Adobe wants to bridge gap between PCs and cloud

Adobe Systems wants to have it both ways.

Microsoft's power with programmers is tethered to desktops and laptops, the vast majority of which run Windows. Google is trying to dominate what it believes is the new frontier, cloud computing, where applications run on the Web. Adobe, though, is trying to run down the middle with a strategy that touches on both domains.


"It's a balance of the client and cloud together that makes for the most effective applications and the best development," said Adobe Chief Technology Officer Kevin Lynch, who's planning to speak on the subject in a keynote speech Monday at the company's Max conference in San Francisco.



Adobe CTO Kevin Lynch

(Credit: Stephen Shankland/CNET News)
Since Adobe's $3.4 billion Macromedia acquisition in 2005, programming technology has been rising in importance within a company that got its start with publishing software such as Photoshop. The technology that brought the two companies together, Flash, will hog the spotlight at the conference.

Flash got its start as a way to give Web pages animations and basic applications such as games, but it's grown up since then. The Flex technology has given developers a more mature programming model, and the addition of video-streaming abilities to the Flash Player that's plugged into the vast majority of Web browsers has given Adobe's technology incumbent status. Who can live online without YouTube?

Adobe is still working on Flash, releasing Flash Player 10, aka Astro, in October. At Max, though, a Flash cousin called AIR--the Adobe Integrated Runtime--will share the stage with the release of version 1.5.

Flash and AIR are key to bridging the cloud-PC gap. For example, Adobe has launched an online Photoshop.com service, where members can upload, edit, and share photos. The site uses Flash to run the processing-intensive editing software on people's own computers, not Adobe's servers, Lynch said.

"Our operational costs for hosting that application are much lower than if we had server-side processing," and users get better performance, Lynch said.

But Flash still lives largely within the browser. Adobe hopes to uproot it with AIR, a "runtime" foundation for housing applications. AIR runs Flash programs but also has a built-in engine for showing Web pages and for running programs written in JavaScript, which is widely used for Web-based applications. And AIR is available for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux, and programmers who write AIR applications don't have to worry about what operating system is on a person's computer.

But there's a risk to choosing a hybrid strategy: gains in flexibility often come at the expense of specialization, and specialized applications often work better. Sun Microsystems tried for years to get Java to catch on as a cross-platform runtime, but 13 years after its launch, it has yet to catch on with mainstream computing applications.

Google's cloud computing is limited by the comparatively feeble abilities of JavaScript running in Web browsers, but extensions such as Gears are bringing some advanced features. But Google gets the advantage of software that's available from all sorts of computing devices--your own, a friend's, a kiosk in an airport, your iPhone--as long as you have a network connection. And there's a natural collaboration component that comes with online applications that matches well with business needs.

Microsoft is moving slowly cloudward, but its cash cows remain Windows and Office. Its software is more powerful and responsive than any Web-based application--as long as you have your PC with you.

AIR applications can take advantage of local computing power, though--and the big new feature of AIR 1.5 is that it uses Flash Player 10, which brings 3D graphics, better text handling, the ability to mix different audio signals, and other abilities that make it a more reasonable competitor to Windows.

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Revived Fervor for Smart Monitors Linked to a Server

SAN FRANCISCO — Instead of having a big, loud and complex computer on your desk, what if you could have a quiet, thin machine that rarely needed an upgrade or a fix?

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Hewlett-Packard’s version of a so-called thin client and monitor, top, and the Hot-E device from ThinLinX, above.

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JetBlue Airways
Employees of JetBlue at Kennedy Airport using thin clients connected to remote servers that handle the processing of data.
That has been the goal of many technology companies over the last 15 or so years. They have tried to disrupt Microsoft’s dominance of the PC desktop by creating what amount to intelligent monitors.

Rather than relying on their innards for handling work, these so-called thin clients send it out over the network to much larger servers that hold all of the necessary software and handle data-processing jobs.

For a variety of reasons, including slow data connections and clunky software, this model failed to live up to its promise and turned into an industrywide joke. But now the technology is making a comeback, and large companies like Hewlett-Packard, Sun Microsystems and Samsung are increasing their investments in thin client systems. Plenty of start-ups are looking at the market as well.

Thin-client backers have by now mostly given up on challenging Microsoft — in fact, in most cases they make it easy to use Windows over the network. But they continue to bill thin clients as a way to save companies money and make their systems more secure.

“The hype cycle that has followed thin clients started at this enormous level, disappeared into negativity and now is bubbling back up,” said Bob O’Donnell, an analyst at the consulting firm IDC.

The benefits of the technology seem obvious. Software glitches, updates and security are much less of a problem. The thin-client model places the burden of managing computers on professionals monitoring servers in a large warehouse.

Perhaps best of all, the users’ data is stored on the network. If the machine on your desk breaks, you just get another one and connect to the data warehouse, and off you go.

The biggest changes driving the interest in thin clients stem from networking and software improvements. The spread of high-speed Internet connections means that people working in a cubicle and at home can rely on an effective link back to the data warehouses.

H.P., Citrix Systems, Microsoft and others are also fine-tuning the software that controls communication between thin clients and the servers. This has led to smoother-running machines that can handle even video and audio applications.

Most significantly, the pool of programs thin clients can use has grown thanks to so-called virtualization software, which lets companies package up an entire operating system and all of its applications. Instead of picking and choosing certain software to send over the wire, companies can ship entire “virtual desktops.”

The reinvigorated buzz around thin-client technology has caused a scramble to address the market in innovative ways.

For example, Teradici, a start-up near Vancouver, produces a microprocessor that can speed the flow of software from data warehouses to thin clients. Dell and I.B.M. offer systems based on this chip and say that they can deal with even the most demanding software, like design programs.

Next month, Samsung will ship the 19-inch SyncMaster 930ND monitor, which relies on Teradici’s chip. Business customers can plug an Ethernet cable into the monitor and turn it into a full-fledged computer by connecting back to their data centers.

Customers of the Silicon Valley start-up Pano Logic plug their monitors, keyboards and mice into a small device that manages connections with servers holding full virtual desktops. The Hot-E from the Australian company ThinLinX is similar. One longtime player in the thin-client business, Wyse, manufactures an array of slim hardware, including laptops, that handle much the same work.

Noting rising interest in thin clients and virtual desktops, H.P. created a new group six months ago to address the technology, after buying the thin-client company Neoware for $214 million in late 2007.

“What you are seeing is that a lot of the right technology elements are starting to be there,” said Roberto Moctezuma, the vice president in charge of H.P.’s “desktop solutions” organization. “I think five years from now you will see a lot of thin computing in businesses.”

JetBlue has bought into thin clients for 20 percent of its computers using a combination of H.P.’s hardware and Citrix’s software. The technology will take center stage at the airline’s new terminal at Kennedy Airport.

“Thin clients represent a strategic direction for us,” said Pat Thompson, director of technology operations at JetBlue. “They are pretty much behind every customer-facing piece of technology that you see out there.”

By next January, the Regional Transportation District of Denver, which handles public transit in the Denver area, plans to replace about one-quarter of its systems with thin clients from Wyse running virtualization software from VMware.

“We’re looking at saving about $30,000 per year just in energy costs,” said Trent Ratcliff, the technology infrastructure manager. “And we’ll probably replace these every seven to nine years instead of every three years with PCs.”

Despite the budding interest, thin clients remain a tough sell for cultural reasons. People are used to keeping confidential and personal information on their own machines, and many companies see moving away from traditional desktops as a risk. In 2008, only 3.7 million thin clients were shipped, compared with 300 million PCs, according to IDC.

That should start to change in 2009 as companies begin a number of test projects and in 2010 when large-scale commitments to the technology begin, Mr. O’Donnell said.

Wall Street firms looking to make things easier for employees and save money, especially in these tight times, are driving some of the early tests.

“Financial services companies in the U.S. are very interested in using thin clients,” said Scott Woodgate, director for the Windows business group at Microsoft.

Microsoft has developed its virtualization software and acquired a pair of software makers — Calista Technologies and Kidaro — whose products could complement thin client technology.

Looking ahead, the thin client model could creep into the home, with PC-like functions arriving via TV set-top boxes or through devices that plug into the back of televisions. Internet service providers have started to explore the idea of selling these products to consumers and then offering monthly subscriptions to computing services.

Consumers would benefit by buying a device that’s cheaper than a PC but can still tap into a full virtual computer back in a managed data warehouse.

“There are companies that are talking about peeling off an infinite number of virtual systems and renting them to consumers,” said Roger L. Kay, president of the analysis firm Endpoint Technologies. “This is an idea whose time has come, and the argument is growing every day in favor of thin computing of some sort.”

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Tech Tips for the Basic Computer User

“One of these days, I’m going to write a book called, ‘The Basics.’ It’s going to be a compendium of the essential tech bits that you just assume everyone knows–but you’re wrong.
“(I’ll never forget watching a book editor at a publishing house painstakingly drag across a word in a word processor to select it. After 10 minutes of this, I couldn’t stand it. ‘Why don’t you just double-click the word?’ She had no clue you could do that!)”
Many readers chimed in with other “basics” that they assumed every computer user knew–but soon discovered that what’s common knowledge isn’t the same as universal knowledge.
I’m sure the basics could fill a book, but here are a few to get you started. All of these are things that certain friends, family or coworkers, over the years, did *not* know. Clip, save and pass along to…well, you know who they are.
* You can double-click a word to highlight it in any document, e-mail or Web page.
* When you get an e-mail message from eBay or your bank, claiming that you have an account problem or a question from a buyer, it’s probably a “phishing scam” intended to trick you into typing your password. Don’t click the link in the message. If in doubt, go into your browser and type “www.ebay.com” (or whatever) manually.
* Nobody, but nobody, is going to give you half of $80 million to help them liberate the funds of a deceased millionaire…from Nigeria or anywhere else.
* You can hide all windows, revealing only what’s on the computer desktop, with one keystroke: hit the Windows key and “D” simultaneously in Windows, or press F11 on Macs (on recent Mac laptops, Command+F3; Command is the key with the cloverleaf logo). That’s great when you want examine or delete something you’ve just downloaded to the desktop, for example. Press the keystroke again to return to what you were doing.
* You can enlarge the text on any Web page. In Windows, press Ctrl and the plus or minus keys (for bigger or smaller fonts); on the Mac, it’s the Command key and plus or minus.
* You can also enlarge the entire Web page or document by pressing the Control key as you turn the wheel on top of your mouse. On the Mac, this enlarges the entire screen image.
* The number of megapixels does not determine a camera’s picture quality; that’s a marketing myth. The sensor size is far more important. (Use Google to find it. For example, search for “sensor size Nikon D90.”)
* On most cellphones, press the Send key to open up a list of recent calls. Instead of manually dialing, you can return a call by highlighting one of these calls and pressing Send again.
* When someone sends you some shocking e-mail and suggests that you pass it on, don’t. At least not until you’ve first confirmed its truth at snopes.com, the Internet’s authority on e-mailed myths. This includes get-rich schemes, Microsoft/AOL cash giveaways, and–especially lately–nutty scare-tactic messages about our Presidential candidates.
* You can tap the Space bar to scroll down on a Web page one screenful. Add the Shift key to scroll back up.
* When you’re filling in the boxes on a Web page (like City, State, Zip), you can press the Tab key to jump from box to box, rather than clicking. Add the Shift key to jump through the boxes backwards.
* You can adjust the size and position of any window on your computer. Drag the top strip to move it; drag the lower-right corner (Mac) or any edge (Windows) to resize it.
* Forcing the camera’s flash to go off prevents silhouetted, too-dark faces when you’re outdoors.
* When you’re searching for something on the Web using, say, Google, put quotes around phrases that must be searched together. For example, if you put quotes around “electric curtains,” Google won’t waste your time finding one set of Web pages containing the word “electric” and another set containing the word “curtains.”
* You can use Google to do math for you. Just type the equation, like 23*7+15/3=, and hit Enter.
* Oh, yeah: on the computer, * means “times” and / means “divided by.”
* If you can’t find some obvious command, like Delete in a photo program, try clicking using the right-side mouse button. (On the Mac, you can Control-click instead.)
* Google is also a units-of-measurement and currency converter. Type “teaspoons in 1.3 gallons,” for example, or “euros in 17 dollars.” Click Search to see the answer.
* You can open the Start menu by tapping the key with the Windows logo on it.
* You can switch from one open program to the next by pressing Alt+Tab (Windows) or Command-Tab (Mac).
* You generally can’t send someone more than a couple of full-size digital photos as an e-mail attachment; those files are too big, and they’ll bounce back to you. (Instead, use iPhoto or Picasa–photo-organizing programs that can automatically scale down photos in the process of e-mailing them.)
* Whatever technology you buy today will be obsolete soon, but you can avoid heartache by learning the cycles. New iPods come out every September. New digital cameras come out in February and October.
* Just putting something into the Trash or the Recycle Bin doesn’t actually delete it. You then have to *empty* the Trash or Recycle Bin. (Once a year, I hear about somebody whose hard drive is full, despite having practically no files. It’s because over the years, they’ve put 79 gigabytes’ worth of stuff in the Recycle Bin and never emptied it.)
* You don’t have to type “http://www” into your Web browser. Just type the remainder: “nytimes.com” or “dilbert.com,” for example. (In the Safari browser, you can even leave off the “.com” part.)
* On the iPhone, hit the Space bar twice at the end of a sentence. You get a period, a space, and a capitalized letter at the beginning of the next word.
* Come up with an automated backup system for your computer. There’s no misery quite like the sick feeling of having lost chunks of your life because you didn’t have a safety copy.

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Top 5 High Tech Infantry Guns

Five of the best and most innovative weapons which could be made available to our foot soldiers.

When the Pentagon announced that it adjusted its future Combat Systems Initiative, the Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates voiced his concerns regarding the slow pace of fielding weapons to infantrymen who needed them now.

When the Pentagon recently tweaked its Future Combat Systems initiative, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates made noise about fielding weapons to infantrymen who need them now, rather than planning for hypothetical dogfights and sea battles.

So, what are currently the most innovative systems available to our soldiers? Here are five of the best weapons either in use on the battlefield or in development stages to be issued in the near future.

SCAR-Light

* Developer - FNH USA (USA)
* Caliber – 5.56mm
* Features – More accuracy and less prone to jamming than an M-16 or M4 rifle. SCAR barrels can be change with ease on the battle filed using a minimal number of tools.
* Progress – The original release of the SCAR was planned for 2006, but after a limited production run last year, there’s hope for the SCAR.


High Tech Infantry Guns - SCAR Light

Replacing the M-16 as well as the compact variant, the M-4 has been a largely tragic tale. One attempt was the Objective Individual Combat Weapon (OICW), which came with an integrated grenade launcher and laser-rangefinder.

Unfortunately the OIWC was scrapped due to excessive weight adding to the list of non contenders against the M-16 and M4.

In an effort to over come the seemingly impossible task of replacing these two assault rifles, the Special Operations Command (SOCOM) held a competition to aid the development of a new rifle to be deployed with Special Forces personnel.

The competition led to the development of the SCAR, and after having passed rigorous test to ensure the weapon was more accurate and reliable than the M-16 and M4, FHN USA landed the contract to mass-produce the FN SCAR.

The SCAR comes in two calibers—5.56 for the SCAR-Light, and 7.62 for the SCAR-Heavy. The weapon also meets SOCOM’s requirements for quick changes in the field. Using a minimal amount of tools the SCAR’s 18 inch barrel can be replaced with a standard 14 inch or shorter 10 inch barrel within minutes.

Although the SCAR-Light is likely to be more common than the more powerful SCAR-Heavy, both two weapons share 99 percent of the same parts, making field repairs easier and streamlining the overall logistics.

XM-25

* Developer - Alliance Techsystems (USA)
* Caliber – 25mm
* Features – Computer-aided targeting system which allows the user to aim quickly to adjust the range of the air-bursting round.
* Progress - The XM-25 is still in development, but in this industry—and particularly for a system that survived the OICW debacle—that amounts to very good news.

High Tech Infantry Guns - XM 25

The grenade launcher is often envisioned as an under-the-barrel weapon attached to an assault rifle; however the self-contained XM-25 is an entirely new concept.

Using the onboard ballistic computer and laser rangefinder, the user can set the exact range at which the 25mm round will explode. This feature allows the Xm-25 to negotiate almost any kind of cover a target could find, especially in an urban environment.

For example, rounds could be set to go off, in midair, just past the corner of building, just inside a sniper’s window, or directly above a group of hostiles hunched behind a concrete barrier.

The company behind the development of the XM-25, Alliance Techsystems credits the overhead airbursts with the potential for five time greater lethality, compared to other grenade launchers such as the M203. This is because the shrapnel will be more likely to drop on the targets head.

While this may seem like a gruesome point of pride, more direct strike means less civilian casualties.

SAR 21

* Developer - Singapore Technologies Kinetics (Singapore)
* Caliber – 5.56mm
* Features - Integrated visible/ infrared laser sight and 1.5x optical scope, translucent ammo magazines.
* Progress - The SAR 21 became standard issue for Singapore’s armed forces in 1999, but there are no plans for adoption elsewhere.

High Tech Infantry Guns - SAR 21

While the United States has had trouble replacing the M-16, Singapore have been using a newer and perhaps better performing assault rifle since 1999.

The SAR 21 replaced Singapore’s licensed version of the M-16, and has since gained a reputation among gun experts as one of the best “bullpup” (where the action and magazine are behind the trigger) assault rifles on the market.

While the SAR 21 has a smaller profile than the M-16, it doesn’t sacrifice barrel length (shorter barrels have less accuracy over longer distances). It also has a more manageable recoil due to the weapons center of gravity, the recoil tends to kick directly back toward to firer, instead of pushing upwards.

The SAR 21 has a Kevlar cheek plate to deal with chamber explosions occurring next to the user’s face (a regular safety issue for bullpup weapons). It’s also one of the few assault rifles in the world equipped with an integrated laser aiming device.
Corner Shot Launcher

* Developer - Corner Shot (Israel), Dynamit Nobel Defence (Germany)
* Caliber – 60mm
* Features - A collapsible firing-post, which is fitted with a camera and video screen, attaches to a disposable, one-shot 60 mm grenade launcher. Rounds can be fired at a 90 degree angle—other Corner Shot devices fire at up to 60 degrees.
* Progress – Unveiled in 2004, the Corner Shot is still awaiting deployment.


High Tech Infantry Guns - Corner Shot Assault Rifle

To read our original post on the Corner Shot Assault Rifle, Click Here>>>

Thanks to a hinged frame, an under-the-barrel camera and a video screen, the Corner Shot can basically shoot around corners. There are currently three different versions available; a pistol, a compact assault rifle or a 40mm and 60mm grenade launcher.

Designed for urban combat, where the ability to see around corners and open fire while behind cover is a huge advantage.

FMG9 Folding Machine Gun

* Developer - Magpul Industries (USA)
* Caliber – 9mm
* Features - Spring-loaded design transitions from a box to a gun, with a 31-round Glock 18 magazine loaded and ready to fire, at the press of a button.
* Progress - Nonfiring semiautomatic prototype shown in March 2008. Unfortunately no word yet on when a firing model—much less a fully automatic one—might be available.

High Tech Infantry Guns - FMG9

The concept of folding guns is not entirely new, legendary gun designer Eugene Stoner developed one in the 1980s, but Magpul Industries still made news earlier this year when it unveiled a prototype model of its FMG9 (short for Folding Machine Gun).

The folded gun resembles a small tool box with a flash light mounted on the top but with one push of a button the box suddenly transforms into a fully loaded, ready to fire 9mm submachine gun.

The gun also has an integrated laser sight, and can be carried without the handle and flashlight, for a sleeker, more pocketable profile.

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101 Google Tips, Tricks

1. The best way to begin searching harder with Google is by clicking the Advanced Search link.

2. This lets you search for exact phrases, "all these words", or one of the specified keywords by entering search terms into the appropriate box.

3. You can also define how many results you want on the page, what language and what file type you're looking for, all with menus.

4. Advanced Search lets you type in a Top Level Domain (like .co.uk) in the "Search within site of domain" box to restrict results.

5. And you can click the "Date, usage rights, numeric range and more" link to access more advanced features.

6. Save time – most of these advanced features are also available in Google's front page search box, as command line parameters.

7. Google's main search invisibly combines search terms with the Boolean construct "AND". When you enter smoke fire – it looks for smoke AND fire.

8. To make Google search for smoke or fire, just type smoke OR fire

9. Instead of OR you can type the | symbol, like this: smoke | fire

10. Boolean connectors like AND and OR are case sensitive. They must be upper case.

11. Search for a specific term, then one keyword OR another by grouping them with parentheses, like this: water (smoke OR fire)

12. To look for phrases, put them in quotes: "there's no smoke without fire"

13. Synonym search looks for words that mean similar things. Use the tilde symbol before your keyword, like this: ~eggplant

14. Exclude specific key words with the minus operator. new pram -ebay excludes all results from eBay.

15. Common words, like I, and, then and if are ignored by Google. These are called "stop words".

16. The plus operator makes sure stop words are included. Like: fish +and chips

17. If a stop word is included in a phrase between quote marks as a phrase, the word is searched for.

18. You can also ask Google to fill in a blank. Try: Christopher Columbus discovered *

19. Search for a numerical range using the numrange operator. For example, search for Sony TV between £300 and £500 with the string Sony TV £300..£500

20. Google recognises 13 main file types through advanced search, including all Microsoft Office Document types, Lotus, PostScript, Shockwave Flash and plain text files.

21. Search for any filetype directly using the modifier filetype:[filetype extension]. For example: soccer filetype:pdf

22. Exclude entire file types, using the same Boolean syntax we used to exclude key words earlier: rugby -filetype:doc

23, In fact, you can combine any Boolean search operators, as long as your syntax is correct. An example: "sausage and mash" -onions filetype:doc

24. Google has some very powerful, hidden search parameters, too. For example "intitle" only searches page titles. Try intitle:herbs

25. If you're looking for files rather than pages – give index of as the intitle: parameter. It helps you find web and FTP directories.

26. The modifier inurl only searches the web address of a page: give inurl:spices a go.

27. Find live webcams by searching for: inurl:view/view.shtml

28. The modifier inanchor is very specific, only finding results in text used in page links.

29. Want to know how many links there are to a site? Try link:sitename – for example link:www.mozilla.org

30. Similarly, you can find pages that Google thinks are related in content, using the related: modifier. Use it like this: related:www.microsoft.com

31. The modifier info:site_name returns information about the specified page.

32. Alternatively, do a normal search then click the "Similar Pages" link next to a result.

33. Specify a site to search with the site: modifier – like this: search tips site:www.techradar.com

34. The above tip works with directory sites like www.dmoz.org and dynamically generated sites.

35. Access Google Directory – a database of handpicked and rated sites – at directory.google.com

36. The Boolean operators intitle and inurl work in Google directory, as does OR.

37. Use the site: modifier when searching Google Images, at images.google.com. For example: dvd recorder site:www.amazon.co.uk

38. Similar, using "site:.com" will only return results from .com domains.

39. Google News (news.google.com) has its own Boolean parameters. For example "intext" pulls terms from the body of a story.

40. If you use the operator "source:" in Google News, you can pick specific archives. For example: heather mills source:daily_mail

41. Using the "location:" filter enables you to return news from a chosen country. location:uk for example.

42. Similarly, Google Blogsearch (blogsearch.google.com) has its own syntax. You can search for a blog title, for example, using inblogtitle:

43. The general search engine can get very specific indeed. Try movie: to look for movie reviews.

44. The modifier film: works just as well!

45. Enter showtimes and Google will prompt you for your postcode. Enter it and it'll tell you when and where local films are showing.

46. For a dedicated film search page, go to www.google.co.uk/movies

47. If you ticked "Remember this Location" when you searched for show times, the next time you can enter the name of a current film instead.

48. Google really likes movies. Try typing director: The Dark Knight into the main search box.

49. For cast lists, try cast: name_of_film

50. The modifier music: followed by a band, song or album returns music reviews.

51. Try searching for weather London – you'll get a full 4-day forecast.

52. There's also a built-in dictionary. Try define: in the search box.

53. Google stores the content of old sites. You can search this cache direct with the syntax keyword cache:site_url

54. Alternatively, enter cache:site_url into Google's search box to be taken direct to the stored site.

55. No calculator handy? Use Google's built in features. Try typing 12*15 and hitting "Google Search".

56. Google's calculator converts measurements and understands natural language. Type in 14 stones in kilos, for example.

57. It does currency conversion too. Try 200 pounds in euros

58. If you know the currency code you can type 200 GBP in EUR instead for more reliable results.

59. And temperature! Just type: 98 f to c to convert Fahrenheit to Centigrade.

60. Want to know how clever Google really is? Type 2476 in roman numerals, then hit "Google Search"...

61. You can personalise your Google experience by creating a Google account. Go to www.google.com/account/ then click "Create Account".

62. With a Google account there are lots more extras available. You'll get a free Gmail email account for one...

63. With your Google account, you can also personalise your front page. Click "iGoogle" to add blog and site feeds.

64. Click "Add a Tab" in iGoogle to add custom tabs. Google automatically populates them with suitable site suggestions.

65. iGoogle allows you to theme your page too. Click "Select Theme" to change the default look.

66. Some iGoogle themes change with time..."Sweet Dreams" is a theme that turns from day to night as you browse.

67. Click "More" under "Try something new" to access a full list of Google sites and new features.

68. "Custom Search" enables you to create a branded Google search for your own site.

69. An active, useful service missing from the list is "Personalised Search" – but you can access it via www.google.com/psearch when you're logged in.

70. This page lists searches you have recently made – and is divided into categories. Clicking "pause" stops Google from recording your history.

71. Click "Trends" to see the sites you visit most, the terms you enter most often and links you've clicked on!

72. Personalised Search also includes a bookmark facility – which enables you to save bookmarks online and access them from anywhere.

73. You can add bookmarks or access your bookmarks using the iGoogle Bookmarks gadget.

74. Did you know you can search within your returned results? Scroll down to the bottom of the search results page to find the link.

75. Search locally by appending your postcode to the end of query. For example Indian food BA1 2BW finds restaurants in Bath, with addresses and phone numbers!

76. Looking for a map? Just add map to the end of your query, like this: Leeds map

77. Google finds images just as easily and lists them at the top, when you add image to the end of your search.

78. Google Image Search recognises faces... add &imgtype=face to the end of the returned URL in the location bar, then hit enter to filter out pictures that aren't people.

79. Keeping an eye on stocks? Type stocks: followed by market ticker for the company and Google returns the data from Google Finance.

80. Enter the carrier and flight number in Google's main search box to return flight tracking information.

81. What time is it? Find out anywhere by typing time then the name of a place.

82. You may have noticed Google suggests alternate spellings for search terms – that's the built in spell checker!

83. You can invoke the spell checker directly by using spell: followed by your keyword.

84. Click "I'm Feeling Lucky" to be taken straight to the first page Google finds for your keyword.

85. Enter a statistics-based query like population of Britain into Google, and it will show you the answer at the top of its results.

86. If your search has none-English results, click "Translate this Page" to see it in English.

87. You can search foreign sites specifically by clicking "Language Tools", then choosing which countries sites to translate your query to.

88. Other features on the language tools page include a translator for blocks of text you can type or cut and paste.

89. There's also a box that you can enter a direct URL into, translating to the chosen language.

90. Near the language tools link, you'll see the "Search Preferences". This handy page is full of secret functionality.

91. You can specify which languages Google returns results in, ticking as many (or few) boxes as you like.

92. Google's Safe Search protects you from explicit sexual content. You can choose to filter results more stringently or switch it off completely.

93. Google's default of 10 results a page can be increased to up to 100 in Search Preferences, too.

94. You can also set Google to open your search results in a new window.

95. Want to see what others are searching for or improve your page rank? Go to www.google.com/zeitgeist

96. Another useful, experimental search can be found at www.google.com/trends – where you can find the hottest search terms.

97. To compare the performance of two or more terms, enter them into the trends search box separated by commas.

98. Fancy searching Google in Klingon? Go to www.google.com/intl/xx-klingon

99. Perhaps the Swedish chef from the muppets is your role model instead? Check www.google.com/intl/xx-bork

100. Type answer to life, the universe and everything into Google. You may be surprised by the result...

101. It will also tell you the number of horns on a unicorn.

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Hack Available to Download Windows XP SP3 RC from Microsoft

That's right! Now you can get your hands on the first Release Candidate for Windows XP Service Pack 3! And all it will take is the implementation of a simple registry hack designed to allow Windows XP users to access, download and install Service Pack 3 Release Candidate straight from Microsoft.

You are not one of the 15,000 testers that have been so far permitted access to the RC build? No problem. And on top of that, there is no need to wait for a public version of one of the upcoming development milestones of XP SP3. If you really can't wait to get your hands on XP SP3 RC, then all you have to do is play around with the registry a tad.

The fact of the matter is that a registry hack to access a testing build of Windows Vista SP1 debuted in mid October. Modifying the registry allowed Windows Vista users to grab the Beta of Service Pack 1 straight from the Microsoft Windows Updates servers. The same is now the case for Windows XP. In order to understand what the hack is, you have to know that as of now, Windows XP SP3 RC is available exclusively to over 15,000 testers via Microsoft Connect. The Redmond company is delivering all members of the beta testing program of XP SP3 with a script set up to introduce a registry key, that subsequently permits access to the Release Candidate of XP SP3, according to Daniel Melanchthon, Technology Advisor for Microsoft Germany.

Well, the hack is nothing more, and nothing less than this script coming from Microsoft. Of course all participants in the beta testing process of Windows XP SP3 are under a strict non-disclosure agreement with Microsoft. But there are leaks, of course. You will be able to find the hack in question on WinFuture. Don't worry if you cannot speak German, it's not relevant in the least. Just copy the code that starts with "@echo off" into a text editor, Notepad will do fine. It doesn't matter the name under which you save it, but what does matter is the extension. Save As "WinXPSP3RC.cmd" for example, but pay attention to the .CMD, and in notepad select the All Files option and not .TXT. Apply the hack; it may require a restart, and then just check for Updates. You will be able to find Windows XP Build 2600.xpsp.071030-1537: Service Pack 3, v.3244 weighing in at some 337 MB – namely the Release Candidate for XP SP3.

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How To Get Your Blog Ranked High on Google

1. Select Your Keywords and Keyword PhrasesChoose the keywords and keyword phrases you want your blog post to rank high for on the Google search engine results page. For example, I want my blog post to rank high for the term, "blog ranked high on Google." Currently there are approximately 286,000 pages using this term so I'll have to do everything in my power to compete with these web pages to get my blog post on the first page of the Google results page for that term.My keyword phrase also includes other keyword phrases like, "ranked high on Google" with about 310,000 competing pages and "high on Google" with over 71 million competing pages. Getting to the first page for these terms would be a bonus.

2. Use Your Keywords in Your Blog TitleGoogle pays very close attention to the words and phrases you use in your blog title. Notice how I used the term, "blog ranked high on Google" in the title of this article. It's important to use your keyword phrase in your blog title if you want to rank high for that phrase on the Google results page.Another reason you want to use your keyword phrase in your blog title is to give your reader an immediate understanding as to what your blog post is about. If your blog is listed at the top of the search engine results page for your keyword phrase but no one reads it, it's of no value. Use a title that will cause people to click through to your blog post.The New York Times creates two different titles for their articles. They use a catchy, creative or humorous title for their newspaper, and a keyword specific title for the articles and blogs they post to the Internet. They do this because people looking for jokes about the eating habits of nuns generally go to a search engine and type, "jokes about the eating habits of nuns," not "Nuns, Buns and Puns."

3. Use Your Keywords in Your Blog TextNotice how the keyword phrase, "blog ranked high on Google," is used throughout this blog post. Google pays attention to the text on a blog in order to understand what the blog post is about. Once Google comprehends the content of the blog post, it will categorize the blog based on that information. By using your keyword phrase in your text, both Google and your readers can quickly understand what your blog post is about, allowing Google to accurately categorize your blog making it easy for your clients to find. In the past, search engine consultants encouraged writers to use their keyword phrase in the first 25 words of their text and again in the last sentence. Today, the search engines don't seem to pay as much attention to word placement, but reader's do.If your article is about your keyword phrase, it's a good idea to use it in the first and last sentence because it helps your reader quickly know what your blog post is about. It's also a good idea to use your keyword phrase in the first sentence because that is the text that is most likely to show in the description text on the search results page.

4. Link To Your Blog With Keyword Rich Anchor TextGet as many one-way links leading back to your blog post as possible from as many quality blogs and websites as you can. Do your best to insure that the text people click on to get back to your site includes your keywords and keyword phrases. This is known in Internet marketing circles as anchor text.In this example I want the anchor text leading back to my blog post to have the keyword phrase, "blog ranked high on Google," as the clickable text. The clickable text is the means by which all of those other web sites and blogs tell Google what your blog post is about.Google provides far more weight to the theme of your blog post based on the quality and size of the sites linking back to your blog than the text on your blog. For example, if you do a Google search for the term, "click here," you will be taken to the Adobe Reader download web page. It's interesting to note the term "click here" doesn't appear anywhere on that page. The reason the Adobe Reader download page comes up first for this term is because there are millions of other sites that use the anchor text, "click here," to direct people to the Adobe Reader download page.There are two wonderful ways to get keyword rich anchor text directing people back to your blog post. The first is to write and submit an article about your blog post to other web site and blog owners who will upload your article to their site. In return those web site and blog owners will provide you with a keyword rich anchor text link from your article back to your blog. They get great content for their web site and you get a valuable one-way link back to your blog post.The second way is to encourage other blog owners to write about your blog post. In doing so, they are very likely to use your blog title as the anchor text leading readers back to your post. This is another reason why it's so important to use your keyword phrase in your blog title.

5. Ask Your Readers To Digg Your Blog Post. Ask your readers to tell the rest of the world about your blog post by submitting it to one of the social bookmarking sites. They include DIGG, Stumble, Blink and many others. If the title of your blog post includes your keyword phrase, it is likely that this is how your readers will describe your blog post to the social bookmarking sites. This helps Google decide where to rank your site on the search results page.

6. Blog On A Community Site Recognized Expert, Active Rain, and Christian Blog are all examples of niche community blog sites. Recognized Expert is a site for marketing experts, Active Rain is for real estate professionals and the Christian blog is for, you guessed it, Christians. These niche sites have tons of traffic along with the undivided attention of Google and the other search engines.

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