Friday, December 31, 2010

How to: Download Your Facebook Data

About 6 months ago there was huge outcry about your personal information being "trapped" inside Facebook, forever. At least to stop few of them whining about it Facebook released a new feature which allows us to download our information onto our hard drive. If you don't know it yet continue reading below =).


1. Goto Facebook and login with your e-mail id and password (duh!) 

2.On the right hand top corner you click the 'Account' button, a drop down menu will appear ,now select 'Account Settings'
3. Scroll down and spot the 8th on the list - 'Download your information' and click 'learn more' on the right hand side.
4.In the next page, Click Download . A dialog box will appear in which you have to again click 'Download' . The second dialog Box tells you to wait for an e-mail with a download link. You have to wait because you have too much information on Facebook :D
5.Goto your e-mail inbox through which you registered your facebook account (and wait for the e-mail from facebook).Open the email from Facebook informing that your information is ready downloaded. Next click the link in the mail. It will be redirected back to Facebook


6. Once your are back at Facebook, you will be given an active Download button after you verify your password. Click the Download Now button to start the download.


Ta da !! your personal information is "Safe" on your hard drive.

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Thursday, December 30, 2010

GROUP clONes

Have you seen the news lately ; heard about a enterprise called "Groupon" being offered an acquisition worth $6 billion by Google ?Well Groupon turned down the offer.
So what does this company do? Basically, Groupon , for the customers, gives discounts at certain places. For the end consumer like you and me , Groupon and its look-a-likes are companies which give huge discounts at a restaurant or fitness club or a spa. Groupon kick started their business in the United States. As the company saw green , many people(Groupon Clones) tried their business model elsewhere. First of these was the European market. Of-course it was an instant hit. So what is the 'business' behind Groupon ?

It is simple-Local businesses need marketing which Groupon gives them through discounts. Local Businesses need customers. Traditionally it was done by advertising through ads. Now,Groupon gives deals which are very attractive and thus bring the customers to the vendors for sure. When compared with ads the probability a vendor meets new customers is high. Hence many vendors don't shy away from Groupon and their clones. Of-course Groupon gets a cut from these deals. This is why Google wanted Groupon-Advertisement at the local level. Usually businesses which go the Groupon way are the ones with local presence and who want to improve their customer base to next level.

In India ,already having a booming economy cannot be far from having Groupon Clones. With lots of Local businesses looking for customers approach the Clones looking for prospective customers. The market for such local advertising is huge in India. And no many have not been afraid to start off. There are number of clones out there. But the big/better are - Taggle , Snapdeal , Khojguru , Grabbon .

With the huge potential for making profit in India , Groupon without any doubt is looking for an acquisition so that it can make its mark in India. With over a billion dollars year on year turnover just in the United States , Groupon will be definitely wanting to start its operation in India and other countries as well. The sooner the better for Groupon to cut out the number of Clones.

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Corrupt Yet?

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These days corruption scandals, Land scams are taking the headlines by storm. As a progressive nation none of us would want to hear such things. So what should we do so that these things do not happen???
Looking into the dictionary defines corruption as “dishonest or fraudulent conduct by those in power , typically involving bribery”.
Corruption is a non-political issue. Corruption and its aftermath are indeed political but the issue is non-political. Whoever does it, the common man will be the sufferer at the end of the day.
Especially in India if we go on confining corruption a party and do not treat it as a social issue, we will end up nowhere.
Corruption has become very systematic in many governmental institutions. Photobucket
It has grown so big that it is necessary for many. We have heard of cases where officials who have refused to pay bribe to senior officials have been killed. Even for promotions and transfers, it’s said that they have to pay bribe.
So my point is all parties should come out to fight against corruption non-politically. I believe that this is the best possible solution. If these big daddies (National parties) make up their mind, I am sure we can become a non-corrupt state.
Institutions like Lokayukta have very limited power. Many officials fear lokayukta raids and so corruption is bit reduced. If everyone (EG: PM, CM, Cabinet ministers) comes under the jurisdiction of this, we can definitely reduce corruption.
As always in the end I say that there is a role of citizens too. We have to change our mindset :)
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KarNATAKA Politics - how the events unfolded !


The month of october saw another turmoil in karanataka. Similar mutiny had happened in oct 2009 with more number of MLA's (more than 50). But it melted down because of an agreement between the reddy brothers and yeddyurappa.

All these started with a cabinet expansion. 6 new minister's were inducted into the cabinet, 3 were thrown out. The indepent MLA's (2) who lost ministership protested against it. Other independent MLA's joined hands with them. But CM was firm on his decision. This led to a mistrust among the MLA's.

The mutiny became public with more than 15 MLA's (BJP+independents) moving to a resort in Chennai. Excise minister BJP's renukacharya took the lead. He gave a media statement against the leadership of Chief minister yeddyurappa. Their demand was to induct 2 independent MLA's back to cabinet.
Surprisingly, 3 MLA's moved back to Bangalore showing their loyality CM.

From chennai, they sent a letter with their signatures taking their support out of the government and also resigning their MLA post. This is the biggest legal mistake they did. JD(S) leaders took in charge of this. This is the first time that the speculation of other parties supporting mutiny became true. These rebel MLA's were in constant touch with Karnataka unit of media.

They said that they are moving to cochin but they had came to Mumbai. In mumbai, Maharashtra state BJP leaders tried to talk to rebels. But they didnt compromise. They then moved to Goa giving the reason that they were threatened by goons.

The biggest events in this story happened at a Goa resort. Goa former CM, BJP leader Manohar Parrikar tried to talk to rebels but police didnt allow him. Rebels continued giving statements to Karnataka media units. Tourism minister Janardhan Reddy went to Goa to meet the MLA's. He was allowed after a long time. The first round of talks failed.

Now former CM of Karnataka H.D.Kumaraswamy came into the limelight when he went to Goa resort to meet the MLA's. Both Reddy and Kumaraswamy stayed in the same resort! After several rounds of talks with both of them, rebels decided not to go back to BJP. Reddy returned empty handed.

More BJP MLA's joined the rebels in Goa. notable names were Shankarlinge Gowda and Bellubbi, who had flown back to Bangalore from Chennai.
Throughout BJP accused Governor of acting like a congressman.

After all these incidents, naturally The Governor of Karnataka called for the trust vote. It was scheduled on  12th of October but Yeddyurappa said that he'll prove it on Oct 11.

During these time, BJP, Congress, JD(S) MLA's stayed at different resorts in the outskirts of Bangalore.
Rebels then moved to chennai and later joined JD(S) MLA's in a resort.

Here comes the speaker, the most controversial part. The Speaker had the option to disqualify all rebel MLA's. He did that at 5AM on Oct 11 just 5 hours before trust vote. Yeddyurappa won the trust vote (House was reduced to 208 members) with voice vote in one of the worst ever session in the history of democratic India. And later he proved his majority albeit the banned ministers.

For now the controversy seems to have subsided or is it the calm before the storm?
Mr.Yedduyurappa may have one the trust vote , but sure has lost the trust of many Kannadigas. Will the horse trading ever stop? the question  remains .


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Tuesday, December 28, 2010

iWatch




Do you wear a watch and and always carry your music player along with you everytime? Then why dont you merge both . I mean buy a music player which can be worn as a watch. I am not kidding people. When Steve jobs announced the 5th generation iPods he also showed the new iPod Nano. They come with a 1.54 inch touch screen , can play songs but no video playback. To note the small nature of the Nano, Jobs said that one Apple board member jokingly planned to wear the new nano as a watch. But many saw this as a huge business opportunity. Now they are selling the iPod Nano as a watch or a iPod Nano which can be used like a wrist watch. 

It is actually a iPod Nano mounted on a suitable strap . So if you do have a 6th generation iPod Nano then you can buy the strap and make a watch out of it all by yourself. The watch is not sold as a bundle. You have to buy iPod and the Strap separately and then fix it. 




Is this the "watch" you were looking for ?
Check the review by Engadget here .
You like it very much ? want to get it right now? 
Head to the nearest Apple Store for iPod Nano and then buy the Straps which suits your needs. (Google can find you a lot of strap vendors for you)

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Saturday, December 25, 2010

#Hash it!


I don't really know when but suddenly there is a increase in the number of Social Networks. Maybe seeing the rise of Facebook and impact of Twitter on the lives of people, many are trying to capitalize on this "Social Bubble"(if I may call it so). So here is another social networking site which wants to prove that it is not just another social networking site -> www.hashable.com aka #hashable
 

So, What is #hashable ?
It is a site where you can post a connection with the people you know. Say, you are hanging out with your friends and you want everyone to know about so you can hash it with a hashtag(sounds familiar tweeple?) #with. Well there are a variety of such connection - #lunch, #dinner ,drik , #coffee etc...At present there only few in-built connections however we can use our own connections if needed. #hashable also measures your relationships with others depending upon your connections with him/her. 
"Business cards are lame"
Another nice feature of #hashable is '#intro' . This does exactly what it means. It introduces one person with another. However when you #intro 2 people then the basic contact info of the one are mailed to the other automatically by #hashable.No more forgot-to-get-your-number hassles :).
 
Interestingly this new site is woven around twitter. #hashable is one of those few sites which don't use 'facebook connect' while using Twitter integration.You can post your connections onto twitter directly. Because of the this integration you can invite twitter users with just give their username.#hashable tweets the person with the #invite and follow-on link.
The site itself is pretty neat. The site maintains a leader-boards of the its user having highest number of hashcreds. Hashcred are obtained by completing you profile,inviting your friend, connecting with them, etc.
This a nice idea,give it a try.

This new service is in beta still and is available only through invites. However if you happen to own an Apple device which can access the iTunes Store then try #hashable App which allows you to sign up without any invite.




This a nice idea,give it a try.

P.S:I happen to have an account in #hashable so if u want an invite then plz ask so in the comments section.

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Saturday, November 6, 2010

Obama

Obama has landed in India!



Yes, the US president has landed in Mumbai. He left USA last night (IST) after losing the House of Representatives. It’s the biggest ever swing in the last 72 years of the United States. Anyone can surely conclude that the tide is against Obama in his own country.
He is a great orator, no doubt about that. But his nay-sayers seem to have got it right for now. What a politician promises rarely translates into actual work. Yes, there was the recession. We can’t blame him alone for the economic miseries .But instead of wasting time accusing companies for outsourcing jobs to India, he could have had a meeting with all the companies and countries to which jobs are being outsourced and found a middle ground with them. Too much time was spent in expressing the problem than in finding an actual solution.
In this crisis, Obama will probably try to adopt more protectionist measures likely to help US economy at Asia’s expense. India is likely to be hit in a big way.
India, with some strong policies must be able to negate this. Obama may play the Environment card to dent our industries, which by the way, are irresponsible towards the ecosystem to a certain degree.
Let this visit not be an escape route for him, for the criticism he is getting in US right now. I hope president Obama's visit will improve Indo-US ties.


 The US president has eased some of the  barriers to investment, such as removal of DRDO, ISRO, BDL from the hi-tech ban list.  He  announced deals worth $10bn supposedly creating 50000 American jobs. There will be new jobs here in India as well, no specific number though..
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So what do YOU think about this issue? Are sympathetic towards his mis-fortune(of America being in a bad shape when he became the President) ? Or maybe you are totally against his visit? Do let us know..
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