NSA's Eyes Trained Less on Terrorists Than on Average Joes and Janes

The Novena Open Hardware Laptop: A Hacker's Dream Machine

"The open source community is very large and vibrant. There is no shortage of people who are willing to experiment -- and today's experimental technology always has the potential to be adopted as an industry standard five, 10 or 20 years from now," said tech analyst Laura DiDio. "The Novena technology is not run-of-the-mill commodity stuff. It is not going to appeal to Joe or Jane average users."

Wanna know how to post BLANK !!! status or comments on facebook

Wanna know how to post BLANK !!! status or comments on facebook ???

So facebook tricks are sure one of the things we wanna know. i Am gonna tell you guys today how to post a blank status or comment. 

As u know normally if we try to post anything blank it gives us a error message like the one shown below.

so now we come to the trick part :

Step1>  Go to your friend's wall

Step2>  Press "alt+0173" without quotes and from numberpad

Step3>  Click "share" or press Enter 


and BINGO it's done .
But it works only with status and comments.
now go and amaze ur friends

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Rumor: Microsoft's Smart Band Will Play Well With Others

It is not clear why Microsoft appears to be opting for a wristband over a smartwatch, but with the wearables market growing quickly, it's perhaps more important for Microsoft to push into the market sooner rather than later. "It's always tough to predict whether users will choose one device type over another," said tech analyst Laura DiDio, but "give Microsoft credit for getting into the game."

Microsoft is said to be preparing the launch of a wearable fitness device that will be compatible with the iOS and Android platforms, as well as Windows Phone.

While the device likely will display the time, along with notifications from the user's smartphone, the form factor is a wristband rather than a smartwatch, according to Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows.

The band reportedly will function mainly as a fitness tracker, recording the number of steps the wearer has taken, calories burned, heart rate and so on. Microsoft already has fitness-oriented apps available, such as Bing Health & Fitness and Healthvault, though the band apparently will work with third-party apps as well.

Uncertain Branding

The band will be announced in the fourth quarter of this year, according to Thurrott, and will hit the market in the same period.

The pricing will likely be similar to that of the Samsung Galaxy Gear, which sells for US$300. It's not quite clear how the device will be branded, though Thurrott speculated it would be either a Nokia/Lumia or Surface-branded wristband.

It is the opening of the wristband to platforms outside of Microsoft's own Windows Phone ecosystem that perhaps is the most notable aspect of Thurrott's report.

"It's no secret that Microsoft has lagged behind in the mobility market and is playing catch-up to competitors," said Laura DiDio, principal atITIC.

"This is a very significant move on Microsoft's part to launch a pan-platform product/application. While some might view this as a me-too effort, this is exactly the type of initiative that Microsoft needs to take if it is to have any chance of being a major player in the mobile device and application market," she said.

"Today's digital consumers are not nearly as interested in the application brand as they are in the functionality of the application," continued DiDio. "Today's digital consumers also want cross- platform capabilities, and that's what Microsoft is doing. I see this as a positive for Microsoft and consumers."

Walled Gardens

Other manufacturers stick within their own confines: Samsung's smartwatches work only with its own smartphones. Android Wear devices function only with newer Android phones, and the smartwatch Apple is rumored to be working on presumably will work only with the iPhone or iPad.

Apple's rumored device is said to combine the functions of a smartwatch and a fitness-tracking band. The company last month revealed a new app, Health, intended to track users' health and fitness stats. That bolstered rumors Apple would release a device to track movements and fitness data to feed into the application.

Several third-party wearable devices are compatible with multiple mobile platforms. Fitbit has apps for both iOS and Android, and recently announced it was developing an app for Windows Phone 8.1.

Jawbone Up has Android and iOS apps, but not one for Windows Phone. The same holds true for the Nike+ FuelBand SE.

Company Strategy

Indications that Microsoft is taking a stab at a wearable fitness device, and the plan to make it compatible with mobile platforms other than its own, reflect the company's strategy under its new chief executive, Satya Nadella, which puts "less emphasis on Microsoft-exclusive platforms and more on heterogeneity," suggested Roger L. Kay, principal at Endpoint Technologies Associates.

"With the exception of the Xbox, though, Microsoft hasn't had much luck with consumers,"says Kay . "Typically, it has a wooden ear with regard to market tastes. Perhaps driven by its research orientation toward customer types rather than usage models. However, it's early days in the wearables, Internet of Things, multipoint connection era, and Microsoft wants a piece of it. No reason why it can't win at least some share."

It is not quite clear why Microsoft appears to be opting for a wristband over a smartwatch, but with the wearables market growing quickly, it's perhaps more important for Microsoft to push into the market sooner rather than later.

" It's always tough to predict whether users will choose one device type over another. Microsoft's offering is a later entrant to this market," ITIC's DiDio noted. "On the other hand, as the saying goes: 'To win it, you've got to be in it,' so give Microsoft credit for getting into the game. Marketing, pricing and cross-platform support will hold the key to their success." 

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Product of the week: Plantronics BackBeat Fit Wireless Headset

Product of the week: Plantronics BackBeat Fit Wireless Headset

For those of us trying -- and often failing -- to stay in shape, getting our tunes into our head can be a painful process. Increasingly, we are leaving the iPods behind and using our phones, because it is a pain to carry more than one device and we do need to stay connected.

It's also important to make sure sound can get in around a headset; otherwise, we are likely to get far too up close and personal with a car.

Finally, we want something that is easy to use and attractive. Much of the point of exercising is to look attractive, and products that make you look dorky are kind of counterproductive.

The Plantronics BackBeat Fit headset seems to hit the ground running, as it is attractive (it comes in different colors), easy to use (intuitive on device controls for music and phone), and sounds amazing.

It even has an eight-device memory, so you can connect it with more things -- or more likely loan it out to your significant other). It ships with a water-resistant armband case for your phone, though it clearly didn't like my six-inch phablet and appears designed for five-inch and smaller phones.

 In the end, the Plantronics BackBeat Fit is a very nice offering and my product of the week. It just needs a bigger case, because in phones size does matter.

Google to shut down Orkut on September 30

Well now it's going to happen ,we r gonna miss ORKUT . The nostalgia ,remember those days we were crazy for scraps .


"Over the past decade, YouTube, Blogger and Google+ have taken off, with communities springing up in every corner of the world. Because the growth of these communities has outpaced Orkut's growth, we've decided to bid Orkut farewell," Google said in a post on the Orkut blog on Monday.

Orkut was launched early in 2004, the same year that Facebook, now the world's No.1 social network with 1.28 billion users, was founded.
The service's shutdown comes as Google's social networking plans remain in question. In April, Vic Gundotra, the head of Google's social networking services, left the company.

Gundotra oversaw the 2011 launch of Google+, a social networking service similar to Facebook. Gundotra said in October that 300 million users visit the Google+ web page every month.

Google has increasingly sought to position Google+ less as a social networking "stream" that competes with Facebook, and more as a means of establishing a unified "user identity" system to improve Google's various Web properties. Last year, for example, Google began requiring users of its YouTube site to sign in with their Google+ identity before posting comments about videos.

The company said it would preserve an archive of all Orkut "communities" that will be available from Sept. 30.

"If you don't want your posts or name to be included in the community archive, you can remove Orkut permanently from your Google account," Google said.

The Big Winners at Google I/O 2014

Based on Google I/O, the next couple of years are going to be pretty amazing. In the fourth quarter, we should be up to our armpits in new phones and tablets that showcase what Google talked about on stage, and next year we'll have aftermarket radios that will connect far more intimately with our cars. If you want to buy a new phone, tablet or even car, it might be wise to wait a bit.

If you watched the keynote at last week's Google I/O, Nvidia clearly was the big winner. It was showcased in TVs, mobile devices and automotive as the supplier of a key technology. Other brands were mentioned, but it was Nvidia that was mentioned most consistently -- and it was its technology apparently running or connected to most of the demos.

Lenovo, on the other hand, was only mentioned in passing -- yet I think it actually was the other big winner. I'll explain, and then close with my product of the week: the BackBeat Fit, an amazing wireless headset from Plantronics for those of us trying to keep in shape.

There Are Partners and Then There Are Partners

Years ago, I was on a team that counseled vendors on how to make presentations to analysts and media, and one of the things we focused on was the fact that most vendors didn't understand partners. You see, anybody can put up a bunch of logos or get onto a list of a bunch of logos, but that isn't the important part.

The important part is where you rank in that group. Does the logo mean that some executive showed up at a meeting or simply called in a favor? Or does it mean that the relationship is strategic and truly beneficial?

Google put up a lot of names during its keynote -- car companies, technology companies, and other "partners" -- but Google is pretty much famous for blowing off other firms, so the fact that a brand is on the chart doesn't really mean that much. What matters is whether Google treats it as special or not, and that you don't get from a chart. You get that from behavior.

Nvidia Was Loved

In the Google I/O keynote and the events that followed, Nvidia came up again and again. In the gaming segment, it even figured in the talk preamble, which spoke to how mobile technology was starting to rival PC platforms.

It was almost word for word from Nvidia's pitch for K1, which is its mobile part designed with desktop graphics technology, and then Google actually referenced that part in the demonstration. What came out later was that the TV it was using for the demonstration also was using that part, and it would be a core component of the Google TV offerings coming to market.

When Google drifted to automotive with Android Auto, and it referenced Nvidia K1 again, likely because Nvidia has the strongest automotive effort in its segment, with design wins that cover most of Europe and are showcased in Teslas.

The only place this affinity broke down was in the aftermarket, where Nvidia isn't yet focused, but where Google clearly was moving, regardless. It embraced vendors like Clarion, Pioneer and Alpine. Google clearly understands that given the three-to-five year development cycle and the current three-to-10 year release cycle, car companies just don't cycle technology fast enough to drive a wave like this. However, the aftermarket updates at least annually and sometimes more quickly.

Perhaps the most interesting initiative tightly connected to Nvidia is Google's Project Tango -- strangely, not mentioned during the keynote. Project Tango is a tablet-sized 3D scanner that can be used to capture virtual images of rooms and objects. It can be used to virtually navigate a room later or as the front end for a 3D scanner. The development kit is Nvidia K1-based.

So, while other firms clearly were mentioned, Nvidia was loved, which suggests its relationship with Google is far more intimate. In partnerships, intimacy is important if the relationship is to be meaningful and lucrative.

Lenovo Got a Beachhead

One of the best received parts of the keynote came when Google promised to give attendees Samsung, LG or Motorola smartwatches. The best of the set, both from my view and the audience's -- based on the applause -- was the Moto 360 watch from Motorola. It actually looks and behaves like a watch and then magically transforms into a smartwatch when needed.

Lenovo is a huge power in China and a growing power in emerging markets with smartphones, but it barely has a presence in this segment in much of Europe and the U.S. It has been looking to establish a beachhead in the U.S. and European markets and recently bought Motorola from Google in order to get that beachhead.

Given that the audience for a developer conference typically is made up of technology geeks and influencers, the fact that they seemed to lust for the Moto 360 the most suggests that Lenovo got a huge win (assuming the acquisition goes through). It actually could use the success of the Moto 360 to become a player in the Google space but likely should consider Nvidia to get there.

Wrapping Up: It's Going to Be a Huge 4th Quarter

Based on what we saw at Google I/O, the next couple of years are going to be pretty amazing. In the fourth quarter, we should be up to our armpits in new phones and tablets that showcase what Google talked about on stage, and next year we'll have aftermarket radios that will connect far more intimately with our cars.

If Nvidia is successful with its modular initiative for in-car entertainment, then we should even have new cars that are far easier to upgrade. That suggests that if you want to buy a new phone, tablet or even car, it might be wise to wait a bit.

Google demonstrated the kind of cross-company integration that Microsoft's new CEO also is promising, and Google's success last week does suggest Microsoft is finally on the right path as well. In the end, Google did an impressive job at Google I/O, and both Nvidia and Lenovo benefited from it in particular.

Whoever prepped the folks who did the keynote at Google I/O did a particularly good job. It moved sharply, got lots of applause and was very entertaining.