Prize Query: How many Pages does Google have?

In the bitter war between Yahoo! and Google over search engine index size, Google has decided to give its latest answer in the form of a question.
The comapny said on monday that it had phased in a larger index over the last four weeks, Google unveiled an updated index it said is more than three times larger than that of any of its search engine competitors.

But rather than directly proclaiming it, Google said it would ask web surfer to decide for themselve.
Google's CEO Eric e. Schmidt, said the company would remove the current number from its home page (Searching 8,168,684,336 webpages) and instead ask visitors to guess the size of the new index.

Moreover, in typical offbeat Google style, there will be no announced prize for the best guess, although Schmidt did not rule out the possibility that one would be rewarded.
"We're suggesting that users do a little test", he said.
Google said it would post a guidline to help users make their own comparisions on its weblog googleblog.blogspot.com

although google would not specify the new index size, Google said it is about three times larger than its nearest competitor (read yahoo!).

"We're celebrating our seventh birthday.... We had a pretty strong year. We're announcing tonight that in terms of unduplicated pages our index is now three times larger than any other search engine" Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt said in a phone interview with CNET News.com.

In response, Yahoo issued a statement: We congratulate Google on removing the index size number from its home page and for recognizing it is a meaningless number," Yahoo said in a statement. "As we've said in the past, what matters is that consumers find what they are looking for, and we invite Google users to compare their results to Yahoo search at http://search.yahoo.com."

Google Offers Blog Search

Search giant Google has jumped on to the blogging band-wagon, by releasing a beta version of its long-awaited Blog Search. With this move, Google has joined the handful of sites which help users search for topics of interest, in the wide blogosphere.

Sites such as Blogdigger.com, Feedster.com, Technorati.com and Bloglines.com are already up and running for some time. But it is believed that a Google or Yahoo would still be the preferred choice for people learning to surf the net.

Google maintains that its Blog Search will offer users a better way of finding out what s being written in blogs, as they are being created.

Blog Search will index blogs that collect information about other blogs, as well as publish feeds. Google s new service is geared to update with new content faster than standard web searches and find date ranges and posts with greater accuracy. Further, blog searches can be saved as queries or alerts that get updated automatically.

This feature is designed to offer both a Google and Blogger look and feel to users. Users of Blogger and Blogspot will be able to check other blogs through a special box on the site.

Results will be presented in the familiar Google interface; but Blog Search will also cater to RSS or Atom feeds. It is available in languages like English, Spanish, German, French, Russian, Dutch, Brazilian Portuguese, Italian, Korean etc. While the results can be restricted to any of the supported languages, the default is set to include all of them.

The new service supports all the standard search operators plus 4 new ones i.e. blogurl, inpostauthor, inposttitle and inblogtitle.

However, Google s Blog Search appears to be over-zealous in its search for content, with reports coming in of the service indexing certain blogs with meta tags in them. But sources reveal that Google has taken notice of this problem and is working towards its elimination.

Opera Goes Free with Version 8.5

Opera has decided to launch a fully free, ad-less version of its desktop browser version 8.5.

Opera, the dark horse of web browsing, is now completely free. The ad-bar is gone, the licensing fee is gone and all that made Opera different from the other run of the mill browsers is yours without having to part with a dime. Enjoy "first" features such as native BitTorrent downloading support (currently in beta), voice controlled browsing, mouse gestures, session control and advanced browsing features such as fast forward and zooming - all for free.

Opera has had its dedicated fan following ever since the early versions came out with an endless list of innovative features that everyone wanted, but no one was quite ready to accept. Not because they weren't useful, but simply because Opera was not free.

In the age of operating systems with free integrated web browsers and popular free alternatives, no one was willing to pay $40 to get "a better browsing experience." As they realized this, they started a free, ad-supported version of the browser which also didn't go down too well with the community that had just waged war on adware and spyware creeping into and taking over the gullible users' computers.

Even version after version of innovative features, the $40-or-ads model was not working out as well as they hoped it would. Opera continued to enjoy a niche fan following and became an enthusiast product, but it still wasn't mainstream. Meanwhile, Firefox had already begun its ascent to the throne in the browser wars. This added another layer of competition to an already stiff ballgame. They had to do something, and they did.

Opera is now also available in two local languages, Hindi and Punjabi, which they hope will help them gain a wider userbase from non-English Internet users in the country. "By making Opera free and available in local languages , we hope we are able to reach out to more Indian users," said Divisha Chandna, Distribution Manager for the Desktop version of Opera.

While Opera for Desktop PCs has become free, Opera for Mobile shall continue to be a paid-for product, costing US$29 for the Series 60 and Windows Mobile versions.

Apple is going to use Intel chips for its next line of MACs

Apple Computer Inc. has been in talks that could lead to a decision soon to use Intel Corp. chips in its Macintosh computer line, The Wall Street Journal reported today.

The report, citing two industry executives with knowledge of recent discussions between the companies, said Apple was expected to agree to use Intel chips. But it said the talks could break down or could be a tactic to gain negotiating leverage with Apple's current chip supplier, IBM.


Intel spokesman Chuck Mulloy declined to comment. An Apple spokesman did not return a call for comment, though a spokeswoman for the computer maker characterized the Journal report as "rumor and speculation."


Adopting Intel chips would help ensure that future Macintosh systems could meet the price and performance of products from tough rivals such as Dell Inc.


Apple's pricing, which has often been higher than rivals, could become more competitive if Intel were to provide the kind of marketing subsidies it has given to other computer makers, the newspaper said.


For Intel, winning over Apple would be a prestigious endorsement from one of technology's most influential trend-setters and could associate the chipmaker with Apple's hugely popular iPod music player.


Shares of Apple rose $1.28, or 3.4%, to $38.83 in morning trade on Nasdaq, while shares of Intel fell 6 cents to $26.29.


Though Apple has only a tiny share of the PC market, its embrace of Intel chips would mark a fundamental change to the computer industry's historic alliances and rivalries. Apple has long blazed its own path by avoiding chips from Intel or rival processor maker Advanced Micro Devices Inc., which together power virtually all of the world's PCs.


"It's like Ferrari going to BMW for an engine," said Richard Doherty, the research director for technology consulting and research firm Envisioneering. "This is seen as a whole changing of church."


Doherty, however, said some form of a partnership between the two Silicon Valley companies is all but inevitable. Intel's server chips would be well suited for some of Apple's Xserve, he said.


"I think it's a matter of time," Doherty said. "IBM has not delivered perhaps as many processors and as fast as Apple has wanted."


It was unclear whether such a move would signal a large-scale shift away from chips made by IBM, Apple's longtime supplier, the report said.


Apple could choose to add some Intel-based models to its product line or make a complete shift to Intel's chip technology in what would be seen as a serious blow to IBM's microprocessor business, the newspaper said.


Apple sells only about 3 million computers a year -- a small portion of the estimated 200 million sold globally. But the company's shares have nearly quadrupled since the iPod was introduced in October 2001.

Beware of Phishing, new, high-tech way to steal information

Criminals have come up with a new, high-tech way to steal your credit card numbers, passwords and other vital information. It's called 'phishing' or 'pharming' and it works like this:

An email is designed to look like it's coming from a well-known and respected Web site, such as eBay or Paypal. The email states that there's a problem with your account and tells you to click on a link within the email to update your customer information. When you click on the link, you're taken to a fake Web page, again designed to look like the official site, where any information you enter goes directly to the criminals who set it all up.

It's a confusing and often convincing scam, but fortunately there are ways for you to spot a fake and protect yourself.

Where does the link take you?
The links in fake emails rarely show you the actual Web address - they'll usually hide the address within a phrase like "Click here" or "Log in". So check the url first if it is something like http://www.abcdxyz123.com/ie/xref/paypal/c...vice/index.html don't click it!


Verify if Email is saying that it came from paypal the url shud start with http://www.paypal.com

Does the email ask you for information? Many fake emails will ask you to reply with your personal information or to fill it into spaces provided within the email. Beware of any email that asks you to provide:

Credit or debit card numbers
Driver's License numbers
Passwords
Bank account numbers
Social Security numbers
Your full name
Birthdate
Email addresses




Is the Web page secure? Any time you're asked to give personal information on a Web page, the Web address should begin with "https:". The "s" stands for "secure" and is your key to knowing your information is protected.

And keep your eyes open all the time while surfing. this will protect you.