Bing! Microsoft Prepares For War With A Revamped Search Engine

Microsoft unveiled its soon-to-launch search engine Bing. It is available as beta and jully available by June 3. It’s different in certain ways from other search engines. The home page features a rotation of stunning photography, for instance, which can be clicked on to produce related image search results.

It doesn’t have quite the same ring to it as go Google yourself, but now you can go Bing yourself. (Then again, Google took a few years to become a verb.).

“We have taken the algorithmic programming up an order of magnitude,” says Microsoft senior vice president Yusuf Mehdi. Each search result page is customized according to what type of search you do (health, travel, shopping, news, sports). The algorithms determine not only the order of results on the page, but the layout of the page itself, concluding what sections appear. These sections can include anything from guided refinements and a list of related searches in the left-hand pane to images, videos, and local results.

A news search offers up headlines, photos, videos, and local news in a column on the right. A shopping search will bring up products and is tied into Microsoft’s Cashback program. Every search also generates a guide on the left to help you refine your search.

One of the new features of Microsoft’s just launched Bing search engine is that it auto-plays videos in results when you hover over them. Naturally, the first thing a number of people did was search for “sex” or “porn”. The results are majestic — if you’re a teenager looking for a way around porn filters on your computer. And this isn’t artful porn or something like it, it’s straight-up, hardcore pornography.

A few things to try:

* An ambiguous Web search: “bangalore” (do you want images, recipes, facts, or a map of the country? The topic guides in the left explore pane will help you narrow your search).
* Video search: “Steve Jobs” (hover over the thumbnail to play the video)
* Image search: “Rollercoasters” (notice the infinite scroll).
* A health search: “Sore throat”
* Shopping: “Digital SLR” (sort by price or brand, get average ratings and CashBack).
* News Search: “Bing” (what else?)

I had one hell of a time using it. I have to get over the habbits of google to use it. Personally, though they have some cool features, like play video on hover, I didn’t like it. It doesn’t even come close to competing with google.

Microsoft to unveil SkyBox cloud service

Microsoft is all set to announce a new syncing service at the Mobile World Congress this year, with SkyBox set to rival the likes of MobileMe as a cloud-based system.

This gives users the ability to back up their Windows Mobile devices over the air, meaning they can backup, restore, and manage phone contacts and data on the fly.

In fact, and in quite a departure for Microsoft, the service could also be rolled out to non-Windows Mobile devices, although it’s unlikely this will extend to the likes of the iPhone.

Sky’s the limit

Other services set to be announced at the Mobile World Congress include SkyLine, which will be aimed at helping users and small business owners to set up their Exchange servers with their own domain names.

And those of you that remember Microsoft’s efforts to replicate the success of Apple’s App Store won’t be surprised to find out that SkyMarket is finally coming to fruition, but only for WM devices.

Of course, there’s always the rumour that Windows 6.5 is going to make its debut as well, and if we were betting folk we’d say it’s pretty likely, so watch this space as TechRadar reports from the MWC this year.

Monitor Internet bandwidth with BitMeter and SurplusMeter

With ISPs, such as Comcast and Time Warner, metering or limiting bandwidth, your users, particularly telecommuters, may soon need a way to monitor their Internet usage. On a September 24 episode of CNET TV’s Insider Secrets, Brian Tong discusses two free bandwidth monitors–BitMeter for Windows and SurplusMeter for OS X.

I haven’t used either of these applications, but those concerned they might get caught by their ISP’s bandwidth limit might want to give them a quick look.

Transform you XP desktop to look like Vista

Bring innovation into your work without buying a new PC or a system. The best freeware safely installed. So if you want to make your computer get a modern Vista look, this is the perfect solution. The package includes: Yahoo widgets – a lot of small and beautiful assistants. Anything you could only imagine on your desktop – from PC temperature to mini games; Vista Theme – a special theme developed by Microsoft which transforms Windows XP into Windows Vista; Vista Start Menu – modifies not only menu’s skin but also its functionality. Learn how a convenient menu looks like. The items of the package 1.2 may include unspecified updates, enhancements, or bug fixes.

Download

Windows SE7EN

Windows 7 (formerly known as Blackcomb and Vienna) is the working name for the next major version of Microsoft Windows as the successor of Windows Vista. Microsoft has announced that it is “scoping Windows 7 development to a three-year timeframe”, and that “the specific release date will ultimately be determined by meeting the quality bar.” Windows 7 is expected to be released sometime in 2010. The client versions of Windows 7 will ship in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions.^[2] A server variant, codenamed Windows Server 7, is also under development.

Bill Gates suggested that the next version of Windows would “be more user-centric.” That means that right now when you move from one PC to another, you’ve got to install apps on each one, do upgrades on each one. Moving information between them is very painful. We can use Live Services to know what you’re interested in. So even if you drop by a [public] kiosk or somebody else’s PC, we can bring down your home page, your files, your fonts, your favorites and those things. So that’s kind of the user-centric thing that Live Services can enable. [Also,] in Vista, things got a lot better with [digital] ink and speech, but by the next release there will be a much bigger bet. Students won’t need textbooks; they can just use these tablet devices. Parallel computing is pretty important for the next release. We’ll make it so that a lot of the high-level graphics will be just built into the operating system. So we’ve got a pretty good outline.

Windows 7 has reached the Milestone 1 (M1) stage and has been made available to key partners. According to reports sent to TG Daily, the build adds support for systems using multiple heterogeneous graphics cards and a new version of Windows Media Center. New features in Milestone 1 also reportedly include Gadgets being integrated into Windows Explorer, a Gadget for Windows Media Center, the ability to visually pin and unpin items from the Start Menu and Recycle Bin, improved media features, a new XPS Viewer, and the Calculator accessory featuring Programmer and Statistics modes along with unit conversion.

There were a lot abuses and funny postings about Windows error messages displayed which annoy the user. So, finally they have come up with some thing to handle those issues (it seems)…

Source: windows7news.com

Process Explorer

The most amazing diagnostic tool ever, created by Microsoft Distinguished Fellow Mark Russinovich. If you use Task Manager, you should replace it with this free alternative, which does so much more.

You can think of Process Explorer as Task Manager on steroids. It provides system information, a hierarchical view of all running processes (including services), and an overwhelming number of technical details about how each process uses CPU and memory. It all runs in real time, making it an ideal troubleshooting tool.

The main Process Explorer window contains two panes. The top pane shows all active processes, while the bottom pane shows either handles or DLLs. When you right-click any entry in the process list, you get a dialog box with an amazing amount of information about the process. You can kill, suspend, or restart a process any time. The search/filtering tools are superb.
Process Explorer is a must for anyone who is trying to pin down performance problems on any Windows version or is just curious about what’s going on under the hood.

Bonus: No installation required. You just copy this program and run it. When you close it, it leaves no traces behind.

 

Download

 

best error of the day!!

TOP TEN MICROSOFT NON-MONOPOLISTIC SLOGANS

 

10) Competition is good. 90% market share is better.

9) We’re disappointed that the US government failed to reach a reasonable settlement with Microsoft. We thought that our press release last year about Microsoft buying the US government took care of these little details.

We support a free marketplace. So long as our support is visibly branded everywhere, at any price.

7) The Road Ahead: Revised edition, “How to avoid the sink holes.”

6) When in doubt, spend gobs of cash on ads in all the major newspapers on a one-day rampage against government. That always beats befriending politicians and bureaucrats.

5) We value our customers. That’s why we only charge $75 per question on our toll-free tech support phone lines! (Hey, at least the phone call is free)!

4) Just because our marketing memos effectively caught us with our pants down and our hands in the cookie jar, doesn’t mean we can’t bully our way out of this mess.

3) We love the idea of competition. That’s why we bought a huge chunk of Apple.

2) The US economy depends heavily on Microsoft’s ability to release Windows98 on time. Yeah, and that also proves how insignificant and non-monopolistic we are as compared to our software competitors.

and finally,

1) No Netscape for you!

Numbers can be used to prove anything it seems

 

Numbers can be used to prove anything it seems. Here is one of the strangest I’ve seen lately.

Proof that Bill Gates is the Devil: The real name of “the” Bill Gates is William Henry Gates III. Nowadays he is known as Bill Gates (III), where “III” means the order of third (3rd.)

By converting the letters of his current name to the ASCII-values and adding his (III), you get the following:

B 66 I 73 L 76 L 76

G 71 A 65 T 84 E 69 S 83

I 1 I 1 I 1 ————– 666 !!!

Some might ask, “How did Bill Gates get so powerful?” Coincidence? Or just the beginning of mankind’s ultimate and total enslavement??? Before you decide, consider the following:

M S – D O S 6 . 2 1

77+83+45+68+79+83+32+54+46+50+49 = 666

W I N D O W S 9 5

87+73+78+68+79+87+83+57+53+1 = 666

Coincidence?

General Motors REPLY TO BILL GATES

At a recent computer expo (COMDEX), Bill Gates reportedly compared the computer industry with the auto industry and stated, “If GM had kept up with technology like the computer industry has, we would all be driving $25.00 cars that got 1,000 miles to the gallon.” 

In response to Bill’s comments, General Motors issued a press release stating: “If GM had developed technology like Microsoft, we would all be driving cars with the following characteristics (and I just love this part, especially 7th point and 10’Th point):

1. For no reason whatsoever, your car would crash twice a day.

2. Every time they repainted the lines in the road, you would have to buy a new car.

3. Occasionally your car would die on the freeway for no reason. You would have to pull to the side of the road, close all of the windows, shut off the car, restart it, and reopen the windows before you could continue. For some reason you would simply accept this.

4. Occasionally, executing a maneuver such as a left turn wouldcause your car to shut down and refuse to restart, in which case you would have to reinstall the engine.

5. Macintosh would make a car  that was powered by  the sun, was reliable, five times as fast and twice as  easy to drive – but would run on only five percent of the  roads.

6. The oil, water temperature, and alternator warning lights would all be replaced by a single “This Car Has Performed an Illegal Operation” warning light.

7. The airbag system would ask “Are you sure?” before deploying.

8. Occasionally, for no reason whatsoever, your car would lock you out and refuse to let you in until you simultaneously lifted the door handle, turned the key and grabbed hold of the radio antenna.

9. Every time a new car was introduced car buyers would have to learn how to drive all over again because none of the controls would operate in the same manner as the old car.

10. You’d have to press the “Start” button to turn the engine off.”Never undervalue the manufacturing & automobile industries