Blogspot banned in pakistan. Who is next

Blogspot Banned,Next is Orkut,Insha Allah 3/7/2006 5:12 AM
Well the Blogspot has been banned in Pakistan and now its the turn of this vulgar,obscene and anti-islamic portal called Orkut.Instead of banning blogspot,they shud first have banned Orkut because such a website cannot be allowed to be run in an Islamic country.
Moreover let me tell u tht the Supreme Court of Pakistan has issued an explicit order to close and ban all anti-islamic and un-islamic websites and portals on the internet.I m very much surprised tht why is the Pakistan Govt delaying the blocking of this website,Orkut. If the supreme court and the govt are really sincere abt their claim to ban and block anti-islamic and un-islamic websites,they shud take immediate action against this extremely anti-islamic,unislamic,vulgar and obscene website.
Thankyou.
P.S:I will also do my part by informing the Information ministry abt this website also write to Pakistan Telecom Authority to immediately ban this website.Moreover i'll also contact members on Islamic communities on Orkut to mobilize against this website and pressurize the Ministry of Information to ban this anti-islamic and un-islamic website.

Just copied from Orkut thread somewhere...........................
http://www.orkut.com/CommMsgs.aspx?cmm=55961&tid=2451807805632979545&start=1

More info at http://www.boingboing.net/2006/03/04/net_censorship_in_pa.html

Employee headcount at Microsoft and Google and Yahoo

http://www.gaborcselle.com/blog/2006/02/timeline-employee-headcounts-for.html
Nice Reading nice reply thread too

Dell Hell

http://www.buzzmachine.com/archives/cat_dell.html
Dell is getting evil. Not microsoft :)

Do read the blog about Customer care of Dell. I myself am a HP customer.
May be you would like to read http://www.gapingvoid.com/ He reveals a true story about Microsoft.

Federal Web Search Upgraded : using MSN search engine.

http://firstgov.gov/

The new search engine is being operated for $1.8 million a year under a contract with two private companies: Microsoft Corp. and Vivisimo Inc.

By presenting frequently asked questions and special sections to allow consumers to refine their initial search, FirstGov is more than a Google for government, said Larry Freed, president of ForeSee Results, a Michigan firm that measures customer satisfaction of Internet sites. "It's sort of a Google-plus" because you do not have to rely on scrolling through pages and pages of search results to find what you want, Freed said.

happy Valentine Day

Happy Valentine day to all readers/

http://sandeeprawat.livejournal.com

"Reveal your search stats" : asked Bush Govt. to Search Engines

For more read :
http://www.boingboing.net/2006/01/30/boingboing_search_pr.html
http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/blog/060120-105609

Also go through
http://www.toad.com/gnu/

No GPL 3.0 for Linux - Linus Torvalds

GPL 3.0 First draft in released and Linus Torvalds is in no mood to put Linux in there.

Quoted from : Linus Torvalds's mail to the Linux-Kernel mailing list

Link : http://www.ussg.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/0601.3/0559.html

From: Linus Torvalds
Date: Wed Jan 25 2006 - 17:39:09 EST

* Next message: Rafael J. Wysocki: "[PATCH -mm] swsusp: userland interface fixes"
* Previous message: Nix: "Re: [RFC] VM: I have a dream..."
* In reply to: Chase Venters: "Re: GPL V3 and Linux - Dead Copyright Holders"
* Next in thread: Chase Venters: "Re: GPL V3 and Linux - Dead Copyright Holders"
* Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ] [ subject ] [ author ]




On Wed, 25 Jan 2006, Chase Venters wrote:
>
> This means that when the code went GPL v1 -> GPL v2, the transition was
> permissible. Linux v1.0 shipped with the GPL v2. It did not ship with a
> separate clause specifying that "You may only use *this* version of the GPL"
> as it now does. (I haven't done any research to find out when this clause was
> added, but it was after the transition to v2).

Bzzt. Look closer.

The Linux kernel has _always_ been under the GPL v2. Nothing else has ever
been valid.

The "version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version"
language in the GPL copying file is not - and has never been - part of the
actual License itself. It's part of the _explanatory_ text that talks
about how to apply the license to your program, and it says that _if_ you
want to accept any later versions of the GPL, you can state so in your
source code.

The Linux kernel has never stated that in general. Some authors have
chosen to use the suggested FSF boilerplate (including the "any later
version" language), but the kernel in general never has.

In other words: the _default_ license strategy is always just the
particular version of the GPL that accompanies a project. If you want to
license a program under _any_ later version of the GPL, you have to state
so explicitly. Linux never did.

So: the extra blurb at the top of the COPYING file in the kernel source
tree was added not to _change_ the license, but to _clarify_ these points
so that there wouldn't be any confusion.

The Linux kernel is under the GPL version 2. Not anything else. Some
individual files are licenceable under v3, but not the kernel in general.

And quite frankly, I don't see that changing. I think it's insane to
require people to make their private signing keys available, for example.
I wouldn't do it. So I don't think the GPL v3 conversion is going to
happen for the kernel, since I personally don't want to convert any of my
code.

> If a migration to v3 were to occur, the only potential hairball I see is if
> someone objected on the grounds that they contributed code to a version of the
> kernel Linus had marked as "GPLv2 Only". IANAL.

No. You think "v2 or later" is the default. It's not. The _default_ is to
not allow conversion.

Conversion isn't going to happen.

Linus
-



SlashDot it : http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/01/16/2036239&from=rss

Microsoft releasing its own MP3 player

Microsoft Corp. on Thursday confirmed that it's considering plans to build its own portable music player to rival Apple Computer Inc.'s iPod, which has captured the lion share of the market at the expense of competitors offering devices with Microsoft's music player.

BusinessWeek reported Thursday that the Redmond, Wash., software maker was working on plans to develop its own device, rather than just rely on partners to take on Apple, which is becoming a dominant player in entertainment on the Web. Quoting sources inside the company, the magazine reported that Microsoft had put together a team to consider the business behind such as initiative.

A spokeswoman for the company called the BusinessWeek story "speculation," but confirmed that Microsoft was considering its own music player, along with many other projects stemming from a major reorganization announced last year.

"Officially, nothing has been announced," a spokeswoman said. "I don't think anything has been officially decided."

In September, Microsoft reorganized its operations into three divisions, including an Entertainment and Devices Division that was meant to improve the company's ability to provide software and services for mobile devices.

Chief executive Steve Ballmer said that the reorganization was needed to "enhance decision-making and speed of execution" of products and services. The company at the time was facing sharp criticism for having internal operations that hampered its effectiveness and chased away employees.

Despite having portable media players before Apple, the iPod has trounced rivals in the market, capturing about three-quarters of sales.



Courtsey : http://www.informationweek.com/windows/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=177104403

New avatar on the political horizon of India

Some IITians formed a party paritrana in order to change the political environment of India. Personally I believe its a good step towards change in Indian Politics and help accomadate india changes in its social culture. More about it later

Till then welcome the guys. THANKS for giving your time for our beloved country.

Introduction of toilets in trains

Okhil Chandra Sen wrote this letter to the Sahibganj Divisional Railway Office in 1909. It is on display at the Railway Museum in New Delhi. It was also reproduced under the caption "Traveller Tales" in the Far Eastern Economic Review.

"I am arrive by passenger train Ahmedpur station and my belly is much swelling with jackfruit. I am therefore went to privy. Just I doing the nuisance that guard making whistle blow for train to go off and I am running with lotah in one hand and dhoti in the next when I am fall over and expose all my shocking to man and female women on platform. I am got leaved at Ahmedpur station. This too much bad, if passenger go to make dung that dam guard not wait train five minutes for him. I am therefore pray your honour to make big fine on that guard for public sake.
Otherwise I making big report in papers."

Any guesses why this Bengali Babu's letter was of historic value?

It apparently led to introduction of toilets in our trains !

U know these guys ?

This is Me.
This is JO



And this is doc

Google Nears $1 Billion Deal To Take Stake in AOL

Google Nears $1 Billion Deal
To Take Stake in AOL

By JULIA ANGWIN, KEVIN J. DELANEY and DENNIS K. BERMAN
Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
December 16, 2005 3:47 p.m.

Time Warner Inc.'s AOL and Google Inc. have entered exclusive negotiations over a deal that would have the search giant pay $1 billion for a 5% stake in AOL, deepening their advertising partnership, according to a person close to the situation.

The talks shut out Microsoft Corp., which has been wooing AOL since January.

As part of the deal, AOL would be able to sell advertising among the search results provided by Google on AOL Web properties. AOL's sales staff would also sell display ads across Google's network of Web publishers.





WSJ's Julia Angwin discusses a possible partnership between Google and AOL.
• Plus, WSJ's Kevin Delaney and Porter Bibb of MediaTech Capital Partners discuss the deal.

Google will promote AOL's Web properties among the sponsored links in its search results, and will include AOL's collection of online videos among its search results. Google's arrangement to provide search technology for AOL, which was set to expire at the end of next year, would be extended for five years.

Microsoft had hoped to convince AOL to use MSN's search engine instead of Google's. Talks between the two companies began early this year, when Microsoft first approached AOL about switching its search-engine alliance.

When news of the talks leaked to the media in September, Google, working with cable giant Comcast Corp., emerged to try to save its relationship with AOL. Time Warner was considering proposals from both companies by Thanksgiving, and in early December appeared to be in favor of a deal with Microsoft.

Web portal Yahoo Inc., also a potential suitor, dropped out of the running in early November.

Spokespeople for Google and Time Warner declined to comment Friday. A Microsoft spokeswoman couldn't immediately be reached.


The contest illustrates how far companies are willing to go to secure a chunk of the quickly expanding market for Internet advertising, by far the fastest-growing advertising medium. Online sales in the third quarter rose 34% to $3.1 billion from a year earlier, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. Search ads, which display ads based on queries users enter into search engines, are the biggest segment of that market.

The deal also comes at a difficult time for Time Warner, as hedge-fund investor Carl Icahn wages a dissident campaign to replace a majority of the media giant's directors. Mr. Icahn has threatened to sue Time Warner's directors if they sell a stake in AOL at too low a price or approve a partnership that makes it difficult to sell or spin off AOL at a later date.

For its part, Microsoft has struggled for a firm foothold in the online ad landscape. Its MSN unit, whose search ads are currently sold by Yahoo, has lagged behind Google in market share and in its ability to woo large Internet advertisers. It wanted to team with AOL to get the scale needed to compete with Google and Yahoo and bring more advertisers to an online ad system, dubbed AdCenter, that Microsoft is testing outside the U.S.


Courtsey : Wall Street Journal

My pics at IDC

People asked for my pics so here I am with some which I took at My Cubicle

www.flickr.com flyingdeath's MS IDC photoset

Yahoo! answers

http://answers.yahoo.com Yahoo launched its new service Yahoo answers Beta. Check it out.

National Talent Hunt Microsoft

Microsoft is organizing is a talent hunt for students of India.

Copied from http://www.microsoft.com/india/code4bill/

About the Contest
code4bill is a unique contest aimed at finding the best student technologists in India.Contest registrations open on January 1, 2006. Till then you can sign in to get updates and access to cool brain teasers.What is in it for you?Internships, cool jobs, and an opportunity to work with Bill Gates Technical Assistants Team (Yes, that’s true!).

Here’s how:
The top 20 students will be offered a two month internship at Microsoft Research Center & Microsoft India Development Center in India. What’s more students successfully completing their internship will be offered a job at Microsoft India. And these jobs will not be just any jobs, these will be cool jobs where you might just change the way we work, communicate and live. Click here to see projects that interns work on.

The Grand Champion:
The numero uno, the chosen one, the best of the best will be decided on the basis of project submissions & final presentations to a selection panel. The winner will work with Bill Gates Technical Assistants Team in Redmond, USA for a period of one year.

What if you are not in the Top 20?
You can still win certificates of participation, cool Microsoft goodies and gifts if you are in the top 1000 contestants.

How does it work?
The code4bill contest comprises of a series of online tests followed by a face-to-face interaction to identify the top 20 student technologists.The contest will run from January 2006 to March 2006 followed by a 2 month internship for the top 20 contestants.Check out the exact details on January 1, 2006Interested?You can actually get a sneak peek into what's coming, interact with our top programmers and benefit from the first mover advantage.

To get updates, take a sneak peek and stay ahead, just Sign In. It's that simple.

For more information log on to http://www.code4bill.com

3000 new MS jobs in India

Read this thread at Channel 9

http://channel9.msdn.com/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=143523

Killed for doing his job, Manjunath

BANGALORE, NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 23:
Lost in the din over the Bihar elections is the story of 27-year-old IIM graduate Manjunath Shanmugham killed for doing his duty. As a manager with the Indian Oil Corporation, he ordered the shutdown of an IOC petrol pump in Lakhimpur Kheriwhere he was postedfor allegedly selling adulterated fuel.
Over the past three months, Manjunath had shut down two IOC dealer petrol pumps in Lakhimpur for selling adulterated fuel.
&His friends and batchmates have sent several emails to The Indian Express drawing parallels with the murder of Satyendra Dubeythe IIT engineer and NHAI official who was killed in Gaya after he complained of corruption on the Golden Quadrilateral.
For a grieving father, thats little consolation.
Especially, when his son had told him about the risks, the mafia, and the father had advised him to let go of some things because he was all alone.
Having not heard from his son for three days, at around 9 pm last Saturday, the father, M Shanmughan, a design manager with BEML in Kolar Gold Fields, sent an SMS: How are you?
There was no reply.
For, that evening, Manjunath was beaten up and then riddled with at least six bullets. His body was found in the backseat of his own car. At the wheel, were two employees of the petrol pump, on their way to dispose of the body. Both were arrested on Saturday and the main accused, pump-owner Monu Mittal, was held today along with four others.
On Sunday, at a family function in Chennai, Shanmughan got a call saying his son had been shot.

Manjunath, an engineering graduate from JSS Engineering College, Mysore, and an MBA from IIM, Lucknow had ordered the sealing of the pump for selling adulterated fuel. But a month later, the pump started operating again, prompting him to conduct a surprise raid. It was during the raid that he was murdered, say UP police.
He was killed for doing his duty, said a tearful Shanmughan after the cremation. He told me many times that he was working in an area with many mafia gangs and that anything could happen to him. I never thought it could happen, he said, fighting to regain his composure. He used to tell me about the lack of proper controlling systems and official support when it came to stopping adulteration and booking wrongdoers in UP. He said it is a lawless world and for survival, one has to keep mum even if there are irregularities, said Shanmughan. He wanted the dealers to follow all norms. I used to tell him you are alone, dont get worked up, let some things go. He said he was responsible to his company and its sales... I told him to come back home. But he said he loved the challenge.
The family resides in Kolar, 90 km from Bangalore. He was the eldest of three children. He financed all his education himself through loans, said the distraught father.
Manjunaths death has shocked and outraged all those who knew him. He was such a free spirit. He had no enemies and yet he suffered such a heinous fate. Just because he was doing his duty, his IIM classmate Sunit Sapra wrote in an e-mail to The Indian Express. The case is no less than the killing of Satyendra Dubey. The criminals must be brought to justice and Manjus sacrifice must be given the respect it deserves, he wrote.
For Manjunaths professor at IIM-L, Debashis Chatterjee, its a personal loss. He was not our typical 8-point brilliant student... but he was a go-getter, very courageous and hardworking. He used to come to me at 4 am to study... we all will miss him, he said. Chatterjee plans to get in touch with as many alumni as possible to decide on a course of action. We shall not let him vanish quietly into the night, he said. Messages from his batchmates are pouring in.
He would always keep his mind on the silver lining of a dark cloud, always laughing and joking around. You fought the odds real hard. Goodbye Machan, wrote Karthik Parthasarathy, IIM-L Batch of 2003. He was the booming voice of 3.4, our campus band. He sang from the bottom of his heart, and with an infectious enthusiasm. One of those singers who made the listeners feel like singing along, or at least clap in tune. Bye Machan, wrote Gaurav Sabnis, IIM-L batch of 2003. Machan is what they used to call Manjunath, the singer from Karnataka. At Mysore, they had a singing contest where girls dropped flowers to vote for the best singer, it was my son who won, said Shanmughan, fighting his tears.

Courtsey : http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=82603


I hate to say that we are living in such a world (or country) where these kind of incidents are happening again and again. Nobody fears law......
Wake up people.......... wake up. Nobody listening

Beta.MSN.com

http://beta.msn.com/
Microsoft is moving towards better User Experience in its portal. I like the site. What about you. Google obviously lure people more than any other but soon i think MS is back. Dont forget Yahoo! it was yahoo who started personalized page concept with My Yahoo!
Microsoft also launched Windows Live a very nice personalized RSS aggregator or whatever you name it. I have it as my home page.

How Microsoft Lost the API War

http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/APIWar.html
This is an intersting article I found while surfing the net. Joel Spolsky shared his experience and thought about Windows API and web. This is a must read article along with Raymond Chins’s Blog. He is a senior programmer at Microsoft. His blog mainly explaining history of Windows and his own experience in ensuring its backwards compatibility. You just can’t ignore to read it.

Dont Listen the Music CD on your PC. Sony might be watching you

The global music giant Sony BMG yesterday announced plans to recall millions of CD's by at least 20 artists - from the crooners Celine Dion and Neil Diamond to the country-rock act Van Zant - because they contain copy restriction software that poses risks to the computers of consumers.

So be careful when you listen to the songs on your PC. Some one might be waiting for you to play the CD and control your PC.

Read full story at : http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/16/technology/16sony.html