Posted by: Aamir Attaa on July 29, 2008 at 4:21 PM
Cuil, (pronounced as cool) a web based search engine that claims an index of 120 billion web pages, making them arguably the most comprehensive search engine on the web (Google doesn’t disclose the size of their index, although they claim to know about a trillion unique web pages) has been launched today morning (Pakistan Time). Cuil was founded by very esteemed search experts. Husband and wife team Tom Costello (CEO) and Anna Patterson (VP Engineering).
Cuil claims that it can index web pages significantly faster and cheaper than Google. It says that its indexing costs will be 1/10th of Google’s, based on new search architectures and relevance methods. By some estimates, Google spends a billion dollars a year to run the back end infrastructure of its search business.
Cuil is experimenting with a new type of search interface as well. Results are shown in three columns and contain an image and more summary text than existing search engines.
In my personal openion, cuil is no way near to Google, or its maybe just the sense of easeness that we are familiar with Google’s interface.
Reasons Cuil is not better than Google
- Page navigation is more easy with Google compared to cuil’s relatively smaller page numbers at bottom left
- I tried various keywords, and found that Google had what i was looking for, instead cuil displayed irrelevant results
- No image/video search yet on cuil
- and the interface… no way near to Google!
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Posted by: Aamir Attaa on July 24, 2008 at 1:57 PM
Google Knol has made its debut after six months of its announcement. Google Knol is a service that some say will one day overthrow the Wikipedia, but in my opinion, it won’t be that easy.
Wikipedia is the largest internet encyclopedia is mainly editable and allows anyone to publish articles, edit them, and many other free for all functions, while on other hands, Google Knol does not allow everyone to edit, or publish article. It requires that you have a Google account (well no problem, most of us have 1), but that’s not all, you must be be verified via phone or credit card to confirm the article writers are identified and only than can you share your Knol with the world.
The idea may not convince you at first but what Google is trying to do is provide a reliable and more authentic source of information, and an effort to restrain some 12 year old editing and deleting information as such as with Wikipedia.
Google Knol or GKnol might be a good source for good and accurate information from real people rather than some young kid giving advice and acting his older than his age. Gknol is no way going to fight or defeat Wikipedia anytime soon and Google isn’t trying to take over the internet it’s just trying to give us internet users more on the net compared to other providers.
When Gmail was launched, no one knew that it could overtake Hotmail or Yahoo in just 2/3 years; hence Wikipedia can be beaten as well in only couple of years. GKnol is another service to Mankind from Google.
[Via Jayed]
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Posted by: Aamir Attaa on July 8, 2008 at 10:14 AM
Google has announced added security features for Gmail that will enable its users to find out if their Gmail account is logged in at any other computer or not. For example, if you checked your Gmail account at your campus library and you moved away without signing out of your account then you may find this new feature very handy through which you can sign out of your Google account from that computer even remotely from your home.
Additionally, you can track your recent sessions, IP addresses of recent sessions and ability to signout of any previous open sessions remotely.
Google is saying that they are in process of integrating this feature in Gmail’s latest version, and will be online soon.
At the bottom of your inbox, you’ll see information about the time of the last activity on your account and whether it’s still open in another location:
You will be allowed to see more details about your recent activity by clicking on the Details link.
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Posted by: Aamir Attaa on July 7, 2008 at 4:35 AM
Through NetExpress, we have learned about this development competition, organized by Google in which any one can participate and earn fame, name and money too.
Primarily, Google Code Jam is a coding competition for those who enjoy solving critical and challenging coding problems, specifically for those youngsters who have got the craze and passion for development. So if you think you are the one, then don’t delay and get your self registered here…!
I hope that lot of Pakistani coders would be jumping into the pool and would outshine everyone.
Mind you that registrations are open till July 17th 2008 only.
About Google Code Jam
is a coding competition in which professional and student programmers are asked to solve complex algorithmic challenges in a limited amount of time. The contest is all-inclusive: Google Code Jam lets you program in the coding language and development environment of your choice.
Google Code Jam begins in July and continues in August, when you will compete in online rounds against contestants from around the world. The Top 500 participants will advance to onsite competitions at a local Google office to compete against those in their region (Asia Pacific; Europe, Middle East and Africa; and the Americas). The Top 100 will participate in the final round at the Google Headquarters in Mountain View, California on Friday, November 14.
Don’t be left out! Make sure to register between June 17 and July 17, and show your coding creativity in Google Code Jam.
Yes there is money in the game too, top 100 finalists will divide over $80,000 in prize money:
| Competitor(s) |
Prize |
| 1st Place |
$10,000 |
| 2nd Place |
$5000 |
| 3rd Place |
$2500 |
| 4th – 10th Place |
$1500 |
| 11th – 30th Place |
$1000 |
| 31st – 50th Place |
$750 |
| 51st – 75th Place |
$500 |
| 76th – 100th Place |
$250 |
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Posted by: Aamir Attaa on June 17, 2008 at 8:29 AM
Okay, Mobilink has come up with its in-house application, named as “Chat On” that offers Google Talk and Yahoo Chat services on your Mobile phones using GPRS. I can’t comment anything regarding the level of quality; but this seems very catchy for those who can’t bear their offline status.
We remember that Mobilink has started offering Yahoo messenger on your mobile, largely known as Yahoo Mobile; however then it was SMS based service, while “Chat On” uses GPRS for data communication.
How to Download “Chat On”
First of all you will have to download the “Chat On” application on your phone; that requires GPRS. So make sure that your GPRS is activated and is running smoothly, if not then follow the below process
- To activate GPRS on your handset, call 111 or SMS ‘GPRS’ to 7342
- Once GPRS is activated, SMS ‘Chat’ to 826
- You will receive an SMS to download the application
- Click the link to download and enjoy ‘Chat On’
Once downloaded, you can start using the “Chat On” service; login to your Google Talk, Yahoo or Special Mobilink Messenger and stay tuned with your friends, family and colleagues.
How to use ‘Chat On’
- When you click on the application, it will sign in automatically
- On the main screen, click on Chat On
- Within ‘Chat On’ click ‘options’ and then ‘add buddies’. This will open another window so that you can add your friends by typing their Mobilink Number ( 0300 1234567)
Once you have logged in to ‘Chat On’ you can access Google Talk and Yahoo.
How to use Google Talk
- After you have logged on to Chat On, click on the Google Talk icon
- A sign-in screen will open in which you can insert your Email ID, password and status
- Now click on sign-in to sign in to the service and chat with your friends
How to use Yahoo Messenger
- After you have logged on to Chat On, click on the Yahoo Messenger icon
- A sign-in screen will open in which you can insert your Email ID, password and status
- Click on sign-in to log on to the service and start chatting with your friends like you would on your PC
Handset Compatability
Okay, hold on a second, Mobilink Supports only Nokia and Sony Ericsson handsets, to check if your phone is compatible or not, just have a peek at this document.
Charges
- You can download the application for free
- Standard GPRS of Rs. 15 Per MB will apply, however, those who have unlimited data plans can enjoy this service without worrying about the meter.
Needless to mention, that there are other application available for Mobile phones through which you can use various messengers using GPRS
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Posted by: Aamir Attaa on May 18, 2008 at 6:00 AM
With respect to World Telecom Day, in this post i am going to narrate few indicatros, to summarize Telecom sector in Pakistan.
Enormous growth in Telecom sector has enabled Pakistani customers to get equipped with fastest means of communications; and it has turned things into reality which were even beyond imaginations only few years ago.
Key indicators/facts of Pakistan Telecom Sector that I think should be mentioned
1. Mobile Phone reaches more than 90 percent of Pakistani Population
2. Mobile Phone connections in the country hit 85 million mark
3. Tele-density reaches 57.43 percent
4. 2 million cellular customers are added every month
5. 4 Billion text messages are exchanged daily at cheapest possible ratesWorld Telecom Day
6. Internet users through out the country reach 4.5 million mark
7. Late night and Friend and Family calls are made as low as 2.5 Rs per hour
8. GPRS enabled 55 percent Pakistanis to remotely access internet anywhere in Pakistan
9. Broadband internet users have hit one hundred and thirty thousand limit
10. WiMAX internet users reaches 15,000 mark
11. Broadband rates slipped from 60,000 per month for I MB link to only 2,000 per month
12. More than 84,000 directly and more than five hundred thousands indirectly jobs were created through telecom sector
13. IT imports worth 147 million dollars annually
14. Telecom imports reach $ 1.64 billion (July 2007 to March 2008) whichh is almost same when compared to same period, previous year
15. Mobile Phnoes import reach $ 581.7 Million (July 2007 to March 2008) against $ 661.5 Million during the same period last year.
16. In March 2008 only the Mobile Phone imports hit $ 74.4 Million mark, registering a decrease of 23.19 percent when compared to March 2007.
17. More than 10 billion Dollars FDI came in Telecom Sector, with 2 Billion dollars in last year only
18. Telecom Sector shares 3.7 percent of GDP
Telecom Sector also shares some unpleasant things as well, which are
1. Cellular market ruined Local Loop (Land Line) and Wireless Local Loop market
2. Regulator was unable to conduct Quality of Service survey, and waved for cellular companies that have flaws in their services
3. 20 Million illegal and un-identified SIMs circulating in market
4. Increment in SPAM text messaging and phone calls
5. Over charging
6. Low Average Revenue Per User (ARPU)
7. Low ROI (Return on investment) for small to mid sized telecom business
8. CED and GST collection from telecom sector is persistent for last 2 years at Rs. 35 billion, despite of millions of additional telecom users
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Posted by: Aamir Attaa on May 16, 2008 at 3:51 PM
I have been using Gmail since May 2004. During these almost four years, I didn’t know a very interesting feature of Gmail. I just thought to share with those who may find it new addition to their knowledge.
I sent an email on a.a.m.i.r.7@gmail.com, and surprisingly, the email landed in inbox, while my email address is aamir7@gmail.com! The mail read “Yes This is you”
Google Mail or Gmail allows only one registration for any given username with all capitalization or dot variations, thus all future registrations are made unavailable for any dot variants.
In simple words, if you have registered for a user name myname@gmail.com, no one can register my.name@gmail.com or MyName@gmail.com.
Gmail’s help centre says that Google Mail does not recognize dots as characters with-in usernames, hence adding or removing dots for Gmail address is not going to impact on the destination address; which means, messages sent to my.name@gmail.com and m.y.n.a.m.e@gmail.com will reach myname@gmail.com.
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