Adobe Soundbooth: An Audio Editing Software For Your Mom

Adobe Labs is buzzing with activity this week. Today, the Adobe developers released a new sound editing software called Adobe Soundbooth that's absolutely free and has all the basic ingredients that you need for recording a professional sounding podcast or voiceovers for your Powerpoint presentations or Sceencasts.



If you have worked with other Adobe video/audio apps like Premiere, After Effects or Audition, you will feel very comfortable with the new Soundbooth interface - it has the same gray theme with a panel based layout. [see screenshot]

The USP of Soundbooth is that you can accomplish the three most common audio clean-up tasks with the click of a button - i.e., remove the background noises, rumbling sounds or the clicks & pops. Advanced users may try the Lasso tool to selectively remove audio that matches certain frequencies by making marquee selections around the waveforms.

Also present are the standard audio enhancing features like Fades, Normalize and Trimming. With Adobe Soundbooth, you can extract audio from video clips [like avi, wmv], enhance their sound quality inside Soundbooth and later export them to a variety of audio formats.

Unfortunately, the first public beta version available at the Adobe Labs is buggy and did crash a couple of times on our Windows XP SP2 machine. There's no support for common audio/video formats like MP3, FLV or H.264 though Adobe says that support will be available in the future releases.

Adobe is targeting non-techies and casual users who do not feel comfortable inside sophisticated applications like Cool Edit or Adobe Audion.

Overall, it's will be an interesting application to watch in the coming months when they fix the initial bugs and add support for more codecs. While Audacity is still the audio software of choice for most newbie podcasters, Soundbooth could be a good alternative though the retail version may not be available for free.

Soundbooth Page | Audition Blog | Download Soundbooth

Wait Over! Windows Media Player 11 Is Out of Beta

Microsoft today released the final version of Windows Media Player 11 on their Download center website. Like all other Microsoft products, you are required to validate your personal copy of Windows XP before Microsoft feeds you the secret link to download WMP 11.

Download Windows Media Player 11 [requires validation]

Download Media Player 11 [wmp11-windowsxp-x86-enu.exe, bypass wga check]

The biggest gripe with WMP 11 is that you cannot change the default installation folder plus Microsoft has shown no love for podcasters and podcast feed consumers.

Microsoft Office 2007 & Windows Vista : Product Packaging Screenshots

The new packaging of Office 2007 system and Windows Vista is inside a small, hard, plastic container that's designed to protect the software inside for life-long use. It provides a convenient and attractive place for you to permanently store both discs and documentation.

Google Talk gets Offline Messages

Google Talk now allows you to send offline messages to all your Chat History enabled Gmail buddies.

This was one of the greatest feature which missed out of Google Talk earlier, we used to see error message “ is offline and can’t receive messages right now” when sending message to someone who is not signed in, but not anymore.

Note: Offline Messages won’t work if your recipient hasn’t enabled chat history or if your in “off the record” mode

Welcome to Google Checkout

The first time I looked up the domain "GDrive.com" it appeared that someone other than Google had it registered. A trip down memory lane takes us to my very first article that describes how I determined GDrive.com is in fact owned by Google, despite what it looks like on the surface.

Well, by the same logic I have found that a brand new set of domains appearing to be registered to someone else were actually registered by Google on May 25th.

The domains googlecheckout.net/org/info (.com is owned by someone else at the moment) have all been registered to a company called DNStination, Inc. Don’t be fooled, the registrar is MarkMonitor — a company that prides itself on the protection of your corporate identity. There is no way they would let just anybody register a domain with "Google" in it — especially since Google is one of their clients.

Then who is this DNStination, Inc. then? Googling the address of this "company" tells us exactly who it is. The address maps directly to none other than MarkMonitor itself.

Since we know Google is behind it’s registration, what is Google Checkout going to be? I think it will be a shopping cart system to help websites accept payment for their items online. The money site owners make will be deposited into a holding account at Google — just like AdSense works.

Isn’t this starting to sound a lot like PayPal? Who knows, they could even offer a Google branded Mastercard "debit card" like PayPal’s ATM/Debit Card — after all, the domain googlemastercard.com is registered to Google too.

If this is indeed what they are planning, it would make sense for Google Checkout to tie into Google Analytics so website owners can easily track with certainty how their AdWords campaign is directly affecting sales — right through the checkout process.

Maybe one day Google will even provide an inventory management solution with an API so websites can have their inventory in Google Base and on their own website without double entry.

6 Easy Ways to Increase your Adsense Revenue

How much revenue do you generate from Google Adsense?

Recently there has been a lot of discussion about people who earn over $10,000 a month just from Adsense. Furthermore, there are rumors of a few individuals who earn over $1 million a year just from using the power of Google advertisements.

So what is Google Adsense and how can you use this program to earn a six-figure income?

About two years ago, Google created this program to help websites to monetize their web-traffic.

Here's how it works:

Webmasters obtain a special code from Google which then displays targeted ads on their website. Whenever a visitor clicks on one of these ads, the webmaster earns a commission. Unlike other online businesses, there is no selling involved. All you need to do is get people to click on the ads.

Although this is an excellent way to generate an income, many websites are not effectively maximizing their Adsense potential. As a result, they are leaving a lot of cash on the table.

The question is how can you increase your Adsense revenue without increasing the number of web visitors?

The key to earning an income with Google Adsense is to have your ads match the rest of the site, making them look like part of your content. Your focus is to avoid having the Adsense blocks look like blatant advertisements.

The following are six ways that you can do this and increase your revenue at the same time:


1) Find the right place- Most website visitors read content that is in the middle of a webpage. As a result, the best place to put your Adsense block is in the top part of the page, at the beginning of your web content. You want to weave the Google Ads into your web content to give the appearance that they are extra links which expand on the information of the page.

2) Use the Large Rectangle-With Google Adsense, you have the option of picking different ad formats. Most of the time people opt to use the Leaderboard (728x90) or Wide Skyscraper (160x600) style ads. Unfortunately, this is the wrong choice, because both look like blatant advertisements. Instead smart webmasters have found that using the Large Rectangle (336x280) yields the best amount of click-thrus.

3) Ditch the border- Many people experience a sharp increase in Adsense revenue when they changing their border. What they change is very simple…they get rid of the border on their Adsense blocks. This is another way to make the advertisements look like useful web content.

4) Adapt the font- Whenever you write content, it should be the same font size and style as your Google Adsense block. This will help make it appear that the advertisements are a natural part of your website.

5) Match the colors- In addition to changing the fonts, you also should match the colors of your website. For instance, if your content is written in black, and your hyperlinks are blue, then the Adsense blocks should also be the same color. Again, this helps the advertisements appear to be normal web content.

6) Don't have too many distractions- On a webpage, it is important to give web visitor a limited number of options. By having too many links and graphics, the web visitor might go to a section that doesn't help increase your profits. While it is important to inform and entertain your web visitor, it is also vital that you monetize your site. So if the main focus of your site is to earn an income through Google Adsense, then get rid of all non-essential links and graphics.

By taking the time to implement these six simple steps, you'll see a dramatic increase in the click-thru ratio of your ads. If added to all of the content of your site, your Adsense income will skyrocket!

Google AdSense: 7 Tips For Creating Sites That Make Money

Having a Google AdSense site is a great way to make money. And to create an AdSense site, all you have to do is have a Google AdSense account (which is free), a website or a blog (which is free), and some articles (which are free if you write them yourself). Once you get your site up and running, the AdSense ads will be targeted to your content.

Therefore, those looking for your content will come by, read your articles, and have a high probability of being interested in the targeted ads. Every time someone clicks an ad, you get paid! That is, as long as you have designed your site to maximize AdSense clickthroughs!

Let's look at seven tips for creating AdSense sites that create money.

#1: Keyword Density

Before you place ads on your site, be sure your keyword density is good. You will want to be sure that the right kinds of ads are placed on your site. A free way to determine what the ads will look like on your site is to go to http://www.resultsgenerator.com/adsense/ and type in your keywords. You will then be able to see exactly what ads would show on your site.

If you don't like what you see, then you know that you need to make changes to your keywords! You can get keyword suggestions from Results Generator from Overture or from the free trial version of Word Tracker.

#2: Focused

Not only will the ads be based on your keywords, but they will also be based on your content. You definitely want your keywords and your content to match as closely as possible.

#3: Write Often

The more information you have the better. Why? Because the more content you have, the more visitors you get. Many people suggest that you write a new article every day since no one wants to come back to your site to find the same old messages!

#4: Choose The Right Format

AdSense allows you to choose many different ad formats. Research has shown that wider ads are more successful. The top three formats are:

" 336x280 large rectangle
" 300x250 medium rectangle
" 160x600 wide skyscraper

Additionally, the 468x15 horizontal ad link under the navigation bar is also a good bet.

#5: Color Counts

You have the option to create a Google AdSense ad in any color of your choice. The best thing to do is to make your ad blend well with your site color scheme. You should make the border color and the background color the same color as your web site. You will want your text color to either be black or the color of your main content.

When creating your Google AdSense ads it is recommended to use the color scheme and style of your website so that the ads blend in well. Ads without background color and borders perfom better than ads within borders with background color.

#6: Position Counts, Too

It is well known that visitors to a website scan the site to determine if it is worth reading. You definitely want them to see and scan your AdSense ads. Therefore, the best place to put them is in the top left part of your page or directly under your headlines.

#7: Increase The Number

AdSense allows you to use up to three AdSense units on a page, two AdSense search boxes, and one unit of ad links. Using all that you can increases the chances of earning money.

Keep these seven tips in mind when creating your AdSense site and you will find that your clickthrough rates increase, thus increasing your money making potential.

Adobe Acquires Video Blogging Software Company

Adobe is seriously getting into the blogging and video podcasting software market.

Last month, Adobe introduced Adobe Captivate 2 with closed captioning that can make audio podcasts more acessible plus you can distribute the same podcast with subtitles in differents languages so that it appeals to a wider set of audiences globally.

Then came Adobe Contribute 4 which Adobe is promoting as a blog editing tool for corporates and organizations offering tight integration with frequently used Microsoft Office programs.

Today Adobe announced that it has acquired Serious Magic, developers of VlogIt and Visual Communicator, which are hugely popular among video bloggers for creating vidcasts and even corporate presentations.

While the video editing capabilities offered by Serious Magic tools are not so advanced as Adobe Premiere Pro, they do offer extra features like scrolling transcripts, transitions and support for video blogging formats that makes the entire process of creating and publishing video blogs very fast and simple even for non-technical users.

I think Adobe would take the extra vlogging features of Vlot It! and integrate it with their Adobe Premiere Element software which is a scaled down version of Adobe Premiere Pro. Better still, if they also release a separate video blogging add-on for Premiere.

Other than the blogging advantage, Adobe also gets the popular Chroma Key technology of Serious Magic [ULTRA Vector Keying] which can pefectly replace green screen with any custom background video scene even when the greenscreen is not properly lighted. ULTRA is already compatible with Premiere Pro, Adobe After Effects, and Flash Professional.


It is hard to guess Adobe's plan for Ovation, which is another popular add-on for PowerPoint to make the animations more jazzy and real. Maybe, they could integrate them with Adobe Presenter.

Overall, this is a significant development and we could see more innovations in the video podcasting area emerging from the Adobe Headquarters.

Adobe Employee Reactions:
John Dowdell - "what I can tell from internal buzz, you might want to keep your eye on the longterm significance."
Steve Kilisky - "The thing that stands out most for me about Ultra is that it gets great results in less than ideal lighting situations and you don't have to fiddle with a lot of knobs and sliders to get acceptable results."

Techsmith also just launched Camtasia Studio 4 which allows you to create, edit, and publish screencasts as well as audio/video podcasts.

Video blogging could be the next big thing after text blogging. Do check out some excellent video podcasts at Podtech.net especially the Scoble Show. [Disclaimer: I work with Podtech]

Clean Virus Infected iPods [i.e. remove RavMonE.exe]

If you own an iPod with Video, this is a must-read FAQ:

Are all iPods infected with Virus ?
Apple says that only some Video iPods shipped after September 12, 2006 could be carrying the Windows RavMonE.exe virus.

Are Mac users affected with RavMonE.exe ?
No, this virus exists only for the Windows Platform.

How to Remove iPod Virus on Windows ?
While any Virus scanning utility can remove this iPod W32/RJump.worm, an easier approach would be run the McAfee AVERT Stinger that just detects and removes specific viruses from your system. Now attach the Video iPod and run the anti-virus program. You can then use iTunes 7 to restore the iPod back to the factory default settings though this would delete all existing iPod data like music and videos.

Which iPod models are affected ?
Only Video iPods can potentially carry the worm. The iPod nano and iPod shuffle are safe.

How do I know if my computer is affected with iPod virus ?
Attach your Video iPod to the computer and run the Trend Micro Housecall utility which is an online virus scanner that can detect malware and even remove the infection without you having to install anything on your computer - a good alternative when you want to remove the iPod virus quickly or don't have the admin permission to install new software on your machine.

Technical description of the iPod Video Virus
McAfee explains that W32/Rjump.worm is a worm written using the Python scripting language and was converted into a windows portable executable file using the Py2Exe tool. It attempts to spread by coping itself to mapped and removable storage drives and also opens a backdoor on an infected system.

Sources: Apple iPod Support | McAfee W32/RJump.worm | iPod Search

iWorm Cartoon Credit: Blaugh.com

Apple is not missing the golden opportunity to blast Microsft and put the blame on the Redmond shoulders - "As you might imagine, we are upset at Windows for not being more hardy against such viruses, and even more upset with ourselves for not catching it."

Be Very Careful When Editing Blogger Templates, Serious Bugs Found

A word of caution to all Blogspot users who are still on the old Blogger platform.

There are some serious bugs in the template editing feature (introduced only recently) that will change your important Blog settings like date formats, comment moderation, etc whenever you edit and save your custom Blogger templates.

Here's a description of problem that I been seem to occur very often in the recent days:

1. While editing a template, if you preview the changes two or three times and then save the template, it will internally modify the blog archive settings such that the "Enable Post Pages" setting will be switched off. That means all your permanent URLs will be gone.

2. The above bug also modifies the Archive Index Date Format that you generally see on the right sidebar of this blog.

3. Today, it was worse. I made a small change in the blog template and it completely ruined by Comment settings. Almost all the values were toggled including the "Enable Comment Moderation" setting.

While I don't have steps to reproduce the above problems, they keep happening whenever I change my templates. So make sure you are not facing similar issues - always double check your old Comment and Archive settings whenever you change the blog templates.

Hindi Kalam: Type Hindi using English Keyboard, Mix Other Languages

HindiKalam.com is a new website for writing text in Hindi with English alphabets using the standard QWERTY keyboard. [Kalam means a Pen]

While the Hindi typing features in Hindi Kalam are much similar to the popular Quillpad , one feature that simply rocks in HindiKalam is the Hindi Spell Checker - a a big help when you are unable to form those complex Hindi words using any permutation of English characters.


Hindi Kalam has this additional feature where you can also mix text from any other language like English, French or even Chinese. Just enclose the text inside square parenthesis and HindiKalam would skip converting that to Hindi.

Though Quillpad lets you type in most Indian languages, Hindi Kalam, as the name suggests, is limited to only Hindi.

Hindi Kalam - Writing Hindi was never so easy

Thanks Devashish Fuloria for the tip who writes "The best thing is that it works according to the QWERTY keyboard making hindi writing very easy for rare users like me."

October 17, 2006 Compare Advertising Rates on Popular Blogs

Do you know how much money advertisers have to shell out to run ad campaigns on highly trafficked blogs ? Read the following comparison of the advertising rates on the three most popular blogs on earth.

TechCrunch.com - This Mecca of Web 2.0 generation generates over 2 million page views per month and advertisers can rent prominent 125x125 banner space on Techcrunch for a fee of $10,000 per month which translates to a $5 CPM. A skyscraper on Techcrunch available via Federated Media is priced at $20 CPM which is roughly $40k for a month.

Lifehacker.com - The average CPM for image banners is $8 while a 7-day text link on Lifehacker is available for $100. Lifehacker receives around 200,000 views per day so a month long banner campaign on Lifehacker could cost you $48k @ $8CPM.

BoingBoing.net - This directory of wonderful things handles close to half a million hits per day. A 125x125 text ad on BoingBoing costs $350 for a week while rectangular banner ads are available at $20 CPM. If you advertise via Adbrite, a text link for a week on BoingBoing will cost you $500.

On a related note, the Sponsors Kit for Digital Inspiration is now ready.

Looking for some inspiration to wake up early in the morning and jog ? Watch this ad picked from youTube.

The iPod becomes your personal trainer giving feedback on the number of miles you have jogged, you average speed and how far you are from the target destination. You can later sync the workout session with your computer to track your progress.

If you don't have those extra 100 bucks to spare for the Nike sports shoe, the wireless sensor + iPod Nano combination can work with even your existing pair of shoes. No more excuses.

Yahoo Blog Search Engine Gone Forever ?

Yahoo! Blogs search engine was removed from the Yahoo! News homepage some two months ago and it's nowhere in sight yet.

Initial rumours suggested that Yahoo! may have taken the tool offline in order to completely revamp the blog seach engine in order to bring it at par with Techorati, Ask.com or Google blog search.



Unfortunately, that has not been the case so far. The old Yahoo blog search homepage (blog.news.search.yahoo.com/) now silently redirects visitors to the Yahoo News search page (news.search.yahoo.com/).

There's no single update on the official Yahoo! Search blog or Jeremy Zawodny's blog. Makes me wonder if this is the silence before the storm or the storm is dead ? I would put my money on the latter assumption. What are your thoughts ?

How to download Youtube Videos

Ever wanted to download your favorite videos from Youtube but failed to do so? Here’s how you can do it the easy way:

• first find the URL of your favorite Youtube video
• then go to www.youtubex.com and paste the video URL into their download box
• now click ‘Download’ and it will open a new page with the download link

Firefox fans can use the Video Downloader extension that allows you to download videos to your computer from YouTube and most video sites.

Also check out the amazing collection of YouTube Tools by QuickOnlineTips.

Use Google as World Clock To Determine Current Time Around The World

What time is it in Las Vegas at the moment ? That's the first thing you want to know before calling your client or friend who's based in Las Vegas, Nevada or any other different time zone.

A very simple and quick method to find the current local time in any city or country is via search engines - just type time in [City or State or Country Name] in your favorite search engine or even inside the Firefox search bar to instantly know the local time of any global location.


While Google, Yahoo and Ask.com support the time search syntax, Yahoo and Ask seem to have better algorithms than Google and they also support a wider set of cities.


For instance, a query like "Time in USA" or "Time in Russia" would return no results in Google since these countries has multiple timezones. However, Yahoo and Ask.com would return the current local time of their capital cities which is an intelligent approach.


Ask.com is even better since it offers suggestions for related cities in other states or if a city with the same name exists in different states or countries. [for instance, Washington is in US as well as England]

Ask.com also supports zip code of US cities. So a query to find the local time in Manhattan, NY would be "what time is it in 10005". Great time saver.

Cellular Phones – Things to Consider When Buying a Phone

Staying connected with a cell phone has become a way of life for most people. As a result, there are many types of cell phones on the market. Knowing what is important to you in a phone can help you decide which cell phone to purchase. The following is a list of things to consider.

1. The size and weight of the phone. Some people like the smallest phone they can buy while others want something substantial.

2. A phone with or without a flip cover. A flip cover can protect your keypad, but it may also be cumbersome.

3. The option to use the phone with a speakerphone. This is especially helpful while driving and talking on the phone.

4. A phone with a built in camera. You can be prepared to capture that great shot at any time.

5. Color display. Color really helps when surfing the web and taking digital pictures.

6. A phone with a built in PDA. Stay organized and have phone numbers at your fingertips. Check your schedule and talk on the phone at the same time.

7. Your budget. Cell phones range in prices, but usually are less expensive when also purchasing service.

8. Overseas usage. You may not need this often, but when you do, it's very convenient.

9. Text messaging capability. This is another great way to keep in touch.

10. Accessing the Web. Stay connected to the web and look up information anywhere, anytime.

11. Ability to use your phone as a walkie-talkie. This is good for quick conversations.

12. Ability to download unique ringtones. Make your phone fun by choosing your favorite song as your ringtone.

13. An MP3 player. Take your favorite tunes with you wherever you go.

As you can see, there are many options available in a cell phone. Of course, the more options you choose for your phone, the more expensive it becomes. But if you want to stay connected, you’ll be sure to find the best phone for you if you consider all the options.

Internet Email Hacks: Get Notified When Your Email Message is Read

Digital Inspiration reader Neeta Shamdasani is looking for a workaround to get email message delivery confirmations and read receipts for her emails. She writes - "I need some help on keeping track of the emails I send i.e. I want to know the status / confirmation about the mail I send whether the person has received and read my mail."

Currently, none of the web-based emails, including GMail, Hotmail or Yahoo Mail, offer any kind of delivery notifications or read receipts. Even when you send a message using Microsoft Outlook, Eudora or Lotus Notes (that allow you to request read receipts), the Internet email service would simply ignore the request and you may never get to know if the message was read by the recipients or caught in the spam filter.

There are however two tricks (rather hacks) that will help you track if your web email message was opened or read by the recipients.

The first and easy option is to sign up for a free account on statcounter.com. Goto the install code options, choose invisible tracking button and HTML only counter. Statcounter will now provide you an HTML Image snippet that you have to insert inside the body of your HTML email message.

Don't worry, the tracking image won't be displayed on the recipient's computer as the couter.gif file that gets downloaded on his side will be a 1x1 white image invisible to the human eye. As soon as your friend opens up your email, it will show up in your statcounter logs. You will know the details like date time when the email was opened and the IP address of his computer.

While the above option is easy to implement, it won't work if the recipient has configured his email client to block downloading of images from the internet automatically. In that case, we can try another method which uses the advanced features of Google Analytics, another free software package.

Here's the second approach that involves embedding a tracking code in an external link which will be pasted in your email message. Whenever the recipient clicks on that link, your analytics software will record it implying that your email was read by him.

The advantage of this method is that no image is downloaded on the client's side but it could fail if the recipient doesn't click the hyperlink. So make the link text compelling and interesting enough to tempt him to visit the target webpage.

Assuming you have some website or even a single webpage, install the Google analytics tracking javascript code on that page. Now goto the Analytics URL Builder and create a custom hyperlink for your email message that will point to the particular webpage above.

You can type "email-to-friend_name" as the Campaign Source and "email_subject_date" in the Campaign Medium. Click generate URL and put that in your email message. Now when your friends click the URL, their visit will be recorded instantly.

Not always reliable but it works. And if you are sending the message to multiple recipients, you can change different "campaign source" variable in each of the email message to track their response in a more detailed fashion.

Who Will Win The Online Office Race ? Google, Zoho or Microsoft

Google has declared an 'all out war' against the cash cow of Redmond [read Microsoft Office] by acquiring Writely and then merging it with Google Docs & Spreadsheets. Now Microsoft is also planning to release an online version of Microsoft Word and Excel based on Microsoft Works Suite.

Closer home, Zoho is innovating even faster. They have launched a complete suite of online Office applications that are more sophisticated and feature-rich that competing Google products. And Zoho Office suite includes tools for presentation, project management and a visual database, which are still missing in Google Office.

Most corporates would never ever consider putting their confidential Word documents or Spreadsheets on external servers (no matter how secure they are) and this could hurt the growth or usage of online office applications in the corporate world. So Zoho has a good chance of winning here since corporates can deploy and host Zoho Office suite inside their protected environments - the data will remain safe since it would reside on the company's own servers.

Google and Microsoft plan to monetize their Online Office applications via contextual advertising but Zoho is likely to maintain an ad-free policy. Instead, Zoho plans to make money from organizations who buy site licenses for deploying Zoho products inside their corporate intranets.

While I am not a very big fan of Online Office programs because they work inside "buggy browsers" which are prone to crash for no reason, I still use these apps quite often especially when I am working on a computer without Microsoft Office or when I have to share a document with different people.

For me, a perfect app would be one that can automatically sync the offline and online version of the document. Say I make an edit to the online copy of my Sales report, now when I open the old and outdated copy of the sales report residing on my local computer, the program should prompt me to merge the new changes from the online version. Once I am done editing, the offline changes should be propogated to the online copy.

It now seems that Microsoft is thinking on similar lines which will make it standout from the rest of the Office race.

According to Antoine Leblond (corporate vice president of Office Productivity Applications), Microsoft is focusing on online services designed to integrate with Office, a strategy hoping to find the best of both worlds. "The future of software is going to be the combination of client applications [like Office] and [online] services"

Leblond also mentioned that Google will find it increasingly difficult to add new features to online software because its programs rely so heavily on the limitations of Internet browsers.

Now that's an intelligent strategy and could make the going tough for Google unless the search engine decides to offer an destkop version of their Word Processor and Spreadsheet software. Who knows if OpenOffice or Corel Wordperfect land up in Google's stable to counter Microsoft's winning plan.

Announce Caller ID of incoming calls in Skype

AudioID is a freeware software for Windows that announces the caller ID of incoming calls in Skype. You need to have Microsoft SAPI installed for this software to work properly.

Download link- http://www.nhandz.com/AudioID.zip

Orkut Extension for Firefox-Get alerts when friends come online or leave a scrap on Orkut

Orkut Scrapper is a free extension for Mozilla Firefox 1.5 that allows you to scrap in Orkut from Firefox. Features of this extension are-

Link Access: Orkut Scrapper allows users to visit their friends scrapbook and album, or simply send them a quick email or teaser.
Font Styles: Change the size and color of fonts when leaving scraps
Secret Scraping: You can send messages to your friends that they (and only they) will be able to see simply by clicking the reply button with “the golden key.”
Online Friend/Scrap Alerts: Orkut Scrapper notifies when your friends appear online or when u get a scrap.

Sony Ericsson W850i Hands-On

Mobile-Review gives us a hands-on look at Sony Ericsson’s upcoming W850i slider. This phone sports a 2.0-inch QVGA display, 2.0-megapixel camera, 1GB of MS Pro Duo memory, USB 2.0 connectivity, and Bluetooth 2.0 support. Video after the jump.

Google Brings Video Uploading Features in Picasa Web Albums

Google is offering video upload facility inside Picasa Web Albums to all those users who have upgraded to a paid version of Picasa [available for an yearly fee of $25 to US customers only].

You can watch a sample video clip inside a Picasa Album here. This video was uploaded by Haochi, who discovered the video upload feature in Picasa from ZMarties. [via Philipp]

While the resolution of videos on Picasa Web is just the same as other videos on Google Video website, the only difference here is that videos are stored in your own personal space and you have absolute control over visitor comments on your videos. You also get 6 GB of extra storage space to save your video files on Picasa.

While the $25-6GB deal sounds good, why not use the "unlisted feature" of Google Video to upload private videos and share them with only those people you want to see them. And unlike Picasa Videos, there's no storage restriction on Google videos.

Related Reading: Picasa Web vs Flickr - Flickr provides 4 times more photo storage space than Google at the same price.

How to Restore the Missing Show Desktop icon on the Quick Launch toolbar

The Show Desktop Icon is not a standard program shortcut but a Windows explorer command file written in plain text.

If you have accidently deleted the Show Desktop Icons, here're the steps involved to recreate it:

Step 1: Open a new notepad file and type the following text:

[Shell]
Command=2
IconFile=explorer.exe,3
[Taskbar]
Command=ToggleDesktop

Step 2: Save this file as "Show Desktop.scf" - remember to use the quotes else notepad may save it with a .txt extension.

Step 3: Use the mouse to drag the Show Desktop.scf icon to the Quick Launch toolbar or another location where you want the shortcut to appear.

Alternatively, you can press the Win+D shortcut key for Show Desktop. It's much the same as Win+M which will minimize all the open windows to the task bar.

Windows that don't have a minimize button are minimized using Win+D but not with Win+M. That's the simple difference.

Mozy: Online Data Backup Service That's Free, Automatic & Very Simple

If you are not taking regular backups of your digital camera photographs, iPod music, Outlook emails, Office documents and other important files on your computer just because you don't have the time to burn CD's or DVD's, consider using Mozy.

Mozy is a free service that will automatically backup your data offsite with minimal effort. The Mozy client runs on Windows XP and will take incremental data backups meaning it will copy only stuff that has changed since the previous backup operation. So after your initial backup, your subsequent backups should be relatively quick.


And if disaster strikes your hard-disk, Mozy can easily restore the data by downloading from their online server with the click of a button.

Even if you are regularly taking backup on USB thumb drives or CD's, Mozy could still be a useful alternative to take backup of backups. The set it and forget it approach of Mozy makes the data backup job so simple that even your grandma would love to use Mozy.

A useful feature in Mozy is when you when you delete a file on your local computer and continue to back up using Mozy. Though the file is removed from the current backup set, Mozy will keep a copy of that file in older backup sets just in case the deletion was accidental.


The free version of Mozy will back up 2GB of your documents on two computers. In return, they may send you email newsletters with sponsored links. Alternatively, you can choose the Mozy Plus service that provides 30GB of backup space for $4.95/month. A Mac version of Mozy is also expected soon.

Don't wait for the next internet crisis. Mozy your important files now.

The Evolution of Windows

Just for your viewing pleasure (displeasure?), I have created a gallery which shows how Windows has evolved over the years. Anyone remember Windows 1.01? ewwwww….....

Windows 1.01

Windows 2.0

Windows 286

Windows 3.0

Windows 3.1

Windows 3.11

Windows 95

Windows 98

Windows NT 3.1

Windows NT 3.51

Windows NT 4.0

Windows 2000

Windows Me

Windows XP

...last but (sadly?) not least… Windows Vista