Category: Internet

FaceBook loses out to Google Driven Initiative…?

These are early days , but almost all the top Facebook application games like Triumph, Dope Wars Online etc are starting to get versions on MySpace and hi5. This basically means that the Facebook era of exclusive applications may face a threat from the open source applications of Google driven APIs that enable developers to make games that transcend all social networks.

This space is heating up, and the latecomers to the social networking party might just Facebook as the harbinger of Web 2.0 crash just as NetScape was to Web1.0 crash.

Speaking of which, the Mozilla Firefox browser is Beta Stage for Version 3. Yes…it is a cool one….and Yes the Force is Strong within Google despite the share price..:)

Cutting Down Office Costs:Downloading by DAP and Bit Torrents

Some of these tips may be familiar.Some may be surprisingly different

Here are ways to 1) search for hard to find softwares 2)download and queue downloads  with resume/pause functions

Bit Torrents are the best way to download anything . To quote the Openoffice website ”

About BitTorrent

BitTorrent is a P2P method where a central ‘tracker’ keeps track of who is downloading and sharing specific files.

When using BitTorrent to download OpenOffice.org, your computer automatically uses spare bandwidth to help share the file with others, and this means that you don’t have to put up with slower downloads during peak download times (such as just after a release), because the more people downloading, the more people sharing.

Also, your download is automatically checked for integrity to make sure that it is identical to the official version.

To use BitTorrent technology, you must have a BitTorrent “client” installed.

BitTorrent Clients

For normal downloads , use DAP from www.speedbit.com. Thats best suited. Also try compressing stuff before uploading.This does have an impact on office bandwidth usage costs. For cutting down on software costs  for your organization, download Ubuntu Linux from http://www.ubuntu.com  and OpenOffice from http://www.openoffice.org and use it for top 10 % technically qualified people, or bottom 10 % computers that basically use simple processing tasks like email, office,front desk etc.Then expand or tweak the percentages based on the results and satisfaction from users.

To cut down on intranet costs , you can use simple softwares from www.wordpress.org and host it on a computer for whole office to use it as an intranet. For creating an office newsletter , you can burn the feed at www.feedburner.com and use the email plugin to offer subscription to the email users.

Web Forms through Internet:FREE

That is corrct. Thanks to Google Docs, you can create a web form like a spreadsheet, share it with some people, and voila ..its like web form through the internet.

Possible applications:

DATA COLLECTION from multiple sources, then aggregate,download it ,import  and submit it to SAS,SPSS or any statistical software.

OUTSOURCED ON THE FLY Data Entry.

ONLINE SURVEYS also become more easy, given widespread usage of Gmail. I can create a form, short survey send it to all people in my egroup and then collect the results.

“””

Go to http://docs.google.com/

and follow the instructions for creating a web enabled form that collects data into a spreadsheet.

http://documents.google.com/support/spreadsheets/bin/answer.py?answer=87809&hl=en

Features: Creating forms

Print

You can create a form from any spreadsheet. Just follow these instructions:

  1. Open a new spreadsheet.
  2. Save the spreadsheet.
  3. Click the Share tab.
  4. Under ‘Invite people:’ choose the radio button to fill out a form.
  5. Click Start editing your form… In the form template that opens, you can add any questions and options you’d like.
  6. Click the Next, choose recipients tab. Here, you can add email addresses, a custom confirmation message, and choose whether you want people to see the responses.
  7. When you’re finished, click Send.

Here are some additional tips:

  • If you’ve edited a form and need to send it again, click the Edit and resend button in the lower-left corner of the Share tab.
  • To see the results of a form, open the original spreadsheet. It’s a good idea to use the same name for the form as your spreadsheet, so it’s easier to find.
  • To turn off a form, go to the Share tab of your spreadsheet and click Turn off form in the lower-right corner.
  • Remember, the spreadsheet row, cell and column limits apply to the spreadsheets attached to your forms too “””

Macro Economics,Blogs and Web 2.0

My last post on why expensive oil may just provide liquidity to the global financial system produced some acute reactions on Facebook when someone read it using a Facebook app I use for sharing.

As for using Web 2.0 tools for blogs,

I use Facebook apps called Blog friends and Notes , they give me a continuous feed of friends blogs and similarly promote my blog. I also use the Stumble Upon tool bar in Mozilla Firefox browser , which enables me to submit my post to Stumble upon in less than 10 seconds. The free traffic works.And we have a Decision Stats group on http://www.linkedin.com , which of course provides much better networking than Facebook.

I recently started experimenting with blog tool called www.tumblr.com , which seems a cousin of www.wordpress.com , the software which currently runs this site. If you don’t have the bandwidth (or the money ) but need to put up a site , use WordPress.

And if you want to subscribe to the newsletter , please see the right bar. That is enabled thanks to www.feedburner.com , another company taken over by Google.

Cutting Office Overheads to Almost Zero

You need to work from home.

Here is what you need-

1) Bandwidth – Broad band

Bandwidth fallback – In case the broad band fails. This should ideally be a wireless kind of modem.

Same goes for your PC s ,backup data online or in your seperate PC .

Have one UPS handy.

2) Communication – Use Skype or Gtalk

3) Email Addresses – In case you do not have your own web server, GMAIL offers most flexibilty because you can use outlook with it . Plus GTALK is loaded with it.

4) Remote Access – Use in Built Features of Microsoft like

a) remote desktop connection (Start -Programs-Accessories-Communication)

b) net meeting (Start- run – type -conf and press enter )

5) Software costs – Use remote applications to connect to Pcs which are pre installed with required software to ensure all software in your org is utilized 24 * 7 .

or use open source and freeware

(like open office ,

google apps,

avg anti virus,

zone alarm firewall,

download accelerator,

ubuntu linux,

mozilla firefox)

Try and test this on 10 % of your staff for three months and note the difference in costs. Then scale up/down depending on experience.

Top 5 ( addictive ) Fun Facebook games

1) Pirates

Pirate ship sails, battles monsters,other pirates ,gains gold, gambles etc. Quit cool

2)  Triumph

Conquer the world strategy game. Buy armies and battle others.

3) Dope Wars Online

Be a cartel king buy and sell drugs and fight and group.

4) Human Pets

Buy and sell human pets

5) Outlaws

Similar to pirates, except here it is a cowboy who rides.

The views here are personal like always. 😉