Google Talk chat in Orkut

From the day Google Talk was available on Gmail, I was waiting to see it on Orkut. Google fooled Orkut users with the Google Talk-Orkut integration which was actually just a preview of Gtalk status in Orkut. I was thinking this as an initial step towards a better integration but nothing happened yet, may be this news will give a wake-up call to Google.

As a temporary consolation I found this gadget for Firefox, but this option should be officially enabled in Orkut asap!

Long interval...

The last post I did on this blog was in April! Like this one, that was an attempt to restart the habit of writing on this page!

During this period- I have been denied permission to enter into US once (you doesn't seem fit yet!), I have worked hard and have enjoyed it, some of my colleagues and roomies have left this place, I have moved one place forward in the family queue of unmarried eligible bachelors, another CAT year is over and I am probably thinking about a location change! But in totality, everything remains the same!!

I visited Kerala once during this time, just after three months of my last one making it the shortest duration I have been away from my home after coming here. Kerala has not changed much, except that now the ruling party is the one with red flag. I had thought I am becoming more and more ignorant about the state, but realized that it is not the case. I am not the only one who is not aware of the ministers ruling the state, people living there seemed to know little about them. All the projects announce by the dethroned Congress government seemed to be re-launched, some in another name altogether! And the yesteryear's hero as leader of opposition has become a zero in Kerala's chief minister. He was still trying to get into his old clothes, last heard was him blaming the UDF government for the spread of Chikungunya in Alappuzha.

I read some really good books in the meantime. Anne Frank's Diary, The Fifth Mountain, The Fountainhead, and To Kill a Mocking Bird being some of them. Latter is the one i liked most.

Google has done some really amazing things during this time. I have integrated my blogger account with my Google account while writing this, thus releiving from the hazzle of remembering one more id-password. I have started adding my documents to google docs, and have started reading blogs and news from my enhanced and not-anymore-beta Google reader. I would like to conclude this post here, hope to be more active on this page in future!

Yahoo "Dot" ID

Yahoomail has come with a secondary email address feature. You can create a new Yahoo Id (with a dot if you want) and use this in place of the existing one. But both these IDs will have same account. Read more here and create the ID here. Does this has anything to do with the new version?

Yahoo Search My Web 2.0

At last I am lucky to find a user friendly book marking tool for web pages.

My Web 2.0 feature of Yahoo Search is a new service from Yahoo, where you can bookmark and tag web pages, as you find them through search. I have been using Yahoo Bookmarks and was not happy with it, copy-pasting the link was a tedious job. It was easy shifting service, because of the import feature through which I could transfer all my links from Yahoo Bookmarks to My Web. And to add to that there is the option to share these links with my community, which is promptly integrated with Yahoo 360. Good Enough!

Google Reader

I was finding it difficult to browse through blogs to check if they have been updated, finally decided to subscribe to Bloglines one week back.

It seems Google Labs' latest offering is a similar feed aggregator named Google Reader.

Bloglines is better as of now, but Google Reader is still in its Beta infancy!

War of the Worlds: Internet Version

Bill Gates must be a bewildered man!

I am sure he is very busy now-a-days pondering on how to crack down Google! Not only because MSN search has not become popular, also because his company Microsoft is losing employees who are leaving to join Google.

Meanwhile Google has launched two new products within the last one month. Google talk is a messaging service similar to MSN or Yahoo messengers. But its edge is in the VoIP integration and the simple interface. I have not used it, but those who used the voice messaging told the clarity is very good. Meanwhile, Yahoo has released version 7.0 of its messenger which is voice enabled. Buzz is that Microsoft is trying to buy some VoIP or P2P company; meanwhile eBay has bought Skype, the premier company in this segment.

Blogsearch is an add-on to Google's search service, which is dedicated only for searching blogs. It is anticipated that the tool will make blogs more popular, as it will be easier to find blogs of an individual’s interest.

Meanwhile Yahoo is trying to popularize Yahoo360, its blogging and networking service, through Yahoo messenger. It is also trying to integrate Flickr with rest of its services by enabling login with a yahoo id. Flickr, which was bought recently by Yahoo, is a photo sharing service. User can add friends or family as contacts and set privileges for the photos to decide who should see them and who should not. There is a provision to create groups similar to yahoogroups, but only to share photos. I think it should be integrated with yahoogroups so that all the existing members can use it without registering again to the groups in Flickr, I believe they have plans to do this. Most of these services are also provided by Orkut, similar service from Google, which has recently started integrating it with Gmail login. But Orkut site has always some problem or the other. Yes, it’s still in "beta" version, like most other services from Google, but then beta is not an excuse which can be used for years.

As end users, all we need is some patience and the curiosity to try out these new products. By the time all this predictions of popularity and success in between the product wars of these companies consolidate, we shall have a better cyber world. Till then we shall wait keeping our fingers crossed.

Posting from my Inbox

My company has blocked internet access on desktop, so the delay in posting.....But this made me to test the blog via email feature of blogger and I find the results satisfying...So thinking of posting from my mailbox....Till then adieus.....

In Top 8...

My statistics tracking website for this page, YTrack rates this blog as the 8th best site in its internet ranking category.

Wondering how they rate the sites, because this page has got only 10 hits as per YTrack! I have also received a mail from YTrack, asking me to pay for their services. Since I am not that rich and since the same services are available free elsewhere, I will have to stop using Ytrack. Thanks YTrack and Goodbye!!

Disclaimer

I was doubtful about the need of a disclaimer on this page. But, not after reading this news about an employee of Google being sacked for writing about his job and the company in his personal blog!

Mark Jen, formerly employed with Microsoft, was terminated after 11 days of employment with Google, reason being his blog named Ninetyninezeros. There are other people too who were terminated from employment because of their blogs. And the idea of blog censorship is gaining support in United States.

True! All this is happening in United States. But being employed in the Indian subsidiary of a software company which has strong ethics and policies related to the use of web, and to be on the safer side, I have decided to add a Disclaimer on this blog.

Yagoohoo!gle

When Yahoo! and Google are competing each other, somebody has come up with an integration of their search services. This site, named Yagoohoo!gle is gaining popularity as per the owner's blog.

Meanwhile, Google has come up with a new product! Google says, it is a drink "designed to maximize your surfing efficiency by making you more intelligent, and less thirsty" and has named it Google Gulp. From searching to blogging to e-mailing to fooding!! What's next?

Yahoo! has launched the beta version of their new product called Yahoo! 360°. Just like a Gmail account, invitations are required to get an account. I got hold of one and had big expectations while logging in! But this one seems like a Yahoo! integration of Orkut and Blogger, both owned by Google.