Saturday, January 31, 2009

Google - 2 errors in 2 days! And yet they just rock!

Google has made 2 errors in 2 days!

1. There was an error in their Google Search code, because of which every result that was published by the search was tagged with "This site may harm your computer" for around 40 minutes.

2. Google's spam filter issue : Google sent some non - spam GMail mails into the Spam folder by mistake due to some error in their Spam engine malware filters - which they are now reversing.

Why Google still rocks is, it has come out in the front, clearly explaining that these were human errors, and they have apologized for them on their blog.

Check out the following links to see what they had to say.

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/this-site-may-harm-your-computer-on.html

http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/this-mornings-spam-filter-issue.html

Google has always been close to its users, something that is really outstanding about their culture! Who said a brand cannot make a difference!

Chrome Vs Firefox : What's different in these browsers?

Google Chrome - a browser that took up 1% of the browser market share within hours of being launched - so clearly speaks volumes about the Google Brand!

Firefox - if you look at it in Bollywood's terms - I would say it is like a star who was made without his / her father being in the Bollywood industry - purely because of its merit, and useful features.

Google Chrome had one feature that really looked good initially - On opening a new tab, it would give a visual display of your most popularly visited sites, so you could just click on that site directly. However, two things that I can say to this are,

1. This feature isn't particularly sought after for normal users, because typing in the address is any day faster.

2. With Google's new toolbar, Firefox automatically gets this feature.

One other feature about Google Chrome that is different is the address bar. Here, if you, for example, start typing in "rediff", it automatically fills in the rest in the address bar itself, so you can directly press enter. In Firefox, the best result of what you have typed comes only in the options below in the drop down that comes up, so you have to press the down arrow key atleast once to make the match. This is extremely comfortable for users. Of course, it is a question of getting used to.

One more difference between Firefox and Chrome is in terms of RAM usage. While Firefox has just one full component of RAM Usage (use Control + Shift + Escape to check this), Chrome divides each tab that is opened in the same browser into different components of RAM Usage. To put an example, if Firefox has 3 tabs open, each taking 30000 K, then the RAM usage would show 90000 K for Firefox. However, in case of Chrome, you would see 3 different lines for processes, each showing 30000 K. This structure has a clear advantage. In case one of your Firefox tab crashes, you have to shut down the entire Firefox system. However, in case a Google Chrome crashes, you only need to close that particular tab. This way your other work can continue without restarting the browser.

The restore session feature : This is automatically enabled in Firefox. However, in Chrome, to enable the restore session feature, you need to go to Settings - Options, and then in the Basics Tab, you need to select "Restore the pages that were open last" under startup. However, the important thing to note here is that the sessions that are restored in Firefox also login the user automatically into any online session he / she might have been part of. For example, if you are logged in to Gmail when you close the browser, Firefox will more often that not log you back in to your mail when you restore the browser. However, in case of Google Chrome, all sessions are expired, and you need to relogin to activate the sessions again. While this definitely makes Chrome more secure, probably for personal computers the Firefox feature of restoring sessions is better.

Finally, the screen size - Chrome doesn't let you install toolbars, hence the entire space at the top is empty, making one feel that there is more browser space. Which is true in a sense, though the same can be achieved in Firefox too, by disabling a whole lot of toolbars.

Overall, I would say both these browsers are quite useful, and in most cases can be used alternatively. And of course, both are miles better than Internet Explorer, which has degraded since IE 7 was launched. Not only did they have that security breach issue, the IE browser is also pathetically slow. In fact, Gmail actually advertises Firefox and Chrome as a Top Link if you login to Gmail through Internet Explorer.

Google's New Toolbar : Google Toolbar 5

You can download Google's new toolbar from here

This toolbar gives the Google Chrome feel in Mozilla Firefox. For example, when you do a Control T for a new tab, it lists your most recently visited pages, which can directly be clicked and accessed. Installing is quite simple and as always, free!

How can I change the name of my blog in blogspot?

All you need to do, as I just did, is the following:

1. Login to your Blog, go to Dashboard
2. Click on Settings for the blog
3. Go to the tab (at the top) called Publishing
4. Change the name of your blog (subject to availability)

If you have put stuff like Google Friend Connect on your site, a few reconfigurations will be required. You will get the following error "This gadget is configured incorrectly. Webmaster hint: Please ensure that "Friend Connect Settings - Home URL" matches the URL of this site."

To get rid of this problem, you will have to go to http://www.google.com/friendconnect, and then click on Site Settings in the left menu, and then change the name of the Home URL to the new name, and then save changes.

Similarly, for Google SMS Channels as well, you would have to change the blog name in the SMS Channel under http://labs.google.co.in/smschannels.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Welcome to IIM Calcutta!

A sales pitch for IIM Calcutta, prepared in 1 hour time - start to finish!

Ever thought why join IIM Calcutta?

http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=5k3COSEuFRg&feature=channel


Friday, January 2, 2009

Happy New Year!

Like a professor at IIM Calcutta said,

pranaya Kumar Swain
1/1/2009 11:30:00 AM

Happy New Year

Here is wishing you all an extremely prosperous, recession-controlled, financially-stable, job secure, debt-free, investment-profiting, promotion-assured, hike-replete, war-free, air/water/rail/road-safe, earthquake free, tsunami free, terrorist-free, friends-filled, romance-blooming, healthy, joyous and cheerful New Year 2009!

Cheers,
Pranay