spremkumar

Social networks are hub sites. Alternatives to the normal search, email, and on- line news, they offer a home for users to post mini biographies, lists their interests, photos of their choice, quizzes, polls and the like. One of such amazing networks is Orkut -- a very famous social network services run by Goggle. Its been named after its creator Orkut Büyükkökten who was a software engineer working for Google. This is the most simple internet social network that I have ever stumble upon.

After a long, hectic day, when I log in to check my e-mails. As the icon jumps at me to indicate I had received mails, I feel relieved, if not happy. It’s always nice to know that someone remembers me, or at least I am nice enough to be included in their forwards list. For a person living far away from home, the simple blue site with a friendly purple logo is the closest I can get to the feeling of home. Looking back about 3 years down the line orkut has grown up a lot. It has a lot of added features like photo, scraps, favorite videos and so much more to make it easier to communicate with friends, family and share content. And there latest is that, they have also translated the site into 12 languages so that we can add orkut friends from all over the globe.

Thanks to Orkut, I feel at home all the time with my friends and family always made available on-line.

Posted by Sunaina Premkumar at 11:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Over the past six years, telecommunication networks have diversified; new technologies combine Internet and mobility. But this diversification has not been equal and widespread when considering the global implications. Surveys by various agencies confirm that the extent of growth of some of the most significant technological innovations has been restricted by a variety of factors in some of the major countries affecting the information technology revolution.

Internet usage:

Asia claims the world's largest regional Internet market. With an estimated 437 million Internet users (a user penetration of 12 percent) by mid-2007, Asia was maintaining its lead over Europe (322 million) and North America (233 million). 83% of the French population has access to internet. As of June 30, 2006, France had 11.1 million high-speed Internet subscriptions. South Korea was continuing to dominate the area of broadband Internet access, leading the world and the region with its 84 percent of households having a broadband connection by end-2006. The two major technologies supporting broadband in Asia were DSL and cable modem. DSL was dominating by a factor of 2 to 1. By March 2007, there were almost 75 million DSL subscribers and around 39 million cable modem subscribers across the region.

Not surprisingly, Internet application in Asia continued to be led by the developed economies of the region - Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan. This group has been joined by China. With a user penetration of 10.5 percent, China
had a massive 137 million Internet users by the start of 2007. (China's
CNNIC reported 162 million users as at June 2007.) The rural market in China is huge and computer penetration is practically zero. While only 0.3 per cent of China's Internet users live in the countryside, their numbers are doubling every six months, according to CINIC. But electricity supplies are not always reliable in the Chinese country side and phone lines reach only 47 per cent of rural homes according to government statistics.

India's current broadband subscriber base is still just about 2 million (November 2006), a far cry from the Broadband Policy which targeted 3 million connections by end of 2005 (falling short by 33% a year later). This is now set to change as the Government spearheads a strong broadband penetration into the country. The combined effect of a number of macro economic and social factors together with a large domestic demand seem poised to bring in a phenomenal growth in wireless broadband in India. As of last year, less than 2 per cent of Indian homes received broadband compared with 13 per cent in China, 8 per cent in Brazil and 3 per cent in Thailand.

According to local press reports, the overall number of Internet users in Brazil climbed from 20.9m in 2004 to 25.1m in 2005, a 20% year-on-year rise. In April 2006 there were some 13.4m Brazilians accessing the Internet from their homes.

Mobile phone users:

Within the past five years, there has been a significant increase in both the number of mobile phone users and households that have mobile phones and no landlines. In the United States alone, the percentage of adults in mobile-phone-only homes has increased from 7.7% to 11.8% between 2005 and 2006, according to the National Health Interview Survey. Outside the U.S., the mobile phone infrastructure has expanded throughout the world, creating a growing number of mobile phone users in Europe, Asia-Pacific and the developing countries. Steady expansion will continue to increase the number of mobile phone users.

According to a report by Informa Telecoms and Media (2006), 30 countries exceeded 100% mobile phone penetration, with countries such as the U.K., Sweden and Italy at more than 110%. This indicates that a portion of the population in these countries currently has two or more mobile phone subscriptions. French cell phone usage is finally catching up with the European average, topping 80 percent penetration in 2006.
According to the same report, mobile phone penetration in the U.S. is nearing 70% while the Asian leaders, Hong Kong and Taiwan, have reached a significantly higher rate of 125%.

Asia's mobile market has continued to grow strongly; having passed the one billion subscriber milestone in late 2006, the market was expanding at an annual rate of almost 30 percent into 2007. In India, mobile phone tariffs have dropped considerably— almost by 90 percent. In response to this, the number of subscribers has risen by 85 percent in each of the last few years. India's mobile revolution has already generated a cellular subscriber population of 143 million (as of December 2006). Adding in excess of 5 million subscribers per month, India is likely to cross the 250 million mobile population within 2008.

Mobile-phone use in Brazil has continued to expand dramatically over the past several years. Brazil had 92.38m mobile phones in use at end-May 2006, up from 86.2m at end-2005 and 65.6m at end-2004, according to the most recent statistics from the National Telecommunications Agency (Agência Nacional de Telecomunicações—Anatel).

Laptops and Wi-Fi:

The desktop/notebook penetration in India is still low. According to latest IDC India figures 5.8 million PCs shipped in CY 2006 compared to China’s 22 million. Analysts say that India has one of the lowest PC penetration rates in the world at 18 per 1,000. China is better placed with 61 per 1,000; Brazil has 142 per 1,000 and Russia 155 per 1,000. The dismal broadband subscriber figures can be attributed to the PC penetration. The overall Wi-Fi market in India is still in its infancy and is on the cusp of a period of sustained growth. Growth inhibitors such as lack of bandwidth, low penetration of laptops and PDAs are fading away and a buoyant device market is projected. It is projected that the laptop market will double for the next two years.

VoIP:

Traditional voice services are under pressure from VoIP, declining by 10% or more each year. The number of VoIP customers in North America increased 21%, to 6.9 million in the Q2 of 2006. VoIP penetration at contact centers and sales of related products are poised for significant increase by year end 2007, with 38% of contact centers currently researching and investigating VoIP. The U.S. penetration is 10 percent. In France it is on the order of 40 percent. Most French Internet providers already offer VoIP, a service that now has over 1.5 million customers. In Asia, more and more businesses were switching to VoIP as enterprise IP telephony sales in Asia-Pacific region grew at 39%, according to the Synergy Research Group.

In India, applications such as Voice over Wi-Fi (VoIP over Wi-Fi) continue to hold the key to even more turbulent market changes. But with VoIP being currently restricted by the TRAI(Telecom Regulatory Authority of India), VoWi-Fi is not yet a reality in India. Once the restriction is lifted, a proliferation of dual band Wi-Fi-cellular devices would happen.

Contrastingly, in Brazil, Government policy proactively encourages the development of new technologies. Computer penetration has tripled from a very low base in the past five years, and Internet penetration has also risen strongly, although both remain low by international standards. The VoIP market in Latin America will grow increasingly competitive. Of the 5.9 billion Latin American international calling minutes recorded last year, nearly 48% were attributable to VoIP, according to Insight Research.

Thus, the penetration of various technologies throughout the world is dependent on other existing technologies and also lean heavily on local political and economic factors. Whereas in the more developed countries, there is a scope for innovative technologies, the developing countries offer huge potential for the expansion of current user base.

Posted by Sunaina Premkumar at 11:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

During the European History, the renaissance period was the most talked about by the modern scholars (1300 and 1600). It was the period of new inventions and beliefs.

The Renaissance was drastically different from the Middle Ages. During the middle Ages the church held most of the power and Its economy was agriculturally based. Exploration and learning Was almost put to a stop. During the Renaissance society was Transformed into a society increasingly dominated by central political Institutions with an urban commercial attitude. Also, people's Curiosity overcame their fear and many people started to venture out
and explore. New schools and colleges became more and more common.

During this period, the revolution of new forms of painting, art and sculpture. During the Renaissance, artist were no longer regarded as mere artisans, as they had been to the medieval past, but for the first time emerged as independent personalities, compared to poets and writers. Oil Painting was also invented during this period only.


The Renaissance also had an effect on the general society. Many people became interested in politics. Also, people became interested in the world outside of their towns. Many became explorers, merchants, and mapmakers. Religion especially changed during the Renaissance.

The Renaissance produced many great minds. Leonardo da Vinci was one of these. His most famous works are the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper. Although he was not regarded as a genius in his time. He had numerous works of art such as the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper.

In conclusion, the Renaissance was a time of new awakening in Europe.

Posted by Sunaina Premkumar at 02:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ted Fisherman’s China, Inc., emphasis on the world we deal with today. He concentrates on one of the country China which is rapidly emerging as a most powerful economy.The author has compiled an impressive array of facts, figures, and anecdotes about China's business economy. He has also made the book a lot more interesting with interviews with real life people, like shop sellers in a Shanghai knick-knack market to Patrick Lo, chief executive of networking equipment giant Netgear Inc.
But while Fishman's range of reporting is impressive, his book could have benefited from an overriding argument. Occasionally Fishman lets an opinion seep in, but only in the most cursory of terms. For instance, in his discussion of the Three Gorges Dam, the government's massive effort to block off a Lake Superior-sized reservoir along the Yangtze River, he laments briefly that the project will destroy much of the gorges and several cities, while displacing over a million people.
By avoiding more controversial TOPICS, Fishman reduces heated political debates to endless contemplating dialogues .In his discussion on piracy, Fishman says that China's vast counterfeit market constrains business innovators because they know any good idea will be ripped off. But he stops short of outright condemnation of piracy, explaining that the underground economy also provides an influx of much-needed cash to China. Then, moments later, he concedes that China's piracy robs the world of wealth.
This is not to claim that any of the complex issues raised by China, Inc. can be shoved into easy either-or paradigms. And Fishman does provide a good introduction to China's economy. But rather than sprawling so widely over such broad area, he might have focused on a few other parts and developed arguments about them. What should be done about China's rampant piracy? Should the yuan be pegged to the dollar?

Posted by Sunaina Premkumar at 11:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Mark S. Walton‘s Generating Buy-in portrays the leadership ability to influence people’s thoughts and feelings, to generate their buy-in. The book provides the readers with a uniquely powerful communication method that emphasis a language of buy-in and leadership.
These communication skills will empower the readers to produce the results they want and need with greater simplicity, speed and efficiency.

The author Mr. Walton also emphasis on Understanding the Language of Buy-In. To understand such factors the author talks about Strategic stories, of a positive future that has been the most powerful Communication skill of buy-in since, if not before, the beginning of recorded time. The route to real buy-in is to generating people’s understanding, dedication and eventually is to have an impact on their action not just in the sense of there thinking, but also their emotions. This is precisely what the “stories” imply.

Generating Buy- In presents a language of leadership common to the most masterful influencers in business, politics, law and other arenas. It offers examples of individuals and organizations that have used this method, including Jack Welch, Ted Turner, several U.S. Presidents, Coca Cola, and the U.S. Army. The book features valuable information’s including sample business scenarios and a design process for creating custom buy-in exercises and transferring the lessons of the book to actual workplace settings.

Posted by Sunaina Premkumar at 11:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

THE SEARCH

John Battelle’s The Search: How Google and Its Rivals Rewrote the Rules of Business and Transformed Our Culture is a whole lot of information
The book clearly explores what does it mean to search, what is the ideal search, and how is it evolving in relation to the human culture. The beginning of the book does an excellent job of explaining the history of Google and a very good job of explaining the history of search engines on the whole. The second part of the book looks at how Google has grown from a private company to the public money making machine. Additionally, Battelle also addresses many of the privacy concerns associated with search and the Patriot Act.
John Battelle details Google’s history in a manner that plays out like a good movie. Battelle addresses how Google, while being a lifesaver when it comes to meeting our technical and personal needs, also tracks our every move creating a massive database of everything we search. Battelle criticizes Google’s privacy policy, which allows Google to share clicksteam information with law enforcement if needed (page 203). Battelle criticizes their policy basically saying it contradicts their “don’t be evil” motto because of the language used which allows Google to make the decision to share user’s search information instead of being forced to by law enforcement.
Battelle also talks about Google’s relationship with China. Google chose to give into Chinese censorship rules by censoring its news site. According to Battelle, “by working with China to omit certain sites, Google had seemingly become an accessory to evil,” (page 206).
Google, in the short time it has been around, has shot up to become the leader in search. The word Google is not only the name of a company but is used by many as an adjective to describe the meaning of search. Battelle also makes it a point to touche on what the future of search could be. According to Battelle, search will be everywhere & in every application that is digital will have the ability to search. In addition to the future of search Battelle also looks at the financial impact of search, not only on companies such as Google and Yahoo, but also small Internet-based companies.
The final part of his book focuses on the potential future directions of Google and its products' development. In what Battelle himself acknowledges might just be a "digital fantasy train", he describes the possibility that Google will become the centralizing platform for our entire lives

Posted by Sunaina Premkumar at 11:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

There was a great increase with regards to Music with the general public during the Renaissance period. Music was a huge part of spiritual and civil life during the Renaissance. This period of the renaissance is considered to be the start of the modern age. All of the events that took change during this period had a major effect on the change in styles of composing. The new essence of music was also achieved from new instruments. The most essential music during this time would have to be the music composed for churches. The Renaissance consists of European Music composed during the 1400s through 1600s. European music progressively started retrieving Renaissance characteristics. During the fifteenth century, music was conquered by certain English and Northern European Composers.
The Burgundian Court is the main attraction during this period. By 1550, music was dominated by Franco-Flemish composers. In the sixteenth century, there were tons upon tons of changes in music. One of the first changes that took place would be when the first set of polyphonic music was heard at the time.
This also made way to the development in music printing in places like Germany and England. Before “music printing” most music was written by hand and learned by ear & the books were only owned by churches. After the invention of music printing, music books were available to everyone and were very inexpensive. The problem of music books then became that people were unable to read and understand them. During this time, new inventions of new instruments were also available.
Instruments like the “wind instrument” gained a lot of attention & was used mostly by the army from Europe. Wind bands became used during various periods over the years such as the Baroque period and also the Romantic period. Early Renaissance last from 1400 through 1467, leading the Early Renaissance period was Guillaume Dufay, a composer who established music during the early period of Renaissance. The Middle Renaissance music lasted from 1467 through 1534. The Late Renaissance music was from 1534 through 1600. The Renaissance Period ended in 1600, while a manneristic style forms.

Posted by Sunaina Premkumar at 04:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

There are lots of increased interest in the growth of Web2.0 space at present and the underlying technology supporting this. In understanding the work of leading web entrepreneurs and innovators we get an elevated perspective across many web-based products and service domains, and thereby get to see trends and common themes that may not be obvious to somebody working from a single perspective. From here we’re seeing the convergence of a number of trajectories;
• 3D virtualization of space & real-time shared experience
• Increasing richer User generated content
• Social Affiliation & Identity expression
Where these trends meet are a number of interesting product & service possibilities where compelling social and entertainment experiences can be virtualized and brought to life. Over the last year we have been building a technology platform that supports the next generation of web-based products in this emerging territory.

Although the term suggests a new version of the World Wide Web, it does not refer to an update to any technical specifications, but to changes in the ways software developers and end-users use webs. According to Tim O'Reilly, the term “Web 2.0” is described as:

" Web 2.0 is the network as platform, spanning all connected devices; Web 2.0 applications are those that make the most of the intrinsic advantages of that platform: delivering software as a continually-updated service that gets better the more people use it, consuming and remixing data from multiple sources, including individual users, while providing their own data and services in a form that allows remixing by others, creating network effects through an "architecture of participation," and going beyond the page metaphor of Web 1.0 to deliver rich user experiences."

Posted by Sunaina Premkumar at 03:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)