[Devils Workshop] “TechCrunch Shocked at AOL’s Secrecy on Huffington Post acquisition” and 5 more...

TechCrunch Shocked at AOL’s Secrecy on Huffington Post acquisition
[Case Study] Comparative Analysis of Google and Blekko Search
[How To] Create a Live USB of your Favorite Linux Distro
Common Keyboard Shortcuts Rarely Used!
Top 5 Websites to get Online Guitar Lessons
[Confirmed] NASDAQ systems hacked!

TechCrunch Shocked at AOL’s Secrecy on Huffington Post acquisition

Posted: 07 Feb 2011 06:15 AM PST

Just a few hours ago the blogging world has been set ablaze by the news of AOL acquiring the popular blog Huffington Post. The deal is worth $315 million. A few months ago AOL also had acquired TechCrunch, arguably one of the most visited and influential blogs when it came to technology. Huffington Post is known a blog that deal with politics. It's founder Arianna Huffington will be Editor-in-Chief of all AOL web properties. This means she is also Editor-in-Chief of TechCrunch.

TechCrunch’s Disappointment

All this is business as usual when two smaller companies are taken over by a very big one. The two smaller companies can feel threatened by each other but over time work things out. The strange part about this unfolding was that Huffington Post's acquisition was not broken first by TechCrunch! AOL slipped the news to everyone but it’s very own TechCrunch. Paul Carr from TechCrunch writes

We really have to stop being scooped by rivals on news affecting our own company. Tonight, courtesy of a press release that our parent company sent to everyone but us, we learn that AOL has acquired the Huffington Post for $315 million

Many might be wondering if this will lead to editorial arguments between Huffington and TechCrunch founder Micheal Arrington. A lot is being written about how Huffington Post leans more towards SEO content compared to TechCrunch. I think a lot of people are missing the bigger point.

The bigger point is how AOL treated TechCrunch. By not telling TechCrunch first about the acquisition they have, probably got the entire staff of TechCrunch distrustful of AOL.

AOL is not really a blog network. It started out as an ISP and added many other services and companies to its portfolio. In mergers and acquisition there are always things kept secret but releasing a scoop to your own web property's rival is strange! This is probably why people trust old media less than ever.

Beginning of the End for TechCrunch!

I for one think, this could be beginning of the end for TechCrunch. With this action AOL showed that they do not really appreciate TechCrunch or people associated with it. They might have other ideas. When such instances happen, key personnel start looking for newer employers.

TechCrunch is great, because of its balance of tech news along with opinion. It also keeps churning out new content and avoids re-filtering their popular posts over and over again, which is what some other notable blogs do.

Hopefully AOL leaves TechCrunch alone and let's it be, but I do not have high hopes. What are your views about Huffington Post and TechCrunch, being in one basket? Do drop in your comments.

-- This Post TechCrunch Shocked at AOL's Secrecy on Huffington Post acquisition is Published on Devils Workshop .

[Case Study] Comparative Analysis of Google and Blekko Search

Posted: 07 Feb 2011 05:22 AM PST

I was going through some old articles when I found an article on the new Search engine called Blekko. I was initially amazed to see something new challenging "Google" (though challenges are bought soon by Google ) but later found it "not too good" to replace Google at least for now. I could understand the dilemma of the Internet users, so I decided to do a comparative Case Study to find out the real truth.

Search by Location

Search string for both – "Dominos Pune"

If we see above, Google is displaying very much relevant results alongwith the exact branches of "Dominos".

Now if we see Blekko, the results starting from 1st through 3rd can be considered of "low relavance". However the 4th result has crossed the borders of relevancy.

You might question why I have not used the slash tag before "Pune". My answer to that will be that still no such tag exists, even a tag to India do not exists yet, forget Pune.

Search by Category

Search string at Google – "blogs travel"
Search string at Blekko – "blogs /travel"

If you see the above results at Google, you will actually be able to relate the results with the search string.

Now check the results at Blekko. No need to rub your eyes, what you can see is true and the least relevant. Though the results are somewhat related to "travel", I am not sure how much you will be liking such results yourself.

Search by Latest

Search string at Google – "Egypt" and then selected "Latest"
Search string at Blekko – "Egypt /date"

Just clicking on the Latest link gives a lot of results including the related tweets @ Twitter. If you see the news below the twitter feed too, the latest news sorted by time is displayed at Google. You can even see the Top updates on the right side and can check the Realtime section too.

This is still relevant though there is nothing too special in the results except sorting based on time. The same, infact better activity is just displayed above by Google.

I would still like to have your opinion from everyone whether you feel still Blekko can take over Google or atleast reach somewhere near? Would it be able to handle the pressure of being overtaken? Please drop in your comments.

-- This Post [Case Study] Comparative Analysis of Google and Blekko Search is Published on Devils Workshop .

[How To] Create a Live USB of your Favorite Linux Distro

Posted: 07 Feb 2011 03:30 AM PST

01 usb linux [How To] Create a Live USB of your Favorite Linux Distro

Well, after enjoying the power of Windows 7, I decided to go back to some of my favorite Linux flavors. I like testing out different flavors of Linux and my favorite is Ubuntu. I like it because it’s robust, the community is large enough to provide you with help and the software is easily available.

With the new release of Fedora 14, came many online debates about which one is better- Ubuntu or Fedora? So I decided to try out Fedora.

If you have never tried any Linux, I would recommend you to do so now! Here is a quick tutorial which will help you run or install a linux distro using a Flash/Pen Drive.

Things You Need

A good computer with a fast internet connection to download the disk image of the Linux you want to try. Distros are usually 600-700 Mb
A Pen Drive(1GB minimum)
A Brain! (just kidding, it’s as simple as 1-2-3)

NOTE: The USB key will be formatted, so don't forget to backup the data in the USB you're going to use.

Install Linux Live USB Creator

There are many ways to make a USB drive bootable, but the simplest way to do so is using a tool called Linux Live USB Creator which will not only make your Flash Drive bootable, but will also help you extract ISO image and make the Flash Drive ready for Linux Installation. Download Linux Live USB Creator from here and open the software

Follow the Steps below:

Choose your Flash Drive/ Pen Drive – If it's not listed, make sure that your Pen/Flash Drive is connected to your computer and then click on the Refresh button on the side).
Choose a Source - If you've downloaded the ISO Image, then click on ISO/IMG/ZIP and browse to select your ISO Image(example- Fedora.ISO). If you have the CD of the Linux Distro then click on CD. If you want to download the distro, then click on Download and choose the Linux Distro you want to download and then choose between Manual and Automatic Download.
Persistence mode is used to store the application, log files, information on the USB so that you don't have to install applications every time you insert the USB in a new computer. This mode can be used by few of the Linux Distros. If you want to install the Distro in your computer then there is no need to use persistence mode.
If you want to Hide the Linux files on the USB then check on the Hide Created Files on Key Option. Check the Format the key in FAT32 format option. If you want to try the Linux without rebooting your computer, check the third option, this will download some files from it's server and will run the Linux distro in a Virtual Box.
Click on The lightning icon to start the installation process. Now, LiLi will extract the files from the ISO image and then your USB will be ready to use.
After this, shut down the computer and then start it with USB Key connected to the drive. As soon as the Splash Screen of your motherboard appears, press F2 ( Or the key used to access BIOS settings).
Now, go to BOOT Option and then Enable Boot From USB First or anything similar to this term. After enabling it, Save and Exit from the BIOS and now, you're done! You will now see the booting screen of your Linux Distro and then run the install (if you want to install), and if you don't want to install it, then start exploring it using the live mode. After you install, don't forget to revert back the changes you did with the BIOS.

NOTE: Many Linux Flavors allow you to install the Linux side by side of Windows. If you want to use Ubuntu, then try Wubi. Wubi is a free application which lets you install Ubuntu side by side of Windows without the hassle of booting from a CD or USB Key.

Link: Linux Live USB Creator

-- This Post [How To] Create a Live USB of your Favorite Linux Distro is Published on Devils Workshop .

Common Keyboard Shortcuts Rarely Used!

Posted: 07 Feb 2011 01:30 AM PST

No doubt, keyboard shortcuts makes our work easier and importantly "quick". However there are many of them which are not much used but might help in making your work easy. I am now going to discuss some of the keyboard shortcuts for few software on Windows.

Mozilla Firefox (Windows)

F7 – Caret Browsing [enables cursor movement in the page like a Word processing document for easy text copying]
Ctrl+W / Ctrl+F4 – Close Tab
Ctrl+F5 – Super Refresh [refreshes the page even if no changes were made to the page after it got loaded]
Ctrl+L – Select Location (URL) bar
Ctrl+K – Select Web Search bar
Shift+Enter – Add .net to the URL
Ctrl+Shift+Enter – Add .org to the URL

You can find the complete list here.

Gmail

Many of us are Gmail users and must be knowing about Gmail allowing keyboard shortcuts. By default it is disabled, however you can enable from your Gmail Settings. I tried myself and found Google Chrome is not supported. Few of the shortcuts are:

c – Compose new mail
g and i (alternate: u) – Returns you to the Inbox view
j – Select an older conversation (email)
k – Select a newer conversation (email)
o or "Enter" – Opens / expands the conversation (email)
x – Select a conversation to apply an action
s – Stars the selected conversation(s)

The above two pictures shows the moving marker towards the older conversation when you press "j". You can find all other shortcuts for Gmail here.

Internet Explorer 8

I am covering IE 8 because this is the last stable update you can install.

F7 – Start Caret Browsing
Tab – Move through all items on your web page and the browser window
Ctrl+Shift+P – Start inPrivate window [do not stores any web traces locally]
Ctrl+Shift+T – Restore the last tab you closed
Ctrl+(n) – Switch between tabs (where 'n' can be 1 to
Ctrl+9 – Switch to the last tab
Alt+D – Selects the Address (URL) bar
F4 – Display the list of addresses [in the URL bar]

For the entire list, click here.

I do hope you will be able to benefit from the above information. Do drop in your comments if keyboard shortcuts have ever helped you to speed up your work.

-- This Post Common Keyboard Shortcuts Rarely Used! is Published on Devils Workshop .

Top 5 Websites to get Online Guitar Lessons

Posted: 06 Feb 2011 10:30 PM PST

A good tutor is essential if you want to master the art of playing the guitar. Although guitar tutors take a lot of money and dont really teach at the speed at which a person wants to learn.

Best thing to do is learning on our own using the biggest tool at our disposal – The Internet.

If you are a beginner and want to learn, you should buy a cheap yet a good quality guitar. Go into a local shop that sells all kinds of Indian instruments. It would not cost more than Rs. 2,000 to get a basic non-branded acoustic guitar (Try bargaining).

Brands such as Grason, Givson, Hobmer, Java are all Indian made brands, which are cheap and perfect for beginners. While selecting a guitar, check the neck of the guitar. The neck should be perfectly straight, without any curvature.

Image Credits

Following are some websites for Guitar enthusiasts who are willing to learn the guitar and want to learn as quickly as possible.

Indian Guitar Tabs

A comprehensive forum for all your Hindi song needs. It also provides tabs for songs in Marathi, Bengali, Pakistani and English. There are forums for help regarding what musical instruments to buy, guitar maintenance tips etc.

Hindi Song Notes

There is a massive database of songs on this websites which can be used by both the guitar and synthesizer players alike. You can also upload tabs that you wrote yourselves on the website.

Indian Guitar Cafe

A forum similar to Indian guitar tabs, it also provides help to keyboard players, as well as aspiring singers in need of lyrics of Hindi and English songs.

Indian Guitar Chords

This blog by a guitar enthusiast gives tabs of Hindi and Bengali songs. It also provides the user with an online tuner to tune his guitar to the right scale. There is also a dedicated section for learning music theory.

YouTube Channel of Pawan Jalan

Pawan Jalan’s YouTube channel takes the cake with easy-to-understand videos and proper explanations so that the person watching them can play along, and also understand the positions of the chords and notes being played. His regular updates have been subscribed bymore than 5,000 people on YouTube and has gathered quite a fan following.

Do drop in your queries, comments and feedback.

-- This Post Top 5 Websites to get Online Guitar Lessons is Published on Devils Workshop .

[Confirmed] NASDAQ systems hacked!

Posted: 06 Feb 2011 08:05 PM PST

Over the past week, I have followed the "Wall Street Journal" which apparently reported a breach in the NASDAQ network, however it was maintained that the hackers didn't touch the Trading platform nor did they steal any customer information.

However it has now been confirmed by the company that owns the 2nd largest Securities Market that its network was hacked including a platform called "Directors Desk" which lets the management of various companies share confidential data among each other.

The Law-enforcement agencies are presently investigating the entire matter, however it's been said around the hackers are probably trying for something bigger which could potentially damage the stock market network ultimately aimed at making high monetary benefits. This is not just an issue which can be ignored as hackers are possibly able to get access to "real" data which means a lot of money is at stake.