A Google engineer came up with a new utility that allows you to see the list of all your labels to the right of your email list which helps you if you have a long list of email to display and do not want to scroll up or down to select a label.
Read more about this feature here.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Google to dump user data faster
Google is to halve the amount of time it stores users' personal search data. The search provider said it will anonymize identifiable IP addresses on its server logs after 9 months.
Google currently collects and stores information from each search query, holding information about the search query itself, the unique IP address and details about how a user makes their searches, such as the web browser that is being used.
The company says it needs this information to improve its various services and to help fight threats such as fraud, spam and malicious attacks, and to aid "valid legal orders" from law enforcement agencies.
In June last year, Google announced it was cutting the amount of time such data was stored from 24 to 18 months.
Google currently collects and stores information from each search query, holding information about the search query itself, the unique IP address and details about how a user makes their searches, such as the web browser that is being used.
The company says it needs this information to improve its various services and to help fight threats such as fraud, spam and malicious attacks, and to aid "valid legal orders" from law enforcement agencies.
In June last year, Google announced it was cutting the amount of time such data was stored from 24 to 18 months.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Microsoft slashes Xbox prices
Microsoft announced that it is slashing prices of its flagship gaming device, XBOX 360, in the US. This will take the price of the basic model down to $199, approximately $50 cheaper than Nintendo Wii. It said that prices for the other Xbox models will drop by $50.
The US cut follows a similar move in Japan. In late August Microsoft announced that Japanese prices of the Xbox 360 would fall in September. The cut meant an Xbox Arcade will cost 19,800 yen ($182), also cheaper than the Wii. Earlier this year, in March Microsoft cut European prices making the recommended price for the Arcade £159.99, lower than the European price for a Wii.
The US cut follows a similar move in Japan. In late August Microsoft announced that Japanese prices of the Xbox 360 would fall in September. The cut meant an Xbox Arcade will cost 19,800 yen ($182), also cheaper than the Wii. Earlier this year, in March Microsoft cut European prices making the recommended price for the Arcade £159.99, lower than the European price for a Wii.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
IE8 Beta 2 Launched
The IE team launched IE8 Beta 2 which can be downloaded at http://www.microsoft.com/ie8.
You can watch videos of IE8 at http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?mkt=en-us&user=-3161786097973413883 and http://www.microsoft.com/windows/internet-explorer/beta/videos.aspx. IE8 is a very developer friendly browser. You can download add-ons for IE8 at http://www.ieaddons.com/. Some of my favorite add ons include Web Slices and Accelerators.
Some cool features of IE8 Beta 2 include color-coded tabbed-browsing and accelerator support. Accelerators are services that you access directly from the webpage in the context of what you’re doing, letting you bookmark, define, email, map and more with a simple selection. Even your search providers are available as Accelerators. Some Accelerators provide previews so that you can view the result without having to leave the current webpage. Clicking on an Accelerator opens a new tab with the full result. You can download accelerators from http://www.ieaddons.com/en/accelerators/
Also, there is better support for when website you are viewing in a tab crashes - now instead of closing the whole IE window along with other tabs open in the same window, only the tab with the crashing website will close!
You can watch videos of IE8 at http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?mkt=en-us&user=-3161786097973413883 and http://www.microsoft.com/windows/internet-explorer/beta/videos.aspx. IE8 is a very developer friendly browser. You can download add-ons for IE8 at http://www.ieaddons.com/. Some of my favorite add ons include Web Slices and Accelerators.
Some cool features of IE8 Beta 2 include color-coded tabbed-browsing and accelerator support. Accelerators are services that you access directly from the webpage in the context of what you’re doing, letting you bookmark, define, email, map and more with a simple selection. Even your search providers are available as Accelerators. Some Accelerators provide previews so that you can view the result without having to leave the current webpage. Clicking on an Accelerator opens a new tab with the full result. You can download accelerators from http://www.ieaddons.com/en/accelerators/
Also, there is better support for when website you are viewing in a tab crashes - now instead of closing the whole IE window along with other tabs open in the same window, only the tab with the crashing website will close!
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Technology behind Live Maps
Mark Brown posted this video of the technology behind Live Maps. It shows how the mapping is planned and conducted in an airplane and then edited once they are back on the ground.
You can check out the video here.
You can check out the video here.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Microsoft adds new features to .NET
Microsoft has introduced new features in .NET with their Service Pack 1 (SP1) release of .NET Framework 3.5 and Visual Studio 2008.
Most of the stuff included in the service pack releases is new features and functionality rather than bug fixes and updates to existing feature-set. For example, .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 adds a new concept called the .NET Framework Client Profile, which enables an application to be delivered with just what is needed to install and run the app, rather than the whole framework. This can reduce the size of installation files by 86.5 percent, according a Microsoft spokesperson. Other major features in .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 include a 20 to 45 percent improvement in Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) applications and changes to the Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) to change the way data and services are accessed.
The changes in the Visual Studio 2008 SP1 and .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 are listed here.
Most of the stuff included in the service pack releases is new features and functionality rather than bug fixes and updates to existing feature-set. For example, .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 adds a new concept called the .NET Framework Client Profile, which enables an application to be delivered with just what is needed to install and run the app, rather than the whole framework. This can reduce the size of installation files by 86.5 percent, according a Microsoft spokesperson. Other major features in .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 include a 20 to 45 percent improvement in Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) applications and changes to the Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) to change the way data and services are accessed.
The changes in the Visual Studio 2008 SP1 and .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 are listed here.
Friday, August 8, 2008
Microsoft Launches SQL Server 2008
Microsoft has released a new version of SQL Server which promises to make the life of database administrators easier.
For database administrators, the addition of new management functionality makes SQL Server 2008 a great new product. The new policy management, multiple server query capability, configuration servers, and data collector/management warehouse offer powerful new abilities for database administrators who are often responsible for managing large and complex database environments with hundreds or thousands of databases on dozens or even hundreds of servers.
The new Multiple Server Interaction and Configuration Servers capabilities will come in handy when one needs to execute queries against multiple servers at the same time. One can register servers in the Management Studio and then place those servers together under a grouping. When needed to execute a policy or query against all the servers in the grouping, one can simply right-click on the grouping and do so.
Another great new management feature is the Data Collector. Database administrators often need to collect management data from a large number of servers, and many of these DBAs have created their own custom solution for doing so. The Data Collector is a built-in mechanism that eases the task of collecting management-related data. It allows you to use the SQL Server Agent and SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) to create a framework that collects and stores your data while providing error handling, auditing, and collection history.
Another new feature, Hot Add CPU, lets you add additional CPUs to a database server without affecting the availability of the databases residing on that server.
SQL Server 2008 also introduces sparse columns, which allow NULL values to be stored without taking up any physical space on the disk. Because sparse columns do not consume actual space, tables that contain sparse columns can actually exceed the 1,024 column limit.
You can access tutorials for SQL Server 2008 at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms167593.aspx and can see the details for various editions of SQL Server at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms144275.aspx
For database administrators, the addition of new management functionality makes SQL Server 2008 a great new product. The new policy management, multiple server query capability, configuration servers, and data collector/management warehouse offer powerful new abilities for database administrators who are often responsible for managing large and complex database environments with hundreds or thousands of databases on dozens or even hundreds of servers.
The new Multiple Server Interaction and Configuration Servers capabilities will come in handy when one needs to execute queries against multiple servers at the same time. One can register servers in the Management Studio and then place those servers together under a grouping. When needed to execute a policy or query against all the servers in the grouping, one can simply right-click on the grouping and do so.
Another great new management feature is the Data Collector. Database administrators often need to collect management data from a large number of servers, and many of these DBAs have created their own custom solution for doing so. The Data Collector is a built-in mechanism that eases the task of collecting management-related data. It allows you to use the SQL Server Agent and SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) to create a framework that collects and stores your data while providing error handling, auditing, and collection history.
Another new feature, Hot Add CPU, lets you add additional CPUs to a database server without affecting the availability of the databases residing on that server.
SQL Server 2008 also introduces sparse columns, which allow NULL values to be stored without taking up any physical space on the disk. Because sparse columns do not consume actual space, tables that contain sparse columns can actually exceed the 1,024 column limit.
You can access tutorials for SQL Server 2008 at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms167593.aspx and can see the details for various editions of SQL Server at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms144275.aspx
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