March 17, 2011
March 8, 2011
Interesting Facts
- 1. The standard "QWERTY" keyboard was not designed with ease of typing in mind. Rather, it was designed to keep early typewriters from jamming. 130 years later, in the age of computers, people are still using this awkward, inefficient keyboard layout. Few know that there is a much faster, easier, more efficient, and more comfortable alternative: the Dvorak (pronounced "duh VOR ak") keyboard. Unlike QWERTY, the Dvorak keyboard was scientifically designed for increased speed and accuracy. It is estimated to be 12 to 20 times more efficient than QWERTY. Dvorak is great for beginning and experienced typists alike. It's the layout used by some of the world's fastest typists.2. TYPEWRITER is the longest word that can be made using the letters only on one row of the keyboard.
3. On eBay, there are an average of $680 worth of transactions each second.- 4. "Stewardesses" is the longest word that is typed with only the left hand.
- 5. 80% of all pictures on the internet are of naked women
- 6. In the 1980s, an IBM computer wasn't considered 100 percent compatible unless it could run Microsoft Flight Simulator*.
- 7. The world's first computer, called the Z1, was invented by Konrad Zuse in 1936. His next invention, the Z2 was finished in 1939 and was the first fully functioning electro-mechanical computer.
- 8. The first computer mouse was invented by Doug Engelbart in around 1964 and was made of wood.
- 9. Domain names are being registered at a rate of more than one million names every month.
- 10. There are approximately 1.06 billion instant messaging accounts worldwide.
- 11. The first banner advertising was used in 1994.
12. E-mail has been around longer than the World Wide Web.- 13. The average computer user blinks 7 times a minute, less than half the normal rate of 20.
- 14. One of every 8 married couples in the US last year met online.
- 15. The average 21 year old has spent 5,000 hours playing video games, has exchanged 250,000 e-mails, instant and text messages and has spent 10,000 hours on the mobile phone.
- 16. By the year 2012 there will be approximately 17 billion devices connected to the Internet.
- 17. MySpace reports over 110 million registered users. Were it a country, it would be the tenth largest, just behind Mexico.
- 18. While it took the radio 38 years, and the television a short 13 years, it took the World Wide Web only 4 years to reach 50 million users.
- 19. There are approximately 1,319,872,109 people on the Internet.
- 20. For every 'normal' webpage, there are five porn pages.
- 21. Bill Gates' house was designed using a Macintosh computer.
- 22. The first domain name ever registered was Symbolics.com.
- 23. Another name for a Microsoft Windows tutorial is 'Crash Course'!
March 6, 2011
Cloud Computing
Cloud computing is a technology that uses the internet and central remote servers to maintain data and applications. Cloud computing allows consumers and businesses to use applications without installation and access their personal files at any computer with internet access. This technology allows for much more efficient computing by centralizing storage, memory, processing and bandwidth.
A simple example of cloud computing is Yahoo email or Gmail etc. You dont need a software or a server to use them. All a consumer would need is just an internet connection and you can start sending emails. The server and email management software is all on the cloud ( internet) and is totally managed by the cloud service provider Yahoo , Google etc. The consumer gets to use the software alone and enjoy the benefits. The analogy is , 'If you only need milk , would you buy a cow ?' All the users or consumers need is to get the benefits of using the software or hardware of the computer like sending emails etc. Just to get this benefit (milk) why should a consumer buy a (cow) software /hardware ?
Cloud computing is broken down into three segments: "applications," "platforms," and "infrastructure." Each segment serves a different purpose and offers different products for businesses and individuals around the world. In June 2009, a study conducted by VersionOne found that 41% of senior IT professionals actually don't know what cloud computing is and two-thirds of senior finance professionals are confused by the concept, highlighting the young nature of the technology. In Sept 2009, an Aberdeen Group study found that disciplined companies achieved on average an 18% reduction in their IT budget from cloud computing and a 16% reduction in data center power costs.
March 4, 2011
Disney and Pixar's Full Animated Line-Up Through 2012!
Pixar's Newt - Summer 2011 (In 3D)
Directed by: Gary Rydstrom (Lifted). What happens when the last remaining male and female blue-footed newts on the planet are forced together by science to save the species, and they can't stand each other? That's the problem facing Newt and Brooke, heroes of "newt," the Pixar film by seven-time Academy Award winner for sound Gary Rydstrom, and director of Pixar's Oscar-nominated short, "Lifted." Newt and Brooke embark on a perilous, unpredictable adventure and discover that finding a mate never goes as planned, even when you only have one choice. Love, it turns out, is not a science.
Pixar's The Bear and the Bow - Christmas 2011 (In 3D)
Directed by: Brenda Chapman (The Prince of Egypt). A rugged and mythic Scotland is the setting for Pixar's action-adventure "The Bear and the Bow." The impetuous, tangle-haired Merida, though a daughter of royalty, would prefer to make her mark as a great archer. A clash of wills with her mother compels Merida to make a reckless choice, which unleashes unintended peril on her father's kingdom and her mother's life. Merida struggles with the unpredictable forces of nature, magic and a dark, ancient curse to set things right. Director Brenda Chapman ("The Prince of Egypt," "The Lion King") and the storytelling wizards of Pixar conjure humor, fantasy and excitement in this rich Highland tale.
Pixar's Cars 2 - Summer 2012 (In 3D)
Directed by: Brad Lewis. All the world's a racetrack as racing superstar Lightning McQueen zooms back into action, with his best friend Mater in tow, to take on the globe's fastest and finest in this thrilling high-octane new installment of the "Cars" saga. Mater and McQueen will need their passports as they find themselves in a new world of intrigue, thrills and fast-paced comedic escapades around the globe. "Cars 2" is being directed by Brad Lewis, producer of the Oscar-winning film "Ratatouille."
King of the Elves - Christmas 2012 (In 3D)
Directed by: Aaron Blaise (Brother Bear) and Robert Walker (Brother Bear). Legendary storyteller Phillip K. Dick's short story (his only experiment in the fantasy genre) becomes the basis for this fantastic and imaginative tale about an average man living in the Mississippi Delta, whose reluctant actions to help a desperate band of elves leads them to name him their new king. Joining the innocent and endangered elves as they attempt to escape from an evil and menacing troll, their unlikely new leader finds himself caught on a journey filled with unimaginable dangers and a chance to bring real meaning back to his own life.
It's very interesting to see how Disney and Pixar grows its people. All of the directors have been with Pixar and Disney for at least 10 years and have been working in animation or special effects or sounds on numerous movies. It's also very interesting to see Pixar developing so many sequels when they used to say that was never in their consideration. Either way, I'm very excited for almost all of these. I'm looking forward to seeing Disney return to hand-drawn animation with The Princess and the Frog and, of course, anything Pixar does I'm always looking forward to!
Windows : History
How Microsoft Came into Being: The History of Microsoft Company
The history of Microsoft is interesting. It starts with two friends who were computer addicts. Bill Gates and Paul Allen were programming enthusiasts and close friends. The history of Microsoft says the initial idea to own a software entity was conceived of by Allens who then contacted Gates. Together they started with a small firm that initially created small applications for local clients.
When studying BASIC, a simple programming language that taught programming to students, Gates realized the potential of the language to run on the kind of computers at that time (with very low memory and slow processors). This was around 1975 when the MITS Altair was released. Both Gates and Allen worked hard on BASIC to make it compatible with MITS Altair, and they were not only successful but also were able to sell the product to MITS, which gladly accepted the software for use on the Altair.
Thus, it was Altair BASIC (and its pirated versions) that gave the much required boost to the combined venture of Allen and Gates. As the sales (both domestic and international) rocketed for Altair Basic, their then unnamed firm was registered under the name of Micro-soft in 1976 (with the hyphen) in New Mexico.
Note: Micro-soft was initially a partnership agreement until 1977 whereafter it was re-registered as a company under the name Microsoft Corporation. Gates was the President while Allen was appointed Vice President of the company. Allen later left the post of VP but still sits on the Board of Directors.
The above just the history of Microsoft in making. The next section takes a look at how Micro-soft captured almost all the major PC manufacturers.
When studying BASIC, a simple programming language that taught programming to students, Gates realized the potential of the language to run on the kind of computers at that time (with very low memory and slow processors). This was around 1975 when the MITS Altair was released. Both Gates and Allen worked hard on BASIC to make it compatible with MITS Altair, and they were not only successful but also were able to sell the product to MITS, which gladly accepted the software for use on the Altair.
Thus, it was Altair BASIC (and its pirated versions) that gave the much required boost to the combined venture of Allen and Gates. As the sales (both domestic and international) rocketed for Altair Basic, their then unnamed firm was registered under the name of Micro-soft in 1976 (with the hyphen) in New Mexico.
Note: Micro-soft was initially a partnership agreement until 1977 whereafter it was re-registered as a company under the name Microsoft Corporation. Gates was the President while Allen was appointed Vice President of the company. Allen later left the post of VP but still sits on the Board of Directors.
The above just the history of Microsoft in making. The next section takes a look at how Micro-soft captured almost all the major PC manufacturers.
Capturing the Worldwide PC Market and the Role of MS DOS
Although the Altair BASIC was a stepping stone for Micro-soft, Gates went ahead to add several enhancements to the product and registered it with his own firm. The MS BASIC was much easier compared to Altair BASIC, and, very soon, it was recognized by companies such as GE, CitiBank, and many others who started using MS BASIC instead of Altair Basic. MS BASIC is still used to educate people who are new to programming. Besides BASIC, Micro-soft created FORTRAN and COBOL, two more high level programming languages that are still used for mathematical applications.
By the time FORTRAN and BASIC were being used by several institutions, plenty of PC manufacturers entered the microcomputer market with development in IC technology. Among them was Apple, now a competitor of Microsoft (MS). Apple also sold over a million computers that carried MS BASIC. As different machines had different configurations, Micro-soft created an Assembler that offered greater control over programming.
With the ever increasing demand, Microsoft Corporation opened its first international office at Japan in the year 1978. The Japanese office was under collaboration with the ASCII Corporation of Japan that took care of sales while the New Mexico office was primarily used to create and enhance further software.
The company shot high when it released its second operating system, MS DOS. The first was based on UNIX and was called Xenix. However, there were not many takers for the Xenix OS. Later Microsoft disassociated itself with UNIX and came up with MS DOS (Disk Operating System). The name was attributed to the three and half inch floppy disks that could contain the entire operating system. Most PCs carried 16 bit processors by 1980. MS DOS was a command line interface that required only five files to boot and carry out basic file operations on any computer. Besides, the company created several other commands (small applications) for more sophisticated tasks such as UNDELETE to retrieve deleted data. All these commands were an extension to MS DOS.
The potential of MS DOS was soon recognized by IBM, one of the leading PC manufacturers who awarded a contract to Microsoft for using MS DOS on all its machines. This bought about a major change in the history of computing as well as the history of Microsoft. In the early 1980s, Microsoft had its own version of home PCs carrying MSX DOS, where MSX was the name of PC developed by MS. Very soon, the operating system captured almost all major computer vendors who started shipping their machines with DOS preloaded on the system.
By the end of 1982, Microsoft was again renamed to Microsoft, Inc, operating from Washington with over 220 employees worldwide. It captured a major chunk of the international market with over fifty PC vendors marketing its products, mainly the MS DOS and several programming languages. As the general public was still considering Microsoft as the BASIC software and operating system designer, Gates had other plans that would revolutionize the way people used computers.
By the time FORTRAN and BASIC were being used by several institutions, plenty of PC manufacturers entered the microcomputer market with development in IC technology. Among them was Apple, now a competitor of Microsoft (MS). Apple also sold over a million computers that carried MS BASIC. As different machines had different configurations, Micro-soft created an Assembler that offered greater control over programming.
With the ever increasing demand, Microsoft Corporation opened its first international office at Japan in the year 1978. The Japanese office was under collaboration with the ASCII Corporation of Japan that took care of sales while the New Mexico office was primarily used to create and enhance further software.
The company shot high when it released its second operating system, MS DOS. The first was based on UNIX and was called Xenix. However, there were not many takers for the Xenix OS. Later Microsoft disassociated itself with UNIX and came up with MS DOS (Disk Operating System). The name was attributed to the three and half inch floppy disks that could contain the entire operating system. Most PCs carried 16 bit processors by 1980. MS DOS was a command line interface that required only five files to boot and carry out basic file operations on any computer. Besides, the company created several other commands (small applications) for more sophisticated tasks such as UNDELETE to retrieve deleted data. All these commands were an extension to MS DOS.The potential of MS DOS was soon recognized by IBM, one of the leading PC manufacturers who awarded a contract to Microsoft for using MS DOS on all its machines. This bought about a major change in the history of computing as well as the history of Microsoft. In the early 1980s, Microsoft had its own version of home PCs carrying MSX DOS, where MSX was the name of PC developed by MS. Very soon, the operating system captured almost all major computer vendors who started shipping their machines with DOS preloaded on the system.
By the end of 1982, Microsoft was again renamed to Microsoft, Inc, operating from Washington with over 220 employees worldwide. It captured a major chunk of the international market with over fifty PC vendors marketing its products, mainly the MS DOS and several programming languages. As the general public was still considering Microsoft as the BASIC software and operating system designer, Gates had other plans that would revolutionize the way people used computers.
Introducing the GUI and the Dawn of Microsoft Windows
At the end of 1983, Microsoft products were aplenty and in use worldwide on different PCs. These included the GW Basic (extension to MS BASIC for complex programming), C Language, MS Flight Simulator (created for IBM), Pascal (another high level language), and a spreadsheet named Multiplan. The only competitor to Multiplan was Lotus, which gained an upper hand initially but had to give in to the Multiplan owing to the strong presence of Microsoft all over the world.
All the while, Gates was thinking of creating a word processing program that would take over WordPerfect. The year 1983 was a major turning point in the history of Microsoft. The semi-GUI (graphical user interface) based word processing program MS Word for MS DOS 1.0 was released in September. As part of its marketing strategy, Microsoft gave away a demonstration floppy with the September 1983 issue of PC World. The same year, in May, Microsoft came out with the concept of mouse so that users could quickly position their cursors on the screen.
Finally, in the month of November 1983, Microsoft unveiled a graphical user interface based extension to DOS. This software is what we know as MS Windows today. The Windows version 1 not only had a GUI that could easily be used with the available input devices (Remember that Microsoft came out with mouse sooner than Windows) but also offered the capability of multi-tasking. The term multi-tasking refers to the process of switching from one program to another without closing either of them. This was highly appreciated by users across the world and very soon captured a significant portion of the computing industry.
At the same time, Microsoft was also working on MS Works. The bundle of MS Works contained a word processor, a spreadsheet, database, and some other applications related to office jobs. MS Works was originally created for Apple. This was replaced by MS Office in 1989, which contained most of the applications such as MS Word, MS Excel, and other applications.
Meanwhile, MS was also working on OS/2, another operating system for IBM, which too proved to be a success. The partnership continued till 1990—the time when Windows version 3 was being used on more than eighty percent of PCs worldwide. With the end of partnership with IBM on OS/2, several of its features were transferred to Windows and a new release came as Windows 3.1 that continued to impress users across the world. At the turn of 1994, Microsoft had many products that gained much popularity across the world, the major ones being MS Windows 3.1, MS Office, Windows NT, SQL Server; and a knowledgebase apart from Visual Basic for Windows programming!
Until version 3.1, Windows was dependant on DOS meaning people had to boot into DOS for loading Windows. After leaving out OS/2, Microsoft directed most of its resources to MS Windows to make the operating system what it is today.
The following final section deals with the history of Microsoft after Windows 3.1, which made Microsoft the most prominent software company in the world and which led rise to several rivals who once used its products. The rivals list includes Apple that used Applesoft BASIC as well as MS Works.
All the while, Gates was thinking of creating a word processing program that would take over WordPerfect. The year 1983 was a major turning point in the history of Microsoft. The semi-GUI (graphical user interface) based word processing program MS Word for MS DOS 1.0 was released in September. As part of its marketing strategy, Microsoft gave away a demonstration floppy with the September 1983 issue of PC World. The same year, in May, Microsoft came out with the concept of mouse so that users could quickly position their cursors on the screen.
Finally, in the month of November 1983, Microsoft unveiled a graphical user interface based extension to DOS. This software is what we know as MS Windows today. The Windows version 1 not only had a GUI that could easily be used with the available input devices (Remember that Microsoft came out with mouse sooner than Windows) but also offered the capability of multi-tasking. The term multi-tasking refers to the process of switching from one program to another without closing either of them. This was highly appreciated by users across the world and very soon captured a significant portion of the computing industry.At the same time, Microsoft was also working on MS Works. The bundle of MS Works contained a word processor, a spreadsheet, database, and some other applications related to office jobs. MS Works was originally created for Apple. This was replaced by MS Office in 1989, which contained most of the applications such as MS Word, MS Excel, and other applications.
Meanwhile, MS was also working on OS/2, another operating system for IBM, which too proved to be a success. The partnership continued till 1990—the time when Windows version 3 was being used on more than eighty percent of PCs worldwide. With the end of partnership with IBM on OS/2, several of its features were transferred to Windows and a new release came as Windows 3.1 that continued to impress users across the world. At the turn of 1994, Microsoft had many products that gained much popularity across the world, the major ones being MS Windows 3.1, MS Office, Windows NT, SQL Server; and a knowledgebase apart from Visual Basic for Windows programming!
Until version 3.1, Windows was dependant on DOS meaning people had to boot into DOS for loading Windows. After leaving out OS/2, Microsoft directed most of its resources to MS Windows to make the operating system what it is today.
The following final section deals with the history of Microsoft after Windows 3.1, which made Microsoft the most prominent software company in the world and which led rise to several rivals who once used its products. The rivals list includes Apple that used Applesoft BASIC as well as MS Works.
The History of Microsoft: Still in the Making
Microsoft took a giant step when it released its next operating system, Windows 95, which had a unique and easy to operate GUI (especially the Start Menu). Although the look was entirely different from Windows 3, it sold more than four million copies in the initial two days of its release! Taking the micro-computing world by storm, MS continued its efforts to bring out the best by regular upgrading the Windows operating system that saw major changes with Windows 98, Windows 2000, and Windows XP.
Internet Explorer was integrated into the operating system from Windows 95 itself. The browser was actually a product of Spyglass that filed a case against the company saying that it was to receive a royalty for each copy sold. However, Internet Explorer was never sold separately. It was instead part of operating system (OS), and Spyglass lost the claim. Ever since, there have been several lawsuits against Microsoft for creating a monopoly in the computing segment, objecting especially to the browser and Media Player that are bundled with the OS.
The Media Player was taken off the copies sold to Europe and the same is to happen with Internet Explorer when Windows 7 is released later this year.
Windows XP was released in 2001, another major change since Windows 95 and stays even as Microsoft developed Vista and is about to release Windows 7. While Vista did not appeal to users, trends say that XP will still stay for a considerable time before people move on to Windows 7 even though the seventh version is scheduled to be released in October 2009.
The main strategy of Microsoft has been to move a step ahead of technology. This strategy of MS helped it to design Windows Mobile for use with cell phones and Windows CE for handheld computers among software for many other latest innovations. Another strategy of Microsoft is allowing its users to communicate directly with its Public Relations people through its website, which helped MS gain a huge loyal customer base that is bound to stay for a long time.
The history of Microsoft has seen several ups and downs, with many rivals and anti-MS elements rising against it on one side and with many more followers of MS who go for Brand Microsoft just because it is Microsoft. More details on the current product line, knowledgebase, and other updates (news) can be obtained from the Microsoft website, which offers more accessibility than any of its competitors.
Internet Explorer was integrated into the operating system from Windows 95 itself. The browser was actually a product of Spyglass that filed a case against the company saying that it was to receive a royalty for each copy sold. However, Internet Explorer was never sold separately. It was instead part of operating system (OS), and Spyglass lost the claim. Ever since, there have been several lawsuits against Microsoft for creating a monopoly in the computing segment, objecting especially to the browser and Media Player that are bundled with the OS.
The Media Player was taken off the copies sold to Europe and the same is to happen with Internet Explorer when Windows 7 is released later this year.
Windows XP was released in 2001, another major change since Windows 95 and stays even as Microsoft developed Vista and is about to release Windows 7. While Vista did not appeal to users, trends say that XP will still stay for a considerable time before people move on to Windows 7 even though the seventh version is scheduled to be released in October 2009.The main strategy of Microsoft has been to move a step ahead of technology. This strategy of MS helped it to design Windows Mobile for use with cell phones and Windows CE for handheld computers among software for many other latest innovations. Another strategy of Microsoft is allowing its users to communicate directly with its Public Relations people through its website, which helped MS gain a huge loyal customer base that is bound to stay for a long time.
The history of Microsoft has seen several ups and downs, with many rivals and anti-MS elements rising against it on one side and with many more followers of MS who go for Brand Microsoft just because it is Microsoft. More details on the current product line, knowledgebase, and other updates (news) can be obtained from the Microsoft website, which offers more accessibility than any of its competitors.
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