6 Best Free Sites To Download Youtube Videos

Youtube – one of the most largest and popular video sharing site in the internet world. There are millions of people use Youtube to watch and upload their favorite videos. Youtube is recently upgraded the quality of videos to High Quality also called as HD video. There is community of mostly every genre ranging from movies, TV shows, how-to tutorials, music vidoes, interview tips and much more. According to a study, the estimated daily of per user is more than 20 mins.

Most of the time, you probably watch the video and forget about that. But, there are some videos that really are so useful that you want to download for the future purpose. For the same purpose, there are few sites that allow you to download Youtube videos.

These websites are very simple and convenient to use. All you have to do is copy the youtube video url, paste into the website and download the button to simply keep the video for the future purpose. Some of these websites allows you to save a bookmarklet on your browser tab to download a video with a single click.

Keepvid

Zamzar

Savevid

Keep-Tube

Videodownloadx

Clipnabber

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Goodbye Firefox, Chrome and Safari – here comes RockMelt!

Forget Firefox, chrome or safari; rising from the ashes of Netscape, Marc Andreessen is backing a brand new web browser called RockMelt, which is set out to revolutionize all browsers. It’s all about connections and social media, bringing together all your online profiles, making sharing your content that much easier and bringing together all of your favorite websites. Basically it’s set out to bring everything together, turn your web browser into something that can do more than just navigate the web – bridging the gap between the cloud and computers. It’s already got me interested.

What does RockMelt offer over others?
RockMelt is all about bringing everything together. Not recreating the web, but rather making everything accessible in one easy package. Here’s what you should expect from this new browser:

• Real time updates built directly into the web browser – news, sport etc.
• Web applications that can be opened and run directly through the web browser.
• Direct access to social media, facebook, twitter, email, messenger – all built internally.
• Dynamic homepages that support the content that you want, Live streams, updates etc.

A new way to browse:
Rockmelt’s method of navigation will eventually take over the way you navigate the web. The whole browser is built socially. The sides of the browser show who else is online with you and provides a direct layer of communication. No more need of accessing facebook directly, you can do it all from within the browser. Got an rss feed reader? You won’t need it much longer because Rockmelt can do that all itself. This browser really is the cloud, tying in even web apps to your browsing experience, something to love about this new web browser.

What to expect from this baby web browser:
I seriously can imagine this web browser becoming the cloud. It ties in everything, including web apps. It’s built on the chromium project so I picture more than just ‘plug-in’s’ coming out of this; people will soon be developing whole applications to go with the browser. Best of luck to this new project – because I’m already loving it.

If you want to try out the software, barely even in alpha stage, you can head over to the rockmelt website and apply for an invitation. You will need to sign in with Facebook though, invitations take a few days. -Peter J

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Gadgets Are Hot and More Are at Hand

The iPhone “is almost contagious,” says Todd Sutton, project controls manager at Zachry Construction Corp. “One person gets it on the jobsite, and then everyone has them.”

A new MoGo Talk XD case (top), which comes with a built-in headset keeper, makes them even sweeter. Infectious adoption also applies to the iPad, Sutton says. Employees see how much work colleagues get done with them and buy their own. Developers at Motion Computing, whose tablet options include bar-code and RFID readers, say the Apple device popularity is good for tablet computing, because it introduces more people to the form, and many will go on to more powerful machines. In the wings is Golden-i, a heads-up-display and voice-activated, remote-access computer controller from Kopin Corp., is expected to hit the market soon.

source: enr.com

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Study: iPad Users (And Would-Be Users) More Likely to Ditch Cable TV

by Ariel Schwartz

The Internet hasn't killed cable TV (yet). Nor has Google TV. But the iPad might. A study from the Diffusion Group (TDG) claims that iPad users and intenders--that is, people who plan to buy iPads in the next few months--are more likely than regular adult broadband users to downgrade or cancel their pay TV services.

We already know cable TV is losing massive numbers of subscribers to the Internet, while the networks are fighting off an upstart rival that lets you watch live TV on your iPad. Just how bad is this for TV providers?

According to the study, a third of iPad owners are "likely" to cancel their pay TV service sometime in the next six months, and 12.9% are "highly likely" to cancel their service. In comparison, 13.5% of iPad intenders and 9.6% of average adult broadband users are likely to cancel their service. It gets even worse when the possibility of downgrading comes into play: A whopping 35.5% of iPad owners and 29.5% of intenders are to varying degrees likely to downgrade their pay TV service, compared to 20.7% of regular broadband users. For some perspective, Apple sold 4.19 million iPads last quarter.

Cable TV networks are caught between a rock and an iPad, in effect. They could try to offer subscriptions on the tablet--many of us would love to see an HBO app--but that might cause a further collapse in their cable audience. Alternatively, networks and content creators might expand their online offerings (a la Lost and Heroes) in an attempt to increase viewership. It's hard to say at this point which tactic will work--but we have a sneaking suspicion that cutting iPad user access to high-quality content won't be the best tactic in the long run.

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Misuse of labels: On the definitions of "mobile" and "computer"

by Sam Abuelsamid (tuaw.com)

In the world of corporate communications, a big part of delivering a message involves defining the terms of the discussion. Over the past few weeks, both Apple CEO Steve Jobs and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg have been caught up in this action while discussing the mobile space. During the most recent Apple quarterly earnings call, Jobs tried to redefine what an open platform is when comparing iOS to Android. Zuckerberg raised eyebrows last week when he declared that the slim and lightweight iPad was a computer, not a mobile device.

The problem is that while people like to categorize stuff for easy black-and-white comparisons, we live in a universe of color. Applying one label to a device (or person or action) does not necessarily preclude other labels from also being true at the same time. For example, when Zuckerberg said that the iPad was not mobile, he later clarified that he meant that it wasn't a phone, which was the main topic of discussion at the Facebook event. The iPad is obviously both mobile and a computer, but it isn't a phone. Similarly, an iPod touch is not a phone, but it is mobile; it also has many properties of a computer, though most people wouldn't call it that. The Barnes & Noble Nook Color is clearly an e-book reader by design, despite its lack of an e-ink screen.

So how do we get around this conundrum? We need to stop insisting on easily digested sound bites and call out anyone who tries to inappropriately apply labels in an attempt to misdirect the conversation. Describe what something does and doesn't do, and let people decide for themselves if it is the best choice for them.

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AutoCAD WS now available for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch

View, edit, and share your DWG™ files from anywhere, with anyone.

AutoCAD® WS mobile app enables you to view and work with AutoCAD drawings directly on your iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch. Using the touch and gesture interface of your iPad or iPhone you can accurately view, annotate, and revise drawings on the spot. Change the way you work in the field or on the road by reducing the need to carry around over-sized paper drawings.



AutoCAD WS Mobile is a perfect solution for taking your drawings out on the job site.

Access from Anywhere, Anytime.
The AutoCAD WS mobile app for Apple® iPhone™, iPod™, and iPad™ lets you view, edit, and share your AutoCAD drawings on the go using a mobile or tablet device. Take your designs with you wherever you go - on the way to a meeting, on the factory floor or the job site without being tied to a
desktop application.

Edit and Interact
The AutoCAD WS mobile app delivers smart vector DWG data to your device, enabling you to accurately select, annotate and interact with AutoCAD drawings. An intuitive touch and gesture interface makes it easy for both AutoCAD and non AutoCAD professionals to work on and stay connected to their designs from anywhere.

Sharing made easy
Share drawings with others for viewing or editing in a Web browser or mobile device. If other people are editing a drawing simultaneously with you, you'll see their edits in real time. Upload and download AutoCAD drawings from your mobile device to a PC or Mac using the AutoCAD WS web application.

Get AutoCAD WS in iTunes FREE

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The Socialite Network: UK's Queen joins Facebook

LONDON (AP) – Queen Elizabeth II is now on Facebook - but she's not going to be your friend.

Britain's queen has launched a series of official pages offering the website's 500 million users daily updates on her engagements, the royal household said Sunday.

The 84-year-old British monarch will be featured in videos, photos and news items on the site, which will be available starting Monday, alongside other members of the country's royal family, including Princes William and Harry.

Users will be able leave messages or comments for Buckingham Palace on the site and find details of royal events close to their homes.

However, because the pages will be corporate - and not a personal account - people won't be able to request to become friends with the queen.

A royal official said the queen had personally approved the plan, but acknowledged she has not actually used the site herself.

"The decision went right up to the queen," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to discuss the plan. "If you are going to have an online presence in 2010, you just have to be on Facebook."

The Facebook page is the queen's latest social media venture - the royal family already have an account on the Flickr photography website, joined Twitter in 2009 and set up a video channel on YouTube in 2007.

Buckingham Palace set up its own website in 1997, which now allows people to apply for palace jobs online, track the royal family via Google Maps or read details in a section devoted to the queen's prized corgi dogs.

Her Facebook site will include Britain's court circular, the official daily record of the royal family's engagements. It lists all royal diary appointments from the previous day and was created by George III in 1803, reportedly after he became frustrated with inaccurate newspaper reports.

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Most Popular Open Source Softwares Of All Time

Source: SmashingApps

Firefox
Firefox 3.5 sets the pace with dozens of new features, including the smart location bar, one-click bookmarking and blindingly fast performance. Avoid online scams, unsafe transactions and forgeries with simple site identity. View Web pages faster, using less of your computer’s memory.

Filezilla
FileZilla is a cross-platform graphical FTP, FTPS and SFTP client a lot of features, supporting Windows, Linux, Mac OS X and more. FileZilla Server is a reliable FTP server for Windows. It has a powerful Site Manager and transfer queue and drag & drop support.


7-Zip
7-Zip is a file archiver with the high compression ratio. The program supports 7z, ZIP, CAB, RAR, ARJ, LZH, CHM, GZIP, BZIP2, Z, TAR, CPIO, ISO, MSI, WIM, NSIS, RPM and DEB formats.

FullSync
FullSync is a universal file synchronization and backup tool which is highly customizable and expandable. It is especially for developers, but the basic functionality is easy enough for everyone.

Gimpshop
Gimpshop is a hack made on top of the original Gimp project which changes all menues, dialogs, etc., in order to make them look as much as their counterparts in Photoshop. This makes users who are already familiar with the layout of Photoshop feel right at home in this open source application. Please note that all features in Photoshop in not available in Gimpshop, since it is based on the Gimp project and it’s feature set.

ClamWin
ClamWin is a free antivirus for Windows. It includes virus scanner, scheduler, virus database updates, context menu integration to MS Windows Explorer and Addin to MS Outlook. Also features easy setup program. Uses a well respected ClamAV scanning engine.

OpenOffice
OpenOffice is the leading open-source office software suite for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases and more. It is available in many languages and works on all common computers. It stores all your data in an international open standard format and can also read and write files from other common office software packages. It can be downloaded and used completely free of charge for any purpose.

Notepad++
Notepad++ is a free source code editor and Notepad replacement that supports several languages. Running in the MS Windows environment. This is based on a powerful editing component Scintilla, Notepad++ is written in C++ and uses pure Win32 API and STL which ensures a higher execution speed and smaller program size. By optimizing as many routines as possible without losing user friendliness, Notepad++ is trying to reduce the world carbon dioxide emissions. When using less CPU power, the PC can throttle down and reduce power consumption, resulting in a greener environment.

TightVNC
TightVNC is a free remote control software package. With TightVNC, you can see the desktop of a remote machine and control it with your local mouse and keyboard, just like you would do it sitting in the front of that computer.This is a cross-platform, available for Windows and Unix, compatible with other VNC software.

Blender
Blender is the free open source 3D content creation suite, available for all major operating systems. It includes tools for modeling – fast subdivision surface and polygon tools, multi-resolution mesh sculpting, metaballs, NURBS, vector fonts, and curves; uv mapping; shaders and texturing – both paint based and node based; ik and fk animation tools with rigging, constraints, skinning, morph targets, drivers, deformers, and modifiers; simulation tools including hard bodies, soft body, cloth, and fluids; and particle systems including hair. Blender has integrated rendering with both its native renderer and the raytracer Yafray as well supporting many external renderers; and python based scripting.

Audacity
Audacity is a free, easy-to-use and multilingual audio editor and recorder for Windows, Mac OS X, GNU/Linux and other operating systems. You can use Audacity to record live audio, convert tapes and records into digital recordings or CDs, edit Ogg Vorbis, MP3, WAV or AIFF sound files, cut, copy, splice or mix sounds together etc.

More:
SSuite Office
VLC
Apache


source: SmashingApps

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iPhone Dethrones Rebel XTi as Most Popular Camera on Flickr

iPhone Dethrones Rebel XTi as Most Popular Camera on Flickr

Posted using ShareThis

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How To Photograph Fireworks

Taking photos of fireworks can be tricky so plan in advance. Arrive before the show begins to find an unobstructed view of where the fireworks display will appear.

Make sure you’re in a place where people will not constantly walk in front of you. However for some shots, it’s perfectly acceptable to have people as part of the scene.

Extraneous lighting can interfere with getting a properly exposed photo of fireworks. Stay as far away as possible from illuminated signs, street lamps and parking lots with artificial lighting.

Position your digital camera where the fireworks will explode.

Take a few practice shots early in the show. Check focus and exposure on the LCD. Adjust settings as necessary.

Once the show begins, take lots of shots! Shoot holding the camera vertically as well as horizontally.

What to bring:

• A tripod or monopod to steady your camera and prevent camera shake.


• A small to mid-sized flashlight to use when you must adjust camera settings in the dark.


• Extra batteries and memory cards.

Getting your camera ready:

• Set your camera’s focal length to the equivalent of 50mm or wider. Using a wide focal length is generally more effective than zooming in when photographing fireworks.


• Set the camera to it’s highest quality settings.


• Use a tripod or other steady support


• To avoid blur, use the self-timer or a camera remote to trigger the shutter.


• Turn off the flash (if you can’t turn it off, tape a piece of cardboard over it).

Other camera settings:

If your digital camera’s settings can not be changed, the automatic settings may keep the shutter open long enough for a proper exposure. You can also set your camera to landscape or fireworks mode.

If your camera has manual settings:

• Set focus to infinity.


• Use an aperture of F5.6 or smaller (higher number).


• Set the shutter to bulb.


• Exposure: try between 1/2 and 4 seconds; although one to two seconds can also work well.


• If possible, use an ISO of 100.

source: digicamhelp.com

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9 Essential Steps to Disaster-Proof Your PC

A little preparation goes a long way. We show you how to avoid the most common tragedies to befall a PC user—guaranteed!

Stop whatever it is you’re doing. We know your time is valuable, and what you’re about to read could save you hours, if not days, of damage control. What could be so important? Your work documents, for one thing. And then there’s your entire digital collection of family photos cataloguing every birthday, vacation, and other special occasion over the past several years. Common PC pitfalls don’t just affect your digital files, either. Should disaster strike—say a power surge or a hacker attack— you could be looking at hundreds, or even thousands, of dollars of damaged hardware—or even worse, damage to your good name and credit if someone manages to steal your identity.

Are you thoroughly spooked yet? You needn’t be, not if you follow our nine-step guide to disaster-proofing your PC. On the following pages, we show you how to prepare for everything from acts of God to hacker attacks, and every other mishap you’re likely to encounter as a power user. And if you’re an old pro who already knows how to disaster-proof your PC, then treat this as a checklist of things you know you should be doing, but probably aren’t.

1. Back up Your Data
With a modicum of effort you can save yourself a whole lot of heartache

2. Take Your Data Off-Site
A backup plan for your backup plan

3. Keep Malware at Bay
Trojans and dialers and worms, oh my!

4. Your Power Supply Matters
Trying to save a few pennies on a PSU could cost you dearly

5. Practice Safe Computing
Without constant vigilance, the Internet can be a dangerous place

6. Set up a Virtual Machine
Experiment all you want without putting your rig at risk

7. Configure Your Router, the Right Way!
A vulnerable router is an invitation to all sorts of abuse

8. Get in Tune with Your System
More often than not, there are signs of impending disaster, if you know where to look

9. Keep a PC First-Aid Kit
In case of emergency, you should keep handy a repository of spare parts that can address a PC's most common points of failure

Read the full article (how-to) here: maximumpc.com

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Gadget Of The Day

PowerShot SX10 IS

Sophisticated Technology for Still Images and Movies.
Whether the action is fast or slow, close up or far away, you'll always get the shot you want with the PowerShot SX10 IS. This camera puts you on the cutting edge of advanced technology, with an incredibly powerful 20x Optical Zoom, 10-megapixel resolution, and new DIGIC 4 Image Processor for high-performance face and motion detection.

Features

Stay close to the action with a 20x Optical Zoom, wide-angle lens and Optical Image Stabilizer. Improved speed and quiet zooming means you never have to miss a shot.

Powerful 10.0 Megapixel resolution for greater printing and editing.

Large 2.5-inch Vari-angle LCD for flexible viewing at nearly every angle, plus a viewfinder for more shooting options.

New DIGIC 4 Image Processor improves Face Detection, adds Servo AF, Face Detection Self-Timer and Intelligent Contrast Correction for greater flexibility.

MovieSnap mode lets you capture high-resolution still images while shooting a movie. Improved movie format for longer movie lengths.

A wide range of shooting modes to capture anything.

Print/Share Button for easy direct printing and downloading, plus ID Photo Print and Movie Print with select PIXMA Photo Printers and SELPHY Compact Photo Printers.

For review click here: steves-digicam.com

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Gadget Of The Day

Western Digital HD TV Media Player
source: CrunchGear

For months now, I have been trying to play .MKV and other video files on my living room front projector. At first I tried to connect a laptop directly to the TV. But this didn’t always work, the audio was crappy, and it was awkward to have a laptop connected to the projector.

I started using my XBOX 360 to play video files. At first I wanted to stream the files across my network. This worked every once in a while, but mostly it was an exercise in frustration. And I got miserable fast forward and rewind capability because of the network bottleneck.

Then I tried using my Neuros OSD for this. That was a non-starter as the OSD only has a composite video out port and I wanted to play high definition video.

Eventually I started copying video files to big fat thumb drives and plugging them directly into the XBOX. This worked very well for a lot of video files, but didn’t work at all for high definition files because they were mostly over 4GB in size (the XBOX 360 only recognizes FAT32 formatted drives, and FAT32 doesn’t allow for more than 4GB per file).

I then started investigating the black arts of video transcoding. I looked for tools that would allow me to convert the video formats I found on the internet into something that was XBOX 360 friendly. But most of the automated tools were a compromise. If it converted the video into something XBOX friendly, and under 4GB in size, the audio would be downgraded to 2 channels (from 5.1). And I would run my computer for hours converting video, and many times something would go wrong and the file wouldn’t play on the XBOX.

I was banging my head against the wall trying to figure this out.

One Fall afternoon, Western Digital announced the WD HD TV Media Player. It promised to play high definition video over HDMI and optical audio, up to 1080p, all for about $120 street price. I was skeptical at first that such a tiny and inexpensive device would solve all of my months of video headaches. But any skepticism disappeared once I hooked the gizmo up to my projector and in about 20 seconds I was watching glorious high definition 1080p with DTS sound.

Basically the WD HD TV Media Player (horrible name, by the way) will play just about any video format you throw at it. You put the videos on any USB mass storage device, like a thumb drive or an external hard drive, and plug it into the device. It recognizes the files on the drive and plays any video, audio, or photo files it finds. It comes with a handy remote control, and the software interface is very simple and easy-to-use. The box has 2 USB ports for you to plug in any combination of mass storage devices. Even better, it supports the NTFS file format so you are not limited to files that are under 4GB.

I loaded up an external hard drive with all manner of video files and plugged it into the Media Player. Using the remote control I navigated the on-screen menu and chose several different file formats to test. The little black box played each of the files beautiful. The playback was smooth, even in fast action sequences. The digital audio worked flawlessly and it even supports subtitles. I tested a variety of 720p and 1080p and 480p files. I couldn’t find a single one the device had trouble with.

I connected the Media Player via optical audio and HDMI. It also supports composite video with analog audio, but I did not test those ports.

I was also pleasantly surprised by the compact yet powerful remote control. I hid the tiny Media Player box behind my media cabinet in the back of the room where my projector is. And I didn’t think the remote control would be able to hit the device, but sure enough I just pointed it at the ceiling above my head and it worked very nicely, registering each key press.

I love this little black box. It singlehandedly solved my video playback problems and ended months of frustration. People will gripe about the lack of network support, but I personally have no desire to stream high definition video over my local network. Direct hard drive or thumb drive connections ensure fast and reliable playback and controls. Simple and fast, the WD HD TV Media Player is a powerhouse solution in a tiny and affordable package.

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Time.com's 25 Best Blogs 2009

Time.com's 25 Best Blogs 2009

Talking Points Memo
Huffington Post
Lifehacker
Metafilter
The Daily Dish by Andrew Sullivan
Freakonomics
Boingboing
Got2BeGreen
Zen Habits
The Conscience of a Liberal: Paul Krugman
Crooks and Liars
Generation Y
Mashable
Slashfood
Official Google Blog
synthesis
bleat
/Film
Seth Godin's Blog
Deadspin: Sports News without Access, Favor, or Discretion
Dooce
Confessions of a Pioneer Woman
Said the Gramophone
Detention Slip
Bad Astronomy


source: time.com

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Friendster Now Available in Tagalog

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Jan. 27

Over 90 Million Tagalog Speaking Filipinos Globally Can Now Use Friendster To Keep in Touch with Friends and Family

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. -- Friendster, Inc., a top 20 global website based on traffic and the #1 social network in Asia, today announced that Friendster.com is available in Tagalog, the most popular language in the Philippines that is used by over 90 million people worldwide. Friendster's mobile site m.friendster.com will also launch in Tagalog in the coming days. This new language addition on Friendster gives the 14 million Internet users in the Philippines and users around the world a greater choice of languages with which to navigate the site, share content and use Friendster's complete set of social networking features.

Friendster.com now fully supports 11 languages - English, Bahasa Indonesian, Chinese (both Simplified and Traditional), Japanese, Korean, Malay, Spanish, Tagalog, Thai and Vietnamese. These languages represent over 70 percent of the world's Internet users, or approximately a billion Internet users in total. Friendster's mobile site m.friendster.com supports 7 languages - English, Bahasa Indonesian, Chinese (both Simplified and Traditional), Malay, Korean and Tagalog.

"Over 90 percent of all Internet users in the Philippines are currently using Friendster, which is an order of magnitude larger than any other social network in the country. Launching support for Tagalog on the Friendster web and mobile sites will help us maintain our leadership position in the Philippines and within Filipino communities around the world," said David Jones, vice president of global marketing at Friendster.

79 million people in the Philippines - 85 percent of the total population of 93 million - are not yet using the Internet.

"Friendster in Tagalog gives even more Filipinos a reason to get started online and join their friends and family on Friendster. And, for those Filipinos who don't have regular access to a computer, they can join and enjoy Friendster via their mobile phone by visiting the m.friendster.com mobile site. We look forward to welcoming millions of Tagalog speakers to the Internet and to Friendster," said Jones.

Users can set their language of choice on Friendster several ways through links at the top right of every page of the Friendster.com website, the "Settings" link at the website or mobile site, or the Languages link at the bottom of the homepage of the mobile site at m.friendster.com.

Friendster also announced today the ability for advertisers to target ads on Friendster based on the language preference of the Friendster user. With this new enhancement, advertisers can choose to target ads on Friendster via geographic location, age, gender and/or language preference. In the Philippines, for example, this will be particularly useful for advertisers to target ads in the Tagalog language to users who have chosen to use Friendster in Tagalog and ads in English to users who prefer to use Friendster in English.

Tagalog is spoken by more than 64 million Filipinos, or about 70 percent of the total population in the Philippines. Tagalog is spoken throughout the world outside of the Philippines and is most popular within Filipino ethnic groups. There are approximately 90 million Tagalog speakers globally, and it is the fifth most spoken language in the United States.

Friendster Leads in the Philippines
In the Philippines, Friendster is the #1 social network, the #2 website and the #1 mobile site. Friendster is an order of magnitude larger than competitors in the Philippines. Friendster had over 13 million monthly unique visitors from the Philippines in November 2008, which is 93 percent, or virtually all of the 14 million Internet users in the country. A typical user spends 30 minutes a day on Friendster and visits Friendster several times a week, communicating with friends and sharing and consuming content through a suite of features, which also creates a great platform for local advertisers.

Friendster Leads in Asia and is a Top 20 Global Website
Friendster is the #1 social network in Asia, with over 75 million registered users, and has more monthly unique visitors in Asia than any other social network. Plus, Asia is the largest market of Internet users (Asia has 41 percent of the world's Internet users, more than double the 19 percent from the U.S.), and Asia is the fastest growing region in the world. Friendster has a loyal and growing user base throughout Asia in the following top 10 countries: Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and South Korea.

Friendster is a top 20 global website in the world in terms of traffic, serving over 19 billion page views a month. Friendster is also the leader in "user engagement" among the top five global social networks, with users spending an average of 190 minutes per visitor per month on www.friendster.com.

With more than 95 million members worldwide, Friendster is a leading global online social network. Friendster is focused on helping people stay in touch with friends and discover new people and things that are important to them. Online adults, 18 and up, choose Friendster to connect with friends, family, school, social groups, activities and interests.

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How Spyware Nearly Sent a Teacher to Prison

How Spyware Nearly Sent a Teacher to Prison
Robert McMillan, IDG News Service

If there's a poster child for the dangers of spyware, it's Julie Amero.

The 41-year-old former substitute teacher was convicted of four felony counts of endangering minors last year, stemming from an Oct. 19, 2004, classroom incident where students were exposed to inappropriate images.

Prosecutors had argued that Amero put her students at risk by exposing them to pornography and failing to shield them from the pop-up images after they appeared on her classroom computer.

Amero was an unlikely porn surfer. Four months pregnant at the time, she said she had only just learned to use e-mail. She says she was well-liked by teachers and students at Kelly Middle School in Norwich, Connecticut, where the incident occurred. "I was the cool teacher everybody liked," she remembers.

Amero said she did everything she could to protect her kids, but school officials, reacting to angry calls from parents, went to the police, who soon pressed criminal charges.

The case ruined her life. She believes that stress from the arrest caused her to miscarry her baby, and her career as a teacher is finished. A heart condition landed her in the hospital after she fainted several times. And while she was briefly employed at an area Home Depot last year, she was fired from the job shortly after an employee posted news clippings about her trial in the employee lounge.

Her conviction in January 2007 was the low point of her life, but soon after that Amero found a champion in Alex Eckelberry, the CEO of Sunbelt Software, who contacted her after hearing about her case. After looking at the evidence, he and other security professionals concluded that Amero had been wrongly convicted. Within months they had mustered a high-powered team of lawyers and security experts who ultimately got the guilty verdict overturned, setting the stage for a retrial.

She calls Eckelberry her "shining star" and keeps a picture of him on her wall

Amero reached a plea bargain agreement with prosecutors late last week. She pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge, paid a US$100 fine and had her state teaching license revoked. Now, she says, she wants some peace, but she's still clearly upset with local prosecutors, whom she says pursued an "incompetent and malicious" case against her.

Following is an edited transcript of a telephone interview she gave to the IDG News Service... Read more

source: pcworld.com

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Black Friday 2008 Links

Black Friday is alleged to be the busiest shopping day of the year. What and when is Black Friday? Black Friday occurs immediately after Thanksgiving day. On this day, stores will offer discounts, deals and doorbuster sales that cannot be found at any other time of the year. To get the most out of Black Friday, here are links to this year's deals:

• BlackFriday.info


• Bargainist.com


• DealTaker.com


• BFads.net


• TheBlackFriday.com

Shop smart.

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T-Zones $5.99 data plan working on iPhone

This guide is for T-Mobile users who have a jailbroken iPhone and want to get nearly full data services at 1/4 the cost of the normal Total Internet data plan (normally est $19.99). This does not require the T-zones hack from Cydia (the tzones hack actually made my iphone’s data not work w/tzones).

Requirements:
-Jailbroken or Simfree iPhone (obviously to use tmobile)
-Tmobile’s T-Zones internet data package ($5.99/mo)

This guide is for T-Mobile users who have a jailbroken iPhone and want to get nearly full data services at 1/4 the cost of the normal Total Internet data plan (normally est $19.99). This does not require the T-zones hack from Cydia (the tzones hack actually made my iphone’s data not work w/tzones).

The forums over at http://modmyi.com are the basis for this recipe. So this is what you could call a shared recipe. :)

After having a Jailbroken phone, go into Settings > General.

Then go to Network and then Cellular Data Network.

–Change the APN to: epc.tmobile.com
(if this does not work, you may need: wap.voicestream.com this is the older APN for tzones and works for certain areas only)

–Also be sure that “Data Roaming” is enabled from the Network screen.

NOTES:
-if you do have the total internet package, you can either use internet3.voicestream.com or internet2.voicestream.com in the APN setting; use wap.voicestream.com as a last resort since its been reported the connection speeds are slower even for the total internet package payers.
-my configuration: iPhone 2.2 jailbroken, tmobile tzones $5.99 plan, location: MN USA, date: 11/10/08

source: tech-recipes.com

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AVG Virus Scanner Accidentally Removes Critical Windows Component

One popular free antivirus scanner recently created a world of woe for its users

The world of computer security can be a scary place for friends and foes alike. This weekend users' found their AVG software updated with a new virus definition file. Then they quickly found their computers crashing.

What was discovered was that the new virus definition file mistook user32.dll, a critical Windows component, for a container for the Trojan Horses PSW.Banker4.APSA or Generic9TBN. When the scanner went active, it deleted this critical file, thinking it contained a virus, causing the system to crash. AVG recommended users whose definitions auto-updated delete their virus definition file and cancel any scans they have running.

If your computer is affected, it will either stop booting or go into an endless reboot loop. Vista users can breathe a sigh of relief -- so far that OS has remained relatively unaffected. Windows XP users, however must now exercise extreme caution, or risk having to carry out a bothersome repair process.

Both AVG 7.5 and AVG 8.0 were affected by the erroneous definition file. The file has since been update to remove the error.

For affected users, you can either reinstall Windows or repair it with a Windows disk. A third option is to use a boot disc, such as the Ultimate Boot CD (ISO) and then grab the files you need from the "C:\Windows\System32\dllcache" directory.

With 80 million total users worldwide, thanks in part to AVG's free version, this error is obviously significant to many. So far AVG has not issued a formal statement about the problem, although there are posts on their discussion board about it, to which they have responded informally.

For those disheartened by AVG's offense and still hoping for a free antivirus fix, ClamWin is one alternative. Its another free software, a Windows port from the Linux scanner ClamAV. Some users also wrote in to suggest Free-AV as an alternative.

And of course there's the many professional security suites on the market as well.

Update: Some of our readers are reporting that Vista may be having similar problems to Windows XP (see source link). The scope of this problem is unclear, as some Vista users reported being unaffected.

source: dailytech.com

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Get Latitude and Longitude values from Google Maps

Google Maps do not display latitude and longitude values, but there is an easy trick to get these numbers. This technique will provide the latitude and longitude coordinates of the center of the map displayed by Google Maps.

Looking up an address in Google Maps will center the map on that address if it was found. Because this trick provides the latitude and longitude of the center of the map, moving the map around manually after that will change the center position and this technique will not work accurately. When the location you want is in the center of the map, copy and paste this code into the location bar of your browser and press enter:

javascript:void(prompt('',gApplication.getMap().getCenter()));

A little dialog box will pop up displaying the coordinates which can be copied and pasted for use elsewhere. This code can be bookmarked and then used in the future by selecting the bookmark.

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