IE 7
WinSuperSite Preview
Gate's Press Release
On February 15, 2005, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates publicly revealed during his RSA Conference 2005 keynote address that his company would denounce its previous plans and ship a separate major update to Internet Explorer (IE) before Longhorn. Until that speech, Microsoft representatives were adamant that the security enhancements they had added to the version of IE in Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2, see my review) would be it until Longhorn.
Before the Gates speech, there were indications, however, that Microsoft was reevaluating its stance on IE. First, the open source Mozilla Firefox Web browser, released in November 2004, was proving to be enormously popular with tech-savvy Web users, and its garnered over 25 million downloads in 100 days, grabbing about 5 percent of the Web browser market. Second, Microsoft began discussing the possibility that it would at least provide minor updates to IE before Longhorn. In a discussion with Gary Schare, the Director of Windows Product Management at Microsoft at the time, he said that the company was examining whether it could add features to IE 6 in XP SP2 via its component add-on capabilities. (Shashank's Note: So, they've taken note of FireFox's "extensions" feature)
According to Gates, "What we've decided to do is a new version of Internet Explorer, this is IE 7, and it adds a new level of security," he said. "We will be able to put this into beta by early in the summer [of 2005]." Gates then noted that IE 7 would only be made available to users of XP SP2, and not to those still using earlier Windows versions like Windows 2000 or 9x. "Of course, as well, we'll include these capabilities in the next release of Windows scheduled for 2006, which is our Longhorn release."
Dot.TK
Though i've been using this for several years now, I just thought that I should post it here so as to accumulate our knowledge here. Want your own "yourname" domain for FREE? Well, you can get a "yourname.TK", not a .com unfortunately. But its for free, only that everytime someone opens that .TK URL, it pops up an annoying ad. Its a redirection-only service. It will redirect to any URL you give.
URL: Dot.TK
TechEd Layout
Check this out | Link |
It is just Page 1, and I will move on if I get green signal from the other members.
[ The quality may get a bit distorted due to the GIF format, but otherwise I hope you get the general idea ]
- 007ayush
Tech-Ed
Tech-Ed commitee
We're beginning work on Tech-Ed and there will be an interim commitee that will start the first issue in April 2005. We need graphic designers, web designers and writers. |
Tech-Ed is a 6-page, multicolor (not full color) newsletter, and we need to have the first draft of the newsletter design & layout by March 20. Tech-Ed will be delivered to the students on the 10th of everymonth. Its not a semimonthly, but a monthly issue. We also have to start getting together articles and stuff like Dr. DynamiX and Tips 'n Tricks and once the design is ready, we'll put up the content, put up the online edition and send it for print by the 1st. We're looking for sponsors, who might be interested in reaching out to the students. The sponsors have to pay for the whole year at once (a very small amount..) and then they get exposure in all the issues. We release 10 issues in all per year. Without sponsor or school support, we can run the newsletter by charging students only Rs. 36 per year. With sponsors, we can get it down to hopefully 10 per year. It should not be free, else it will lose its value. Free ka maal never have any value in the users' mind.
We need to plan out what all will be there in the newsletter. Please post in the comments your ideas (crazy ones accepted.. we're students and its run by the students. So funky and funny allowed!). Keep putting in all your ideas as they keep coming in. Don't bother to put them all in one post. You may keep commenting with just one idea at one time too. Remember, we've got to plan for about 5 1/2 pages content for the first issue. Rest all is junk like title etc.
March Workshop
OK Guys, we are to have a couple of workshops in March. I figured that basic stuff like C++ scratch, and Photoshop scratch are things that have to be done by us, because its idiotic to invite a guest lecturer to teach us that a C++ program starts with include and then we have functions and classes.... junk.
So, what all do we have in March? Lemme think:
1) C++ Basics (for all)
2) Probably VB Basics (for those interested)
3) Photoshop Basics (for all)
4) FrontPage and HTML Basics (for those interested)
5) (Have to do this..) Office XP Tips 'n Tricks
6) Digital Music Basics
7) Demonstration of VS.NET (hopefully) by Mr. Ashwani Sharma.
8) .....
Dates: Our Exams finish on 14th. Classes 6-8 finish on 16th. So we can have our workshops from 17th or something then. School will be closed, but can be opened for us. Morning. Intel Lab. We'll be running a Remote Desktop software, so that the *students* sit on the Intel-# nodes, and they see whatever is being done on the server, where the *trainer* sits. So all the *students* open the reqd softwares and apps and the server keeps doing things that the nodes see, and then the *students* try on their own. How about this? I have the RD software. I'll get it to school soon.
Say,
* March 17: Digital Music Basics
* March 19: C++ Basics
* March 20: VB Basics (for interested)
* March 21: Photoshop Basics
* March 22: Office XP
* March 24: FrontPage and HTML (for interested)
* March ##: Visual Studio.NET
Lets think over.
PS: 'The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring' is coming tonite on HBO @ 9 PM. :-)
Google India Code Jam 2005
Do you have exceptional programming skills? Can you make computers perform like silicon puppets with cleverly crafted code? Are you at ease when faced with a hard deadline and a group of peers scrutinizing your work? Here’s your opportunity to demonstrate the art of Computer Science in a reward-rich environment. Google is looking for engineers with the programming skill to rewrite the world's information infrastructure. The Google India Code Jam 2005 is one way we hope to find them. While we don't impose arbitrary deadlines on our engineers, we do put a premium on well-implemented code. And we appreciate the thought process required to create it. In fact, we appreciate clear thinking in all its forms, from puzzle solving to chess mastery (one of our engineers is an International Grand Master).
The first prize is Rs.3 lakhs. Although people 18 years or older are eligible to recieve the prize, age is not a limitation for registration, which is free.
Check out the website for all the information : Google TopCoder
Google's Blog
Check out Google's blog at: http://www.google.com/googleblog/
The posts made there are quite interesting. I am posting here one of those posts.
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Preventing comment spam
If you're a blogger (or a blog reader), you're painfully familiar with people who try to raise their own websites' search engine rankings by submitting linked blog comments like "Visit my discount pharmaceuticals site." This is called comment spam, we don't like it either, and we've been testing a new tag that blocks it. From now on, when Google sees the attribute (rel="nofollow") on hyperlinks, those links won't get any credit when we rank websites in our search results. This isn't a negative vote for the site where the comment was posted; it's just a way to make sure that spammers get no benefit from abusing public areas like blog comments, trackbacks, and referrer lists.
Read more
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Also check out Google Suggest, one of Google's current experiments, which offers keyword suggestions in real time. Quite good. > Google Suggest <
And Google Video, another Google Experiment, which lets you search recent TV programs online. Interesting. > Google Video <
Hello world!
Hey, my post is a little long, so please read Ayush's post just below this first. Its important as he lists the available domain names that DynamiX can purchase.
------------------
Here is what my idea of a gameplan is... wait let me make some coffee first!
.......................
OK I made some tea instead. Anyhow, I believe that before we can go on to do world domination, and helping other schools organize competitions (as we planned to do.. does everyone know what I'm talking abt? Ayush might not know.. he wasn't in that meeting), we have to get organized from within (the power comes from within!). Its a very depressing thing to say that we're still a gang of 7 11thies and 4 9thies. Makes it 11, but out of that I guess only the 11thies are functioning. No biasing here, I'd have been happier to say the other way round, because that would atleast mean that WE know that WE have to do something... here the prob is that WE have to tell OTHERS to do their jobs. Pretty depressing. I'll summarize all the points at the end, but let me speak my mind in these paras. Another sad thing is that except Ankit Dhotrekar, no-one knows the existence of the blog. And its primarily our fault that the 9thies are not here.. everyone forgot to tell them. :-( So we've got to get them here.
Now my next concern is club expansion. We found out very well in Dyn 2k5 that a club of even 11 functioning members are not enough if we're doing everything at the last moment, which we (atleast I) invariably end up doing. Many of you have seen the Reverse plan that I had drawn up i.e the things we do 1 day before D-Day, and 2 days before D-Day and so on... So if we follow that, we'll be fine. But the real problem comes when we go for competitons. Many a time some member of a certain field (Quizzing, Gaming etc) is not available. Then, we end up not going at all, because mostly we all have availability problems together. This has to be prevented, by having atleast 2 backup teams. With this we still won't end up having a gigantic-sized club (eg: the (now-dead) infamous computer club. People came there only to bunk classes!) We have already discussed this, but I had to mention it again. There is a small victory for us that I must mention: Aman, Bhavna and Ankit Bhalla have expressed a lot of interest in learning Gaming & Web-D; Programming & Digital Imaging; & Gaming and Programming respectively. And Shiva's interested in Quiz & Crossword. So this is interesting, since I told each and every person that the gaming LAN parties that we've been having recently will be discontinued now because of official reasons ( :-( ), they were still eager to get in. I hope you get what I mean. But we MUST try to get in junior members since I'm now getting positively worried about what'll happen after our batch leaves. So we've got to target the current 7th and 8th, and if possible the current 6th. I've seen that sincerity is inversely proportional to the class they're in. Anyhow if we can get their still-malleable brains to explore their interest in some field, we can have a slightly secure future. Its the job of ALL of us, to get new recruits and kind of interview them and each person amongst us should take charge of 1 or 2 juniors to ensure that they come for meetings, to help them get their field etc. I know this sounds like the useless idea that we have in 12th, each teacher *adopts* a coupla students, but it is not the case here. Please! No junk like the junior running up to you saying that his friend stole his pencil etc. Its just that you have to go to the class and tell him/her to come along to the meeting, or that you'll sit down with the person and get to know what all fields he/she is interested in and so on.. Please, this is required. I'm tired of doing this alone.
Next we need a proper meeting system. We CAN'T have a person running to classes calling everyone. I had suggested that we have an attention-seeking red background notice that is put up on the day of the meeting on the notice board outside the computer lab. All Dyn members HAVE to come that way.. can't help it. We don't have a notice board on the other staircase that we 11thies come from. Lemme see, I'll ask for a notice-board. The notice board idea is something deeper than just a meeting update. The idea is that the notice-board is a weekly technology-wall magazine. And for that we have an Editorial board kind of thing in or out of the club. The board is under the club, but all the board members need not be DynamiX members. All the students are encouraged to write or download latest news on tech, sci-tech (like nano-tech etc) and give it to the board members (in hard or soft copy) who will select a few good articles and then print them and put it there. All the other articles go to our online version of DynamiX Newsletter (yep, we'll have an online article management system where all the articles will be put-up in a magazine-style). This will be an encouragement to the students because their name will be splashed on the Internet! (Believe me.. many people fall for it)
Then, we have to start up DynamiX Labs. This need not be a new computer lab. The word Lab means that its a group of students, who will develop and research. DynamiX is (will be) more complex, and all its members are not the developer types. We have a branch (DynamiX Labs) that will comprise of students who are good at programming, Web-D and other things.. even Digital music & Imaging etc. They will undertake to develop new things, like softwares that can be taken to Software Display competitions and so on. It will allow for students to implement new ideas freely, and will help in production of new ideas. Anyhow, we all SHUD request for a new computer lab.. Intel-Lab is fine but seriously, we can't organize stuff like Dyn etc on so small a number of computers. The DynamiX Labs will handle the club site as well as the school site. It will help incubate talent.
And most importantly, we have to plan out the computer course for classes 6-9. I'll be posting the syllabus I & a couple of others had planned out soon. This way by the time the next 6th comes to 10th etc, we'll have a great many students who *know* programming and computers generally. Trust me on this one.
So far, these are what I think neccesary for a stable club that will survive the coming batches.
Now summarizing in order of priority:
1) Drink Tea
2) Inform all about dynamixnotes
3) Recruit new members and have one senior member responsible for 1 or more junior members. Train them in the skills reqd.
4) Arrange a proper meeting system
5) Plan out new computer course for classes 6-9
6) Get a new notice board setup. Actually two (one outside Intel & other outside Chip) for the DynamiX newsletter. Promote it and setup the online site. Form the editorial board.
7) Setup DynamiX Labs. Make a list (on our local intranet blog) of all the interesting projects/ideas that can be undertaken. So that we can work on all as a team or as individuals without loss of ideas.
8) Strongly & jointly request for a new Lab. The ball has been set rolling, but it has got stuck in the official process. We have to combine and push it out of the ditch and see it to the last. Got my analogy?
PS: Whew! I believe this is the longest post ever made! It took me 1 hr 15 minutes to plan and write. <:-O
DynamiX Domain
It's time we buy a domain for DynamiX. Domains are now available for Rs. 250 (per year), each member can pitch in Rs. 25 and we will be done.
Available Domains:
Non-Available Domains:
- dynamix.com
- cyberdynamix.com
- dynamixonline.com
- cyberdynamix.net
Post your comments about this.
[ If you have any domain in mind, check it's availability at www.networksolutions.com and put it in the comments. Make sure the domain is short and easy to understand. ]
GBrowser.com
Hey I did the WHOIS search for gbrowser.com, and look at what I got:
WHOIS information for gbrowser.com
===========================
Registrant:
Google Inc.
(DOM-1278108)
1600 Amphitheatre Parkway
Mountain View
CA
94043
US
Domain Name: gbrowser.com
Interesting... so is Google making its own browser? Check this link out:
Is Google Ready to Browse?
Google always raises a lot of debates.. a good promotional strategy
Happy New Month!
January gone! Feb here! A very happy new month to all of you!
Date of Exam = f(x) [ where f(x) is any arbitary function and the range of this function (- [22, 25] - {all nights (you can't expect our school to be so nice... having exams at night because at night there is no light, hence nobody will know who's tepauofying or not, hmm.. but some idiot invented the tubelight, so we may have the exam at night hence ~(all nights)}
Invalid function! I've gone nuts and am severely depressed due to the lack of posts on this blog. My dear Harsha, please don't send SUCH a long joke post... break them into a number of posts and post them one after the other each day. I had you this responsibility of doing this stuff everyday. What is the gameplan now? I'm finally returning to regular school from tomorrow (sigh!), hence we will get together and plan out our clan's future plan. :-)
The time right now is by the way, 7:35 and 45 seconds.. 47 seconds, 48 seconds.. .and as i write this it is 51 seconds.. .waaaaah!
