all the way from left to right or shining my optical tracker button, I just leap and that’s it! 



HTC Leap (image courtesy of Tracy and Matt's Blog)
To put things simple, sense aside, Android is candy! It got all the nice icons and colors to get attention and let’s not forget about the animations which are really nice. The font used is sleek and readable, the buttons are finger friendly and the UI looks as it should. Windows Mobile, on the other hand, got a bit old; it’s rough around the edges and certainly lacks finger friendliness in some occasions. Even though HTC has made an excellent job in skinning and implementing HTC Sense as deep as they could inside the Windows Mobile Operating System (menus, messaging, etc.), it’s the basic screens of Windows Mobile and the tabs inside certain windows that need a bit of a facelift. The Start Menu is nice but some icons are not (some look old while some look polished) while Android’s all apps list can be customized to either show a grid of icons or a list.

Disabling HTC Sense on the HTC HD2 also brings back the default Windows Mobile 6.5 Soft Menus. Both these and the ones customized by HTC take up huge portions of the screen so that bringing them up covers the background most of the times. There are two types of menus with Android: those appearing at the bottom of the screen triggered by the Menu button and those appearing on screen triggered by a long tap for instance (these ones pretty much cover a huge part of the screen too).
From the aspect point of view, Android wins this round over Windows Mobile.

IV. Speed:
 Out of the box, Android is fast! How fast? Instant in most cases with navigating between tabs of Sense, launching applications, customizing and doing basic daily operations. It is so because it has that certain memory management policy implemented that does not kill your apps but when there’s need for more memory. I remember the trend a few years back (before even Android was born) where Windows Mobile users were craving for a solution to really close the applications upon tapping the X in the top right corner instead of minimizing it. Well, that was back in the days when memory was a problem. On current devices like the HTC HD2, you are unlikely to run out of memory (for sure I never did) so there’s no need to really close apps (but in special occasions which count as exceptions like when they eat up your CPU and thus battery). Android doesn’t even have an X button to close the app, but as it is nowadays with Windows Mobile, you don’t even need it. You either Back away from the app or hit the Home button. Yes, you can force close the application but that’s not indicated. Android will take care of your memory management needs.

Windows Mobile is also fast. I find it to be almost instant in most of the cases with basic daily operations. Browsing the Internet, writing emails, listening to music, tweeting, navigating, reading news, etc., don’t require more than a blink of the eye for the app to be launched.

From the general speed point of view, I call this a draw.

V. Scores:
Aspect:
Android 1 – 0 Windows Mobile
Speed:
Android 1 – 1 Windows Mobile
Overall (aggregate score for Part 2):
Android 2 – 1 Windows Mobile

That sums up our first Part of the Windows Mobile vs Android Faceoff! Stay tuned for our Part Two where we’ll discuss further more about the two platforms, their differences and similarities from the apps, productivity and business as well as casual users’ point of view. 
Courtesy: By: Anton D. Nagy
source: http://pocketnow.com/thought/editorial-windows-mobile-vs-android-the-faceoff-part-1 
__________________________________________________________

Google claims Froyo (that is Android 2.2 Version is now) has the world's fastest mobile browser:

\











Google has just come out with the strident claim that the web browser in Android 2.2, aka Froyo, is the world's fastest for mobile devices now. Having implemented the V8 JavaScript Engine that's already made an appearance in its desktop Chrome browser, Google's reporting JavaScript performance that's somewhere in the vicinity of two to three times better than what you can get from previous Android versions. 

We'll give this geek cabal some style points for the double equals sign up top, but will certainly be putting its bold assertion to the test in the very near future.

வெள்ளி, 22 அக்டோபர், 2010

How to find Manufacturing Date of any Mobile?

Very simple!

1. Remove out your battery and see the IMEI code of the Mobile.
(usually it is 15 digit numbers)
2.  Or, just type *#06# (star. ash. zero six, ash) in the same mobile to be checked.

Now, you will get the IMEI(International Mobile Equipment Identity) number. 

3. Write down the IMEI number and enter it in the website: http://www.numberingplans.com/?page=analysis&sub=ispcnr

4. You will get all the details like manufacturing date, serial number, phone version number etc., about the mobile phone.  

5. Have a nice Day!

-YozenBalki

வெள்ளி, 15 அக்டோபர், 2010

இங்கிருந்து கோவில்களை நேரில் பாருங்கள்! 3D Virtual Tour - Indian Temples!

0-360 mounted on point and shoot camera

நான் இன்றைய "புதிய தலைமுறை" இதழில் ஒரு நல்ல செய்தியைப் பார்த்தேன். அதில் தமிழ் நாடு சுற்றுலா வளர்ச்சிக் கழகத்தின் Virtual Visual கொண்ட இணையதளம் http:www//tamilnadutourism.org பற்றியும் அதில் உள்ள Virtual Tour  பற்றியும் அறிந்தேன். உடனே அந்த இணையதளம் சென்று பார்த்ததில் எனக்கு ஆனந்தம் தாங்க முடியவில்லை. பெரும் வியப்பும் மகிழ்ச்சியும் ஏற்பட்டது. ஒரு பத்து நிமிடம் கூட பார்த்திருக்க மாட்டேன்! இதோ உடனே அதை உங்களுடன் பகிர்ந்து கொள்ள எனது இணைய வலைப் பூவுக்கு வந்து விட்டேன். அதில் என்ன இருக்கிறது என்று ஒரு சிறு குறிப்பு:

1. நாம் நேரில் பார்க்கமுடியாத பல கோவில்களின் அமைப்புகளை நேரில் பார்ப்பதை விட துல்லியமாக 360 பாகைக் கோணத்தில் பார்க்கலாம்.

2. புதிய வியப்பூட்டும் விஞ்ஞான தொழில் நுட்பம்.

3. உங்கள் 'cursor' ஐ முன்னும் பின்னும் மேலும் கீழும் நகர்த்தி, விரும்பிய இடத்தை 'Zoom'
    செய்து பார்க்கலாம். (ஆச்சர்யம் என்னவென்றால் தரை-வானம் எல்லாமே தெரிகிறது. அதாவது, நீங்களே ஓரிடத்தில் நின்று கொண்டு முன்னூற்று அறுபது டிகிரி-மற்றும் மேலும் கீழும் பார்ப்பது போல் பார்க்க முடியும். அதோடு நம் கண்ணுக்கு முடியாத ஒரு வேலை-'Zoom" செய்து பார்ப்பது. அதுவும் இதில் சாத்தியமாகி உள்ளது)

4. இதை வீடியோ என்று சொல்ல முடியாது. புகைப்படம் என்றே கூற முடியும். ஆனாலும், இதில் உள்ள வசதிகள் அசத்தலானது. தமிழ்நாடு டூரிசம் இந்த வசதிகளை http://www.view360.in/  M/s. View360, Chennai, Tamilnadu. INDIA மூலம் செய்துள்ளது என்று தோன்றுகிறது. ஆயினும் அந்த முயற்சியை- தொழில் நுட்பத்தை எவ்வளவு பாராட்டினாலும் அது மிகவும் குறைவே! சாதனையான செயல் இது! வேறெங்கும் நான் இப்படி இதுவரை பார்க்க வில்லை. இந்த பிரமிப்பு குறைய வெகு நாட்கள் ஆகும்!

நீங்களும் அந்த காட்சிகளை இங்கே கிளிக் செய்து பாருங்கள்: 
நீங்களும் என்னைப் போல சிற்பங்களை ரசிக்கும் மன உணர்வு  கொண்டவரானால் 
சந்தோசத்தில் தலை கால் புரியாமல் குதிப்பீர்கள்!

கோவில்கள் எல்லாமே ஓரிடத்தில் காண :
முதல் பக்கத்துக்குச் சென்று அங்குள்ள கோவில்களின் விவரம் மற்றும் சுற்றுலாத் தளங்களின் விவரம் இங்கே காண்க:
http://www.tamilnadutourism.org/virtualtour/index.html


( கொசுறு: இது கார் ரசிகர்களுக்கு பிடித்த ஒரு Virtual இணையம்:


yozenbalki

சனி, 11 செப்டம்பர், 2010

Believe it! Ministers have aam admi assets! சொத்துக் குவிக்கும் அமைச்சர்களும் சொத்தை (அப்பாவி அல்லது நல்ல ) அமைச்சர்களும்!


                                      RTI activist Subhash Chandra Aggarwal 

இந்த நாட்டில் அமைச்சராய் இருந்தாலும் நீதிபதியாய் இருந்தாலும் அவர்கள் தங்கள் சொத்துக்களைப் பற்றிய தகவல் அளித்து ஒளிவு மறைவற்ற போது வாழ்வு மேற்கொள்ள வேண்டும் என்ற கருத்துடையவர் திரு.சுபாஷ் சந்திரா அவர்கள். (பெயரிலேயே சுபாஷ் சந்திர போஸ்; சபாஷ்!) 'தகவலறியும் உரிமைச் சட்டத்தின்' (RTI)  கீழ் அவர் நீதி மன்றத்தில் நடத்திய  நீண்ட போராட்டத்தால் தற்போது கொஞ்சம் வெளிவந்துள்ளது அமைச்சர்களின் சொத்து விவரங்கள். இந்த விவரங்கள்  கூட உண்மையா பொய்யா என்பது அந்த ஆண்டவனுக்கே வெளிச்சம்! 

மேலே காண்பது  திரு.சுபாஷ் அகர்வாலின் பேட்டி: _____________________________________________________________
NEW DELHI: The Union Council of Ministers has finally made a disclosure of individual assets, and if the information provided is taken at face value, we have a truly aam admi Cabinet with a few exceptions.
(The disclosure comes after over a year of sarkari stonewalling on an RTI application filed by activist Subhash Chandra Agrawal. He had started his first battle by filing a plea in Nov 2009 on supreme court judges to reveal their assets under RTI act.)
Commerce minister Anand Sharma, for instance, may be spending his official day looking at figures in billion of dollars, but his personal wealth is a paltry Rs 26,741. Likewise for food processing minister Subodh Kant Sahai, who has assets of Rs 1.4 lakh, urban development minister S Jaipal Reddy with assets of just Rs 3.3 lakh and social justice minister Mukul Wasnik who also owns only Rs 3.3 lakh.

Even Farooq Abdullah, the renewable energy minister, who shuttles between Delhi, Srinagar and London and is reputed for his flamboyant lifestyle, can lay claim to assets of barely Rs 6.5 lakh, while our cotton-sari clad railway minister, Mamata Banerjee, is worth more at Rs 6.7 lakh, which includes 10 grams of gold.

     Of course, not everybody is quite as aam as this, but even high-profile leaders like Sharad Pawar claim to own just Rs 3.9 crore, while telecom minister  A.Raja has assets worth Rs.73.9 Lakh

Then there are those who are, as it were, the royalty of the group, some literally, others not so. Palaces, farm land across the country, shares and stocks are the stuff their assets are made of.

On top of this heap is civil aviation minister Praful Patel with Rs 33 crore, followed by Jyotiraditya Scindia and Kapil Sibal with assets upwards of Rs 20 crore. Incidentally, this does not include the properties and income of their wives and dependents.

Many in this not-so-aam list have invested heavily in property. While Patel has several properties in Worli, Scindia owns ancestral property like Shanti Mahal and Rani Mahal in Gwalior. Chemicals minister M K Alagiri whose net worth comes to about Rs 9 crore has plots in Madurai.

Defence Minister A K Antony and Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee have total assets of nearly Rs one lakh and Rs six lakh respectively.

 Antony, a Rajya Sabha member, neither has any property in his name nor does he own any vehicle. In his name, there are two bank accounts with State Bank of India which have Rs 1.01 lakh and Rs 16,919 as of June 15, 2009.

 The asset details furnished by A.K. Antony Defense minister show that the three-time Kerala Chief Minister does not have any liabilities. His wife Elizabeth Antony had a house worth Rs 15 lakh and five cents of land worth Rs 15 lakh. She also has Rs 3.19 lakh in her name in three bank accounts.

 His colleague Mamata Banerjee also lives a modest lifestyle. She neither owns any vehicle nor any house or residential buildings in her name.

 'Didi', as she is known as among her followers, has 10 grams of gold jewellery worth Rs 15,000. The firebrand leader has just one dependent -- her mother -- who holds no separate assets, the asset details show.

The disclosure comes after over a year of sarkari stonewalling on an RTI application filed by activist Subhash Chandra Agrawal. The PMO on Thursday dropped its stand against making public ministers' assets and liabilities giving over 400 pages of complete details filed by the elected representatives.

Ministers are expected to file detailed list of assets and liabilities, their business interests and that of their family within 3 months of taking oath. Agrawal had sought these details citing public interest but the PMO denied disclosure claiming that the information was exempted under "fiduciary relationship."

The Central Information Commission had finally directed the PMO to take permission from both Houses of Parliament before making the information public. Parliament was of the opinion that no permission was required for disclosure forcing the Union Cabinet this week to adopt a resolution that the assets would be made public.

Subhash Chandra Agrawal features in the Guinness Book of World Records for most letters to editors. Subhash Chandra Agarwal is a prominent Right to Information (RTI) activist, who regularly takes up issues of national interest through his numerous petitions filed under the RTI Act

-மோகன் பாலகிருஷ்ணா 

வெள்ளி, 10 செப்டம்பர், 2010

வடக்கே வெள்ளம்; தெற்கிலோ வறட்சி ! இந்தியா ஒரே தேசந்தானா?

நண்பர்களே!

சமீபத்தில் வட இந்தியாவில் யமுனையில் வெள்ளம் ஏற்பட்டு டெல்லி நகரமே வெள்ளத்தால் தத்தளிக்கிறது.

ஆனால் தென் இந்தியாவில் தமிழ் நாட்டில் வறட்சி நிலவுகிறது.

சுற்றி உள்ள மாநிலங்கள் மீதம் உள்ள எச்சிலை ஓரம் துப்புவது போல், 'வெள்ளம் வந்து தங்கள் அணைகள் உடைந்து போகுமே' என்ற பயம் வரும்போது வேறு வழி தெரியாமல் தண்ணீர் திறந்து விட்டுத் தங்கள் நாட்டைக் காப்பாற்றிக் கொள்கிறார்கள்.

யமுனையில் தற்போது (9th September 2010) கரை புரண்டு ஓடும் வெள்ளத்தைப் பாருங்கள்:





இதுதான் நமது இந்தியாவில் இலட்சணம்!
இதில் வருங்காலப் பிரதமர் ராகுல் வேறு, நதிகள் இணைப்பு சாத்தியம் இல்லை என்று மெத்தவும் அறிவாகப் பேசி இருக்கிறார்!

விளைவு: மாநில சண்டைகள் தொடர்ந்து இந்தியப் பற்று குறைந்து விடும்!

இனி, இந்தியாவை கடவுளாகப் பார்த்துக் காப்பாற்றினால் தான் உண்டு.

New Delhi: Delhi was on edge on Friday with the water level in Yamuna rising one meter above the danger mark, threatening to flood the nearby low lying areas even as Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit appealed to people not to panic.

The water level in the river touched 205.88 meter at 3pm and is likely to rise further in the evening when water released from Hathanikund Barrage in Haryana reaches the city, a Flood Control Department official said.

Yamuna had crossed danger level of 204.83 metres on Thursday, prompting authorities to evacuate hundreds of people living in the low lying areas. Seventy-four boats and 68 divers have also been pressed into service.

Dikshit, asking people not to panic said though Haryana has released nearly nine lakh cusec of water in the last three days, there may not be much threat to the city as water has dispersed due to breaking of embankments along the route.

"I was told that at 10 am today somewhere along the route embankments have broken and the water has dispersed. We were expecting around 3.5 lakh cusec water to reach Delhi. Now it may get reduced," she said.

"With this, the kind of threat we were anticipating may not be there," she said.

Flood Control Minister Raj Kumar Chouhan said over 100 booster pumps were fitted along the banks of the river to pump out water which may enter the low-lying areas.

"We are constantly monitoring the situation and ready for any eventualities," he said.

"Haryana released nearly one lakh cusec of water today," an official said.

Last month too, the water level in the Yamuna rose above the danger level, prompting authorities to shift a large number of people to relief camps.
Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/cities/delhi-flood-alert-yamuna-continues-to-rise-govt-says-no-need-to-panic-50993?cp


 ஆனால் தென் கோடித் தமிழ் நாட்டில் (வருகிற தண்ணீரை அணைகள் கட்டி மறித்து ) காவிரி, தென்பெண்ணை, பாலாறு, எல்லாம் வற்றிப் போய், ஒரு பாலைவனம் உருவாக்கி வருகிறோம்!

இது நியாயம் தானா?

இந்தியா ஒரே தேசந்தானா?

-மோகன் பால்கி