What is WEB 3.0?

Web 3.0 is like you've got a layout of measureable vector graphics - everything rippling and breaking down and looking foggy — on Web 2.0 and access to a semantic Web integrated across a huge space of data, you'll have access to an unbelievable data resource. According to internet experts, the availability of machine-readable metadata would enable automated web browsers and other software to access the internet more smartly. The browsers would be able to perform tasks automatically and locate related information on behalf of the user visualizing the previous data searched and opened by him.

Suppose you’ve decided to go and watch a movie and grab a bite to eat later on. You're in the mood for a romantic movie and some amazing Chinese food. Starting up your PC, you open a Web browser and head to Google to search for theater, movies and restaurant information. You need to know which movies are playing in the theaters near you, so you spend some time reading short descriptions about each film before making your choice. Also, you want to see which Chinese restaurants are close to those theaters. And, you may want to check for customer reviews for the restaurants. In total, you visit half a dozen Web sites before you're ready to head out the door.

Some Internet experts think the next generation of the Web i.e. Web 3.0 will make tasks like your search for movies and food quicker and easier. Instead of many searches, you can type a multifaceted sentence in your Web 3.0 browser, and the Web will do the rest and the best. For example, you could type "I want to see a romantic movie and then eat at a good Chinese restaurant. What are my options?" The Web 3.0 browser will analyze your reaction, search the Internet for all possible answers, and then arrange the results for you.

That's not all. Many of these experts believe that the Web 3.0 browser will evaluate your response and act like a personal assistant. As you search the Web, the browser will learn what you are interested in. The more you use the Web, the more your browser learns about you and your interests and the less specific you'll need to be with your questions. Eventually you might be able to ask your browser open questions like "where should I go for lunch?" Your browser would consult its records of what you like and dislike, take into account your current location and then suggest a list of restaurants.

Web 3.0 will change the whole scenario of searches on internet. In a Web 3.0 world, the way users experience the Internet will once again be different. Advancements in usability will be the key and will need to catch up in order for this new multiplatform paradigm to be successful.

Not only will Internet users face changes with the emergence of Web 3.0, but so will companies conducting commerce over the Web. Whole e-business models will be revisited. The way we work on search engines will be different, search engine optimization techniques will change, Web 3.0 will come as a revolution in web design and development industry.

10 Mind blowing things about twitter

Twitter is something I was not fond of but started using slowly and regularly when I started to blog. This is when I realized the many applications for using Twitter.

• Twitter was created mainly to stay connected with a group of friends through SMS channels. It was never meant to be used on the internet much and that was the reason for its 140 character limit.
• Twitter was mostly funded through venture capitalists who funded most of the $ 50 million, Twitter is still operating on.
• Twitter was founded in 2006 and for the first 3 years as a company Twitter made a total of ‘zero’ dollars in revenues.
• Twitter is expected to make 1.54 billion dollars by the end of 2013 with over a billion users.
• Twitter has over over 65 millions tweets everyday and that averages to 750 tweets per second.
• There are over 70,000 registered applications for Twitter created mostly by people who have no connection to Twitter.
• The first tweet on Twitter was by Jack Dorsey and the tweet was “Just setting up my twttr” on 21st March 2006.
• There are over 75 million Twitter accounts of which only 2546 accounts are verified.
• Tweets like “i am having lunch’ became known as pointless babbles. A research showed that about 40% of the tweets are in this category.
• Twitter handles 24 billion search queries a month. Yahoo handles 9.4 billion search queries and Bing handles about 4.1 search queries. This means Twitter is the ranked #2 search engine behind Google which handles about 88 billion search queries. 

Hope you found these facts about Twitter as interesting to read as I enjoyed searching and compiling them. If you think I have missed anything interesting or have views on Twitter do drop in your comments.

New Flash Bug Exploited By Hackers : How to avoid it?

A new attack on a Flash bug has surfaced that would give attackers control of a victim’s computer after crashing it, reports PC World. Adobe put out a Security Advisory about this on June 4. It is categorized as a critical issue and all operating systems with Flash are vulnerable including Windows, Linux, and Apple and it is also found in the recent versions of Reader and Acrobat.

Affected Versions

The affected versions are Adobe Flash Player 10.0.45.2, 9.0.262, and earlier 10.0.x and 9.0.x versions for Windows, Macintosh, Linux and Solaris. Adobe Reader and Acrobat 9.3.2 and earlier 9.x versions for Windows, Macintosh and UNIX. The versions that avoided being affected are Flash Player 10.1 release candidate, link available in the Adobe security advisory, and Acrobat/Reader version 8.x.

Current Situation

The attack isn’t widespread in the wild yet, Adobe has only received two reports of online attacks. Of course the attack is new and may just be starting to ramp up. Adobe will update the advisory when a schedule has been determined for creating a fix.

How to avoid it?

Until the fix is ready, Adobe has advised the Flash users that they should use the 10.1 release candidate to avoid attack where as Acrobat and Reader 9.x users can downgrade to version 8 or deleting, renaming, or removing access to the authplay.dll file that ships with Adobe Reader and Acrobat 9.x mitigates the threat for those products, but users will experience a non-exploitable crash or error message when opening a PDF File that contains SWF content. The authplay.dll that ships with Adobe Reader and Acrobat 9.x for Windows is typically located at C:\Program Files\Adobe\Reader 9.0\Reader\authplay.dll for Adobe Reader or C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 9.0\Acrobat\authplay.dll for Acrobat.

How to Use Google SSL Search as Default Search Engine in Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer

Google made it clear to the world that it cares for user security and privacy, by introducing SSL version of its search engine yesterday. It  will prevent third parties from intercepting search terms and search results, as a result of the encrypted connection. Currently it is in its beta stage, but one can still make full use of it by using https every-time you perform a search on Google.

And if you are feeling a bit lazy, you can follow the steps below, to make Google SSL as your default search engine on Firefox, Chrome or Internet Explorer. With this, every time you perform a search through browser search box, it will be encrypted. Here we go:

Firefox

1. Download and install Add To Search Bar addon, and restart your firefox.
2. Head over to https://www.google.com. Right-click anywhere on the search box and click on Add to search bar… in the menu.

3. A new window will pop-up which will help you create new search engine provider for your search box. Assign it a name and keyword, and click ok to save.

 4. Your new search engine has been created. Make it your default search engine by moving it to top spot in Manage search engines… window.

 5. After making it your default search engine, an encrypted version of google search is used everytime you perform search with it.

Chrome

1. Go to “Settings” on top-right corner of Chrome browser and click on “Options“.
2. Click on the “Manage” button next to the list of search engines, add a new search engine provider by inserting “Google Secure Search” in place of name (you can add any name) and in place of URL, add:  https://www.google.com/searchq=%s

3. Click OK and make it the default search engine.

Internet Explorer

1. Head over to this web-page to add you own search provider.
2. Add the following details:
  URL: https://www.google.com/search?q=TEST
  Name: “Any name”
3. Click on Install search provider.

Google, Intel and Sony to Introduce Smart TV

On the heels of rumors that Google TV will be unveiled at Google’s I/O conference in San Francisco in May comes a report by The Financial Times that gives a name to the project: Smart TV.

Few new details are revealed in the report; Google’s hardware partners are still Intel and Sony. The hardware will likely consist of a set-top box based on Intel’s Atom CPU and Google’s Android OS, while Sony is slated to reveal the plan to integrate web services into its televisions.

The Financial Times also claims that Google will call on its Android community to start working on apps for TVs. This would give Android a whole new dimension and a certain advantage over its main rival, the iPhone OS, which is confined to the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

According to a report out this morning, revenues from apps on TVs should increase from $10 million in 2010 to $1.9 billion by 2015. With Apple focusing (quite unsuccessfully) on Apple TV, could Google’s Android TV be the first to corner a significant emerging market?

Games: Guess the Logo (Online Game) for brand geeks

Logos are something that really makes a company or service instantly identifiable. For instance a “t” symbol of Twitter on a webpage is enough for anyone to guess it leads to a link to a Twitter profile. An image is probably the most easily recognized by anyone. That is the reason bloggers will have the same display pic in the  Facebook and Twitter profile.

Here is a online guessing game which you can play to see if you really identify popular logos correctly.

• The game is simple. There are 6 images to choose from and each is very similar to the other except one is the correct one.
• A counter checks the time it takes for someone to choose the correct image. Two seconds are added for every wrong answer.
• The twist in this website is it checks how well we remember logos of famous brands like Google and Yahoo. A small difference in color or styling is sometimes almost impossible to notice or sort out.

Users are also allowed to submit their URL logo to the website to be introduced on the website as a feature. Considering millions of people visit this website to check their brand knowledge it would also mean a great deal of exposure for a new brand logo.

Do try out and let us know your score by dropping in your comments.

Link: Guess the Logo Website

How to access Old Google Look

Since Google changed its interface to be more user friendly . No wonder that Google’s changed layout is more attractive and colorful , but leaves a lot of blank white space on screen , hence showing only little information in a compact area. If you dont like this new Google Search interface , you may simply revert back to old one.

Google Search New Layout :

To change back to old Google Interface , you have to click the link given below :

http://www.google.com/webhp?hl=all

This is an easy option to change Google Search Interface at anytime you like .

Google Search Old Layout afterwards :

Are Google Chrome OS Devices Debuting Next Month?

A new report suggests that next month, computer manufacturer Acer will unveil a slate of devices that run on Chrome OS, the web-centric OS that Google unveiled last year.

According to Venturebeat, Taiwan-based Acer intends to launch several Chrome OS devices at the Computex show in Taipei, Taiwan. While it’s uncertain what devices Acer intends to demonstrate with the Google-built OS, they’re almost certain to be netbooks. Tablets are a less likely possibility.

This is not the first time reports of an Acer-built Chrome OS netbook have surfaced — late last year, news leaked that Acer planned to launched such a device in late 2010. If today’s report is true, that timetable has been accelerated, although it’s unknown when an Acer-build Chrome OS netbook would go on sale.

Google Chrome OS made headlines last year because of its unique approach to operating systems. The browser IS the OS, and thus all apps on Chrome OS are web apps. In addition, it is designed to boot in seconds, doesn’t support traditional drivers, and is designed to repair itself whenever the integrity of its code is compromised.
 http://www.chromium.org/chromium-os
Source: http://www.mashable.com

YouTube Introduces New Privacy Option for Videos

YouTube has just introduced a new privacy option for videos uploaded to the site, Unlisted Videos. The new option lets users post videos to the site and mark them as “unlisted.”

Essentially Unlisted Videos are private videos that anyone can view if, and only if, they have access to the video URL. These videos will not show up on public pages, in search results or on user channels. There’s no limit on the amount of people who can view the video, and anyone can see it, regardless of whether or not they have a YouTube account.

Unlisted Videos should be welcomed by users not satisfied with the existing public and private options. Heretofore private videos could only be shared with other YouTube users. This new option is perfect for teachers, students, non-profits, organizations and anyone else who wants to upload a video to YouTube, share it, but not expose it to the world.

We think it’s a smart addition to the YouTube feature set and one we could imagine using ourselves. Will you use the Unlisted Videos option?

Reference Pic:

HTC Wants Ban on iPhone, iPad and iPod Sales Over Patent Issues

Remember how Apple sued HTC over patent infringements two months ago? Today HTC is fighting back by filing its own complaint with the International Trade Commission (ITC). In addition, HTC is seeking a ban on the importation and sale of iPhones, iPads and iPods in the U.S.

For those of you who have been following our coverage of “Patent Lawsuit Theater,” this should sound pretty familiar. Both Nokia and Kodak have also filed ITC complaints in addition to import bans. Apple has called for a ban of Nokia imports in its countersuit.

The only odd part of HTC’s announcement is that they are only announcing the ITC complaint; these sorts of things are almost always accompanied by a federal lawsuit, Engadget pointed out.

This response comes two weeks after HTC entered into a licensing agreement with Microsoft in regards to Android patents.

We await Apple’s response in this ongoing tug of war between massive corporations who really should have better things to do than play Judge Wopner.