Digital Inspiration

Here's a quick, easy and safe way to lose weight and look fit instantly. And you don't have to stop the calorie intake, just buy an HP Digital Camera. HP have launched a new range of Photosmart Digital Cameras that have a slimming feature so that you can make your subjects look lean at the press of a button . Like the Weight Loss clinic ads in newspapers, the camera's LCD screen will also show a before and after version of the picture before apply the effect permanently. The slimming level can be adjusted using the arrow keys. And not just slimming subjects - this camera can also be used for the reverse job - thin people can look healthier, atleast in photographs . HP Digital Cameras [Thanks, Purna Duggirala ]

Sometime ago, Wikipedia had a page with list of websites and webpages that were blessed by Google with the PageRank of either 10 or 9. Unfortunately, this page has been deleted by Wikipedia now though the page title [Websites with a High PageRank] still appears in Wikipedia search. Our previous story on Google PR 10 website was actually sourced from Wikipedia where we mentioned that Statcounter.com is the only website that has a 10 Pagerank but still shows Google Ads and Sponsored links on their main page [so you can effectively buy a static link on a PR 10 page] While the usual suspects like Google.com, Adobe.com and Apple.com enjoy the perfect 10 out of 10 score, it is really surprising to see the Microsoft.com and Yahoo.com still haven't managed to breaking into the elite PR 10 club. They are still at step 9 of the Google ladder. Search Engine Genie carries an updated list of website and internal webpages that have a PR of 10. The New York Times website is now part of this e...

Lifehacker.com has turned into an amazing encyclopedia of intelligents tips, DIY hacks, software downloads and other extremely useful resources for Windows, Mac and Linux platforms. If there's something interesting on the web, it's almost impossible that the Lifehacker Trio (Gina, Adam and Wendy) would miss showcasing it. Now according to Wikipedia , Lifehacker has a publishing target of 18 posts per weekday which can be a big number to digest especially if you're running short on time. Second, as Lifehacker covers all the three Operating Systems, a Mac software maybe meaningless for Windows Users and vice-versa. So how do you avoid reading Lifehacker content which is not of interest to you ? Fortunately, Lifehacker website has lot of additional features that can make Lifehacking even more enjoyable - We'll discuss some of them here: I only want Skype hacks, no fries please. Lifehacker has categories, you can directly subscribe to the Skype category in your RSS reader ...

If you enjoyed the Human clock widget above, here are simple instructions on how to embed it in your own blog. The file is around 75kb in size so might take some to appear on a slow internet connection. 1. Download the Clock Animation and upload it to your webserver. 2. Copy paste the following Flash embedding code anywhere in your blog template. Remember to change the HEIGHT and WIDTH parameters depending on your site layout. Since it's a vector animation, it will scale smoothly. <OBJECT classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/_ _pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab" WIDTH="400" HEIGHT="100" > <PARAM NAME=movie VALUE="clock.swf"> <PARAM NAME=quality VALUE=high> <PARAM NAME=bgcolor VALUE=#FFFFFF> <EMBED src="clock.swf" quality=high bgcolor=#FFFFFF WIDTH="400" HEIGHT="100" TYPE="application/x-shockwave-flash" PL...

SWF Live Preview is a free utility that lets you view SWF animation files as picture thumbnails inside the Windows Explorer . You may confuse it with a Shell Extension but it actually runs as a separate program. If you have seen previews of Images, Icons, AVI or WMV videos in Windows Explorer when the Thumbnail mode is turned on, the SWF preview concept is exactly the same but has more features - it shows snapshot image of a flash animation and you get to choose which frame of the SWF file is displayed as the thumbnail . SWF Live preview also works with Flash Projecter files which are a compiled EXE version of the Flash swf file. The Flash file properties or the status bar will also display additional details like the Number of Frames in the Flash animation, Flash Version, Number of shapes and when the SWF is compressed or not. How to Download Flash Animations in IE or Firefox or Opera This utility is quite handy when you have saved lot of swf files from the web and need the one which ...

Microsoft has posted a new improved version of Windows Live Writer 1.0,0.141 that includes support for tags and the new Blogger 3.0 . Images in PNG format can also be attached to blog post inside Live Writer now. There are also performance enhancements and regular bug fixes that go in this release. The tagging functionality is extremely well-done and fully customizable. While there's built-in support for popular tagging services like del.icio.us, flickr or technorati, Windows Live Writer users can add any new tagging service or edit existing ones using easy to follow HTML templates [see screenshot] The detailed list of changes can be read on the Live Writer team blog. Related: Windows Live Writer Hacks Download Live Writer | Windows Live Blog

Owning a photo printer may sound simple but it's just half the battle won - you will feel the real cost only when it's time to replace printer cartridges or buying photo paper which are recommened by the printer manufacturer. Agree, you can still print with cheap ink toners or refill the old cartidges but the problem with third party inks is that prints made with them will fade much soon than you can imagine . Studies by Wilhelm Imaging Research have shown that Hewlett-Packard inks used with HP recommended Paper produce prints that last 73 years under standard illumination, the cheap inks faded in five months or, at the most, six years . In addition to photo fading problem, printer companies regularly issue warning that the printer heads or the microscopic ink jets could be clogged or permanently damaged by using cheap inks. And the warranty gets void the moment you fiddle with your printer cartridge. Like the Cameraphones with sub-megapixel cameras are killing memories , so ...

Buffalo, a Japanese Gadgets company, have released these wonderful Skype Keyboards which have a built-in headset or the Skype Phone. The keyboards connect to the regular USB port of the computer using just one cable so you save the wiring hassles of connecting a separate Skype phone. You can even use it as a speakerphone to keep typing while making phone calls. Logitech has a similar product - Logitech Easycall desktop - for making Internet phone calls though it comes with a stereo headphones with mic set and the keyboard provides one click access to launching IM programs or managing voice calls. Buffalo.jp | Keyboard Catalog [via Alihabara ]

Windows XP has a built-in password suggestion command that can create some very strong and unique passwords randomly for you. And best of all, the generated passwords satisfy all the common criteria for secure passwords which are: 1. Passwords should not be words found in the dictionary. 2. Your password's length should be at least 8 characters long and has no repeating characters like ab22xy. 3. Passwords should be composed of alphanumeric characters, meaning that it contains both letters and numbers or even non-alphanumerics. A word of caution before you try the following trick: Always note down the generated password as it may change your local Administrator account to that value . The XP password generator can be used from either the Windows Command prompt or directly from the Run Dialog. Open the Run dialog [Start->Run or Win+R] and type the following DOS command: cmd /k net user administrator /random [There's a space between the words administrator and /random] A ver...

You have been in a long and healthy relationship for some time but now want to break up for reasons only known to you. So what is the best way to convey the awful news that it's all over to your sensitive partner when you are too scared to do it yourself ? Here's help - a German separation agency can help you convey the Relationship Over message to your spouse or lover , for a nominal fee ofcourse. The client is asked to provide three reasons why they want to terminate the relationship which are then passed on by the agency to the former lover. The message can be delivered in a "sympathetic or direct manner". Bernd Dressler will charge 20 euros by phone, or for 50 euros in person. How insensitive can people get at times [referring to customers of this service] News Source & Picture Credit: BBC News

Google Wallpaper Changer [ download ] is just a 28 kb utility that sits in your Windows XP tray but can throw up some big surprises each time you restart the computer or minimize the open Windows . Google Wallpaper software takes a list of keywords or search phrases, it then downloads the related desktop backgrounds from Google Images and turns them in your XP wallpaper. The wallpaper switcher lets you adjust the duration for which a wallpaper stays on your desktop and you can even block adult or porn images from entering your desktop by turning the Safe Search filter on. [but I doubt if that makes it 100% safe from downloading NSFW images] PS: Like the Google Screensaver , Google wallpaper changer is created by some Google fan and they aren'nt from Googleplex. Wallpaper AnAppADay [via Mark ]

Memetracker Techmeme.com (formerly tech.memeorandum), the most popular web destination for technology news and blog opinions, are giving some prominent space on their website for putting sponsored links. But unlike the standard banners or the text ads, Gabe Rivera [the brain behind Techmeme] has adopted a unique style of advertising . The sponsors will be showcasing their blog RSS feeds instead of the regular text links. Techmeme robots will poll the advertiser's feed every few minutes and display a link to the latest blog post . So there's an indirect incentive to write better content with catchy or magnetic headlines since they the post headlines will ultimately display as ads on Techmeme . Never seen such an innovate concept anywhere on the web - you buy a static space on some website for a fixed monthly fee but your advertisements change dynamically tied to the content of own blog posts. Techmeme receives some 15k unique visitors daily and they are charging anywhere betwee...

Google Adsense Publisher ID (or google_ad_client) is the only unique number that can distinguish your own Adsense code from another publisher's code . If an Adsense block is displayed with your publisher id on a site that you do not own, you will still receive the advertising revenue generated from that site because the code on that site is actually tied to your Google account via the Adsense Pub id. When a site steals your Adsense code, you could make some extra money from someone else's content and traffic. But if you have been using Adsense for sometime, you probably know that this situation is certainly not the one to feel happy about even if you are making those extra pennies in the short-run . I say this for a couple of reasons: » The Smart Pricing Phenomenon : If you are displaying Google Ads on a number of websites, even one low-performing website can cause Google to lower the ad prices (CPM) of all sites in your account. It's well know that only low-quality spam s...

While we were in college some 10 years ago, the 1.44 MB 3½-inch Sonly floppy disc was our ultimate tool for transferring project documents and programming code from the University Labs to our hostel room computers and then back to the labs. While CD's did exist during that time, CD burners were a rare species. Few years later, the higher capacity and more trustworthy USB Pen Drives almost those square unreliable floppy diskettes obsolete and most of us were left with were piles and piles of disks which our moms are so eager to throw in the dustbin. Some of us are probably using floppy discs as drink coasters but here's a more creative use - turn your piles of floppy disks into a carrying bag . Instructables, a site we introduced last month , has an illustrated guide on how to make a floppy disk bag with a strap to carry it with you. Not sure if people would be willing to take the flloppy bag with them to the market but the project is definitely fun. Make a Floppy Disk Bag ...

It just got easier for Digg users on Windows to quickly discover front page news on Digg.com or find stories dugg or submitted by their Digg friends. Diggupdate has been popular utility that shows the frontpage stories from Digg.com on your desktop. DiggUpdate will also inform you of Digg stories that are either dugg or submitted or commented by your Digg friends . Just type your Digg username in the preferences window and start discovering digg.com DiggUpdate sits as a tray icon and when there are new front page stories you have not seen, the lamp in the icon will turn yellow. Simply click on the Diggupdate tray icon to see the new front page stories in a transparent menu which lead to the actual stories when clicked. Oops, I forgot to say that DiggUpdate is now available for Windows as well. It's a small download that runs directly without an installation and the interface is a clone of the Mac version. Digg Download now. The developers have put the entire source code in public...

Google is looking for people [18+] from across the globe to help the search company improve their existing products and even prototypes that are still in development stage. And it's a paid assignment where you may earn upto $75 per hour . You can participate in the User Experience Research study by either visiting Google Offices, or filling an online survey or even from your home by testing out the Google product online and giving feedback to Google over phone. In some cases, Google Researchers may make come to your home itself to interview you about how you use computers or the Web. You will get paid depending on the type of study, but typically Google pays $75 for each hour that you spend with a Google researcher, either in person or on the phone. Your travel expenses won't be reimbursed however. For online surveys, which you complete from your own computer, the amount varies, depending on the length of the survey. Sign Up To participate in the Google user experience res...

CD-ROMs maybe the most popular choice for storing data especially among the home consumers but they are certainly not the most reliable backup medium. Some experts believe that the average life of a CD written with the standard CD burner is anywhere between two and five years while the factory burnt CDs have higher life. The life of CD's may also depend on other factors like the storage environment, surrounding temperature, humidity, multiple rewrites and how often the CD is accessed by you . CD disc can easily get damaged by finger scratches, dust, incorrect handling or if someone tries to label the CD with a pen on the shiny side. (Learn how to Clean a CD ) Whatever be the reasons for disc generation, it should be kept in mind that your CDs won't last forever. To see this for yourself, find an old CD that was bundled with the first Pentinum-I computer you bought in 1995. It might throw some unpleasant suprises . While the best [though impractical] way to remain safe is to ke...

Google in Belgium has suddenly gone taller. This screen capture of the Google homepage looks extremely ugly and cluttered but it is real [you can see it for yourself by visiting www.google.be which is the Belgian version of Google Search page] Not just the Google Belgium homepage, try the Image search page or the Google News page and you'll be greeted with that same river of poorly formatted lines of text which may be completely greek to you. They are actually part of a court order. Philipp says that Google is following a court order that has instructed them to print the full ruling of the Google News case on the Google homepage else Google would have to pay half a million Euros per day. So rather than paying a hefty fine, Google is more happy to throw an ugly version of their homepage to users in Belgium. Google was given earlier given 10 days to remove cache articles from Google and Google News links to the articles or face a Euro 1-million daily fine. Google has also stopped ...

Blogger's Block , much like the traditional Writer's block , is a phenomenon involving temporary loss of ability to continue blogging, usually due to lack of inspiration, creativity or even motivation. If it occurs for a day or two or even a week, it should not be a cause of concern because as bloggers, we all suffer from Writer's block at some point of time. However, if our inability to post new content extends for a longer duration, it may be something to worry about because of three reasons: 1. Our regular readers would return disappointed when they don't find anything new our blogs and if the cycle repeats, they may completely abandon reading the blog [you know how tough it is to get readers but it's so simple to lose them] 2. Google may be indexing your site at frequent intervals but if the Googlebot is unable to find new content on your blog during consecutive visits, it may decide to decrease the crawling frequency. 3. A site that isn't updated for a long...

Almost every blog has a site search form where you just type in the search query and press enter to digg through the archives of that blog . The only drawback here is that you first have to visit the site homepage to locate the search box. And there's also a possibility that the site has no search form at all. This tutorial will show you a very simple Firefox hack that allows you to search any blog straight from the Firefox search bar without having to visit the actual blog . And there's something for IE users as well. Related: Firefox Search Bar Hacks First the not-so-good approach though it works with IE: Type the following query in the Google IE toolbar or in the Firefox Search Box with Google selected as the default engine: site:labnol.blogspot.com adobe captivate This query will retrieve all documents about Adobe Captivate on Digital Inspiration. You can replace labnol.blogspot.com with any site URL that you intend to search. You may have know the above trick already but i...

You have the liberty to apply tons of formatting styles to any text selection or graphics in your Word documents, Excel Spreadsheet cells or the Powerpoint slides. Now let's say you are decorating a paragraph in a Word document - you first changed the font, then made the text bold, then added a border with a drop shadow, then increased the text font size by 2 points, left aligned the para and finally changed the text color from black to blue. Excellent. The para after formatting looks so much more appealing now. You happily forward the document for review and as expected the boss is extremely impressed. But now the problem is that the boss wants you to duplicate that formatting to another paragraph in the same document or even to a different Word document . How would you do that in two seconds ? One [obviously bad] choice is to note down the text formatting steps that you applied to the first document and then repeat them with other documents. If you hate the guess-work, another [...

When people blog about editing a picture in Photoshop or how often they google for their own names or write tips on running Windows faster, they are violating those companies' trademark rights . Funny but true and could even invite legal action if you don't follow the guidelines. [dislaimer: I am no legal expert] While all internet companies have extremely strict trademark guidelines before allowing other websites to use their brand names, logos, slogans or even screensots, we look at some of the very interesting guidelines issued by Microsoft, Google and Adobe : » If you are using a Google logo on a web page, there must exist a minimum spacing of 25 pixels between each side of the logo and other graphic or textual elements on your web page. [time to brush up your HTML skills] » If you are linking to a Microsoft Web page from your blog, you should refer to Microsoft or their product names in a plain text font and format and use appropriate wording such as "This way to M...

Dr. Taraneh Razavi has a tough and very responsible job. She is the official staff doctor at Googleplex and in charge of maintaining some of the best brains in good health [ so that they continue to churn out amazing software ]. In her very own words : Sometimes Googlers neglect preventative measures to health - that can take a back seat to their work because they are so engaged. So they need reminders to take care of themselves. Dr Razavi also writes an informative medical blog where she answers some of the health concerns from Google employees. Today, she talks about a subject which we all can relate to - " How Much Exercise Is Needed for a Healthy Heart? " Her suggestion is that you can benefit from as little as 2.5 hours of walking per week at a pace slower than 2 miles per hour (3.2 km/hour). However, most doctors recommend a daily brisk 30 minute walk or even a 15 minute run . Related Reading: Stretchware Software helps forgetful minds stay healthy by reminding them...

MuveeMix is an online video mixing service that takes your pictures and video clips and convert them into extremely interesting and watchable movies with effects like the ones you see in MTV videos or the sepia tone movies of the Charlie Chaplin era . All this is done inside your web browser without downloading any software or learning the complex principles of video editing and encoding . You can even add any soundtrack to the movie and even text titles [like the movie casting] If you have ever used Windows Movie Maker or even Microsoft Photostory, you can immediately connect with the MuveeMix software. The only difference is that Muveemix is much simpler and can produce more stylish and professional looking videos for you though they impose a size limit of 100MB on the input media. muveeMix supports MPG, MPEG, AVI and WMV video input formats. You should try this service atleast once to understand the capabilities and the intelligent video remixing that magically highlights the impor...

Microsoft Office 2007 will hit the stores later this year to replace Microsoft Office 2003. You have been involved with the Office 2007 beta versions and love the all-new user interface especially the Ribbon panel and the Live Preview feature. Unfortunately, your boss [who hates learning new things] isn't very impressed with the Office 2007 look-n-feel and he finds himself more comfortable using the traditional menu style interface. But you still want to try convincing your boss to upgrade to Office 2007. Now if you run out of reasons anytime, Marc Orchant find this rental car analogy for you which is written by an MS Office product manager: The analogy goes something like this: He compares adjusting to the new [Office 2007 Ribbon] UI to the experience of driving a hire car out of an airport. You don't know the car you will get. Some things are in different places in the car, it feels a bit funny and the visibility is all different. You can take a while to get confident d...

There are some questions that can't be answered by Google. - City TV spotted this unique Claude Presbyterian Church billboard in Orangeville. My two cents here - When you can't find something on Google, modify your search queries and if that doesn't work, post that question on your blog. Your readers will definitely help you find answers. Need some more Google Entertainment ? Try your hand at any of these addictive Google Games . There's also a website [ Can't find on Google ] by Wayne Radinsky where you can post your search queries that did not show satisfactory results in Google Search. Other readers on this site will help you find what you are looking for. Picture Uploaded by Amber Mac .

A family tree diagram (aka pedigree charts) depicting the ancestors and descendants of your family with their pictures, birthdays, and other interesting stories can serve a wondeful personalized gift for your grandparent's upcoming wedding anniversary . Or can you can hang them as a painting on the wall of your living room. Or just post it on your blog website so that the whole world knows about the various generations of your great family and the intresting events in their lives [like how did your great-grandpa first met your great-grandma ] Creating a family tree or even a family history book from scratch is really very simple - all you need is the names, photographs of your family members, some important dates and those special stories[ probably your grandma can be a big help here ]. Once this basic databases on paper is ready, download any of the following Microsoft Office templates depending on what kind of chart you want to create. It's that easy: Family History Book for ...

Though Windows Vista will be released in six different flavors , the installers for all the Vista editions will be shipped in a single DVD. So even if you purchase the Windows Vista Home Basic edition, your Vista installation CD will still have the setup file for Windows Vista Enterprise. This may be a big time saver when you want to upgrade your existing Vista copy to a different Vista flavor like the Business or the Enterprise edition. Microsoft calls this Windows Anytime Upgrade. However, the Vista product key that comes with the CD will only activate the edition that you paid for. Read more about Windows Vista Prices & Release Date . Related: Windows Vista Coupons for XP Customers

Airport security officials recently arrested a high school teacher when she attempted to board a passenger flight while carrying a Geometry box with slide rule, protractor, etc. Lee Hopkins calls the teacher a member of the 'Al-gebra' movement charged for carrying weapons of maths instruction . Brilliant analogy. Now with every other item ranging from shaving razors to hair gels to toothpaste tubes banned from carrying inside the airplane and the ever changing airport security rules, have you ever imagined what the life of an airport screener would be like ? Airport Security , an online Flash video game, gives you a virtual chance to play the role of ground security agent who frisk you and your hand-baggage before giving you entry to the airport boarding area. You are faced with a long queue of airline passengers and have to use the mouse to remove prohibited items from passengers and their luggage before sending them through the gate . And if you are not quick enough, the que...

Google India today announced an on-the-spot writing competition called Google Webmasters Challenge that's open to all Indians who are 18+ and can write. Unlike the popular Code Jam contest, the webmasters challenge is aimed at finding good writers and not software coders but the contest name does suggest that it's about finding technical writers. The Creative Writing Competition begins at 11 AM IST on 30-Sep-06 and ends at 2 PM on 30-Sep-06 and shall be conducted simultaneously at Mumbai, Hyderabad, Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, Cochin, Pune, Indore and Ahmedabad . The winners get an opportunity to join the Google India team and the runners-up will receive cool awards according to the Google website. The contest is open only to the first 300 participants and the deadline for entries is 25th September 2006. Google Creative Writing Contest | Competition Rules [via Philipp ]

The way to make money on the Internet is to send them away. People come back to places that send them away. Memorize that one. Peter Da Vanzo discovers an old post on Scripting News that makes a very interesting read for bloggers who are struggling for return visitors . Dave writes that the fundamental law of the Internet seems to be the more you send visitor away from your site, the more they come back. It's why link-filled blogs do better than introverts . [If you don't link, the site visitor would leave your blog anyway] He cites examples of Google Web Search, MyYahoo! and Yahoo! News to prove his point. Google proved this, in the age of portals that were trying to suck the eyeballs in and not let them go, Google took over by sending you off more efficiently than anyone else. Feeling lucky? Yahoo doubled their share of the online news market by adopting RSS and sending readers away as fast as they can. Who to? Their competitors, of course. Where do you go to get the latest...

Yahoo! has launched an interesting "Do You Yahoo!" marketing campaign to promote their new yahoo.com homepage and other Yahoo services. If you set Yahoo.com as your homepage this Friday [September 22], Yahoo! will gift [or reward] you a free cup of coffee from Dunkin' Donuts . Now how cool (or hot) is that. The easiest way to make www.yahoo.com as your start page is to drag this link to the Home icon of your web browser that you see on the address bar. Or you can directly type www.yahoo.com in your Browser preferences dialog. The Yahoo Free Coffee giveaway contest begins at midnight ET on Friday morning, visitors to http://www.yahoo.com will be able to access and print a coupon good for one free 16 oz. cup of Dunkin' Donuts iced coffee. The coupon is valid only on September 22, and may be redeemed from 9 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. local time or close of business at any participating Dunkin' Donuts retail locations in the U.S. while supplies last. Related: Yahoo Homepage...

While there's enough buzz about Acrobat 8 and Adobe Connect software, most have missed the new release of Adobe Presenter that came alongside Acrobat Connect. Adobe Presenter, earlier known as Macromedia Breeze Presenter - is a versatile Powerpoint add-on that converts your Microsoft Powerpoint Presentations [ppt] into interactive web slides with notes, quizzes and even surveys . See: Review of Adobe Presenter 7 The content can be played on-demand inside any web browser as long as it has the Macromedia Flash plugin. What sets Adobe presenter apart from other ppt to swf programs is that it creates pixel-perfect, web-ready renditions of your PowerPoint presentations, including support for the full suite of PowerPoint animations . You can also include voice-over narrations, Flash Video files (flv) or streaming audio in your Adobe Presentations. Adobe Presenter content can be published either to Adobe Connect Server or your local hard drive for distribution in CDs or posting on your w...

Tired of being a lowly-paid hack for a large media company, Eric quit his job and became a blogging consultant. Eric: Trackbacks are good. That'll be #3,000 [Transcript for the screenreaders] Cartoon Credit: Hugh Macleaod

Quick Summary: Adobe has rebranded Macromedia Breeze web conferencing software as Adobe Acrobat Connect. Adobe has also announced Adobe Acrobat 8 Professional, Adobe Presenter , redesigned Acrobat 8 Reader and Acrobat 3D for CAD professionals. In another expected move , Adobe has removed Adobe Golive CS2 from the Adobe Creative Suite 2.3 Premium to be replaced with Macromedia Dreamweaver 2006 [both are popular WYSIWYG HTML Editors] Adobe Acrobat 8 vs Acrobat 7 The much awaited Adobe Acrobat 8, the quintessential software for creating and editing PDF documents, will be available starting next month. Adobe will also release a revamped Acrobat Reader 8 for reading PDF files around the same time. However, Acrobat 3D Version 8 will be available in early 2007. Adobe has simplified the workflow for creating PDF documents inside Acrobat. Like other Adobe graphics software, Acrobat users are shown a task-based start-up dialog with the most commonly listed tasks like creating new PDF files, Re...

After their hugely successful Indic Blogger Awards , Microsoft India has announced another Indian blogger contest called "BlogStars" which will highlight some of the best developer blogs in India. To participate in the BlogStar content, your blog must showcase your thoughts and experiences around Microsoft technologies and technology in general . While there's no limit on the age of your blog, it should definitely fit in one of the Microsoft technology categories like Visual Studio, Microsoft Office, Windows Vista, etc. So if you are enthusiastic about Microsoft product, this contest may be a good medium for you to get noticed and meet like-minded bloggers from across India. The Top 20 Blogstars will also get an opportunity to form the first Microsoft Blogging Cell. The winner also get to meet the Top Microsoft executives though their names have not been disclosed yet. According to Abhishek, Microsoft has a pervasive blogger culture and there is really no blogging guid...

Of the 22 regional languages of India, I can read and speak Hindi fluently but when it comes to typing Hindi on the computer, I just can't do it even when Hindi is my mother tongue and official language of the country. Have a bunch of excuses like I am never found any hindi typing tutor software or was just too lazy typing Hindi on a Qwerty style English keyboard . So here comes Quillpad to my rescue and million other folks like me who feel more comfortable typing in English but still want to communicate in their own languages . Quillpad is essentially an online typing tool [not a keyboard tutor] that lets you type Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam using simple English. Just think in your language but type in English. There's no need to download any software, language fonts or even buying an Indic keyboard . Think of the text in your local language like you would pronounce it but type the same text in English and Quillpad will do the correspoding transliteration in th...

Most popular search engines including Google and Yahoo! index and cache certain non-HTML files like PDF, Word Documents, Excel Spreadsheets and Powerpoint presentations . Let's say you are searching Google for Word documents related to SEO. Your query would be something like filetype:doc SEO OR "Search Engine Optimization" Google will return hundreds of search results each pointing to a Word document stored on some website. Now to check the contents of these Word documents, you can either click the "View as HTML" link to quickly see the document in text-only format. But what if you want to read the document with all the formatting, images, charts, etc - you will have to download the document locally to your hard drive and then run your Microsoft Word program to view it. There are just too many steps involved in the above approach so here's a simpler way that lets you read the document online without having to download it and also retain the formatting, clipa...

A lot of us are using the iTunes Media Player for downloading and managing audio podcasts and vidcasts but have you explored all the podcasting related features of iTunes 7 yet. We have compiled 11 simple but very useful tips that you can turn you into a power iTunes podcast user [some of them may work only with iTunes 7] Listen to Podcasts in iTunes 7 Without Subscribing Say you are surfing the Podcast Directory inside Apple iTunes and come across a Podcast that has an interesting description. But before adding that Podcast to your subscription list, you would like to hear one of the existing episodes. You can do this easily by opening the Podcast homepage inside itunes and double click on any of the individual shows listed at the bottom. iTunes will stream the episode for you directly without having to subscribe to the podcast. Use iTunes 7 Download Manager to Pause & Resume downloads iTunes 7 finally has a download manager that can resume your podcast download even if you shu...