I am not going to discuss the moral ethics related with April Fool. The thing which forced me to pen this down is The Google. My love for google has been increasing since the first term i googled, though i don’t actually remember now what it was.

And yes Google you did it again!

Google introduces Gmail Motion – with which you can control Gmail using your body gestures, just like google says, it is a new way to communicate:

The mouse and keyboard were invented before the Internet even existed. Since then, countless technological advancements have allowed for much more efficient human computer interaction. Why then do we continue to use outdated technology? Introducing Gmail Motion — now you can control Gmail with your body.

How it works:

Gmail Motion uses your computer’s built-in webcam and Google’s patented spatial tracking technology to detect your movements and translate them into meaningful characters and commands. Movements are designed to be simple and intuitive for people of all skill levels.

Motion Guide:

Familiarize yourself with some of the basic functionality of Gmail Motion using this printable guide of sample gestures. With it, you’ll be able to start writing and responding to emails – with your body – in no time.

Safety precautions:

Using Gmail Motion is not only safe but also healthy and fun. As with any physical activity, certain precautions are recommended. First, make sure to clear the area around you. Second, try to take short breaks every 30-40 minutes, just as you would if you were typing. And finally, take time to stretch after each session to give the muscles you’ll be using some relief.

What Experts Say about GMail Motion?

“No longer will people be required bend to the will of technology. Instead, technology will now bend to our will.”

Lorraine Klayman, Environmental Movement Specialist, Nevada Polytechnic College

“It is commonly known that 80% of communication is non-verbal. Gmail Motion not only accepts this fact – it embraces it.”

Dennis Tooley, Ph.D, California Center for Kinesis and Paralanguage

“Kudos to the Gmail team for bridging the divide. I’m eagerly awaiting the next version with ASL turbo boost!”

Ken Harrenstien, Software Engineer, Google Accessibility Team

After Gmail Motion, Google looks forward to bring this motion sensing technology to Google Docs, thereby increasing the productivity and to let you get the best out of Gmail products along with your body movement.

With motion in Google Docs, you cam create:

• Documents
• Spreadsheets
• Presentations
• Drawings
• Document Lists

Documents:

Collaborate in real time using Google Docs Motion BETA. Building on the technology developed for Gmail Motion BETA, multiple computers can triangulate position to track each collaborator’s inputs. Every feature will be supported, from brand new discussions to formatting, tables and translation.

Spreadsheets:

What do you get when you combine motion and Google spreadsheets? An incredible new way to create charts, add data, filter and work together. Docs Motion now makes it easy to adjust the look and feel of your charts. Pie charts are easy to make.

Presentations:

Body movements recognized by Docs Motion BETA allow you to easily add new slides, change themes and align presentation elements.

Drawings:

Removing the constraints of the keyboard and mouse will have a noticeable improvement on your drawings, wireframes and flow charts. Whether you are a world-class break dancer or just starting out, you’ll be creating works of art with ease.

Document list:

Upload your most important files to the cloud. Transform file management with simple gestures, like upload. Docs Motion is even integrated with our OCR backend removing the need to scan in your docs ever again.

To enjoy this exciting feature simply logon to http://mail.google.com/mail/help/motion.html

And Yes, What actually it is? OHHHHH!!!!

Now this differentiates Google from its competitors. Creativity, Novelty, Accessibility, Ease and Constructive Humor, what else? Yes this time Google again makes its mark by introducing this new concept, to make us Fools at this April but the way they do it, it is really Google’s Way!

What Actually Google Summer of Code Program is?

• Google Summer of Code (GSoC) is a global program that offers student developers stipends to write code for various open source software projects.
• Google has worked with several open source, free software, and technology-related groups to identify and fund several projects over a three month period. Since its inception in 2005, the program has brought together over 4,500 students and more than more than 4,000 mentors & co-mentors from over 85 countries worldwide, all for the love of code.
• Through Google Summer of Code, accepted student applicants are paired with a mentor or mentors from the participating projects, thus gaining exposure to real-world software development scenarios and the opportunity for employment in areas related to their academic pursuits.
• In turn, the participating projects are able to more easily identify and bring in new developers. Best of all, more source code is created and released for the use and benefit of all.

Google Summer of Code 2011

• At this time selection of participant organisations is complete, student applications are opening after 4 days on 28th of March 2011.
• Along with working with the best organisations of the world to sharpen and learn new skills the program offers US $5,000 stipend.
• The deadline to apply for students is 8th of April 2011
• More help can be find out by joining Internet Relay Chat (IRC) #gsoc on freenode.net

A few of the Pakistani students have been selected in the past in Google Summer of Code program including Mr. Muhammad Adnan from Virtual university of Pakistan with his project http://www.imblog.info/export-relations-schema-project-google-summer-of-code-2010

For those of you who would like to participate in the program, there are many resources available for you to learn more.

Check out the information pages from the instances of the program to get a better sense of which projects have participated as mentoring organizations in Google Summer of Code each year.

• GSoC 2005
• GSoC 2006
• GSoC 2007
• GSoC 2008
• GSoC 2009
• GSoC 2010

Official website for Google Summer of Code Program is

• http://www.google-melange.com

and the frequently asked question regarding the program can be found here

• http://www.google-melange.com/document/show/gsoc_program/google/gsoc2011/faqs

Well here comes the truth! Most of newly born internet users who just somehow heard that you can earn money from internet right from your home, really get caught.

You can see alot of ads being openly published in classifieds and people contact them too. Yes, so did I. As i planned to write on it, just for the sake of homework and refference, i talked to one such guy who claims to give you a verified and approved Google Adsense account in just 500 rupees.

I talked to two such guys for the sake of curosity and yes it went the same way i thought. Most of them really don’t they cannot be a reseller or kin of authorized dealer of Google or anyother firm.

Here goes my text conversation with one such guy who offered Adsense Account via this Add in newspaper claiming to give you verified one. I knew i would be writing on it, so tried to talk via SMS but he wasn’t willing enough but still it serves the purpose.

And yes he is not the only one, there are many. Yes many of them! you can see newspapers, specially the sunday editions, following are some examples taken from The Jang.

And this is not just about Adsense, there are other black sheep  too who are trapping the newbie’s with attractive offers like earn 30 thousand per month by working few hours a day.

If nothing can be done. atleast an awareness campaign can be started in the society not to get caught by these trappers who really are using these authorized and well purpose equipped services for the sake of fake money. Maybe that’s because we are  lacking in some other ones, surely the PayPal.

I must say there should be some department, if it not comes under PTA or NR3C, to take control of the things, and see what really is going on in this market and how the people are looting the others, though the others shouldn’t get caught, but you must agree over-night fast earning has a real charm!

It’s easy to opt in to Safety Mode: Just click on the link at the bottom of any video page. You can even lock your choice on that browser with your YouTube password. To learn more, check out the video below.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkI3e0P3S5E]

Safety Mode isn’t fool proof, but it provides a greater degree of control over your YouTube experience. Safety Mode is rolling out to all users through out the day; watch for the new link at the bottom of any YouTube page.

Buzz is focused on building an easy-to-use sharing experience that richly integrates photos, videos and links, and makes it easy to share publicly or privately (so you don’t have to use different tools to share with different audiences). Plus, Buzz integrates tightly with your existing Gmail inbox, so you’re sure to see the stuff that matters most as it happens in real time.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yi50KlsCBio]

On your phone, Google Buzz is much more than just a small screen version of the desktop experience. Mobile devices add an important component to sharing: location. Posts tagged with geographical information have an extra dimension of context — the answer to the question “where were you when you shared this?” can communicate so much. And when viewed in aggregate, the posts about a particular location can paint an extremely rich picture of that place. Check out the Mobile Blog for more info about all of the ways to use Buzz on your phone, from a new mobile web app to a Buzz layer in Google Maps for mobile.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-kcVDNi6eg]

To be fair, Google Buzz looks quite useful. It borrows the best elements of sites like Twitter (status updates, following), Flickr (a nice photo viewer), Friendfeed (condensed real-time information), Tumblr (encouraging commenting on followed friends), Foursquare and Gowalla (location-aware check-ins via mobile), and Yammer and Socialcast (Horowitz said enterprise support is on the way). Oh, and Facebook (private and public sharing controls, in-line media, etc., etc.).

But Google Buzz also adds some extremely useful tweaks:

• Auto-following the 40 people you email and chat with the most from the time you open the product (which is rolling out to Gmail users over the next 24 hours)

• Really nice email integration — this tops Facebook by far, though it could easily get out of control. Buzz items show up directly in your inbox, as well as in a tab within Gmail. You can open an item to comment directly because it’s a “live object with an open connection to the server that gets updates in all time,” as Jackson described it. @replies a la Twitter can lasso someone directly into a thread.

• Recommendations: Buzz learns over time what you like, and highlights items that friends like and share, while collapsing boring messages at the bottom of the screen.

• Good mobile integration — on Android you can use voice to update, and now Buzz comments show up on locations within Google Maps Mobile and on the map itself via little conversation bubbles on the spot they were made from. Please see the disclosure in my bio about Facebook.

(Source: Google Blog & GigaOm)

The application for a “Web-Based System For Generation Of Interactive Games Based On Digital Videos” indicates Google engineers have been experimenting with new collaborative tools in an effort to expand the collaborative tools of video-sharing services like YouTube. The new game system allows select users (the creator, a small group of like-minded collaborators or even the internet at large) to link videos together and add interactive annotations to each. The new system could also be used to “implement multi-perspective storylines, wherein clicking on the annotated face of an actor leads to seeing the remainder of the story from that actor’s perspective.”

Google’s proposed system also includes new sensor technology like speech recognition and a video analysis module capable of recognizing objects and automatically assigning annotations to them.

If this system proves fruitful, the same collaborative spirit of games like LittleBigPlanet may be unleashed among YouTube’s 300+ million users.

( via: VR-Zone )

There is just one week left to submit a video for the opportunity to go to Davos. Each year, heads of state, business leaders, and social entrepreneurs gather at the World Economic Forum to discuss the most critical challenges facing citizens and nations around the world. And this year, one of you will get direct access to a special panel of these leaders at the Forum, to let them know why your cause matters.

The submission deadline is Monday, January 4, 2010, and all videos should be no longer than three minutes. Speak clearly and from the heart. Five finalists will be selected by a judging panel comprised of Paolo Coelho, Arianna Huffington and Muhammad Yunus. These finalist videos will then go to public vote on January 8, with a winner announced on January 19.

This is the chance you’ve been waiting for… unprecedented access to the worlds most powerful leaders who can make a difference for your cause. Visit the Davos YouTube channel to submit your video and make your pitch to the world.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6qgXqgCygk]

Most Watched YouTube videos (Global):

1. Susan Boyle – Britain’s Got Talent (120+ million views)
2. David After Dentist (37+ million views)
3. JK Wedding Entrance Dance (33+ million views)
4. New Moon Movie Trailer (31+ million views)
5. Evian Roller Babies (27+ million views)

Most Watched music videos on YouTube (Global)*:

1. Pitbull – I Know You Want Me (82+ million views)
2. Miley Cyrus – The Climb (64+ million views)
3. Miley Cyrus – Party In The U.S.A. (54+ million views)
4. The Lonely Island – I’m On A Boat (48+ million views)
5. Keri Hilson – Knock You Down (35+ million views)

Following is the list of most searched terms till 15th of December:

Fastest Rising YouTube search terms by month (Global):

1. January: inauguration
2. February: christian bale
3. March: the climb
4. April: susan boyle
5. May: pacquiao vs hatton
6. June: michael jackson thriller
7. July: michael jackson
8. August: usain bolt
9. September: kanye west
10. October: paranormal activity
11. November: bad romance
12. December: tiger woods

Fastest Rising YouTube search terms by month (U.S.):

1. January: obama inauguration
2. February: on a boat
3. March: watchmen
4. April: susan boyle
5. May: pacquiao
6. June: michael jackson thriller
7. July: wedding
8. August: send it on
9. September: kanye west
10. October: paranormal activity
11. November: adam lambert
12. December: tiger woods

The fastest rising U.S. search term in July was [wedding], clearly related to JK Wedding Entrance Dance, the third Most Watched YouTube video of the year. And while [michael jackson] was Google’s fastest rising search term in 2009, [michael jackson thriller] was the faster rising search on YouTube. Movie trailers (“New Moon,” “Watchmen,” “Paranormal Activity”) and inspirational moments (Susan Boyle, Usain Bolt) were popular, as were sensational celebrity scandals (Christian Bale, Kanye West, and most recently, Tiger Woods).

Phone is currently used by Google’s own employees for the test period. Google’s Mobile blog says staff are “dogfooding” the device. (a term that has long been standard at Microsoft).

From preview it seems to be a perfect copy of HTC Passion trend with addition of some buttons, but the real machine will come to market in early 2010. Then one will be able to comment.

Google Blog says:

We recently came up with the concept of a mobile lab, which is a device that combines innovative hardware from a partner with software that runs on Android to experiment with new mobile features and capabilities, and we shared this device with Google employees across the globe. This means they get to test out a new technology and help improve it.

Gphone will be sold direct to consumers, not via a network contract.

This move will make Google’s Android more common which previously available on HTC and Motorola mobiles, but Google may be looking to add Google Voice to its NEXUS which was completely refused by Apple for iPhone.

Google itself is taking interest in phone design from apps to look and shape and this is the first time when we see Google plunged into hardware marketing, previously it was Software Giant, Lets see how it conquers the hardware race of phones.

Google technical lead Maureen Heymans and product manager Jeff Chin said:

Now, when you search on Google for something in your own language, you can use this tool to search the web in another language, We’re integrating it fully into Google search, making it easier for you to find and read results from pages across the Web, even if they weren’t written in a language you speak.

The tool can be found in a menu revealed by clicking on “Show Options” at the top of a Google search results page.

Search keywords are translated into languages that appear relevant, such as French and Dutch for a query about Belgium, and Web pages found are presented in the searcher’s language. Searchers can look for Web pages written in any of 51 languages. The tool will display results from as many as five languages at a time, according to Google.

This thing becomes handy when you are to search something in other language, while previously this was possible to translate via Google Translate and then to be put into search field while this is possible and just One Click Away.

Google’s “first click free” program allows Google News or Google search users to find and read articles, even if they are behind a subscription paywall.
The reader’s first click to the content is free, but when they click on additional links, the publisher can show a payment or registration request. Users have found they can read an unlimited number of subscription-only articles as long as they keep using Google.

Google and other web companies claim they help the news organizations by sending web users to their sites. Google says news groups are free to block Google from indexing their sites and displaying their content.

Google senior business product manager Josh Cohen said:

Previously, each click from a user would be treated as free, Now, we’ve updated the program so that publishers can limit users to no more than five pages per day without registering or subscribing.

Josh Cohen further added, The change announced Tuesday means Google users may start seeing registration pages pop up when they click for a sixth time on any given day at websites of publishers using First Click Free.

YouTube software engineer Billy Biggs writes on company’s official blog

As resolution of consumer cameras increases, we want to make sure YouTube is the best home on the Web to showcase your content.

In March YouTube began offering HD video for the first time.  Much of its video is captured from mobile devices, such as camera phones, but even camera phones have now started becoming HD-capable.  One example is Samsung’s Instinct HD, available since September.  Packing a 5 MP camera, the phone is capable of shooting and posting HD video.

This may not cause much effect on people watching YouTube on normal monitors, while it will surely bring change to the life of those who still enjoy YouTube HD on Big LCDs, and large monitors.

Don’t know what kind of maintenance they are doing as they didn’t mention it but this seems to be very strange as small upgrades don’t make huge sites to go down. Main page of youtube is still working but whenever you try to open any video you land on YouTube’s whoops page.

Adding screen shot for the reference.

Note that this is not a region based downtime as we often see other big sites as MiniNova, down for upgradation in one region while working fine in others.

Personal resources told that YouTube is down too in USA.

Themes come with an interactive background and there still are some simple themes, following is a screnshot of Chrome themes,

This really ads life to those who are chrome lovers but tired of only skin, here is the time, change the colors – change your mood

Agreement is thought to help both the firm in a long run as Microsoft will be using its new search Bing and will make use of advertisement. While Yhaoo will make use of both these services on its portal along with search results so will be able to genearte more revenue and will help Yahoo to cut short the amount it was previously spending on advertisement.

Here this is necessary to mention that Microsoft has already made a bid of $44.6 billion for Yahoo to takeover it in early 2008 but Yahoo refused that. Once again Microsoft trried and raised the bid to $47.5 billion but Yahoo was never agreed to be left with nothing.

Instead of making deal with Microsoft, yahoo entered into a partnership with Google regarding advertisement but that was cancelled. But now Yahoo in combination with Microsoft will be purly focusing on Ads and it is said that Yahoo will be using only Text Ads to show at right side of its search engine while there no other forms of ads to be used. And yahoo will also be using Microsoft’s portal for advertisement.

But the main discussion is whether Yahoo and Microsoft togather will be able to beat Google Search? As according to a survey it is noted that Microsoft handles on 30% of insternet search in America while Google does 65% but keeping in view Bing, which Microsoft has already launched, it can be said that there might be a good competetion between search engines as recent results have shown good outcome of Bing in less than 3 months.

Google is already dominating with its search and a so called Os, Chrome OS. Chrome OS is NOT a new operating system which is being “developed” by Google. It is actually a Linux distribution – a large collection of software (such as the GNU Compiler Collection, Xorg Applications, KDE desktop enironment, etc) built on top of the Linux Kernel. In essence, Chrome OS is another addition to the existing collection of the many Linux Distributions already in existence.

Its a 10 Years agreement and lets see who wins the race, may be after sometime we will be able to see whether it is microsoft@yahoo.com  or  yahoo@microsoft.com  or Finally microsoft.yahoo@google.com