If you were one of the people who just loved Apple's spat with Adobe over Flash support - or rather, Flash non-support, because Apple won't let it onto iOS devices - then we've got bad news for you.

Flash is coming to the iPhone, the iPad and the iPad 2. IN YOUR FACE, FLASH HATERS!

Okay, it's a bit more complicated than that. Steve Jobs hasn't changed his mind, and iOS hasn't got a secret Enable Flash switch. What's changed is at Adobe's end. Its new Wallaby tool takes a Flash file and turns it into HTML5, which means it'll work quite happily in Mobile Safari.

Adobe stresses that Wallaby is basic - it's an Adobe Labs experiment rather than a complete piece of software - but it's pretty interesting nonetheless. Does it mean the end of Apple's Flash ban - or is it the beginning of the end of Flash itself?

I don't want to keep you in suspense. The answer to both questions is no.

So what's happening here?

It's all about the ads

In the short term, this is about ads. Flash ads don't work on iOS devices, so if Adobe can make it easy for site builders to turn their Flash ads into HTML5 ones then it'll make a lot of people happy.

That's essentially what Wallaby does: it takes basic flash ads and repackages them.If you're looking for a tool that turns your multimedia extravaganza or game into something that you can stick on an iPad, Wallaby isn't it.

In the longer term? Flash was created to do things HTML simply couldn't, such as animation and later, video. As HTML and related technologies have evolved, developers have been able to do more and more things in HTML5; over time, the lines between "things you can only do in Flash" and "things you can easily do in HTML5" have blurred.

As that process continues, Adobe can do two things. It can do nothing, put its fingers in its ears and go "NAH NAH NAH NAH NAH CAN'T HEAR YOU" and try to squeeze as much cash out of Flash as it can before it becomes obsolete.

Or it can look at ways for its tools to be the market leaders not just in Flash creation, but in HTML5 creation too - and it can look for ways in which its tools can make life easier for designers and devs who need to create for IE and iPads.

That's what I think is going on here, because that's what Adobe does.

Photoshop was originally something you used for print; when the web came along, Adobe changed it and made it something you use for print and web. InDesign was originally something you used to make print publications; when publications went digital InDesign went digital too.

Wallaby isn't an admission of defeat. It's Adobe hedging its bets.

Has that time finally arrived when you’d be better off deleting your Facebook account? If so, then May 31 is looking like D-Day.

A website called Quit Facebook Day has set the last day of May as the day everyone keen to leave the social network should finally take the plunge and hit the Delete key.

Several high profile technology pundits and celebs are kicking the world's number one social networking site to the curb.

The bridge too far has been Facebook's recent introduction of a platform that, by default, gives third-party companies access to members' names, friend lists and hobbies to "personalise" their surfing experience.

When a member logs onto a partner site, such as Yelp or Pandora, the content displayed is shaped by their own interests, as well as the activities of their Facebook friends. To disable this feature, a manual opt-out is required.

According to a security expert website, Facebook users unwittingly expose themselves to five dangers that might be beyond their control: their information is shared with third parties; their privacy settings revert to a less safe default mode after each redesign; malware from Facebook advertisements; fake profiles from scammers; and real friends who unknowingly make them vulnerable.

Google Canada reports that the top online search related to "Facebook account" is "delete Facebook," while the fastest-rising related query is "deactivate Facebook account," up 40 per cent over the past 90 days.

Worldwide, the search engine's results on Facebook account deletion ballooned from 15.9 million to 19.5 million between May 11 and 13 alone. There are 400 million members in total.

Privacy and security must be dirty words at the Facebook HQ at the moment as the world's largest social media network comes under fire for its privacy policy that has left users exposed and vulnerable.

Amazingly, it was reported that Facebook's privacy policy is a whopping 5,830 words long, even more verbose than the Constitution of the United States which reads at 4,543 words. Meanwhile, Facebook is making it difficult for users to delete their accounts. Let's wait for May 31!

Few days ago, Apple CEO Steve Jobs showed the world the iPad. During the presentation, I had a good time making fun of the new device with the interesting name. I tweeted, Apple will introduce a big screen version call the MaxiPad plus a small screen version call the iPad with Wings.

There were a bunch of features missing from the iPad that many people were hoping for, like a camera, SD card reader, USB, etc. Judging by the Twitter streams and many blog posts I’ve read, most are calling the new device a failure. However, I believe the iPad rocks and is going to be a massive win for Apple.

It’s Not Meant To Replace An iPhone Or A Macbook

The iPad is not an iPhone or a Macbook. Stop thinking of it as such. It’s a brand new category. Had Apple put features like card readers, USB, cameras, etc., the only thing they’ll be doing is cannibalizing their laptop sales. That’s what netbooks did to laptops and it’s the reason why 90% of laptops sold for $1,000 or more are Apple Macbooks. No, Steve Jobs is not dumb enough to make the same mistake PCs did with the Netbook.

Amazon Should Be Worried

With a starting price of $499, the iPad is only $10 more than a Kindle DX. Anyone in the market for an eBook reader is going to think seriously about the iPad. For $10 more, you can get a device that can do so much more than read books. Who wouldn’t go for that?

While E-ink is a great way to display written pages it has limitations. The contrast is still too low and it’s only black and white. While the iPad’s LED screen may cause eye strain sooner it has the ability display materials that e-ink doesn’t perform well at, like comic books, children books and text books.

The Kindle is designed for linear reading. It doesn’t work well for non linear materials like text books or the bible, where you’re scanning through chapters or verses. I have the NIV Bible on both my Kindle and my iPhone and the iPhone verison works way better. The Kindle navigation is extremely cumbersome. I can navigate to a verse in less than five seconds on my iPhone compare to 30 seconds for the Kindle.

The main advantage the Kindle has right now is the size of Amazon’s library. However, giving the marketing power of Apple, I suspect the iBookstore is going to get huge really quick. Don’t be surprised if you see Amazon announce a price reduction on the Kindle in 60 days.

At $499, It’s An Impulse Purchase

Had the iPad been priced at $999 as some speculated, the iPad would have been a massive failure. However, at $499 this thing is a game changer. People would buy it just for the novelty factor alone . At this price, Apple is going to sell millions of these things and it’s going to create a whole new revenue channel for them not just in iPad sales, but book sales as well. The iPad could do for books what the iPod did for music.

I can’t wait to get my hands on one.

Did u know that the un-catalogued information on the net is around 500 times more than the information that is catalogued by the search engines?

So I thought of sharing with you links of some websites which can prove useful to us. You can comment on some other useful websites with description so that we can share it with others.

www.bhookh.com Lets start with 2 minute charity. Donate without money, with just one click

www.bored.com Some cute games & applications to try it if you are bored!

www.picanswers.com Post a picture/photo & ask a community questions about it.

www.wigflip.com/signbot Make your own animated scrolling text LED sign.

www.a1vbcode.com The ultimate VB, VB.NET, ASP, and ASP.NET source code resource.

www.hypergurl.com Learn how to create, improve and promote a website.

www.tools.dynamicdrive.com/favicon/ Use this online tool to easily create favorite icons

www.dynamicdrive.com #1 place on the net to obtain free, original DHTML & Javascripts to enhance your web site

www.mindtools.com This site will help u do develop your leadership skills, management capabilities, problem solving skills, memory improvement. Do not think as just n ordinary advertisement site. The designers are really serious about helping their visitors. The site is designed my some great experts who have been active in the field of social services for a long time.

www.star28.net/snow.html Let the Penguin Write Your Name in Snow!

www.printwhatyoulike.com/

With this online utility, you can remove ads, images of a webpage before printing. You can also change font size or font type. Save money and environment by reducing paper and ink usage.

www.quillpad.com It is a free online typing tool. You can write/email in 10 Indian languages including Hindi, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu etc. with its online editor.

www.crosstips.org If you like to play crossword it gives u hint when u r stuck somewhere.

www.ted.com Powerful and Inspiring talks!

http://indiarailinfo.com/ This is an interesting site that helps you visualize the current geographical location of any train in India. Just type train name or train number and check its exact location on the map.

http://www.befunky.com/cartoonizer/index.phphttp://www.befunky.com/cartoonizer/index.php

Try this!

Just upload the image or capture one live using the webcam and convert it in to the cartoon image. It can be downloaded or you can either convert the picture into a black and white pencil sketch or a colored one.

http://postcard.fm/ Send audio postcards to your friends

http://www.indianchild.com/amazing_facts.htm Collection of interesting facts, strange facts, and fun trivia

http://www.didyouknow.org/ Fascinating facts and useful trivia factoids about people, products and places

http://www.ranksheet.com/ 100% Free Online Certification and Job. Free Online exams in Windows,.Net, SQL Server, PHP, My SQL, Linux, J2EE, Oracle and more

http://beeks.eu/Screensaver.htm You will find 14 different clock screensavers on this site.

The handwritten one is very cool and the timeline is very slick.

http://www.freewarefiles.com/ Free Downloads of over 14000 free software programs. All freeware downloads include ratings, reviews and screen shots.

http://www.meebo.com/ chatting for all messenger. Can chat with http port on computers where chatting is blocked.

http://www.brainyquote.com/ Your source for famous quotes and quotations from thousands of famous people.

http://www.scribd.com/ Free online Library & Reference for any document or topic.

http://www.lifetips.com/ Actual tips, tricks & tricks to lead a good life

www.desktopnexus.com Good website for free nice wallpapers

www.savevid.com Download youtube videos with this online tool as FLV or MP4 format.

http://www.animalcorner.co.uk/ Animal Corner is an animal encyclopedia that can be used by students and teachers or anyone wishing to learn about animals and their environments. Animal Corner is constantly expanding, featuring new animal species from around the world regularly. Use the menu on the left to learn about various types of animals from different parts of the world or click on Alan the Ape to visit animals in general.

www.photofunia.com Provides a variety of cool backgrounds to edit your photos

www.blogbard.com Convert your favorite blog into audio and listen to it

www.pixelgroovy.com Tutorials for Adobe Photoshop, Java and many more software’s.

www.educationsupport.nic.in Government website for info on scholarships, fellowships etc..

http://www.coloringpage.org/ Online coloring pages for kids of all ages with a variety of drawings to print and paint. All coloring books are free for everyone to enjoy.

http://www.fun4child.com/paint_online/house_k01m.html Draw a House paint picture online for kids. You and your child can paint online this picture. Fun this free Paint online game. Draw a House online paint game.

www.freebookspot.in This is an excellent website for any kind of book u needed if u doesn’t get any books in torrent try this it will be helpful for professional and various seasonal educationists

http://www.wordle.net/ Wordle is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. The images you create with Wordle are yours to use however you like. You can print them out, or save them to the Wordle gallery to share with your friends.

http://fixmypcandmac.com Free tech Support for Windows, Mac, Linux, Router, Servers etc

http://listverse.com/ The ultimate site for top 10 list of every topic ranging from crime to religion.

http://www.testq.com/career/quizzes/show/121 Comprising of 40 questions, this site gives a complete analysis of your intellect. Do try this one when u are free…

http://www.devx.com/DevX/Door/6947 DevX.com helps software, web developers and IT professionals get answers to tough development questions. Other features are a buyer’s guide, an event calendar that covers significant events in the computer industry, a career link, and a searchable database.

http://trendy.org/magic/interactivemagic.html Home of the original mind-reading Mysterious Rabbit ™ interactive card trick along with a few other interactive oddities.

http://www.readprint.com/ A good place for bookworms to read books free. It is an online library which offers thousands of books for students, teachers and enthusiasts.

http://www.howjsay.com/ This site is dictionary but it also tells how to pronounce a word. If you are not sure how to pronounce a word just key it in the text box and when it appears in pink, move your mouse over and it will pronounce the word for you.

http://www.querycat.com/ This is a questions and answers site which answer almost FAQs with over 5 million Qs and As and could be one of the biggest FAQ database on the net.

http://www.photonhead.com/ For shutterbugs, this site offers everything you needed to know about photography. a beginner’ s guide, buying guides, for cameras, tips on photography as well as photo editing. The resource also offers camera reviews and a few easy tutorials.

http://www.dafont.com/ Archive of freely downloadable fonts. Browse by alphabetical listing, by style, by author or by popularity

http://www.howtocleananything.com/ If you need the answer to how to clean something quickly this website probably has the answer

http://www.xe.com/ Currency converter covering every world currency.

http://www.ehow.com/ Learn how to do just about everything at eHow, the world’s most popular place to find How To instructions. New on eHow: Publish your own

http://www.addtoany.com/ Help your visitors share, save and subscribe to your content with AddToAny widgets

http://www.encalc.com/ Encalc is an online scientific calculator. Its strength lies in its ability handle units and dimensional analysis, to define variables and its large database of constants. Parenthesis and scientific formulas are also supported.

Encalc can be used for unit conversions and dimensional analysis. To convert from Metric to US Customary Units, try inputting “2 cm + 3 meters expressed in feet” and hit “Encalc!” Other conversions are handled similarly.

http://www.googlefight.com/ Googlefight is a website that allows users to compare the number of search results returned by Google for two given queries

http://www.powerset.com/ A better way to search and discover information in Wikipedia articles.

www.quotesdaddy.com Over 1000000 Life quotes, Death quotes, Funny quotes, Love quotes, Inspiring quotes and many more. If you need it, the Quotes Daddy quotes it.

http://www.clocklink.com/ ClockLink offers a huge selection of online flash clocks that can be easily added to almost any webpage

http://www.howstuffworks.com/ The name itself gives away what the site is all about… This site answers questions about the way all kinds of things work– from refrigerators to computers to the human body.

http://www.errorkey.com/ Search engine for Error codes and messages.

http://www.systemrequirementslab.com/referrer/srtest This site provides a One-Click solution that looks at your computer’s hardware and system software to determine whether or not your current system can run a product. Each of your computer’s components is evaluated to see how well it meets the minimum and recommended requirements for specific products. Recommendations are made on how to update or upgrade each component which does not meet the listed requirements. Sometimes, a simple, free software download is all that is needed. Sometimes you’ll find that you need a different video card to fully experience what the game has to offer

http://householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov/index.htm This site provides facts about common household products. It discusses possible safety hazards and health effects. You can enter the name of a household product and the site provides explanations about ingredients and health information related to automotive products, landscaping, pesticides, pet care products, products used during arts and crafts, personal care and home maintenance.

http://www.straightdope.com/ This site brings all the strange question & answers at you fingertips, like what does OK stand for??? What is a MOJO?

www.ezinemart.com Read and download all Indian Magazines for free

Thanks to all my online communities & friends for sharing with me the above information

What is it that makes a site good or bad? The answers are sure to differ. However, tardy navigation, old design and features, and intrusive ads are sure spoilers for Netizens worldwide on a website.

Time.com has come out with a listing of what it calls 5 Worst Websites. According to it, these are the sites users may want to think twice before logging in to.

Over to 5 Worst Websites.....

1. eHarmony.com

Topping the Time's Worst Websites list is eHarmony.com. The site claims to be the `#1 trusted online dating site for singles'. However, Time.com seems to differ. According to it, after making users answer some 436 compatibility survey questions and taking its premium charges ($21 to $60 a month), the site many a times delivers terrible recommendations -- or worse, even rejects users as unmatchable.

Also, eHarmony.com's advice to users to continue with it for several months to improve their odds of finding a soul mate too looks self-serving, considering that the longer a user stays with the site, the more he pays.

2. Evite.com

Next on list is Evite.com, a popular online invitation and social planning website. Time.com writes that the site is crying for an overhaul. In today's time when UGC (user-generated content) rules the roost, Evite's fill-in-the-blanks approach appears clumsy and dated. The ads on the site too are said to be intrusive, and navigation a drag.

The site has also been rather slow in adopting some of the media-sharing tools that have become almost a standard way of the Web. Incidentally, many of these features are said to be in development.

3. Meez.com

The virtual hangout Meez.com too makes it to the Worst Websites list. It may be a trend to tack poems, photos, icons, logos etc onto e-mail messages, however, the 3D animations and other digital doodads created with the help of Meez and other sites of its ilk - Blingee, Iconator - are just plain annoying, writes Time.

Plus, these also end up clogging the recipient's inbox with unnecessary bits. Though the Meez.com insists that the app is not a spyware or an adware, however, it still slows down one's computer.

4. MySpace.com

This name will surely surprise most Netizens. For, MySpace is not only one of the most popular social networking sites, but also happened to be the no. 1 social networking site till sometime back.

However, lately the MySpace community seems to have become infested with marketers and other opportunists who create false profiles and spam other users, all under the guise of “making friends.”

According to Time.com, though MySpace has always been known to carry loads of profiles of fictional characters, created to help market a movie or promote some brand, the recent `bait-and-switch tactics' have turned the things a bit sad.

5. SecondLife.com

Another hugely popular site on the list is a virtual world Second Life. The site has not only people logging in, but also has companies such as IBM, Cisco and our very own Wipro among its members.

However, according to Time.com, SecondLife.com is notoriously slow to load and difficult to navigate, even with a broadband connection. Users interact in the space through an avatar, but creating and personalizing of this animated representations of oneself is tedious. Most sites offer a learning curve for new users, but there is no such consideration on Second Life.

Also, "there are crazy people around every corner - disruptive types who spread graffiti and get in your way and throw you off your groove," writes Time.

Most people look for their long lost love on the Internet, a new survey has found.

The study found that one out of four people are using social networking sites like Facebook to search a childhood sweetheart.

Search engine Ask Jeeves claims that nine per cent even confessed trying to know details of a one-night stand.

Thirty seven per cent said they wanted to learn about their ex to just "see what they were doing these days," reports the Sun.

However, only four per cent wanted to rekindle the romance.

Twenty per cent apparently ignored an emailed request to break the ice with long-lost former boyfriend or girlfriend.

Surprisingly, four per cent even looked for former flame to just inform them how happy they were without them, while three per cent searched to find out how miserable their ex were.

Apart from searching for previous lovers the poll also suggested that a trend of ''vanity searching,'' which means looking for yourself on the net, has become increasingly popular.

In fact, 59 per cent admitted they had typed in their own name, with the men apparently doing it more than women.

The survey claimed two thirds of men compared to just over half of women did vanity searching.

I try to keep a stiff upper lip about not having an iPhone. Just couldn't afford it -- not with the $75 a month or so AT&T charges for service on top of the $199 upfront cost for the device.

I could, however, afford the $229 iPod Touch -- and got it as a gift, as it happened. It has most of the same goodies: a Web browser, email, YouTube. And it stores way more music than the iPhone. Plus, the other day I used it to call China.

Yup, a call around the world -- on a device that doesn't have a phone. A handful of applications on Apple Inc's iTunes store will let you do this, as long as you're in a Wi-Fi hot spot.

My iPhone complex hasn't disappeared, but at least now I have a device that looks just like it, has no monthly service fees, and lets me make free or cheap phone calls.

The best part of these applications -- which require the second-generation iPod Touch that came out last year -- is that they are free to download, and calls to other people using the same app won't cost you anything.

Two of the services I've tried, Truphone and Fring, will also let you make free calls to Google Talk users and type instant messages to friends online. Both automatically queue up a list of buddies from different services you might have, including Gmail chat, AIM and MSN Messenger, once you log in.

But it's Truphone's pay feature that puts it ahead of the others. TruPhone charges you to make calls to landlines or regular cell phones, but generally at better rates than most wireless carriers. And it's upfront about what you pay.

Your balance -- which you can add to with a credit card, either on the device or on your computer browser -- pops up with the dial screen. Calls in the US are all 5 cents per minute (2 cents if you sign up to pay a $4 monthly fee).

Rates outside the US vary wildly but you can check in the application before you dial. To call cell phones in China, for instance, is only 5 cents per minute, while France is 25 cents. Antarctica? A whopping $2.25.

You can make regular calls with Fring using a Skype account, but that's another layer to deal with.

The calls on these services sound pretty good, a little tinny but clearer than my regular cell phone connection. IPod Touch users will need Apple's $29 ear buds that have a tiny microphone on the back of the volume control along the cord.

The most serious drawback is the most obvious: While the iPhone uses AT&T's wireless network to provide Internet access anywhere, on the iPod Touch you'll need to stick to Wi-Fi hot spots.

For rural or suburban dwellers who don't encounter lots of free Wi-Fi zones, that may very well mean limiting yourself to your house, or other places where there's a computer with the same Internet phone call capabilities anyway.

That means these apps probably won't replace your cellphone. But they can moderate your iPhone envy.

'123456' is the most common password used by people on the Internet.

Obscenities, names of fast cars and even ncc1701 -- the ship number for Star Trek's Starship Enterprise, have made it to the list of top 500 worst passwords of all time.

Compiled by Whatsmypass.com, the list features passwords most commonly used by Internet users.

And topping the list of the most common password is 123456, followed by "password" in second place.

Other popular password choices were first names, repeated letters and numbers, pop-culture references.

Even batman, bond007 and cocacola made it to the list, reports the Courier Mail.

The website said that almost one out of nine people use at least one of the passwords mentioned on the list, and one out of every 50 people use one from the top 20.

In fact, a study commissioned by digital communications agency @www found that an average adult had as many as 15 passwords to remember.

But 61 per cent of people used the same passwords for as many different accounts as possible in order to make life easier.

Apple has just previewed its OS 3.0 for the iPhone, featuring 100 new features. With the new release, Apple aims to further strengthen its presence in the smartphone market.

Incidentally, last year too Apple introduced iPhone 2.0 at a March event. This was followed by iPhone 3G launch two months later.

Here's what the new Apple software, iPhone 3.0, exactly offers to the users.

When do I get iPhone 3.0?

The software is available for outside developers interested in building mini-programs for popular iPhones and iPod Touch MP3 players, however, the operating system will not be publically released until mid-year.

The company blamed security and user-interface design complexities for the delay in adding it to iPhone's operating system. Analysts are betting on the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), likely to take place in early June this year, as the platform for the introduction of new iPhone models.

How much will the upgrade cost me?

iPhone users, including those holding first-generation iPhones, will be able to upgrade to 3.0 for free. However, iPod Touch users, first or second generation, will have to shell out $9.95 for the update.

The new operating system runs on the latest version of the iPhone, released last year, as well as the original model.

What's new in iPhone 3.0?

A lot, according to Apple and analysts. "It's a significant update," said Gartner analyst Van Baker. The improvements in iPhone 3.0 address some of the complaints that iPhones lacked functions basic in competitors such as the Blackberry Storm, the Google Android G1, and the as-yet-unreleased Palm Pre.

What's the biggest new feature?

So far the most analysts say the biggest addition is the much longed-for cut-and-paste feature. Says Gartner's Baker, "When it ships, cut, copy and paste as well as multimedia-media messages will resonate most with consumers."

The feature will let users highlight text with a tap, drag it, deselect it by shaking the phone, or to copy and paste it into another application.

Users can copy and paste photos, as well as select multiple photos -- also a first on the iPhone -- to paste into an email message.

What else?

Also, top on most lists is the new Apple app-wide search -- Spotlight -- to match the integrated search within Mac OS X that will let users search through Mail, Calendar, Notes and iPod on the iPhone and iPod Touch. Prsently, the only available search was in Contacts.

iPhone 3.0 also lets accessory makers connect devices, such as radios, to Apple's smartphones.Another big miss in iPhone 2.0, makes its presence with upgrade. Users will now be able to read and compose email and text messages in landscape mode.

MMS will be added, which means that photos, contacts and audio files can be sent with the messages application. 3G iPhones will also have stereo Bluetooth after the software update, which allows for wireless stereo headsets to connect to the iPhone and the iPod Touch.

Will iPhone 3.0 allow me to run more than one app at a time?

For those users who, say, want to keep their IM open and still do other stuff, Apple has finally added the much-awaited push notification to the iPhone. The push notification would allow developers to build applications that can provide automatic alerts of items such as sports results or the arrival of an instant message.

The alerts would show up automatically even if the user is in another application. It will also allow developers to offer subscriptions and sell content within their applications that have items for sale within them, such as electronic books or additional levels of a video game. And developers will be able to access the music within users' iPhone libraries, so songs they own can be included in games, for example.

Do first-gen iPhone users get everything in iPhone 3.0?

Sorry, no. According to Apple, the older hardware doesn't support MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) and stereo Bluetooth A2DP. There may be some other features too that may not work on the original iPhone, however, so far Apple has only mentioned these two omissions.

What is missing in iPhone 3.0?

Upgrades did not include being able to record video with iPhones or play video made using Adobe's ubiquitous Flash software; an omission deeply irking many iPhone owners. During a question-and-answer session, Apple executives responded with "No comment" to clamors for video recording and compatibility with Flash. "They did not address the camera, which is a fairly low quality for a smartphone these days, and they also did not mention video support, which would be nice to see," said Creative Strategies analyst Tim Bajarin.

Facebook's redesign is getting an emphatic thumbs down from the notoriously change-wary users of the social network.

Ninety-four per cent of the nearly 800,000 Facebook users who have voted in a poll on the site said they do not like the changes rolled out in the past two weeks.

Only six per cent said they approve the redesign.

Among those writing comments alongside the poll, user Nik McCarthy said the change "Pretty much sucks. Better before."

"I was still figuring it out and it changed," said Melissa Reed, and user Mark Wysocki wrote that the design was too cluttered, with "way too much information."

"Bring back the old style," he urged.

"Hard to navigate," said Chanel Chartrand. "Really don't like it."

Mara Soriano was among the minority who liked the changes. "I think it's fantastic," she wrote.

As TechCrunch blogger Michael Arrington wrote, Facebook maybe should have heeded the old saw: "Don't ask a question you don't want the answer to."

Changes to the home page include making the status update question "What's on your mind?" adding real-time Twitter-like chatter and tools that let people organize and filter messages or updates from those listed as "friends."

The fast-growing Facebook boasts more than 175 million members and founder Mark Zuckerberg believes the number will reach 200 million by the end of this year.

US software giant Google said Friday it had removed several images from its Street View software, which allows web surfers to view parts of 25 British cities, after users raised privacy concerns.

Street View displays 360-degree ground-level images captured by roaming cars using digital photography equipment.

The cars began taking images last summer, and continue to capture images across the country, allowing the service to expand after its launch here on Thursday.

Just 24 hours after its release in Britain, however, Google said it had removed several pictures, including ones that users found embarrassing, such as one of a man leaving a sex shop in central London's Soho neighbourhood, or another one of a man vomiting outside a pub in the east of the British capital.

A spokeswoman for the American Internet company declined to confirm the precise number of photos that were removed, but said it had been "less than expected."

Individual Internet users who do not want either their image or that of their home to be used in Street View can request it be taken off Google's database by filling out an online form.

Google says it has developed sophisticated software that ensures that individual's faces and vehicle license plates are blurred.

After initially being launched in the United States in May 2007, Street View is now available in Britain, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, France, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands.

Two years after winning the top blog award at an indie festival in the deep south of the United States, micro-blogging site Twitter has grown in size and popularity.

On September 2007, internet tracking company Nielsen Online found Twitter had 533,000 US users.

One year later, it had 2.4 million users. That's a 343 per cent growth, making Twitter the fastest growing social networking site for the US in September 2008.

Famous personalities using Twitter include British comedian Stephen Fry (@stephenfry), pro cyclist Lance Armstrong (@lancearmstrong) and US actress Demi Moore (@mrskutcher).

Here, Twitter's growth has been greater. It had a 520 per cent increase in the same time period, local web tracking company Hitwise reports. Users were spending 30 minutes on the site, 19 minutes more than the average time spent on other sites. Top federal politicians PM Kevin Rudd (@KevinRuddPM) and Malcolm Turnbull (@TurnbullMalcolm) have adopted the 140-words-a-post platform.

British technology commentator James Harkin wrote that Twitter "more than just a social networking site: Tweeting is changing the way we think." Even Facebook was impressed with Twitter - it started talks to buy it out - but they fell through.

But Twitter, as its name suggests, is like a large aviary of birds - with all the birds bursting into song at the same time. While the bare-bones nature of the site's interface encourages new users, making sense of all the dialogue taking place on it is harder.

So how do you differentiate from one user to another? How do you find people with similar interests? How do you make your tweets sing louder than all others?

A range of Twitter-related websites and apps have sprung up to deal with such questions. They attempt to categorise, spruik and manage users' tweets.

Here's 10 of the many we've found out there:

1. WeFollow

WeFollow is a user-powered Twitter directory that aims to group users according to labels that are determined by the users themselves. Twitter users just need to send @wefollow #yourtag #yourtag #yourtag (replace '#yourtag' w/the tags you'd like to be listed under, example: #blogger - max 3 tags)

2. Monitter

As you can tell from the name of the site, Monitter is a web tool to help people monitor tweets through keywords and locations. It's real time, and so a great way to get on-the-spot reactions.

3. TwitterLocal

It's an app you can download to filter tweets by location.

4. TweetStats

It helps you generate graphs from your tweets to analyse your tweet timeline (tweets per day), tweet density, aggregate daily tweets, aggregate hourly tweets, interfaces used to access twitter and even replies to (@personyouarereplyingto). It also logs the latest trending stats, trend clouds and the top 50 trends of all time.

5. twistori

A random visualisation of what people are tweeting on six themes - love, hate, think, believe, feel and wish.

6. Tweet O'Clock

Trying to get the attention of another Twitter user? This web app allows you to enter a Twitter username to get the time within a week when they are most likely to be online. The only problem for Australian users? It gives the the results in US or UK local times.

7. Twitter Jobcast

Looking for work in the US? Twitter Jobcast simplifies your search of the site for available jobs and for those looking for one. You can narrow down your search by choosing one of 32 US cities.

8. Twitrans

Exactly what it says above. Send your tweets to @twitrans in English, specifying what language you want it translated to, and hey pesto!, it comes back to you translated. Great since there are many users out there who surf the net in another language.

9. Twittown Blog

All the latest news that's fit to print about Twitter.

10. Remember the Milk

Yes, this is about managing your daily tasks such as remembering to buy that carton of Low Fat High Calcium Strong Bones etc etc Milk. Just add @rtm as your friend, sent @rtm a direct message with the task and the time you want to be reminded about it. (It was first set up by a Sydney team in October 2005, long before Twitter went live.)

And ... if you are looking to access Twitter on the go, here's a few mobile apps:

iPhone

Twitterrific, Twinkle, Twittelator, TwitterFon, Twitfire.

Blackberry

TwitterBerry, Tiny Twitter, Twibble, BlackBird.

Windows Mobile smartphones

ceTwit, SQIJ, Twobile.

Are you among the proud owners of Nokia's recently launched 5800 XpressMusic, or planning to soon buy the touchscreen phone? Here's an important piece of news for you.

According to a Russian tech website Mobile-Review, nearly all 5800 XpressMusic devices manufactured before February come with defective speakers. The ones that may not be showing problems now are likely to go defective sooner or later.

In an official statement from Nokia, Vitoria Eremena, head of Nokia PR for Eurasia, reportedly told Mobile-Review, "The problematic speakers were replaced with speakers from another supplier, both in production and warehouses. I’d like to emphasise that we have replaced not only the speakers but also their supplier, i.e. at the moment we use speakers from the new supplier at our manufacturing plants, as well as in our service centers. It is very easy to confirm this, because the new speakers are visually different. Service centers started receiving the new speakers during the last decade of January, so all users who replaced the speakers since then shouldn’t face this problem."

The mail which is a translation from Russian says, "If you had to replace your speakers, from the end of January -- everything should be all right; if you bought the phone earlier and you have problems, now they can truly be solved in service centers by replacing the speakers."

However, so far there is no official confirmation on whether the shipments to India too have been affected or not.

Interestingly, the touchscreen phone that is available at almost half the price of its other touchscreen rivals, including Apple iPhone, recently made headlines for a new sales record in India with over 58,000 units sold within three weeks of its launch.

Twitter has spawned a new way to communicate by limiting messages to 140 keystrokes. So here's a way to describe the internet's latest craze within Twitter's space restrictions:

It's a potluck of pithy self-expression simmering with whimsy, narcissism, voyeurism, hucksterism, tedium and sometimes useful information.

One vital ingredient has been missing from the mix so far - revenue. That raises questions about whether the nearly three-year-old service can make the leap from intriguing fad to sustainable business.

Twitter intends to start testing ways to make money this year. And co-founder Evan Williams promises it won't drive away the more than 6 million people who have set up accounts on the unconventional communications network.

"We don't see any reason why this can't be a very large and profitable entity," said Williams, the San Francisco-based company's chief executive. "We have enough traffic on our website that we could put ads on there and maybe we could make enough to pay our bills, but that's not the most interesting thing we can do."

Williams, 36, won't say what he has in mind besides selling ads, but he and the handful of other people who own privately held Twitter seem confident the mystery strategy will pay off - even as a devastating recession destroys much-larger companies.

Just three months ago, Twitter rejected a $US500 million takeover offer from an even bigger phenomenon, Facebook, the owner of the world's largest online hangout.

Although shooing away Facebook was risky, Twitter still isn't under immense pressure to generate revenue. The 29-employee company has already raised $US55 million, including a $US35 million round recently completed with Benchmark Capital and Institutional Venture Partners.

Like Facebook, MySpace, YouTube and other communal websites that have become internet sensations, Twitter gives people a stage where they can express themselves and connect with kindred spirits.

Twitter's twist is a more succinct approach, which has been likened to the 21st-century version of a telegraph.

Here's how Twitter works: After setting up a free account, people are encouraged to post frequent updates about what they are doing, seeing and feeling. The messages, known as "tweets," must be limited to 140 characters and can be sent from a mobile phone or a computer.

Although the updates are available for anyone to see, Twitter users usually set up their accounts to monitor the tweets of people they know or admire. These "followers" are automatically fed tweets from the people they are shadowing.

With more than 265,000 people tracking his messages, President Barack Obama has the most Twitter followers even though neither he nor his staff have tweeted since he moved into the White House last month.

Many other politicians and celebrities, such as basketball star Shaquille O'Neal (more than 72,000 followers) and former rap music sensation MC Hammer (more than 55,000) regularly share tweets.

Twitter also has become a way to peek at dramas unfolding behind closed doors.

When Yahoo laid off hundreds of workers last year, some of the casualties used Twitter to provide a blow-by-blow account of their final day at the office. Surgeons at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit recently gave a rare glimpse inside an operating room by tweeting about the removal of a tumor from a patient's kidney.

Twitter also has proven to be a valuable source for breaking news, sometimes even beating long-established media outlets to the punch.

When US Airways Flight 1549 made an emergency landing on the Hudson River last month, a picture of the accident scene was quickly posted on Twitter by Janis Krums, a Sarasota, Fla., entrepreneur who was on one of the ferries that rescued passengers from the water. In November, Twitter provided harrowing, first-person accounts of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai that killed 164 people.

But Twitter mostly amplifies the humdrum of ordinary folks with apparently nothing better to do but share their monotony. There's plenty of posts along these lines: "Sitting at Corner Bakery in Frisco, Texas. Lunch was good." Or, "Another boring day at work, ugh." Or even, "I really do enjoy picking my nose." (A widely practiced pastime, based on recent tweets).

Finding out what's happening on Twitter is getting easier through a search engine called Summize that the company snapped up for an undisclosed amount last summer.

Both Williams and another Twitter founder, Biz Stone, suggested the search technology could emerge as their company's crown jewel. Its value lies in its ability to quickly sift through a steady stream of tweets to provide almost instantaneous insights about what's going on around the corner or around the world. Not even Google's internet-leading search engine can match that now.

Stone relates how he used Twitter's search engine to ease his anxiety after he recently heard loud noises around his neighborhood. A quick search on Twitter informed him it was just a local celebration down the road.

The search engine will become even more valuable if people keep flocking to Twitter.

The site attracted 2.7 million U.S. visitors in December, a nearly eight-fold rise from the end of 2007, according to Nielsen Online. But Twitter's traffic increasingly is coming through mobile phones, making its usage more difficult to monitor. Nielsen estimates 666,000 U.S. users accessed Twitter on mobile devices in December.

The service is especially appealing to people between 18 and 34. About one in every five people with Internet access in that age group used Twitter or a similar service to update their status at least once, according to a survey of more than 2,200 adults in November and December by the Pew Internet & American Life Project. Meanwhile, usage of Twitter and rivals such as Jaiku, Pownce, FriendFeed and Plurk was seen in just 5 percent of respondents between 45 and 54. Only 2 percent of people older than 65 had tweeted, according to Pew.

This matters for Twitter's financial future because most younger people don't make a lot of money, which could make it more difficult for the company to appeal to advertisers.

Even so, corporate America is paying attention.

Several major companies, including JetBlue Airways, have set up Twitter accounts to monitor what people are saying about their brands. The companies sometimes send out tweets offering to address a complaint.

All that chatter could yield a huge moneymaking opportunity if Twitter chooses to mine the data and sell the insights to marketers, said Marita Scarfi, chief operating officer for Organic, an internet advertising agency. "It could be rich vein for brand analysis," she said.

And though Twitter hasn't sold any ads yet, it is being used as a marketing tool. Computer maker Dell Inc., for instance, is offering exclusive discounts to its more than 18,000 followers on Twitter after holiday promotions broadcast on the service produced more than $US1 million in sales.

Both Williams and Stone hinted the company is exploring ways to charge for expanded commercial access to Twitter, but emphasised that all personal accounts will remain free.

Online retailer Zappos.com is a big fan of Twitter, using it for promotions and customer feedback. But the Las Vegas-based company won't necessarily stay on board if Twitter starts imposing fees on businesses, said CEO Tony Hsieh.

"It would depend on what they're charging for," said Hsieh, who has attracted more than 58,000 followers since opening his Twitter account about a year ago. "We don't see it as a marketing channel, but as a relationship channel."

Comments like that feed the doubts about Twitter's future. Its prospects are clouded even further by the resistance that Facebook and MySpace have faced as they have tried to inject ads into forums where people primarily goof off or fraternize.

"It's the same kind of challenge for these sites," said Peter Daboll, who has studied consumer behavior on the Internet for years, including in his latest job as CEO of Bunchball Inc. "How do they build on their great audiences and keep them engaged, without alienating them with a bunch of crap?"

AP

Fast-growing micro-blogging service Twitter has reportedly raised an additional 35 million US dollars in funding and said Friday that it is ready to "begin building revenue-generating products."

Twitter co-founder Biz Stone, in a post on the company blog, said a new round of funding came from venture capitalists International Venture Partners and Benchmark.

Stone said Benchmark's Peter Fenton will join the board of directors of the San Francisco-based service that lets users share what they are doing at any given moment in brief text messages on computers or mobile telephones.

Twitter claims to have more than six million users.

"We weren't actively seeking more funding," Stone said. "Nevertheless, our strong growth attracted interest and we decided to accept a unique opportunity to make Twitter even stronger with a very attractive offer.

"Twitter is growing at a phenomenal rate," he added. "Active users have increased 900 percent in a year."

Stone did not provide a figure for the new funding round but several well-informed technology blogs put the amount at 35 million US dollars.

Twitter, which allows users to pepper one another with messages of 140 characters or less, has grown rapidly in popularity since it was launched in August 2006 but has been unable so far to generate revenue.

Stone said that would change.

"We are now positioned extremely well to support the accelerating growth of our service, further enable the robust ecosystem sprouting up around Twitter, and yes, to begin building revenue-generating products," he said.

Stone said Twitter's current workforce of 29 employees would expand.

"Throughout this year and beyond, our small team will grow much bigger to meet the challenges and opportunities ahead," he said.

"With these new partnerships and this new funding, we are in a position to move more confidently toward our vision for a robust and successful Twitter Inc," he added.

AFP

Eighty computers have been lost, stolen or gone "missing" at a major US nuclear weapons lab, the nonprofit watchdog group Project On Government Oversight (POGO) has said.

The group posted online a copy of what they say is an internal letter outlining what appear to be worrisome losses at Los Alamos National Laboratory in the state of New Mexico.

The letter says that 13 lab computers were lost or stolen during the past year, three of the machines taken from an employee's home in January. Another 67 computers are deemed "missing".

"The magnitude of exposure and risk to the laboratory is at best unclear as little data on these losses has been collected or pursued," the letter dated February 3 maintains.

The letter, addressed to Department of Energy security officials, contends that "cyber security issues were not engaged in a timely manner" because the computer losses were treated as a "property management issue."

What became of the missing computers and the "security ramifications of each of the 80 systems" was to be detailed in a written report to lab officials by February 6, according to the letter.

AFP telephone calls to the lab on Friday in search of comment were not returned.

Los Alamos was created as a secret facility during World War II and was the site for the Manhattan Project that gave birth to the first nuclear bombs.

It is a major center for research related to national security, outer space, renewable energy, medicine, nanotechnology, and supercomputing.

AFP

Gmail has got another new feature: Multiple Inboxes. The new feature from Gmail Labs allows users to have more than one inbox in their default Gmail view. That is the new tool lets users see up to four lists of email messages in addition to their inbox, all on one screen.

Labels and filters are two Gmail features that allow users to highlight and handle email based on their own search criteria. While these features help them stay organised, a user needs to switch between views to see what's going under each Label or Filter. Multiple Inboxes aims to clean that up and enable users to see all their different lists at a glance.

In a company blog post, Google software engineer Octavian 'Vivi' said, "I'm seriously into filters and labels. All the email I get related to Flash goes under my 'flash' label, everything about paragliding goes under 'flying', and they all skip my inbox because that's how I like to stay organized. But when new email arrives I have to switch to the 'flash' label first, then click on 'paragliding', etc. I wanted a way to see it all at once."

According to Google, once a user, turns on Multiple Inboxes from the Labs tab under Settings, he can configure what he wants to see, as well as set the number of messages displayed and the positioning of his panels from the Multiple Inboxes section under Settings.

Many people have sent an email while angry, exhausted, inebriated or just by mistake that they later regretted. Now, Google has way to help protect you (and others) from such a faux pas.

As part of its quest to attract users to its Gmail service, the Internet search company has introduced dozens of features, including one that, after a certain time, makes a user solve a math problem before sending an email, giving them time to rethink it.

Because Google makes money every time email users click on ads, it is enhancing its email service to increase advertising and take market share away from Yahoo.

Unique visitors to Google's sites increased 32 per cent worldwide to more than 775 million last year, according to comScore, which tracks such data.

Yahoo had a 16 per cent gain to 562.6 million visitors and Microsoft had a 20 per cent increase to about 647 million visitors.

Analysts have attributed part of Google's visitor growth to email features that are being turned out at a dizzying rate by the company's Gmail Labs. This month, Google introduced a feature to automatically download mail so users can read Gmail offline in a Web browser. That matches an existing feature in the client version of Microsoft's Outlook but when Outlook is accessed from the Internet it does not have that feature.

The offline mail feature was announced in a press statement, but most other features to Gmail have been introduced more quietly. Engineers created and posted 34 experimental features in the seven months since Gmail Labs launched in June.

"They're able to improve the products much faster than anyone else," said Forrester Research analyst Ted Schadler.

Google said those features are for adventurous Gmail users because the rapid addition of them means they may not work smoothly or that they will last.

Tests, reminders
"Mail Goggles" helps users avoid sending regrettable email or Gchat messages, an instant messaging system, by making them pass a simple math test before sending.

Another feature alerts users who forget to upload promised attachments. And another lets users send free SMS (short message service) messages to friends via Gchat.

The new features can be found in "Labs" on the main Gmail account page in the upper right corner under "Settings".

Google engineer Dave Cohen took half a day to code an experiment that lets users add a photo next to a friend's conversation in a chat window. It was available for users to try out a few weeks later.
Cohen said it used to be "hard to take an idea you had and get it out there." Now, he said, Gmail Labs "has increased our freedom and flexibility, and we can do more at a whim when there's something you really want to add."

Analysts said the quick roll out of experimental features puts pressure on Yahoo, Time Warner and Microsoft. Helping to speed development is a "Send Feedback" link in each experimental feature that allows users to make suggestions directly to the developer on how to improve it.

"We didn't ... have that kind of direct feedback between engineers and users," said Keith Coleman, product manager. "Now, we have engineers looking at the raw feedback that they are getting."

Google Ocean, which will be included in the newest version of Google Earth, will allow users to swim around underwater volcanoes, watch videos about exotic marine life, read about nearby shipwrecks, contribute photos and watch unseen footage of historic ocean expeditions - all from the comfort of their homes.

Footage of polar bears, beluga whales, sea urchins and king penguins from the BBC's award winning series Planet Earth and The Blue Planet will also be available.

The world's oceans cover more than 70 per cent of the planet's surface and contain 80 per cent of all life on Earth, yet humans have only ever explored around 5 per cent of that space.

Google Earth, which combines satellite imagery, maps and information to allow users to explore streets and cities around the world, has been downloaded 500 million times since it was introduced in 2005.

Google Ocean was developed with an advisory council of more than 25 leading ocean advocates and scientists.

Pen Hadow, the artic explorer and director of Catlin Arctic Survey, told the Daily Telegraph: "This is a watershed moment of shared global understanding of our oceans. My passion for the Arctic Ocean is matched only by the urgency of our need to understand how it works within the global Earth system. Ocean in Google Earth will enable a global audience to follow the progress and findings of the Catlin Arctic Survey, an international scientific endeavour resolving the likely meltdown date of the Arctic Ocean's sea ice cover."

Sylvia Earle, oceanographer and Explorer in Residence at the National Geographic Society, said: "I cannot imagine a more effective way to inspire awareness and caring for the blue heart of the planet than the new Ocean in Google Earth.

"For the first time, everyone from curious kids to serious researchers can see the world, the whole world, with new eyes."

In addition to Ocean, Google has also introduced other tools for Google Earth 5.0 users, including Virtual Time travel - where users can revisit the past and observe changes in areas where historical satellite imagery is available. For example, users will be able to see construction of Germany's soccer stadiums in the build up to the 2006 World Cup, witness the desertification of Africa's Lake Chad and track the melting of ice on the Grinnell Glacier in Montana.

Users can visit the planet Mars with a click of a button to see high resolution imagery and 3D terrain and a bit closer to home, users will be able to download GPS Tracking, making it easy to visualise and record running, hiking and biking routes.

Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google said: "In discussions about climate change, the world's oceans are often overlooked despite being an integral part of the issue. About one-third of the carbon dioxide that we emit into the atmosphere ends up in the oceans. Furthermore, biodiversity loss in our oceans in the next 20-30 years will be roughly equivalent to losing an entire Amazon rainforest, but this goes unnoticed because we can't see it. This is why today's launch of Google Earth 5.0 is so important - it gives us an opportunity to change everyone's perspective."

Sir David Attenborough said: "It is surely an extraordinary privilege not only to be able to see the great jungles and deserts of the world in Google Earth, but also now, thanks to the Ocean project to be able to explore the bottom of the sea. ARKive's new marine layer illustrates life in the ocean, using the world's best wildlife films and photographs, and includes some of the rarest and most amazing creatures you will ever see."

If you have been banking on Gmail for your communication needs, there have always been times when you have desperately wanted to access your account to dig out that important mail but have found yourself haggling with an unreliable or unavailable connection. Not any more.

If the Google Gears version of Gmail rolls out smooth, you can open your web browser, go to the mailbox, and get to your mail even when you are offline. In a nutshell, your Gmail is going offline.

The logic is simple but it could be a great value ad. If you install the Google Gears plug-in to your browser from the Gmail Lab, Gmail detects when you are offline. The new version caches your e-mail so that you can read it, respond to it, search it, star it, or label it. When you are connected to the Internet again, it sends all the messages that you have prepared while being offline. You can even open attachments.

As Gmail product manager Todd Jackson puts it, "it works exactly the way Gmail already works on mobile phones such as the Android and those that support Gears. The underlying sync engine is exactly the same for Android and offline Gmail."

Here's how it works. Once the feature is turned on, Gmail uses Gears to download a local cache of your mail. As long as you're connected to the network, that cache is synchronized with Gmail's servers.

When the connection is lost, Gmail automatically switches to offline mode, and uses the data stored on your computer's hard drive instead of the information sent across the network.

Any messages you send while offline will be placed in your outbox and automatically sent the next time Gmail detects a connection. And if you're on an unreliable or slow connection, you can choose to use "flaky connection mode," which is somewhere in between: it uses the local cache as if you were disconnected, but still synchronizes your mail with the server in the background.

According to web reports, Google is making offline Gmail available to everyone who uses Gmail in US or UK English over the next couple of days. If you don't see it under the Labs tab yet, it should be there soon.

The only bad news is some features that require an Internet connection, such as spell check, won't work offline. And while you can open attachments, you won't be able to add attachments at launch. But Google promises to make them available soon!

The system is in beta and accessible through Gmail Labs. But it won't be immediately available to everyone - Google is parsing out access as it experiments with the new feature.

If Gmail lives up to the user expectations, then this would be a big step forward in bringing web mail offline given that presently there are options of offline access to your mailbox, but they all come with strings. You can access your Gmail account through a client like Mozilla Thunderbird. But that doesn't give you all the Gmail functionality like labels.

Yahoo Mail has offered offline access since last summer using Zimbra Desktop. But that also involves using a client on your desktop. For offline access to Windows Live Hotmail, Microsoft suggests using their Mail client software.