If you ever wondered why people would want to use Linux when there is windows around, then please head over to http://www.whylinuxisbetter.net/ and Manu Cornet will give you more than a handful of reasons to use Linux.

Assuming you would be very eager to switch to Linux after reading it, or you would be wiling to give it a try, there are two options presented to you to enjoy Linux:

Try Linux without touching Windows (Linux will run off the CD, no install needed)

Install Linux (and still keep Windows) (Install Linux while still keeping Windows on the PC)

The page is available in 19 different languages so you cannot complain that you cannot read it!

Please share your thoughts on where Linux stands as a desktop OS.

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With increasing acceptance of smart mobile phones, web browsing over mobile phones has gained prominence.

Researchers at IDC say that 1.3 billion people will connect to the Internet via mobile phones by 2008.

Which means your site needs to be mobile ready. You can obviously spend time and energy coming up with mobile version of your site but won’t you like to know first as to how your current PC web site shows up on mobile?

Try this easy test and get detailed reports:

All you need to do is enter the URL of your current web site and sit back, relax and get detailed reports. The advanced options give you more control over the way tests are conducted (can configure custom user-agent, test for a particular model of phone etc.)

Here is a portion of report for my site technacular.com:

Obviously, I need to work hard to make my site mobile compatible.

Is your site mobile ready?

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Check your reaction time using this flash game from BBC.

Shoot the sheep leaving the flock using the tranquilizer. The faster you shoot the better you are. You have to shoot five sheep (beware of the penalty!)

I was very slow and rated lowest. I hope you have better luck. Best time to try: after a cup of black coffee

Popularity: 5% [?]

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JavaScript/Ajax libraries and RIA applications are springing up everywhere. I love to go through the demo pages of these applications and libraries. Here is a collection of demos from some of the best Ajax/JavaScript/DHTML library sites:

mootools

A compact, modular, object-oriented JavaScript Framework.

Some demos from their suite of demos:

• Accordion
• Ajax
• Ajax.Advanced
• Ajax.Form
• Asset.css
• Asset.images
• Chain
• Chain.Periodical
• DomReadyVS.Load
• Drag.Absolutely
• Drag.Cart
• DragDrop
• Element.Event
• Fx.Elements
• Fx.Morph
• Fx.Scroll
• Fx.Slide
• Fx.Styles
• Fx.Transitions
• Group
• Hash.Cookie
• Json.Remote
• Mousewheel
• MousewheelCustom
• Periodical
• Resizable
• Scroller
• Slider
• Sortables
• Tips

script.aculo.us

It is one of most popular and best JavaScript library present out there. It is an add-on to the Prototype framework.

Here is a list of demos from their site:

Live demos

• Drag and Drop AJAX Shopping Cart
• Autocompleting AJAX text fields
• Autocompleting text fields – customized
• Sortable elements w/AJAX callback
• Combination Effects Demo

Sortables

• GhostlySortableDemo
• SortableFloatsDemo
• SortableListsDemo

Controls

• Slider Demo

Read more »

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Having recently moved to India after spending 10 years in US, I was fascinated to see how SMS technology has captivated the Indian mass. I used to feel totally SMS-ignorant. To bring myself up to speed and to understand how SMS actually works technically, I began my quest on acquiring SMS knowledge. I will be sharing here whatever I learn.

SMS or Short Message Service is a technique of transmitting short text messages to and from a mobile device or Internet. The text messages are limited to 160 characters.

The SMS sent by a mobile device is received by a SMSC (Short Message Service Center). The SMSC contacts the HLR (Home Location Register) to locate the recipient customer. If the recipient is unavailable, the message is stored in SMSC and delivery attempted later when the device is active.

The above procedure is a simple explanation of how SMS works in a single network. The problem arises when there are multiple carriers and each uses a unique SMSC protocol. This is where SMS Gateway comes into the picture. It provides SMS connectivity between different SMSC protocols so that different carriers can communicate with each other. This is further explained in the illustration below:

(SMSC₁ :SMS Center for Carrier 1
 SMSC₂ :SMS Center for Carrier 2)

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Antivirus is a must for any system these days but do not come cheap. So what do you do when you do not have the luxury to spend money on yearly subscription for the likes of Norton Antivirus, McAfee, CA Antivirus etc?

The answer is, you have several options:

1. Go and download Google Pack from Google which gives you free subscription to Norton Virus scan 
2. Get free AVG Antivirus from Grisoft. The free version is only available for private, non-commercial use. This is supported on  Windows Vista and Linux.
3. Get free avast! 4 home edition Antivirus. This is also available for free for home users and non-commercial use. This is supported on Windows Vista as well. avast have their Antivirus version available for Linux also.
4. ClamWin Antivirus for Windows (not available for Vista). This is an open source project. It does not however include a real time scanner and you will have to manually scan files.
5. Comcast customers get McAfee Internet Security suite free with their Comcast account. They can download it from here. You will need to register with Comcast first.
6. Avira AntiVir Personal Edition Classic is available for free and can be downloaded from here. It supports all windows versions (including vista), Linux, FreeBSD and Solaris.
7. If you feel your computer has been compromised, you can try McAfee free scan available at http://us.mcafee.com/root/mfs/default.asp. This web based tool will help you detect viruses but unfortunately won’t clean them.

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Recently my wife forwarded me an email which had a collection of funny ways in which students have attempted mathematics problems.

I thought it would be something nice to share with my readers.

Peter was asked to expand (a+b)^n and here is his sheet for you to review:

Some calculus fun:

Read more »

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The Walt Disney Internet Group is making available daily comic strips and full-length stories on mobile phones in India. ‘

In the daily comic category, one can choose “Mickey” and/or “Winnie the Pooh” while the first full book available for download will be “Pirate of the Caribbean”.

Aptly called “Disney Mobics”, the daily comics strips will be available for download for Rs. 3 for Reliance Users. the entire story will be available to Hutch and Airtel users for Rs. 50.

Mobile users with GPRS capability can download the comics from http://wap.disney.in. Mobile users can find tons of fun things from Disney at the site: http://www.disney.in/mobile/

A startup http://www.rokcomics.com/ allows you to create and serve comic strips for mobile devices.

ROK Comics is lining up a range of material from Manga and Sci-Fi comics to old classic strips including Garfield, Doonesbury and Ninja Turtles. These can be selected from the ROK Comics website and delivered to your phone via MMS.

This should be an interesting service and should be fun for the young crown to create their very own personal comic strips or even deliver messages through comic strips.

Source: (Rediff, Tech.co.uk)

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