Archive for the ‘Internet’ Category:
Is Piracy Killing the PC Gaming Industry ?
Written by Jai on May 8, 2008 – 6:40 am - 246 views
I have been a PC gamer for the past fifteen years. I play a lot of games on my PC in my free time, not only to unwind, but also to satiate the hardcore gamer inside me. Off lately, I have been following many gaming forums and websites which are talking about the downfall of the PC gaming scene because of the increasing piracy of the games. This fact is really disturbing for me as I have been an avid gamer and do not want to lose one of my most passionate hobbies.
The downfall is evident from the fact that most of the popular game titles are being released for the consoles even before they make their appearance on the PC, or even a declaration is made that they will be available for the PC. Popular games like GTA (Grand Theft Auto) which were exclusive for the PC in the past years, are now being launched for the consoles first (take the example of the latest GTA IV which has been already released for PS3 and XBOX360) rather than the PC. The foremost reason would be the falling sales figures of the PC titles and the rapid increase in the piracy of games. And because of this reason, major game publishers are switching to the consoles arena where the piracy element is much less. Although some companies are adopting new methods for game distribution like Valve which sells their titles through their online distributor (Steam) which allows you to download all the game content after you have purchased it online. Some game publishers also use strict copy-protection techniques, but then again, these methods install extra software into your computers and totally kill the experience for the gamers.
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Written by Jai on April 29, 2008 – 4:07 pm - 1,347 views
I am thankful to Google because it has made the Internet a better place for all of us by releasing a number of very useful utilities in the past few years. Almost all of us use Google.com for their every day search on the Internet, and also other Google services like Gmail, Gtalk, Orkut etc. But there are some Google products that you might have forgotten about or might not be aware of. Here is a list of those not-so-popular tools that can definitely make your life easier :-
- Google Hot Trends (May 2007)
I highly recommend this tool if you are a webmaster and looking for hot topics and keywords that people are searching for in their daily lives. This can even help you as a blogger to choose the most current topic in your niche to write on. The tool lists all the hot trends by date and its very easy to switch between dates as per the calendar. This Google product is still in the Labs (experimental phase), but I have been using it for a long time now.
- Google SketchUp (January 2007)
Google SketchUp is a 3D (3-dimensional) modeling program designed for professionals to use in their every day projects. SketchUp may also be used to design buildings to be displayed on Google Earth (another application from Google that allows you to view satellite maps of the earth). SketchUp has been developed to be more intuitive, flexible, and easier to use than other 3D modeling programs like 3D Studio Max, MAYA etc. which are often difficult to learn for an average user. Several features allow designers to play with their designs, unlike other 3D CAD programs.
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Written by Jai on April 18, 2008 – 7:02 am - 1,590 views
If you are a WordPress enthusiast and have been following the latest news, you will know that Small Potato (Wpdesigner.com) recently sold his blog for $65,000 to some Polish guy called Pawel Ciszewski. It is really amazing that the blog was sold for that much money even when it was not earning any substantial revenue. But anyway, I feel that SP (Small Potato) has made a wrong choice by selecting someone who is not related to the WordPress field and the blog is in jeopardy now. I guess SP was in a hurry to pack his bags for his tours.
There has been no news posted since March 28, 2008 on the blog which is making the blog readers impatient and many have already unsubscribed from the blog. Pawel who is the new owner, promised the blog readers that he is hunting for theme designers and other staff who will run the blog. But its very ironical that there has been no update after that point. According to some readers’ research, Pawel Ciszewski runs some online casino sites. So, this really shows how much he will care about the reputed blog which was taken to a high level by SP. But SP, shame on you… your baby is dying out there and no one really cares.
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Written by Jai on April 3, 2008 – 6:23 am - 906 views
After beta testing their scrolling ads for months (we have been seeing them all over the Internet since last december), Google Adsense has eventually launched them for the publishers today. It lets you scroll vertically or horizontally according to what suits your websites. These ads are not browser dependent at all and will work in any browser. The “Show More” option at the end of the Adsense ads was not very convenient when you had to wait for the full page of ads to open, and finally try to find something relevant to our needs.
But there must have been some good reason as to why Google has launched these scrolling ads. A wild guess would be the page ads not generating the expected number of views or maybe Google desperately wants to show you more ads through this creative scroller. And I am not even kidding when I say the word “creative” for these ads as these have a nice fade in/fade out effect while you scroll through them.
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Written by Jai on March 29, 2008 – 12:29 am - 1,144 views
It is debatable by many but in my opinion Facebook is going to be increasing its online market share for years to come. Many say that Facebook is going to be the next Google as it eliminates the need for searching, by allowing users to rely on associate’s recommendations. Personally I think this is quite ridiculous and I never see Facebook actually stealing any of Google’s market share. On the other hand I do see Facebook replacing the need to many instant messenger services provided by such companies as
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Written by Jai on March 27, 2008 – 3:34 pm - 1,261 viewsTired of looking for content to post in your blog?
Recently, I came across an article at Techcrunch.com about a Firefox plugin called Zemanta which can ease your life by suggesting relevant links and related content to your post. This plugin integrates with your WordPress, Blogger or TypePad installations and helps you by providing links as and when you are creating a new post.
Let’s take a look at how it works.
When you start writing a new entry in your blog, it surfs the Internet for news based on your keywords and after every 300 characters, provides you with a list of related news links. You can then enter those links in your post by the simple click of a mouse button (you can see them at the bottom of this post too) or you can visit the particular website where that news has been published. Moreover, the extension also automates the process of adding tags to your posts.
Zemanta also has the ability to pull images from different sources based on your post keywords and lets you include them in your post in the same way like the news links. I am sure that this feature will save a lot of time for bloggers who have to hunt the Internet for relevant images to publish in their posts.
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Written by Jai on March 19, 2008 – 12:58 pm - 1,757 views
How many times have you wished that there was an online tool where you could test run your newly designed WordPress theme or the latest website that you have designed for cross browser compatibility?
How many times have you found yourself frowning upon IE or any other browser for not being standards compliant and showing messy designs?
I am sure that every designer or developer must have searched online for such a thing at some time or the other. So, after much searching I finally found a website that definitely comes to your rescue. Browser Shots, which is a free open-source service, lets you make screenshots of your website in different browsers that are available on the Internet. When you submit your URL, it will be added to the standard job queue. A number of different computers will open your website in their browser and then they will make screenshots and upload them to the central server. Not only does this tool run your website on different browsers but also on different operating systems including Linux, Windows and Mac OS. The browsers included are MSIE (Versions 4.0 - 8.0), Firefox (Versions 1.0 - 3.0), Opera (Versions 9.23 - 9.26), Safari (Versions 1.3 - 3.1), Netscape Navigator and others.
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Written by Jai on March 14, 2008 – 1:18 pm - 1,582 views
People get scammed everyday, at the drop of a hat. If you think you are someone who can never be scammed, and trust in your sixth sense, read the following and think again.
You CAN be scammed if you are :-
1. The Curious One
Whenever you see a crowd, and you cannot hold the urge to inquire about what’s happening or has happened, then you are the sort of person that has “SCAM ME” written all over him.
2. The Green Eared One
Buddha once said “There is no fire like passion, there is no shark like hatred, there is no snare like folly, there is no torrent like greed.” So if you are the sort of person who gets happiness out of jingling coins, get ready to be scammed.
3. The Ignorant One
When your daddy told you to read the newspaper everyday and you ignored his advice blatantly, you fall in this category.
4. The Rich Jerk
From your childhood, you have been dreaming of getting rich overnight, you even went one step ahead to buy the Rich Jerk’s e-book, let me tell you the fact my friend - you have already been scammed 
5. The Chosen One
A true believer. You have subscribed to all the newsletters of all the horoscope websites for your sun sign that came up in Google’s search results for the word “My Horoscope”. My friend, my good wishes are with you.
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Written by Jai on March 12, 2008 – 2:51 pm - 5,275 views
All right guys and gals! Once again it’s the lucky draw time on Blog Oh! Blog . Today, I am offering a free copy of one of the premium themes available here called - Money Blogger. Basically, the lucky winner is going to get the Premium WordPress theme absolutely free of cost which is worth $49.99.
In order to be one of the lucky contestants, all you have to do is blog about this entry on your blog(s), and that will entitle you to win this very customizable WordPress theme. The contest will run until March 25, 2008 and I will declare the winner on that date.
On a sidenote, a little birdie just told me that Wpdesigner.com is up for sale here. If you got $65K, buy it here! It’s a shame to see competition dying out like this, but anyway, if you gotta go, you gotta go my friend!
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