About Swine Flu (H1N1 - Influenza)

		What are the symptoms? Swine flu symptoms are similar to the symptoms of regular flu and include fever of over 100.4°F, fatigue, lack of appetite, and cold. Some people with swine flu have also reported runny nose, sore throat, nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea. Nearly everyone with flu has at least two of these symptoms. So, how do you know if you have flu or just cold? There is one clue: when you have the flu, you feel flu symptoms sooner than you would cold symptoms, and they come on with much greater intensity. With the flu, you may feel very weak and fatigued for up to 2 or 3 weeks. You'll have muscle aches and periods of chills and sweats as fever comes and goes. You may also have a stuffy or runny nose, headache, and sore throat. Can I compare flu symptoms with cold symptoms? Yes. The following chart can help you compare flu symptoms with cold symptoms. Use it to lean the differences and similarities between flu and cold symptoms. Then, if you get flu symptoms, call your doctor and ask about an antiviral drug.
		Symptoms Cold Flu Fever Rare Characteristic, high 100-102 degrees F); lasts 3-4 days Headache Rare Prominent General aches, pains Slight Usual; often severe Fatigue, Weakness Quite mild Can last up to 2-3 weeks Extreme Exhaustion Never Early and prominent Stuffy Nose Common Sometimes Chest Discomfort,Cough Mild to moderate; hacking cough Common; can become severe
		You cannot confirm if you have swine flu just based on your symptoms. Like seasonal flu, pandemic swine flu can cause neurologic symptoms in children. These events are rare, but, as cases associated with seasonal flu have shown, they can be very severe and often fatal. Doctors may offer a rapid flu test, but what you need to understand is a negative result doesn't necessarily mean you don't have the flu. Only lab tests can definitively show whether you've got swine flu. State health departments can do these tests. Source: WebMD
		What should you do immediately? Those of you who have travelled from the affected countries in the past ten days and show symptoms swine flu like fever, cough, sore throat and difficulty in breathing should immediately contact the telephone number given below or visit the nearby Government Hospital. Important contact numbers: Outbreak Monitoring Cell (Control Room, NICD): 011-23921401 Websites: www.mohfw.nic.in and www.nicd.nic.in You can also contact a toll free number 2392 1401 at the National Institute of Communicable Disease Contact number for each cities: Bangalore BIAL Swine Flu Center - 91-80-22001490 SDS TUBERCULOSIS & RAJIV GANDHI INSTITUTE OF CHEST DISEASES(Govt. of Karnataka), Hosur Road, Bangalore - 560029 Helpline No: 91-80-26631923 Chennai Communicable Disease Hospital, 87, T.H. Road, Tondiarpet, Chennai, Tamil Nadu Hyderabad Govt. General and Chest Diseases Hospital, Erragadda , Hyderabad Hospital Helpline Number - 040-23814939 Kolkata Beliaghata Infectious Diseases Hospital, 57, Beliaghata Main Road, Kolkata Mumbai Kasturba Hospital, Arthur Road, Sane Guruji Marg, Mumbai 400011 Ph: 022- 23083901 / 23092458 / 23000889 New Delhi Yellow Fever Quarantine Centre, Near AAI Residential Colony, New Delhi Ph: 91-11-25652129 Influenza Ward, Ward no 5, Second Floor, New Building, RML Hospital, Delhi-1 RML- 91-11-24525211,23404328,23365525- Ext 4328 Source: Swine Flu India website	Click Here for Other More Info & Downloads on Swine Flu
		Who is at risk? Those who are more at risk from becoming seriously ill with swine flu are people with: chronic (long-term) lung disease, including people who have had drug treatment for their asthma within the past three years, chronic heart disease, chronic kidney disease, chronic liver disease, chronic neurological disease (neurological disorders include motor neurone disease, Parkinson's disease and multiple sclerosis), suppressed immune systems (whether caused by disease or treatment), diabetes, pregnant women, people aged 65 or older, and young children under five. Source: National Health Service, UK website
		How does it spread? The new swine flu virus is highly contagious, that is it spreads from person to person. The virus is spread through the droplets that come out of the nose or mouth when someone coughs or sneezes. If someone coughs or sneezes and they do not cover it, those droplets can spread about one metre (3ft). If you are very nearby you might breathe them in. Or, if someone coughs or sneezes into their hand, those droplets and the virus within them are easily transferred to surfaces that the person touches, such as door handles, hand rails, telephones and keyboards. If you touch these surfaces and touch your face, the virus can enter your system, and you can become infected. Source: National Health Service, UK website
		Can it be prevented? Influenza antiviral drugs also can be used to prevent influenza when they are given to a person who is not ill, but who has been or may be near a person with swine influenza. When used to prevent the flu, antiviral drugs are about 70% to 90% effective. When used for prevention, the number of days that they should be used will vary depending on a person's particular situation. Follow this general procedure to reduce the risk of catching or spreading the virus, you should: Cover your mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing, using a tissue Throw the tissue away quickly and carefully Wash your hands regularly with soap and water Clean hard surfaces (like door handles and remote controls) frequently with a normal cleaning product Keep away from others as much as possible. This is to keep from making others sick. Do not go to work or school while ill Stay home for at least 24 hours after fever is gone, except to seek medical care or for other necessities. (Fever should be gone without the use of a fever-reducing medicine.) Drink clear fluids (such as water, broth, sports drinks, electrolyte beverages for infants) to keep from being dehydrated Wear a facemask – if available and tolerable – when sharing common spaces with other household members to help prevent spreading the virus to others. Source: CDC, National Health Service, UK website
		Will it help to wear a mask? Information on the effectiveness of facemasks and respirators for decreasing the risk of influenza infection in community settings is extremely limited. So, it is difficult to assess their potential effectiveness in decreasing the risk of Swine Flu virus transmission in these settings. However, a well-fitted, FDA-approved mask together with other preventive measures MAY reduce the risk of contracting the flu. Those who are sick or caring for someone who is ill should consider using a mask or respirator if leaving the house becomes necessary. Source: CDC
		What precautions should one take at home? Two things - soap and water can reduce the chance of infection by 30 per cent. All you need to do is keep washing your hand with soap and water frequently. Wash hands frequently with soap and water or use alcohol-based hand cleaner when soap and water are not available. Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth Eat healthy: Proteins are essential to help your body maintain and build strength. Lean meat, poultry, fish, legumes, dairy, eggs, and nuts and seeds are good sources of protein. The Food and Drug Administration recommends that adults eat 50 grams of protein per day. Pregnant and nursing women need more. By eating foods high in protein, we also get the benefit of other healing nutrients such as vitamins B6 and B12, both of which contribute to a healthy immune system. Vitamin B6 is widely available in foods, including protein foods such as turkey and beans as well as potatoes, spinach, and enriched cereal grains. Proteins such as meats, milk, and fish also contain vitamin B12, a powerful immune booster. Minerals such as selenium and zinc work to keep the immune system strong. These minerals are found in protein rich foods such as beans, nuts, meat, and poultry. Exercise: Regular exercise may help prevent the flu. According to recent findings, when moderate exercise is repeated on a near daily basis, there is a cumulative immune-enhancing effect. That is, your strong immune system can fight flu better. When you exercise, your white blood cells -- the blood cells that fight infections in the body -- travel through your body more quickly, fighting bacteria and viruses (such as flu) more efficiently. To maintain good health, experts recommend at least 30 minutes of aerobic activity such as walking, swimming, biking, or running each day. Source: Flu India website, CDC, WebMD
		What precautions should one take at schools? Avoid close contact with people who are sick People who are sick with an influenza-like illness should stay home and keep away from others as much as possible, including avoiding travel, for at least 24 hours after fever is gone except to get medical care or for other necessities. (Fever should be gone without the use of fever-reducing medicine). Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when coughing or sneezing Wash your hands often Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth Source: CDC Is it safe to travel? Avoid traveling unnecessarily. However, if you must travel, check how the country you're going to handles swine flu. Although, the WHO doesn't recommend travel restrictions, many countries have set up their own H1N1 policies, and some travelers have been screened or quarantined in other countries because of swine flu concerns. Source: WebMD.com

Very Important for Every PC USER

During a recent visit to an optician, one of my friends was told of an exercise for the eyes by a specialist doctor that he termed as 20-20-20 ." It is apt for all of us, who spend long hours at our desks, looking at the computer screen. I Thought I'd share it with you. 20-20-20

Step I :-
After every 20 minutes of looking into the computer screen, turn your head and try to look at any object placed at least 20 feet away. This changes the focal length of your eyes, a must-do for the tired eyes.
 
Step II :-
Try and blink your eyes for 20 times in succession, to moisten them.
 
Step III :-
Time permitting of course, one should walk 20 paces after every 20 minutes of sitting in one particular posture. Helps blood circulation for the entire body.

FAQ - Swine Flu (H1N1 Virus Influenza)

  

What can I do to protect myself from catching influenza A(H1N1)?
  The main route of transmission of the new influenza A(H1N1) virus seems to be similar to seasonal influenza, via droplets that are expelled by speaking, sneezing or coughing. You can prevent getting infected by avoiding close contact with people who show influenza-like symptoms (trying to maintain a distance of about 1 meter if possible) and taking the following measures:
  

avoid touching your mouth and nose; 
  
clean hands thoroughly with soap and water, or cleanse them with an alcohol-based hand rub on a regular basis (especially if touching the mouth and nose, or surfaces that are potentially contaminated); 
  
avoid close contact with people who might be ill; 
  reduce the time spent in crowded settings if possible; 
improve airflow in your living space by opening windows; 
  
practise good health habits including adequate sleep, eating nutritious food, and keeping physically active.
  
What about using a mask? What does WHO recommend?
If you are not sick you do not have to wear a mask. 
  If you are caring for a sick person, you can wear a mask when you are in close contact with the ill person and dispose of it immediately after contact, and cleanse your hands thoroughly afterwards.
If you are sick and must travel or be around others, cover your mouth and nose.
  Using a mask correctly in all situations is essential. Incorrect use actually increases the chance of spreading infection.
How do I know if I have influenza A(H1N1)?
  You will not be able to tell the difference between seasonal flu and influenza A(H1N1) without medical help. Typical symptoms to watch for are similar to seasonal viruses and include fever, cough, headache, body aches, sore throat and runny nose. Only your medical practitioner and local health authority can confirm a case of influenza A(H1N1). 
  
What should I do if I think I have the illness?
If you feel unwell, have high fever, cough or sore throat: 
  

stay at home and keep away from work, school or crowds; 
  
rest and take plenty of fluids; 
  cover your nose and mouth when coughing and sneezing and, if using tissues, make sure you dispose of them carefully. Clean your hands immediately after with soap and water or cleanse them with an alcohol-based hand rub; 
  
if you do not have a tissue close by when you cough or sneeze, cover your mouth as much as possible with the crook of your elbow; 
  
use a mask to help you contain the spread of droplets when you are around others, but be sure to do so correctly; 
  
inform family and friends about your illness and try to avoid contact with other people; 
  
If possible, contact a health professional before traveling to a health facility to discuss whether a medical examination is necessary.
  
Should I take an antiviral now just in case I catch the new virus? 
  No. You should only take an antiviral, such as oseltamivir or zanamivir, if your health care provider advises you to do so. Individuals should not buy medicines to prevent or fight this new influenza without a prescription, and they should exercise caution in buying antivirals over the Internet. 
  
What about breastfeeding? Should I stop if I am ill?
No, not unless your health care provider advises it. Studies on other influenza infections show that breastfeeding is most likely protective for babies - it passes on helpful maternal immunities and lowers the risk of respiratory disease. Breastfeeding provides the best overall nutrition for babies and increases their defense factors to fight illness. 
  
When should someone seek medical care?
A person should seek medical care if they experience shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, or if a fever continues more than three days. For parents with a young child who is ill, seek medical care if a child has fast or labored breathing, continuing fever or convulsions (seizures).
  
Supportive care at home - resting, drinking plenty of fluids and using a pain reliever for aches - is adequate for recovery in most cases. (A non-aspirin pain reliever should be used by children and young adults because of the risk of Reye's syndrome.)
  
Should I go to work if I have the flu but am feeling OK?
No. Whether you have influenza A(H1N1) or a seasonal influenza, you should stay home and away from work through the duration of your symptoms. This is a precaution that can protect your work colleagues and others.
  
Can I travel?
If you are feeling unwell or have symptoms of influenza, you should not travel. If you have any doubts about your health, you should check with your health care provider.
  

Swine Flu and Tulsi

Wonder herb Tulsi can not only keep the dreaded swine flu at bay but also help in fast recovery of an afflicted person, Ayurvedic practitioners claim.

"The anti-flu property of Tulsi has been discovered by medical experts across the world quite recently. Tulsi improves the body's overall defense mechanism including its ability to fight viral diseases. It was successfully used in combating Japanese Encephalitis and the same theory applies to swine flu," Dr U K Tiwari, a herbal medicine practitioner says. Apart from acting as a preventive medicine in case of swine flu, Tulsi can help the patient recover faster.

"Even when a person has already contracted swine flu, Tulsi can help in speeding up the recovery process and also help in strengthening the immune system of the body," he claims. Dr Bhupesh Patel, a lecturer at Gujarat Ayurved University, Jamnagar is also of the view that Tulsi can play an important role in controlling swine flu.

"Tulsi can control swine flu and it should be taken in fresh form. Juice or paste of at least 20-25 medium sized leaves should be consumed twice a day on an empty stomach."

"This increases the resistance of the body and, thereby, reduces the chances of inviting swine flu," believes Patel. When asked as to what extent Tulsi should be used in treating swine flu, the lecturer said, "It all depends upon the intensity of the disease. And the dose is administered accordingly." Dr Narendra Singh, who worked with the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics at the erstwhile King George Medical College, Lucknow, also believes that Tulsi can help in containing swine flu.

"Three varieties of Tulsi leaves - Krishna (Ocimum sanctum), Vana (Ocimum gratissimum) and Katuki (Picrorriza kurroa) improve cell mediated immunity. These are anti-viral agents and improve body's resistance against various diseases including swine flu," he said.

Moreover, the practitioners said taking Tulsi is safe as it has no side effects and can be taken along with other medicines.

Very Important Note: Despite everything claim, It is advisable to remain under medical supervision of a qualified and experienced Doctor/Hospital.

MOZILLA FIREFOX KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS

How to navigate the internet at lightning speed

Mozilla Firefox is a great browser, but one of its greatest features is one that few people bother to use - keyboard shortcuts. Spending just a few minutes learning the most common shortcuts can greatly increase the speed at which you browse web pages.

 

Entering URLs

To go to http://www.google.com, for example, press Ctrl+L, type "google," and then press Ctrl+Enter.

Action	Shortcut
Location Bar	Ctrl+L
Automatic .com Address	Ctrl+Enter
Automatic .net Address	Shift+Enter
Automatic .org Address	Ctrl+Shift+Enter

 

Basic Navigation

You can access each of the navigation toolbar commands using keyboard shortcuts. They are listed below in the order in which they appear on the toolbar.

Action	Shortcut
Previous Page	Alt+Left
Next Page	Alt+Right
Refresh Page	Ctrl+R
Home	Alt+Home
Stop	Esc
Location Bar	Ctrl+L
Bookmark Current Page	Ctrl+D
Search Engine	Ctrl+K

 

Tabbed Browsing

In order to open a new (blank) tab, press Ctrl+T. To close a tab, press Ctrl+W. If you closed a tab by mistake and would like to recover it, press Ctrl+Shift+T.

If you are entering an address in the location bar, and would like to open it in a new tab, press Alt+Enter (or Alt plus any of the three combinations listed in the "Entering URLs" section). If you are browsing a page and see a link you would like to open in a new tab, hold Ctrl while clicking the link with your mouse (Ctrl+Click), press Ctrl+Enter after you Tab onto the link, or middle click the link. (Doing each of these will open the link in the background. In order to open the link in the foreground, also hold Shift during each of these shortcuts.)

If you have multiple tabs, you can directly access the first tab using Ctrl+1, the second tab using Ctrl+2, and so on up to Ctrl+8 (Ctrl+9 takes you to the last tab, regardless of its number). To move from one tab to the next, or one tab to the previous, press Ctrl+PageUp or Ctrl+PageDown.

Finally, to start a whole new group of tabs (that is, a new window), press Ctrl+N.

Action	Shortcut
New Tab	Ctrl+T
Close Tab	Ctrl+W
Recover Closed Tab	Ctrl+Shift+T
Open Address in New Tab	Alt+Enter
Open Link in New Tab (Background)	Ctrl+Click Ctrl+Enter MiddleClick
Open Link in New Tab (Foreground)	Ctrl+Shift+Click Ctrl+Shift+Enter Shift+MiddleClick
Select Tab	Ctrl+(1 to 8)
Select Last Tab	Ctrl+9
Next Tab	Ctrl+PageDown
Previous Tab	Ctrl+PageUp
New Window	Ctrl+N

 

Searching Page Text

To find a specific word or phrase in the text of a page, press Ctrl+F. To use the various search commands listed in the search bar, such as to find the "Next" instance of the word, press Alt and the letter underlined in the corresponding command. In the case of "Next" word, it would be Alt+N.

Action	Shortcut
Find	Ctrl+F
Next Result	Alt+N
Previous Result	Alt+P
Highlight All	Alt+A
Match Case	Alt+C

 

Miscellaneous

 

Action	Shortcut
Bookmarks	Ctrl+B
History	Ctrl+H
Downloads	Ctrl+J
Zoom In	Ctrl++
Zoom Out	Ctrl+-
Reset Zoom	Ctrl+0
Full Screen	F11
Advance to Next Link	Tab
Help	F1

 

Notes

This list is not exhaustive because I've omitted, for brevity, most of the obvious shortcuts (e.g., PageDown), redundant shortcuts (e.g., Alt+D), and esoteric shortcuts (e.g., Ctrl+Shift+D).

These shortcuts work in both Firefox 2 and Firefox 3 for both Windows and Linux. (However, there do exist shortcuts which will only work in one version or operating system.) Most of these shortcuts will work in Mac OS after substituting Cmd for Ctrl, Option for Alt, and Return for Enter.

For a more complete list of shortcuts, see the official Mozilla website.

How to Transfer Mails from one Email Account to another for Free

There can be several reasons why you may want to switch email service providers.

Reason #1. Your existing email address gets too much spam so you plan to dump the old account and switch to a new email address (a form of email bankruptcy).

Reason #2. You are leaving your existing job for higher studies and need to transfer all personal emails from the Microsoft Exchange server to your new university email account.

Reason #3. Your ISP's email service isn't reliable and you therefore plan to move to a free web based email service like Gmail, Yahoo Mail, Hotmail, etc.

Reason #4. You think the new email service from XYZ Inc. offers more features than your existing mail provider and hence want to make the move.

Moving Emails from One Account to Another

This illustration will help you visualize how to transfer email messages across the three most popular web email services. The transfer will happen online and you just need to specify the credentials (user name & password) of your old email account (from where you want to move message out) and your new email address (where you want to move messages in).

Moving to Windows Live Hotmail

Windows Live Hotmail is integrated with TrueSwitch so you can easily transfer emails from Yahoo Mail, AOL, Gmail, Live.com, .Mac, etc. to your shiny new Hotmail address. The same service may also be used for copying old email from an existing Hotmail account to a new Hotmail address.

Moving to Yahoo Mail

Like Windows Live Hotmail, Yahoo! Mail too provides integration with TrueSwitch so you can easy copy mails from Gmail, Hotmail, AOL, Juno, Rocket Mail, etc. into your Yahoo! account. With TrueSwitch, you can also copy mails from one Yahoo! inbox to another without upgrading to Yahoo! Mail Plus.

Moving to Gmail / Google Apps

Gmail (or Google Apps for Email) has a built-in Mail Fetcher feature that lets you download email messages from 5 different email accounts that support POP access. You may therefore use this feature to move your old Hotmail or AOL messages into Gmail as both these service provide free POP3 access.

The migration from Yahoo! Mail to Gmail is slightly tricky but possible. Keep reading.

Trick: Move emails from Yahoo Mail to Gmail or Outlook without POP

The free account of Yahoo Mail doesn't provide IMAP or POP3 access so you can't move these emails into Gmail or a desktop client like Microsoft Outlook.

The Yahoo! Mail Plus upgrade will add POP3 access to you account at $20 per year but if you want to save some money, here's an alternate but simple trick:

1. Create a new account at Windows Live Hotmail and fetch all your Yahoo! mails into this account using the free TrueSwitch Service.

2. Now that your mails are inside Hotmail, you can setup POP3 configuration to fetch those Yahoo messages into Gmail via Hotmail.

Migrating Emails Away from your ISP Account

TrueSwitch mentioned above supports all popular ISPs including Comcast, Verizon, CableVision, AT&T, etc. but if your ISP is not in the list and you don't have the time to configure your email client for POP3 or IMAP access, check out Yippie Move.

It's a online email transfer service similar to TrueSwitch but supports an even larger number of email service providers including the .edu addresses of certain colleges and universities in US. With YippieMove, you can choose folders (or labels in Gmail) that you want to copy to the new location without having to move the entire mailbox. The service is quick and easy but costs around $15 per email account.

Copying emails from Microsoft Exchange / Outlook

Every organization has a different policy with respect to corporate email so check with the administration if your Exchange service offers POP3 or IMAP access - if yes, you can easily transfer messages into any of the free web mail accounts directly as listed above. Also see these guides:

• Export Outlook email to your Gmail Account
• Copy Outlook Mail to Google Apps
• Transfer Mail to Hotmail via Outlook Connector

Email Transfer Complete? The Next Step

Now that all your message have moved to your new email address, you can set up a vacation responder in your old email account to auto-inform contacts about your new email address. Also check this guide on how to manage multiple email addresses.

Related tip: Get Read Receipts For Web Email

An SEO Checklist for your Website

Adam Lasnik, along with members of the Search Quality team at Google, picked up a couple of audience websites and reviewed them live to provide feedback that will help these sites become more accessible and ultimately improve visibility in search engines.

Following are the key areas of a website that were examined during the Site Clinic for potential issue and you too can follow this simple checklist to improve upon your own site or blog.

1. If there are pull-down menus on your website, they should be accessible even without JavaScript - this is all the more important because a lot of mobile phone browsers either don't support JavaScript and have that disabled so save on data costs.

2. The contact information on your website should be available in plain text and always provide a link from the home page.

3. Make sure a robots.txt file exists on the root directory.

4. The logo image of your site should have proper ALT text - good for graphic accessibility as well as search.

5. Always check for URL canonicalization else you may splitting your PageRank across different pages and this may also lead to tracking issues in Google Analytics. Here's how to check for canonicalization:

5a. Type your domain with and without www and both links should point to the same URL. So http://labnol.org and http://www.labnol.org will both redirect to http://www.labnol.org/

5b. If you have index.html, index.html and index.php pages on the server, they too should redirect to your preferred domain.

6. Run a query like site:abc.com Viagra to make sure that hackers have not inserted spam links in your content.

7. Always have different feeds for different topics. So if you have a blog, you can have individual feeds for all the categories.

8. Comment moderation in blogs is very essential because if too many comments on a site end up linking to bad neighborhoods, Google may have problems with your site.

9. Google (probably) doesn't use META description tags for determining organic ranks but it does read this information to know what a page is all about.

10. Adam recommended the following TITLE structure - "Page Title - Category - Site Name"

11. Use the site: and intitle: operator in Google to determine that all web pages on your site have your company name. This is because when people bookmark your pages in the browser or social sites, the title of your site will also be added to the bookmark.

12. Don't repeat keywords and synonyms in your content.

13. The URL structure doesn't matter from the perspective of search but clean URLs can give users a clue about the target landing page and hence may get more clicks in search results.

14. If doesn't matter if have categories or directory names in URLs - just make sure that you follow a consistent URL structure across the website.

15. Don't use the same images across multiple pages of your site. You should consider including targeted pictures that are very relevant to the content of the page where you are embedding them.

16. Use the Enhance 404 Widget in Google Webmaster Tools to embed a search box on your 404 pages.

17. Don't do a soft 404 as it might penalize your site in Google.

You can easily check this by observing the HTTP headers. Install Firebug in Firefox, type a URL that points to some non-existent page of your site (e.g. labnol.org/abc.html) and see the response code - it should always say 404 Not Found and not 200 OK or something similar.

18. Always block pages (via robots.txt) from Google that contain search results as users don't want to see another search page in Google search results and this may even invite a penalty.

19. Good links are like votes. They are given consciously.

Web 3.0 Concepts Explained in Plain English (Presentations)

This slide neatly sums up the main differences between Web 1.0, Web 2.0 and Web 3.0.

Web 1.0 - That Geocities & Hotmail era was all about read-only content and static HTML websites. People preferred navigating the web through link directories of Yahoo! and dmoz.

Web 2.0 - This is about user-generated content and the read-write web. People are consuming as well as contributing information through blogs or sites like Flickr, YouTube, Digg, etc. The line dividing a consumer and content publisher is increasingly getting blurred in the Web 2.0 era.

Web 3.0 - This will be about semantic web (or the meaning of data), personalization (e.g. iGoogle), intelligent search and behavioral advertising among other things.

If that sounds confusing, check out some of these excellent presentations that help you understand Web 3.0 in simple English. Each takes a different approach to explain Web 3.0 and the last presentation uses an example of a "postage stamp" to explain the "semantic web".

FOR MORE INFORMATION CLICK HERE

Edit Google Documents Directly in Microsoft Office & Save Your Changes Online

Oudi Antebi, a former marketing manager at Microsoft, has developed an awesome plug-in that turns your copy of Microsoft Office into an offline Google Docs editor. You can save your Office documents directly to Google Docs or directly open your online documents in Microsoft Office programs for reading and writing.

Here's a quick tour on how you can integrate Google Docs with Microsoft Office via Offisync.

Step 1: The plugin adds a new toolbar to your Microsoft Office suite of applications (both Office 2003 & Office 2007 are supported). You can then log-in to either Google Docs or your Google Apps Account or both.

Step 2: Once logged-in, you can browse through the list of your existing Google Docs documents from within Microsoft Office as if you were browsing files stored on the local file system.

The plugin implements some sort of a filter so you will only see .doc files inside Word, .xls inside Excel and ppt presentations inside PowerPoint. If you have too may documents in the root folder of Google Docs, you can use the built-in search function to limit that document list to a small set.

Step 3: Now click the document name in Google Docs to open that file in the corresponding Microsoft Office application. A limitation is that you can't download multiple documents from Google Docs in one go.

Step 4: If you are editing an existing Google Docs document in Office or need to upload a new document from Microsoft Office to your Google Docs account, simply hit the "Save" button and the modified copy of the document will be saved to your online Google account.

Another advantage is that you can share Google Docs documents with multiple people right from Microsoft Office. Just specify the email addresses of your contacts along with permissions (read-only or read-write).

It can't get easier than this. And since Google Docs now supports the new Open XML format, you can also save Office 2007 format files (pptx, docs, xlsx) via the same plugin.

Office Live Workspaces will also be integrated with Microsoft Office 2010 but until that is released, this plugin is a great choice. Also check this detailed Google Docs Guide for more tips and tricks.

Related: Sync Google Docs with Microsoft Office

Know What People Are Saying about a Web Page

If you want to know what people are currently saying about any web page on the Internet, you can either copy-paste the link (URL) of that page in a blog search engine like Technorati or, if you need something more instant, try any of the following bookmarklets.

These bookmarklets will help you know which other sites are linking to the web page that you're viewing and the best part is that you don't have leave the page that you're on.

See what others are saying about a web page

ConvoTrack This! - This bookmarklet will pull posts from Digg, Twitter, FriendFeed,  Reddit, Hacker News and any other blog that mentions the article and the reaction will load it in neat sidebar.

Convotrack provides a permalink to every URL (see example)  but if you don't want to install bookmarklets, simply prepend "http://convotrack.com/" to any web page URL and the conversations will still appear in the sidebar (see example).

Bit.ly This! While bit.ly is a URL shortening service, their sidebar bookmarklet can do much more that shorten lengthy links.

Bit.ly will show you conversations from Twitter, FriendFeed and blog comments that reference the page you're currently on. You can also share the short link of that page page through Twitter, Facebook or email from the Sidebar itself.

TBuzz This! Unlike the previous bookmarklets that track reactions from multiple sources, TBuzz (short for Twitter Buzz) is limited to tracking mentions on Twitter only but the advantage here is that it TBuzz doubles as a Twitter client as well.

 

TBuzz uses the OAuth protocol to log into Twitter so you don't have to share your password anywhere.

Microsoft is Getting Things Right This Time

Geeks and some part of the tech world consider it cool to hate everything that comes out of the Microsoft campus. Let me share a few instances.

Microsoft develops Vista and the vocal crowd immediately dubs it a failed product although a majority of these people may have never used the software. Microsoft releases a new "I'm PC" ad campaign and that provides some more fodder to *nix nerds because the ad agency, who Microsoft hired to produce these ads, probably made them on a Mac. Microsoft adds instant messaging in Hotmail and blog headlines scream to suggest that Microsoft is doing this "ages after Google". These are the same people who get excited when Gmail adds a "delete" button though that thing has been present in Outlook since birth.

Anyway, it seems that the age-old trend to criticize everything "MSFT" is on the decline and that's because there are some things that have gone right for Microsoft in the consumer technology space in recent times:

1. The Laptop Hunter Ads - Their previous campaign featuring Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates got slammed but the new Laptop Hunter ads are proving very effective especially among the 18-34 year olds.

Apple did a great job of putting Microsoft on the defensive. It made them look old, stodgy, complicated to use and unhip. But Microsoft has started to hit back, and younger folks are more cost-focused. Microsoft's so-called value perception has risen steadily since the campaign began in March, while Apple's has fallen - Adage

2. Windows Internet Explorer 8 - IE 8 may not be enough to stop the rise of Firefox but some of it's unique features like Web Slices, Accelerators, InPrivate browsing and visual search suggestions have received positive attention.

Overall, Internet Explorer 8 is an impressive package, and while it lacks the raw speed of Chrome, the flashiness of Safari 4, and the extendibility of Firefox, it does offer reliability and some good features, which could be enough to win it some fans. It's certainly the best version of IE in a long time - ITPro

3. Windows 7 - Technically, Windows 7 may have lot of things in common with Windows Vista but it's better, faster and requires less resources.

In general, I have found Windows 7 a pleasure to use. There are a few drawbacks, but my preliminary verdict on Windows 7 is positive. Even in its preliminary form, Windows 7 looks very promising, and could well help expunge the bad reputation of Vista. - Walt Mossberg

For decades, Microsoft's primary strategy has been to put out something mediocre, and then refine, refine, refine, no matter how long and no matter what it costs, until it succeeds. That's what's exciting about the prospect of Windows 7. It's Windows Vista — with a whole heck of a lot of refinement. - David Pogue

4. Windows Live Mesh - This allows you to synchronize file and files across multiple devices include Windows PCs, Mac computers and mobile phones. It's one of our favorite web applications and others agree as well.

Live Mesh is both exciting and useful. It erases years of doubt about Microsoft's understanding of the computing industry and how it's changing. It proves that the company is no longer interested in simply milking its past successes. Most important, for users, it provides a hopeful glimpse at a future in which heterogeneous devices and environments will no longer be islands of functionality that are hard or impossible to connect - Paul Thurrott

5. Zune HD - The only advantage of having a Zune MP3 player vis-a-vis an Apple iPod is that the former device lets you tune in to FM radio on the go. That perception is likely to change with the launch of Zune HD that features a Wi-Fi enabled touch-screen browser and support for HD radio.

The thing kind of rocks. In your hand the Zune HD has a nice, solid feel, with good heft to it and a surprisingly thin profile. The OLED screen looks absolutely stunning — even at severe viewing angles, colors were super bright, edges were crisp, and text looked beautiful. While the OS isn't finished, we didn't notice a single hiccup while jumping through menus or playing back HD video - Engadget

6. Bing - Just when 60% of Internet users were feeling satisfied with their existing search engines, Microsoft rolled out Bing to take on Google (check out some Bing Tricks). Early reviews suggest that Bing has enough potential though it may not be a "google killer" yet.

A search engine with solid relevancy plus some new features that might hook a few of them into staying - Danny Sullivan

Bing is a solid improvement over the previous search product, and it beats Google in important areas. It will help Microsoft gain share in the search business. It's surprisingly competitive with Google - Rafe Needleman

7. Office Live Workspace - Enough has been written about the demise of "desktop software" at the hands of "web applications" but the immense popularity of solutions that bridge the online and offline world prove that people still prefer to have both choices.

Microsoft will add Office web applications to their Office Live Workspace service sometime later this year and that might give them an edge over Google Docs as existing Office users are more likely to prefer Office Live because integration between Office (on the desktop) and Office (in the cloud) would be much better.

8. Windows Live Skydrive - Other than Adobe (they have Acrobat.com), Microsoft is the only "Internet giant" that offers a free file hosting service on the web with plenty of storage. 

AOL have closed their XDrive service, Yahoo! never offered any online storage closed Briefcase while rumors of Google GDrive have been circulating on the web for long but nothing concrete yet.

9. Xbox 360 & Project Natal

You have never seen anything like this before. Project Natal enables you to control and interact with Xbox 360 games through gestures, spoken commands, facial recognition and can even scan images of real objects or drawings made on paper.

Import Google Images into your Office Documents

The Office Online website is an excellent resource to find high-resolution stock photographs, clip arts, GIF animations and other graphics that you can use in your PowerPoint presentations or Word Documents for free without having to worry about any licensing issues.

You can also search through this huge collection of images using the Insert -> Clip Art command available inside all Microsoft Office programs. These images can then be downloaded to the local hard-drive so you can quickly use them in other documents as well without having to search the Office Online site again.

The Microsoft gallery of images, though huge, looks miniscule when compared with Google Images which has a few billion images in its index (warning - not all images found via Google Image Search can be used in documents due to copyright issues).

However, if you limit your search to images that are either in the Public Domain or available under some sort of Creative Commons License, Google Images (or for that matter, any image search engine including Flickr) is a good place to find photographs and clip-arts for inserting in documents.

Offisync, a free plug-in that lets you open Google Documents in Microsoft Office, can now be used for importing images from Google Image Search into your Office files as well.

The image search feature of Offisync is pretty similar to the built-in Clip Art gallery search. Upon installation, Offisync will add a new Google Search option to your Office Toolbar - you can directly search for pictures and then insert any one of them into document or presentation that you are currently working on.

The plug-in won't add any attribution related information but it shows the URL of the page containing the original image so you copy-paste that information into the document manually.

While Offisync officially works only with Google Image Search, here's a simple tip that will help you search other photo websites via Offisync as well -  use the site: operator with your search query.

For instance, if you want to limit your search to Flickr, use site:flickr.com <query> and it will only display pictures that are on Flickr. Use site:gov with the query to search for US Government photos that normally don't carry any restrictions.

Add Website Screenshots in Documents

Other than inserting images, you may also use the Offisync plug-in to add website screenshots into your documents or spreadsheets.

Use the web search feature to invoke the built-in web browser, type the full URL of the website in the Address bar (or use Google Search to find that website) and Clip. Drag the marquee around the area that you want to capture and hit the Insert button.

Related: How to Edit Clip Art in Office

Send SMS Text Messages from Your Computer to Any Mobile Phone With Outlook 2007 and Microsoft SMSOfficer

With Microsoft Outlook 2007, you can easily send (or receive) SMS text messages from computer to any mobile phone - just write a new SMS text message (like the way you compose emails in Outlook) and hit Send.

Similarly, you can also forward emails, pending tasks and calendar items from Outlook to your mobile phone via SMS.

How to send SMS text messages from computer using Outlook 2007 ?

To SMS enable your copy of Microsoft Outlook 2007, first register your mobile phone number at SMSOfficer. This new service from Microsoft supports almost all cellular operators in US and other international countries including India.

You will soon get an SMS verification code on your mobile phone, confirm and the SMS feature is activated in your Outlook without you having to download any additional software - you will need to click on a configuration link which sets the entire configuration for you. 

Forward Emails as SMS Text Messages

To compose an SMS message in Outlook, select New -> Text Message.  Outlook is automatically set up to use the standard text message limit of 160 characters. If your message exceeds the 160 character limit, the extra characters are truncated and delivered as a separate text message.

There are no registration charges and you also get 10 SMS credits for free at the time of joining SMS Officer. Once you exhaust the free limit, you need to pay for using the Outlook SMS service - payment can be made via PayPal.

When the other person replies to your SMS message, it will arrive in your mobile phone. Am not sure if you can use Outlook 2007 to send bulk SMS messages - i.e., one SMS message addressed to multiple recipeints.

Resources: Microsoft SMS Officer, Microsoft Training, Ellen Adams