Rise in your profession: Tips on how to utilize an alumni network

Why do you need to network with the alumni? Unlike the personal front, where the family is a readymade set of relationships, the professional front does not offer a starting point.

To move up professionally, you need to build a support system of friends and allies among like-minded people. Your network of alma mater friends and the alumni from companies with a strong culture provide a pool of people seeking to connect and help.

However, this is not available on tap and you will need to build it. Here's how.

Don't take alumni for granted

Invest in relationships. Harsh Sapru, a sales manager, applied for an advertised role with a leading Indian FMCG firm. When he found that a regional manager was an alumnus from his MBA school, he sent him an e-mail, requesting to be short-listed to the interview based on their common background.

The manager forwarded the e-mail to the HR, which promptly moved Sapru's resume to the trash folder. Sapru had taken the alum for granted and had called for an unreasonable favour from a stranger. This irritated the alum, who had Sapru removed from the selection. The right way to work with alumni is to build relationships early in life.

Don't cold call them when you are serving your notice period. Start by committing three hours a week to relationship building.

Call up alumni in your immediate circle and speak to them with no other agenda but to connect. Or, fix up a dinner with a group of alumni friends and count that time against the three hours. Thereafter, widen your network and reach out to people through social media like Linkedin and Facebook.

Drop in a line and make that odd call to speak and share common stories or interests. Over a year, you would have invested more than 150 hours and built a strong web of ties.

Be visible

People will know who you are. After graduating from school, Delhi-based Gaurav Verma became the unofficial connecting point for batchmates.

From compiling and sharing contact details and job/education updates to organising well-attended school reunions in his city, he seemed to be always there for everyone. In his late thirties, when Verma decided to become an entrepreneur, he reached out to his network for investors, distributors and customers.

They responded immediately and his venture took off. Being visible is not too challenging. Try attending all alum meets and events, visit your alma mater to greet your teachers and professors, and walk into your old hostel to host an interactive business session for students.

Similarly, get involved in discussions on social network groups and become an organiser. Create Facebook discussion groups over common interests and organise meet-ups where you invite speakers of interest.

First give, then receive

Offer to help people without any transaction involved. For instance, you could lead your firm's recruitment drive to your engineering college, or coach unsuccessful students on clearing aptitude tests, group discussions and interviews, even offer unpaid internship to students to help them gain experience.

Adopt a giving attitude in your alum network and it will build goodwill that will pay you back with interest. Offer to host alumni for the night when they are passing thro ugh your city.

Connect fledgling alum entrepreneurs to potential customers. Donate money to your alma mater for scho larships to needy students. Meet alumni who request advice and share references when asked.

Help out students with applications for higher studies. The opportunities for giving back to your network are endless, and the returns huge.

Research on alumni

Know your alumni well. When connecting with them and building a network, it pays to conduct detailed research. Moving to a new location? Find and reach out in the area to the alum who share similar interests, including hobbies, friends, industry, etc.

Similarly, to grow within your industry or profession, use your social networks to find and connect with alums who are working in the same sector. Then share information, help and form connections. Don't forget to maintain an Excel sheet for your research.

Seek advice, not jobs

During your job search phase, ask for references or advice only. If you are not close friends with the concerned alum, you do not have the space to ask for a job vacancy or offer on the strength of a nonexistent relationship.

Walking up to an alum and requesting a job makes him feel cornered and helpless. Recognise that an individual in the corporate world cannot hire without due process.

A better way to approach is to share that you are looking for a job and then ask for advice on the industry/firm/role, or for references you can talk to for advice. Now the alumni can easily share inputs and walk away satisfied from the interaction.

Avoid cold calls where possible and seek to meet face to face through mutual contacts or alumni/industry functions. You may then leverage the advice to find a suitable opportunity.

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New technology that can 'replace' internet

A new project has been launched that could replace the internet.

The ambitious project, Bitcloud, aims to provide services currently controlled byinternet service providers ( ISPs) and corporations. The project is based on the same methods used to mine bitcoins.

According to the BBC, individuals would perform tasks such as storing, routing and providing bandwidth, in return for payment.

The founders are searching for developers for the project, adding that they will start by decentralising the current internet, and then create a new internet to replace it.

According to the report, like bitcoin miners provide computing power and are rewarded for solving complex mathematical equations with the virtual currency, so individual net users would be rewarded based on how much bandwidth they contribute to the Bitcloud network.

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Unbreakable smartphones coming soon

Unbreakable rubber-like smart phones, roll able tablets and functional clothing have come closer to reality, thanks to new breakthrough research by scientists including one of Indian-origin.

Researchers from Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) RMIT University have developed a new method to transfer electronics with versatile functionality, which are usually made on rigid silicon, onto a flexible surface.

The ability of micro and nano-electronic devices to sense, insulate or generate energy is controlled by thin, transparent nanolayers of oxide materials, often much thinner than 1/100th of a human hair.

These oxide materials are brittle and their high processing temperatures - often in excess of 300 degrees Celsius - have until now prevented their incorporation in flexible electronic devices.

Lead author, Philipp Gutruf, said the new process could unleash the potential of fully functional flexible electronics, while providing a new way for the materials to mesh together.

"We have discovered a micro-tectonic effect, where micro scale plates of oxide materials slide over each other, like geological plates, to relieve stress and retain electrical conductivity," he said.

"The novel method we have developed overcomes the challenges of incorporating oxide materials in bendable electronic devices, paving the way for bendable consumer electronics and other exciting applications," said Gutruf.

Supervisor and co-leader of the research group, Dr Madhu Bhaskaran, said the new approach used two popular materials - transparent conductive indium tin oxide and rubber-like silicone which is also biocompatible.

"The ability to combine any functional oxide with this biocompatible material creates the potential for biomedical devices to monitor or stimulate nerve cells and organs. This is in addition to the immediate potential for consumer electronics applications in flexible displays, solar cells, and energy harvesters," said Bhaskaran.

The study was published in the journal Asia Materials.

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Microsoft offers Ahmedabad boy $180,000 package

An Amdavadi boy who attended school in Shahibaug and interned at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Ahmedabad, has landed one of the highest pay packages offered to an engineering postgraduate - $1,80,000 USD plus incentives. The offer was made by Microsoft to 23-year-old Priyanshu Kumar Jha, who earned a master's from Singapore. Priyanshu will work for Microsoft's Bing search engine as development engineer.

Priyanshu will head to the Microsoft headquarters in the US next week. He is the youngest of the batch of students who appeared for placements at the National University of Singapore this year, where he studied for the master's degree in software engineering. He has secured a bachelor's degree in information technology from UV Patel College of Engineering, Ganpat University, Mehsana.

Priyanshu's father, Prabhat Kumar Jha, is a zonal director (central zone) National Small Industries Corporation, ministry of medium, small & micro enterprises. Priyanshu's mother, Ranjana, is a homemaker. Priyanshu completed his schooling from Central School, Shahibaug.

"As an engineering student, I always aspired to work for Microsoft at some point in my career," Priyanshu said. "But to have my first job, at this age, as an engineer in Microsoft is a dream come true." Being the youngest achiever in his group has been Priyanshu's habit. He was the youngest to be chosen for the master's programme in Singapore. "I had to put in a lot of extra work to keep up with my batchmates, who had a minimum of two years of work experience," he said. "I was the only one with no work experience, but my top scores always gave me an edge over the others."

Priyanshu told TOI that he had been exposed to computers since 1994. "My dream is to work for corporations for a while and use my learning to launch my own company after coming back to Ahmedabad," he said. "I want to give back to society which has given me so much."

As for the interview with Microsoft, Priyanshu said it consisted of six rounds with each one lasting six hours. But he said the interactions were always relaxed.

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Yahoo! Hack India to be held in Hyderabad

NEW DELHI: Programmers, developers, designers across the industry and student stop technical universities in India will gather at Hyderabad for a two-day hacking event.

Over 1,000 developers across 20 states had signed up to participate in the sixth edition of "Yahoo! Hack India"July 13, of which 250 best hackers have been selected after an entry-level coding challenge.

"These hackers will now participate in the two-day event which brings forth a series of technical workshops, followed by a nonstop 24-hour coding Hackathon on July 13 and 14," a statement said.

For the first time, Yahoo! Hack India is being organized in cyber city Hyderabad. This will be Yahoo!'s first hack event in India hosted outside Bangalore,Yahoo! has its second largest research and development centre.

Due to overwhelming response developers across India in the last five years, Yahoo! had decided to expand this hack events to cover more Indian cities over the next few years.

"This year will see two external hack events by Yahoo! in India, one in Hyderabad and another in Bangalore later in this year. The event brings together programmers, developers, designers across the industry, start ups and students the top technical universities," it said.

"Hackers team up to turn their ideas into a working prototype, or hack, as it's called in just 24 hours. It gives developers a chance to work together and build applications and product ideas scratch using market-leading technologies Yahoo! as well as other technologies, to develop something cool that can potentially solve a real-world problem that impacts Internet users," it said.

The two-day event involves a hacking competition using a great collection of new web tools, services and APIsBSE 0.00 % ( Application Programmable Interface), as well as data around the web.

Yahoo! Open Hack was started as an internal event in 2006 at Yahoo! headquarters in Sunnyvale, US with an aim to bring the Yahoo! developers together. So far, Open Hack has been hosted in seven countries with representation over 30 countries.

The first Open Hack in India was hosted way back in 2007, which was attended by 180 developers in and around Bangalore.

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See, what makes your Android phone vulnerable to hackers

LONDON: A 'master key' has been reportedly discovered by a security research firm which could potentially give cyber attackers access to almost every Android phone.

According to BBC, security research firm BlueBox has discovered the loophole which is present in every version of the Android operating system released since 2009.

The bug emerges as a result of the way Android handles cryptographic verification of the programs installed on the phone

The report said that Android uses the cryptographic signature as a way to check that an app or program is legitimate and to ensure it has not been tampered with.

Jeff ForristalBlueBox and his colleagues have found a method of tricking the way Android checks these signatures so that malicious changes to the apps go unnoticed.

Forristal said that the implications of this discovery could be 'huge' as it can take over the normal functioning of the phone and control any function thereof.

Security expert Dan Wallach said that in order to catch Android users, malicious hackers would have to get their booby-trapped version of a legitimate application on to the Google Play store.

According to the report, BlueBox had reported finding the bug to Google in February.

Google denied commenting on BlueBox discovery, the report added.

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Google planning to kill passwords

Web giant Google is researching to build a more secure hardware device which in future can be used to login to a computer or an online account, thus eliminating the need for a password.

Designed in the shape of rings which can be worn on fingers, these hardware devices will aid in logging in to a computer or online account.

The search engine first revealed its plans to put an end to passwords in an academic paper published online in January.

The effort focused on having people plug a small USB key that provides their credentials into a computer.

The possibility of using special jewelry in a similar manner was mentioned in that paper.

According to Google's principal engineer, who specializes in security, Mayank Upadhyay at the RSA security conference in San Francisco last week, "Using personal hardware to log in would remove the dangers of people reusing passwords or writing them down."

"Everyone is familiar with an ATM. What if you could use the same experience with a computer?" Upadhyay said, adding that Google's trial was focused on a slim USB key that performs a cryptographic transaction with an online service to prove the key's validity when it's plugged into a computer.

The key also has a contactless chip inside so that it can be used to log in via mobile devices. Tokens like the ones Google is testing do not contain a static password that could be copied.

The cryptographic key unique to the device is stored inside and is never transmitted.

When the key is plugged in, it proves its validity by correctly responding to a mathematical challenge posed by the online service it is being used to log into, in a way that doesn't produce any information that could be used to log in again.

Google is already talking with other companies to lay the groundwork for using the technology to access different services and websites.

"It's extremely early stages, and we're trying to get more partners," said Upadhyay.

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More top universities to offer free online courses

More top universities outside the United States are joining the rush to offer "massive open online courses" that are broadening access to higher education.

Coursera and edX, two leading providers of so-called MOOCs, announced major expansions that will roughly double the number of university partners offering free online classes through their websites.

Mountain View, California-based Coursera said it will add 29 institutions, including 16 outside the US Over the next several months, they will offer about 90 new courses, including some taught in French, Spanish, Italian and Chinese.

"Having courses taught in other languages will enable more students to take our classes," said Andrew Ng, a Stanford University professor who co-founded Coursera.

Coursera currently offers 220 courses from 33 institutions and has nearly 2.8 million registered users who have signed up for nearly 10 million courses, Ng said.

The new partners include Chinese University of Hong Kong, Technical University of Denmark, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico as well as the universities of Copenhagen, Geneva and Toyko.

Cambridge, Massachusetts-based edX said it's adding six new institutions, including five outside the US, which will provide at least 25 courses.

EdX, which was launched in May by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, currently offers 25 courses from six universities and has 700,000 registered students.

The new partners are Australian National University, Delft University of Technology, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, McGill University, Rice University and the University of Toronto.

Delft University in the Netherlands will be the first edX partner to provide courses as "open content," which means other universities are free to incorporate the materials into their classes, said edX President Anant Agarwal.

"People can reuse it and remix it," Agarwal said. "It enables courses to get better and better over time by allowing people to share content."

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Internet rates may go up

Industry body ISPAI said that rates of internet and broadband services may go up under new licenses framework due to high entry fee proposed by Department of Telecommunications (DoT).

DoT has proposed to charge one-time entry of Rs 15 crore for a national level Unified Licence compared to Rs 30 lakh which companies pay for internet services at present.

"DoT has not done anything new as per the proposed format for Unified Licence regime. They are going ahead with option to continue the old licence format along with a new national level Unified Licence (UL) that will cost Rs 15 crore.

"If internet service providers opt for UL, then cost of internet and broadband services will go up," Internet Service Provider Association of India's (ISPAI) President Rajesh Charia told PTI.

In the new licencing regime, DoT should allow internet telephony which would lead to low cost call service that would benefit even rural area the country where illiteracy is very high.

"VoIP is widely accepted application. Foreign companies who are not registered with DoT are providing voice calling service both between Computer to Computer and Computer to landlines.

"They don't even have licences. We pay annual charges to DoT and should be allowed to provide voice services across networks," he said.

A DoT internal committee has recommended to allow ISPs with wireless broadband spectrum (BWA) to provide voice telephony service using these airwaves. In 2010, six private players including Reliance Jio Infocom, formerly Infotel Broadband, Tikona Digital and Augere had won BWA spectrum.

The committee has left it for higher authorities to decide if players who won BWA spectrum in 2010 should be asked to make additional payment of Rs 1,658 crore which was charged from telecom players till 2008 for providing mobile telephony.

The licence issued to mobile telephony operators for Rs 1,658 crore had 4.4 Mhz spectrum bundled with it but government has announced to provide no spectrum with UL.

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7 tips avoid Facebook hack

People who do have little or no time to maintain Facebook profiles, can do seven things to at least minimize the damage when their account gets hacked, a report has said.

Firstly, change your name. If you tweak your name just a little, or use a nickname, it will be easier for you after the inevitable hack.

Opening more than one account can also help. It violates Facebook's terms of service, but 80 million accounts already do it, says privacy expert John Sileo.

Secondly, stop geotagging your photos. Geotagging includes the latitude and longitude where a picture was taken, the Huff Post reports.

Thirdly, lie about your age as it is a key piece of information needed to steal your identity.

The fourth and one of the most important rules is that do not store your credit card information on the site, the report said.

According to the report, another important step is to 'have some boundaries'. Foe example when Facebook asks you where your photo was taken, keep it to yourself.

Don't brag about new cars, especially if your photos show where you keep the keys in your kitchen, the report said.

The sixth important step is to go through your timeline and remove posts that provide personally identifiable information.

Lastly, deactivate your account. You can't get hacked if you don't have an account, the report said.

And the most important 'bonus Pro Tip' according to the report is: 'Don't use your Facebook password anywhere else. That's making it way too easy for the bad guys.

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Instagram boasts 90 million monthly active users, 40 million photos per day

Instagram might have gotten some crazy backlash from its policy changes back in December, for which they pulled an about face and returned it back to normal. However, a lot users were done with the service at that point, and vowed to switch to an alternative. Then again, that doesn’t seem to be scaring Instagram too much, as the company has reported 90 million monthly active users, as well as 40 million photos being posted per day.

AllThingsD notes that the service’s monthly active user base is actually up 10% from last month, so it seems that the privacy policy debacle wasn’t a huge deal for its users after all. Instagram’s Kevin System says that the company “continues to see very strong growth around the world.”

Along with those 40 million photos being posted every day, Instagram says that its users are liking photos at a rate of 8,500 per second and are posting 1,000 comments per second as well. This actually marks the first time that Instagram has posted statistics on its user base, but detailed numbers are still scarce.

According to AppData, Instagram use on iOS and Android actually rose quite a bit late last month, but with use on Facebook falling by 25%. Furthermore, according to AppStats, Instagram apparently saw their active user numbers cut in half to 40 million, but according to Instagram’s own numbers, that’s clearly not true.

Story Timeline

• SlashGear 101: Does Instagram own my photos?
• How to Ditch Instagram
• Five Instagram Alternatives you're going to love
• Instagram co-founder responds to user outrage
• Amid Instagram Madness, What Terms of Use Should Take for Granted
• Instagram updates its terms of service after massive backlash
• Instagram took the lazy, sneaky way out
• Instagram iOS and Android update adds new filter, support for 25 languages
• Instagram Privacy Policy prodded with Class-Action lawsuit
• Foursquare makes Privacy tweaks, wary of Instagram-style backlash

Instagram boasts 90 million monthly active users, 40 million photos per day is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

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Facebook‘s annual hacker competition opens for registration

Social networking giant Facebook has opened registration for its third annual Hacker Cup, set to begin from January 25.

The top prize will be $ 10,000 (approx. Rs 5.5 lakh) as against $ 5,000 (Rs 2.75 lakh) last year and as many 25 of the best hackers will be taken to Facebook's headquarter in USA, a statement said.

The Facebook Hacker Cup is an annual worldwide programming competition where hackers compete against each other for fame, fortune, glory and a shot at the coveted Hacker Cup.

"The competition will be held in two rounds starting with an online qualification, out of which 25 of the best hackers are then flown by Facebook to their headquarters inMenlo Park, CA," Facebook said.

"The preliminary round will be held between January 25 and February 16 while the onsite final round is scheduled for March 22-23, 2013.

Contestants will be judged on accuracy and speed as they race to solve algorithmic problems to advance through up to five rounds of programming challenges," it added.

Last year, the Hacker Cup attracted 8,000 participants from 150 countries, with the winner- Roman Andreev, hailing from Russia, Facebook said.

"Hacking is core to how we build at Facebook. Whether we're building a prototype for a major product like Timeline at a Hackathon, creating a smarter search algorithm, or tearing down walls at our new headquarters, we're always hacking to find better ways to solve problems," Facebook said in its Hacker's Cup page.

Facebook said that those who registered for a previous year are automatically registered for the competition year, however, they still need to check their information is up-to-date.

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How To Turn Your Boring Old Laptop Into A Cool Touch Screen Machine

Sure, Windows 8 - Microsoft's new touch screen operating system - will run just fine on PCs designed for Windows 7. But you won't be able to take advantage of the new touch capabilities the OS enables unless you scrap your existing PC and upgrade to a new computer.

Or maybe not.

At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, a company out of China demonstrated a peripheral that combines a stylus and either a USB or wireless receiver to touch-enable a non-touch screen LCD monitor or laptop screen.

The technology has made its way to the United States via Shenzhen Yifang Digital Technology Co. Ltd., mercifully shortened to Yifang Digital, whose E Fun brand markets the APEN Touch8 system in the United States. Got that?

Discovering the Touch8 digitizer was a happy coincidence. Wandering though CES' maze of booths, you never quite know what you'll find. In the rear of the South Hall, for example, Trojan was handing out thousands of vibrators. So there's that.

Yifang was showing off several versions of the Touch8, including a USB-powered model and one that used wireless technology. According to Eric Ju, an account development manager with the digital pen business unit within Yifang, the company is attempting to license or has already licensed the technology to accessory vendor Targus, which is marketing a very similar device known as the Touch Pen. The Targus Touch Pen costs $99.99 and will be available during the second quarter; the Touch8 will be available this quarter for $79.99. Targus representatives, who were likely flying home from Las Vegas, could not be reached for comment.

The Touch8 system, and presumably the Touch Pen as well, both use a receiver that mounts to one side of your screen. A combination of ultrasonic and infrared beams detects the stylus' soft, fuzzy tip, orienting it on the screen. Ju told me that a brief period of 'training' the system is required, so the Touch8 learns the boundaries of the available touchscreen real estate. The stylus itself requires power, but it can be used for 500 hours (about 62 days of 8-hour workdays) without replacing the small, watch-sized batteries that power it.

I was able to play around with the Touch8 for several minutes. According to Ju, the system accommodates up to 15.6-inch displays, making the Touch8 suitable for a notebook or a small desktop monitor. The peripheral is magnetically clipped to the side of the notebook, and must be removed and recalibrated every time the notebook is closed. In other words, you'll have to suffer through some inconveniences to eliminate others.

To its credit, the Touch8 works well at what it does: Enabling 'touch.' Swiping works fine, and single-touch gestures seemed to work as advertised. True touch hardware, however, is multitouch, and I'm not even sure if holding two stylii together, chopsticks style, would even work. Right now, the Touch8 works best for drawing, swiping and other single-mode uses.

Should you buy one?

Yes, but only if:

• You're desperate for Windows 8 and touch interaction
• You're running a small monitor
• You leave your laptop on your desk
• You don't mind the absence of multitouch
• You're willing to spend $100 but not willing to buy a brand new machine

That's a pretty limited use case. But if you really want to use Windows 8 properly, you have to do something. I've used a mouse and keyboard with Windows 8, and while it's navigable, it's also sort of a pain; scrolling 'up' to slide your Windows 8 Start screen sideways simply feels awkward.

Pictures by Mark Hachman. Posted by JMD Computer

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DoT issues new rules for buying SIM cards

Taking new mobile phone connection from will require physical verification of facts provided by subscribers and submission of forged documents will lead to police inquiry.

Tougher guidelines by the Department of Telecom, which took effect, make operators responsible for inaccurate information provided by subscribers for taking new pre-paid and post-paid mobile connections.

Under the new rules, the authorized person selling SIM cards will have to give an undertaking that he has seen the applicant and matched the photograph attached on the application form.

Retailers and franchisees selling mobile SIM cards will have to register police complaint against subscribers if they submit forged documents to get the connections.

All the telecom operators across the country are required to comply with the new guidelines.

"By and large we are compliant with most of the norms though there are a few areas for which we have sought clarifications from DoT like verification of date of birth and age," GSM industry body COAI director general Rajan S Mathews told PTI.

He said the government has indicated that the operators have to verify certain documents which include date of birth and age of users.

"We have asked DoT what should we do in case if the user has no documents related to his date of birth," he said.

COAI is expecting a reply on the issues in the next few days.

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10 things to know while buying TVs this festive season

The festive season is here and many people are looking to make a big purchase during this auspicious time. Are you considering a new television for your home, but are unsure of the things to look for while selecting your grand TV? Don't be misguided by the advertisers and the smooth-talk of retailers while making the purchase that you may plan to keep for a long time. 

Save a few bucks and make the best choice by going through the list of 10 things you must know before buying that TV. 

Display type - OLED vs LED vs LCD vs Plasma 
This is one of the biggest dilemma for all buyers, whether they should stick to the ageing Plasma TVs, go for the currently popular LED and LCD televisions or invest in OLED TVs, the technology of the future. 

For starters, Plasma TVs will save you a lot of money but don't think about the initial cost only, since this type of television draws much more power than any of its competitors. Moreover, since it is an outgoing display technology, manufacturers will stop customer support in a few years, leaving you stranded if you need a component replaced. Nevertheless, Plasma TVs offer superior contrast and dark blacks, along with excellent viewing angles. 

LCD TVs use CCLFs (Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamps) and are the next in line in terms of power consumption; however, these score poorly when it comes to viewing angles. Though cheaper than LED televisions, they cost a bit more than generation-old Plasma TVs and can be quite expensive when it comes to large screen sizes. 

LED TVs, the most popular today, are basically LCD televisions with LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) instead of CCFLs. Currently the best in the crop of displays in terms of power consumption, these offer better blacks than LCD televisions and are comparatively thinner as well. This type of TV also responds well to colour variations and acute viewing angles, giving the best user experience. 

OLED is the display technology of the future, with the thinnest screen, amazing colour rendition, lower power consumption and better viewing angles than existing display types. However, TVs with OLED displays are extremely costly and suffer from poor lifespan. 

Panel type - VA vs IPS

LED and LCD and televisions available today come with either IPS or VA panels. Since both types of TVs have LCD displays (LED televisions are LCD televisions with LED bulbs instead of CCFLs), both have liquid crystals. The different between IPS and VA panels lies between the alignment of the liquid crystals -- horizontal in IPS and vertical in VA panel. 

The advantage that IPS has over VA is that there is no distortion or damage to the screen even if it is hit quite hard. Apart from that, it also offers great viewing angles and maintains consistency of colours. Therefore, if you are worried about your kids damaging the brand new television, then go for IPS panels, otherwise VA panels will be suitable. LG and Philips use IPS panels, while others like Sony and Samsung have VA displays. 

Pixelation is the same with both the panels and you should be seated at least eight to 10 feet away from the TV for best picture quality. 

Brightness

Brighter display does not always make a better TV. If you go for a TV that offers high brightness, the dark colours - like grey and black - will appear dull. Brightness level in LED TVs is the best since the blacks appear dark as well, while Plasma and LCD televisions follow it from afar. 

Power consumption

LED TVs are the best choice if you are concerned about the amount of power consumed by your new television. This is because of the LED bulbs used in the display, which consume 20-30% less power than CCFL's of LCD TVs. Last in the race come Plasma televisions, which will add a hefty amount to your power bill as compared to LCD as well as LED TVs. 

Refresh rates

Refresh rate in a television refers to the speed at which the display changes images. Ever encountered the problem of motion blur on the TV? This is because of poor refresh rate. Higher refresh rate in a television translates to a clearer picture quality and reduce this motion blur or ghosting. Moreover, when it comes to gaming, the refresh rates matter a lot. 

If you want to connect your Xbox, Play Station or Wii to your TV, then Plasma televisions are the best option, since the refresh rate can reach up to 600Hz. On the other hand, LCD TVs deliver the worst results when the subject is of refresh rates and motion blur is a common complaint. A LED television can be a decent choice since it can handle high refresh rates in videos and games and render a quality image. 

Internet, voice control and apps

Internet connectivity in a TV is among the new advancements introduced in TVs, making them the much touted SmartTVs. But do you really plan to use internet on a big screen television? If you want to watch YouTube videos, chat with friends, check mails, play games and access Facebook on a TV, then you only have a handful options in the market. You can also look forward to features like gesture control, voice control and access to apps with these televisions. 

Just so you know, accessing all forms of online content on the television would require you to attach a keyboard and mouse to it via USB port. And be ready to pay a steep price for a set of features that you could probably access on your phone as well. 

If you decide against buying an internet-enabled TV, you can just link an Android set-top-box like Evo TV to your new non-internet television and enjoy all Android apps and seamless access World Wide Web on your TV. 

And before you go for an internet-enabled TV, take into account the bandwidth you would consume with this new device at your disposal. You should consider the data transfer limit that your plan has and the speed of your net connection before opting for an internet TV. 

3D viewing

3D viewing in a television is yet another feature that has caught the imagination of the masses. But the content producers, ie the companies which make 3D movies, videos etc, are still playing catch-up. There is a huge dearth of 3D content in the market and no TV can convert a 2D video into 3D. So, before going for a 3D television, be prepared to be disappointed since you will not be using that feature too much. 

If you wear spectacles and are thinking of investing in a 3D television, keep in mind that you would have to use contact lenses in order to view the 3D images comfortably. You only alternative in India would be the 55-inch Toshiba 3D that renders three-dimensional images and videos without any glasses. However, this technological marvel costs a hefty Rs 12 lakh and may not be within everyone's budget. 

Companies that claim to have TVs that can convert 2D videos to 3D are simply reproducing the same image twice in order to add depth to it. This process is quite effective but the on-screen rendition is not of the same quality as true 3D videos. However, this technology allows you to watch real-time videos in 3D as well, so you can convert any type of movie into a 3D extravaganza, well almost. 
For 3D TVs, manufacturers usually provide a pair of 3D glasses for free. But for a family with kids or a joint family for that matter, you will need several more if the whole family wants to enjoy the experience together. These 3D glasses cost around Rs 2,000 in the Indian market, so depending upon the number of people in your family and the frequent guests, this amount can add up to a considerable amount. 

Burn in

Burn in is the condition in which an image remains on the TV screen even when the video has moved forward. This issue is attributed to phosphor, which is used in CRT and Plasma televisions. On the other hand, it does not affect LED TVs since they do not have phosphor at all, making them the best choice when it comes to this parameter. 

Though LCD TVs do not use phosphor either, an image can stick to the screen permanently if the liquid crystals render the same image for too long. Nevertheless, for home usage, this problem is hardly an issue and makes LCD televisions almost immune to the issue. 

Ports and accessories

With a swanky new TV come a host of ports, such as USB, Ethernet and HDMI, along with ports for AV and RF cables. These enable you to access content from Smartphone's, tablets and computers, connect to the internet and link the television to speakers. Remember more ports mean more functionality, since you may be at a loss if your TV has only one port and you want to attach a keyboard as well as a hard disk drive. 

There are a few of accessories you would be required to buy with a new TV. If you want to view the content on your smart phone or tablet on the big screen of television, then be prepared to purchase a HDMI-to-mini HDMI cable. On the other hand, a HDMI-to-HDMI cable would be the need of the hour if you wish to view content of your laptop on the TV. But most of all, remember to purchase a voltage stabiliser as sudden change in voltage can damage the device, putting the burden of repair costs on your shoulders. 

Festive season offers, warranty and EMI

When the festive season beckons, manufacturers and retailers roll out offers to lure buyers, from slashed price to pack of DVDs to home theatre systems. Of course, you can always bargain the price of the TV you choose with the seller. 

Another point to remember is that your new TV burns a hole in your pocket and its best that you opt for extended manufacturer warranty while making the purchase. This will make you immune to the associated costs in case any problems crop up with the device over time as the manufacturer will take care of the issue on its own. 

Since a decent big screen TV now costs over Rs 30,000 in India, you may want to consider EMIoption to soften the financial blow on you. Nowadays, retailers will take just the details of your ID card and credit card to process the transaction at 0% interest.

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Get Windows 8 like start screen on Windows 7/XP

If you are amused by the all new start screen concept of Windows 8 but haven’t got a chance to give it a try then here we have something for you. The most discussed feature of this new OS is it’s all new start screen which is made up of multiple tiles. WinMetro is a free application which will allow you to have a look and feel of a  Windows 8 start screen on your current Windows OS.

WinMetro is a free software developed by IObit using which you can replace your current start button with the new Windows 8 kind of start screen. All you have to do is download and install the software from the link given at the end of this article. After installing the app it will automatically show your most used softwares along with some built in app tiles.

Some default apps included with this are calendar, weather, photos, news and some more tiles which are simply loading the webpages inside it. Once you define your default picture directory with the “Photos” app it will allow you to view all your pics on the click of a tile. The weather app uses your ISPs location and shows the weather info about that location which was not accurate in my case. You can use the horizontal scroll bar at the bottom to scroll inside the screen.

After starting your PC and logging into your account it will take you to the start screen first. To go to your desktop you can press Win + X or click on the desktop tile and to again bring up the screen press the same keys or simply move your mouse cursor to bottom left corner of your screen and click on the start screen.

This software will work on Windows operating systems only. It uses around 40-50 MB of RAM continuously. So if you are already running low on resources then you might not want to use this. You can use the link below to download this software.

Download WinMetro for Windows (5.95 MB)

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LinkedIn investigating reports of more than six million stolen passwords

Business social network LinkedIn said it is investigating reports that more than six millionpasswords have been stolen and leaked onto the Internet.

Although LinkedIn did not confirm if any user data had been hacked or leaked, researchers at U.K. Web security company Sophos say they have confirmed that a file posted online does contain, in part, LinkedIn passwords ``hashes.'' That's a way of encrypting or storing passwords in a different form.

Graham Cluley, a consultant with Sophos, recommended that LinkedIn users change their passwords immediately.

LinkedIn has a lot of information on its more than 160 million members, including potentially confidential information related to jobs being sought. Companies, recruiting services and others have accounts alongside individuals who post resumes and other professional information.

There's added concern that many people use the same password on multiple websites, so whoever stole the data could use the information to access Gmail, Amazon, PayPal and other accounts, Cluley said.

As a precautionary measure, LinkedIn issued security tips in a blog post Wednesday. The company said users should change passwords at least every few months and avoid using the same ones on multiple sites.

LinkedIn also had suggestions for making passwords stronger, including avoiding passwords that match words in a dictionary. One way is to think of a meaningful phrase or song and create a password using the first letter of each word.

Cluley said hackers are working together to break the encryption on the passwords.

``All that's been released so far is a list of passwords and we don't know if the people who released that list also have the related email addresses,'' he said. ``But we have to assume they do. And with that combination, they can begin to commit crimes.''

It wasn't known who was behind such an attack.

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Balance Transfer Tricks For All Mobile Networks

Balance Transfer Tricks For All Mobile Networks

Here Are Working Balance Transfer Tricks For All Mobile Networks.

Airtel :

To Transfer Balance In Airtel Just Dial *141# And Follow The Onscreen Instructions.

You Can Transfer From 5 To 30 Rupees Of Balance In Airtel.

Tata Docomo :

To Transfer Balance In Tata Docomo SMS as BT MobileNumber Amount And Send It To 54321.

E.g. BT 9876543210 30 To Transfer 30 Rupees Of Balance.

 

!dea :

To Transfer Balance In !dea Network Send SMS as GIVE MobileNumber Amount And Send It To 55567.

E.g. GIVE 9876543210 30 To Transfer 30 Rupees.

Vodafone :

To Transfer Balance In Vodafone Dial *131*Amount*Mobile No#

E.g. *131*50*9876543210# To Transfer 50 Rupees Of Balance.

 

Uninor :

To Transfer Balance In Uninor Just Dial *202*MobileNumber*Amount#

E.g. *202*9876543210*30# To Transfer 30 Rupees.

Aircel :

To Transfer Balance In Aircel Just Dial *122*666# And Follow The Instructions.

You Can Transfer 10,20 Or 100 Rupees Of Balance.

 

 

BSNL :

To Transfer Balance In BSNL Just Send SMS GIFT MobileNumber Amount To 53733.

E.g. GIFT 9876543210 50 To Transfer 50 Rupees Of Balance.

That’s All. If You Need Any Help Or Have Any Suggestion Just Comment Below.

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HTML5 Features Can Drive Up Mobile Websites' Usage By Up To 28%

If your mobile site still mostly consists of static pages, maybe it's time for an upgrade. According to new data from Usablenet, adding just a few interactive elements could increase your users' or readers' engagement with your site significantly. Usablenet, which describes itself as a 'technology platform for mobile and multichannel customer engagement,' says that when brands on its platform started using HTML5-enabled features like interactive galleries, location services, overlays and expandable (or collapsible) boxes, their pageviews increased by 11% and their bounce rates decreased by 15%.

In total, sites using these features experienced about a 28% increase in overall usage. Usablenet's customers include major enterprises like Expedia, Tesco, Amtrak, American Airlines, OfficeMax, ShopNBC and online fashion marketplace ASOS.

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