Chrome Addon: AdSweep a Chrome ad blocker

Chrome Addon: AdSweep a Chrome ad blocker: "

AdSweep is a small addon that aims to hide advertising from the web pages you visit. In technical terms, AdSweep is a user javascript that defines CSS rules based on the web site you are visiting to hide elements of the page that show advertisements.

It is a work in progress and a small number of web sites have been added to the list of filtered web sites, more and more web sites are added over time, and if you have basic CSS skills, you can take part and help make the web a cleaner place. To help me out, you can get in touch with the author by email.

Installation

• If you want to install AdSweep in Chrome, create the C:\scripts directory, extract AdSweep.zip and place the AdSweep.user.js file into C:\scripts then right-click the shortcut icon of Google Chrome, either on your desktop or in your Start menu, and click “Properties”. Select the second tab named “Shortcut”, and in the “Target” field, append --enable-greasemonkey with a space inbetween. For instance:
  
  Before: C:\Users\Charles\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe
  
  After: C:\Users\Charles\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe --enable-greasemonkey


• Don’t forget the space in between. Click “OK” to save changes.

When you’re done, close your browser, reopen it and access www.adsweep.org, you should see a red notification in the upper-right corner of the page (only displayed on www.adsweep.org), saying AdSweep is installed.

Download and more info

"

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Gmail Adds a Contact Picker

Gmail Adds a Contact Picker: "Gmail is probably one of the last Google services that adds a very simple feature: a contact picker. When you compose a message, you may want to see the list of contacts so you can select some of them. But this feature wasn't available in Gmail, although you could find it in Google Docs, Google Calendar and in almost any mail client and webmail service. Some people even wondered if you can send messages to more than one address: questions like 'Why can't I load multiple contacts when I go to compose?' or 'How do I compose using my address book?' were very popular in Gmail's help group.

'Auto-complete is convenient and fast, and usually does the trick. But sometimes seeing your list of contacts can help you remember all the people you want to include on your email,' admits Google.

The wait is over and now you can finally use the contact picker in Gmail: just click on 'To' when you compose a message, select the contacts and click 'Done'.


Some of the cool things you can do using the contact picker:

* select contacts from one of your groups: just use the drop-down to choose from 'Friends', 'Family', 'Coworkers' and other groups.

* easily remove the contacts you've picked by just clicking on them.


* manually add email addresses by clicking on an empty space from the picker's 'to' box.

* if you've already typed some addresses in the 'to' box, the contact picker will include them when it launches.

* add all the results of a search by clicking on 'Select all'.

* the feature also works for 'cc' and 'bcc'.

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Snow Leopard set for release on August 28th

Snow Leopard set for release on August 28th: "

Filed under: OS, Retail, Snow Leopard

Amid the leaks and speculation, the online Apple Store went down this morning, only to return with Snow Leopard release information -- August 28th. It also turns out that the box photo that was leaked last weekend was legit, showing the Snow Leopard on the front.

The pricing remains at $29US for a single user upgrade, or $49 for a Family Pack upgrade. You can only install the upgrade edition if you're using Leopard. If you're not, you'll need to buy the Mac Box Set, available for $169 for a single user or $229 for a Family Pack.

Before you install, check out our upgrade guide. Also, note that If you purchased a qualifying Mac on or after June 8, 2009, that does not include Mac OS X Snow Leopard, you can upgrade for $9.95.

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Windows Vista Quietly Fading Away

Windows Vista Quietly Fading Away: "

No one is talking about Windows Vista anymore and I find myself posting more about Windows 7 than Windows Vista. In the office I was surprised last friday when my colleague burned 12 copies of Windows 7 and gave everyone on my team an installer. Ok, we all have MSDN accounts and we are legally downloading the installation of Windows 7 from MSDN and every team member who have received the installation disk needs to request our own individual license for our own accounts.

Anyways, as most of these colleagues are still running Windows XP and have never installed Windows Vista and all of a sudden there is an urge to install Windows 7. Microsoft itself is no longer defending, spending advertising money or talking about Windows Vista. The focus right now is the pending release to consumers of Windows 7 on October 22.

Microsoft Windows Vista looks to be fading away quietly and people don’t seem to notice of it’s demise. The software giant is riding high on the very good publicity that Windows 7 is getting especially after they have released the public betas months back.

Windows XP has more focus right now than Vista and companies, users are evaluating whether they are going to replace the operating system with Microsoft’s latest. If you can recall more than a year back, reports were circulating that Microsoft has warned of waiting for the successor of Vista saying that an upgrade from Windows XP to Windows (after Vista) is going to be more problematic than making the success from XP to Vista to the next operating system (Windows 7 now).

I think Microsoft Vista’s timing was all wrong because for one it was released way too late, more than five years after XP’s release. The consumer market was used to seeing a new operating system every two years or so and the long wait turned very loyal users to XP. The release of Vista was plagued with lots of problems combined with the slumping economy, Microsoft had the recipe for failure.

Microsoft has corrected these things in Windows 7, they have speed up the process where the operating system has the speed of Windows XP and the power of Windows Vista. The timing is just right being released just 3 years after the release of Windows Vista, and the economy while still in slump has no choice since XP which is installed in majority is reaching it’s 10 year and users have the urge to move on.

As time goes on and after the release of Windows 7, we might no longer see inquiries, questions, reports or mentions of Windows Vista. And I myself would be rethinking whether to focus purely on Windows 7 instead which is most likely going to happen.

How about you? Are you moving fast to Windows 7?

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Finance (No. 2) Act, 2009 assented by President (Act No 33 of 2009)

Finance (No. 2) Act, 2009 assented by President (Act No 33 of 2009): "

Finance Bill (2) 2009 has been assented by President .I am not going in the details the whole text of the act is given below for your ready reference .you can record your comment in comment section given below(to read the text and to download the Act kindly click this link)

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Collaborate on Picasa Web Albums

Collaborate on Picasa Web Albums: "Posted by Thomas Kang, Software Engineer

After a recent trip to Yosemite, I was frustrated to see my traveling companions share their photos in three different online albums on three different photo-sharing sites. What we really needed was a single album to which everyone could add their photos. Google Docs makes collaborating on documents easy. Why not try a similar idea with photos? Starting today, every album on Picasa Web Albums is potentially collaborative: multiple people can add pictures to the same album.

To make an album collaborative, sign in to Picasa Web Albums and add contributors. Just click the 'Share' button, add contributors, and leave the 'Let people I share with contribute photos' checkbox selected.


You can also manage access for contributors you've added to the 'Shared with' list by toggling the 'plus' icon next to their name – when the plus icon is green they can add photos.



Contributors will need to log in to Picasa Web Albums with their Google Account to add photos. When they visit your collaborative album, they just need to click the 'Add Photos' button to start uploading.


Contributors' photos will be attributed to them, and they can rotate, delete, or add captions to the pictures they've uploaded.

A few limitations worth noting: contributors won't be able to upload to collaborative albums from the Picasa software. Also, if you're contributing to an album using Internet Explorer, for now you will only be able to upload five photos at a time. While this limit is standard for other browsers, we're already working to allow easier collaborative uploads for Internet Explorer.

As always, we'd love to hear your feedback in our help forum.

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Buffett says US on slow path to recovery: Report

The United States economy is out of the emergency room and appears to be on a slow path to recovery,, Warren Buffett wrote in an opinion column in the New York Times. 

The country will need to deal with the side effects of enormous dosages of "monetary medicine" that continue to be administered, said Buffett, who runs insurance and investment company Berkshire Hathaway Inc. 

The country's "net debt" - which he described as the amount held publicly - is mushrooming, he wrote. In this fiscal year, it will increase more than one percentage point per month, climbing to about 56 percent of GDP from 41 percent, he added. 

"Our immediate problem is to get our country back on its feet and flourishing -- 'whatever it takes' still makes sense," Buffett said in the paper. 

But once recovery is gained, Congress must end the rise in the debt-to-GDP ratio and keep its growth in obligations in line with its growth in resources, he said.

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Better IPO grade may not ensure good investor returns

A better IPO grading may not be a guarantee for healthy long-term returns for investors, with many a company that entered the primary 

Cashing in on your money Know about stock arbitrage Better returns: Book capital losses  Plan long term portfolio

market with good rating in the last two years are now trading well below their offer prices on the bourses. 

Market regulator Securities and Exchanges Board of India (SEBI) made it mandatory for businesses to grade their Initial Public Offers (IPOs) in May 2007, mainly aimed at helping investors with investment decisions related tostocks. 

An analysis of the current market valuation of the companies, which came out with public offering after May 2007, shows that irrespective of the grades given, a major chunk of them saw wealth erosion in the range of 20 to 70 per cent. 

According to brokerage firm SMC Capitals, the cumulative market capitalisation of 63 public issues after May 1, 2007, is currently trading lower at an average of 39 per cent. 

"It is time for the regulator to take a relook to the entire grading system. The whole purpose on grading is to guide investor towards the right issue, however, with such high graded issues trading at a discount, IPO investors are left wondering about dependability on grading," SMC Capitals Equity Head Jagannadham Thunuguntla said. 

SEBI has made it mandatory for all companies to grade their IPOs from one of the credit rating agencies -- Icra, Crisil, Fitch and CARE -- registered with it. 

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PC Industry Consumer Satisfaction Rebounds on Fading Windows Vista

PC Industry Consumer Satisfaction Rebounds on Fading Windows Vista: "

The results of the American Customer Satisfaction Index shows that the overall consumer ratings of the PC industry has increased by 1 percent rebounding from two successive years of decline largely blamed on the sentiments of users on Microsoft Windows Vista. Early problems from vendor hardware, software compatibility, Vista Capable lawsuit, hardware requirements pulled down the satisfaction ratings of consumers. The Ultimate disappointment on the Windows Vista Ultimate edition falling short of delivering its promise of the Ultimate Extras padded to the growing dismay of users.

Now that the Windows Vista operating system is almost behind us, the Windows 7 RTM already released, plus the growing popularity of Apple and its iPhone technology made sure the PC satisfaction came back. According to David VanAmburg who is the managing director of the index, the decision of manufacturers to replace Windows Vista with Windows XP operating system helped bump up the rating. This just shows how the industry would climb up or down depending on the performance of a single vendor – Microsoft.

Anyways, Apple did slip 1 percentage point but they still remain on top of the race leading with a 12 percent lead over Dell. Despite Apple’s decline in rating, it should be noted that they have the largest gap lead between first and second place for any industry. Apple’s competition at this point is themselves. VanAmburg view on this notes that the decline of Apple is merely a statistical “noise” that didn’t mean any shift in consumer attitude. He adds on that Apple’s quality of products and face-to-face customer interactions through its retail stores helps to improve the consumers rating.

Dell is 12 points behind the leader but at least they have maintained their previous rating, Gateway which was bought by Acer saw a 3 percent increase in consumer satisfaction, Hewlett – Packard increase 1 percent and Compaq climbing 6 percent.

On search engine wars, Google is still on top of the list increasing 3 percent, followed by Yahoo, MSN.com and Ask.com. VanAmburg says that Google’s success comes from remaining basic, where users know what they are getting from the site.

I seriously think that overall satisfaction index would increase by at least another percent next year since consumers are most likely to be happy with the release of Windows 7, the faded Windows Vista forgotten on the memory of consumers, Apple’s iPhone 3GS has improved dramatically, an iPhone tablet PC release (???), the consolidation of Bing and Yahoo search and other things would greatly bode well on the ratings.

How about you? Which of the tech vendors have you been happy about? Which ones don’t you like? Do you agree with the Windows Vista assessment?

Image from Apple and Windows.

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Get The New Windows Live Movie Maker Today!

Get The New Windows Live Movie Maker Today!

Brian Hall, General Manager for Windows Live, just has announced via the Windows Live Team Blog that the new Windows Live Movie Maker is now available. The new version of Windows Live Movie Maker is part of an update to Windows Live Essentials – available for download here. I'm currently running the new version of Windows Live Movie Maker on Windows 7 RTM and it will also run on Windows Vista too.

For more information on the new Windows Live Movie Maker, see Brian's blog post or this awesome resource website which includes demo, HD samples and deep product info.

Sorry for such a short post, but I'm off to make me some movies!

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Internet Explorer 8 Offers Better Protection against Socially Engineered Mal...

Internet Explorer 8 Offers Better Protection against Socially Engineered Malware Threats

Today, socially engineered malware threats are on the rise and are heavily impacting the way people use the Internet - making it a consumer and industry issue.

A new study released today from NSS Labs shows that Internet Explorer 8 is the #1 browser in malware protection and also the #1 browser in phishing protection. The independent test results showed that Internet Explorer 8 blocks 3 times more malware threats than Firefox 3 and 10 times more malware threats than Google Chrome 2.

Given how Internet Explorer 8 performs against these socially engineered malware and phishing threats and the ongoing threat that cybercriminals pose against Internet users today, this is another good reason for consumers to upgrade to a modern browser and move on from earlier versions like Internet Explorer 6 where security issues were not then what they are today.

For more information on this new NSS Labs study and how Internet Explorer 8 continues to help keep people protected while browsing the web – see this blog post from the Internet Explorer Team on the IEBlog.

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Windows 7 Release Candidate Downloads End August 20th

Windows 7 Release Candidate Downloads End August 20th

Just a reminder that you have until this Thursday, August 20^th 2009 to download the Windows 7 Release Candidate.

After that date, you will still be able to register your product and get registration keys but, the media will no longer be available for download.

If you have not downloaded the Release Candidate, please do so here.

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Jump List Tricks for Windows Media Player in Windows 7

Jump List Tricks for Windows Media Player in Windows 7

Windows 7 introduces Jump Lists as one of the many enhancements to the Windows Taskbar. And Windows Media Player takes advantage of this feature for quick access to your digital media.

Here are a few tips for working with the Jump List for Windows Media Player:

• You can drag most items off of the Windows Media Player Jump List and onto the desktop to create a shortcut that can be used on any computer to do that query and return local items.
• Doing a search on a view and double clicking one of the result items will log the search query to the Jump List. For example, can go to all songs and search for 'NOT genre:Christmas' and you'll get a Jump List item of all your music with no Christmas music (see above screenshot).
• You can pin any file Windows Media Player will play in the Jump List by directly dragging and dropping the file onto the Windows Media Player icon on the Windows Taskbar.
• Clicking "Play All" or playing a stack view from File Explorer will log to the Jump List.
• If you go to Organize, then Options, and then Player - the last option in Player settings "Save recently used to the Jump List instead of frequently used" toggles what shows on your Jump List.

Hope you enjoyed these Jump List tips for Windows Media Player!

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DEPOSIT TAX ONLINE THROUGH ATM

DEPOSIT TAX ONLINE THROUGH ATM

E-payment of TDS is mandatory for All type of assesses as per New Tax rules .More over advance tax ,self assessment tax is also to be deposit mandatory through e- payment made for certain category of assesses.E payment of taxes ,generally required Internet ,Online bank Account but most of the assesses who has little knowledge of Internet or have no access to the internet have to face difficulties in depositing Tax online .Few of them hiring professionals to deposit  tax on their behalf.

Now a Good news for all above said assesses .Corporation has come up with a scheme ,by which a person can deposit Income tax through ATM also.To get this facility the person must have a account with Corporation bank.This facility can be availed by any corporation bank customer who has Debit card.

To avail this facility you have to register at corporation bank branch with prescribed details.
After registration ,you can deposit tax through Corporation bank ATM.
after completion of the transaction ,Receipt will be generated which will reflect CIN along with other details.
A sms and Email will also be sent to to you showing details of your transaction and soft copy of the Receipt of the tax..so get registered your self Now & take the benefit.

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Mac vs. PC - What's your choice?

Mac vs. PC - What's your choice?

It's an ongoing debate that continues to pick up steam, particularly for those everyday users looking to buy a new computer. But the PC vs. Mac battle always conjures up feelings of "us vs. them" amongst the biggest fans of either platform, which can lead to some confusion for those not as well-versed.

Here, I've outlined some of the questions and contentions that are fairly common in the debate between the two. In trying to shed some light on these, I've responded to each one with a mix of facts and my own interpretation.

 Macs are more expensive than PCs.

Truth: Macs are often pricier than PCs, for a variety of reasons.

A lot of this stems from the fact that Apple creates both the hardware and the software for its products. That kind of integration means that Apple's Mac OS X operating system works seamlessly with Apple's proprietary lineup of desktop and laptop Mac computers. With all that under their control, Apple solely determines what specs their Macs will have, how much they'll cost and who can ultimately sell them. This created the ideal conditions for Apple to launch their own Apple Store retail outlets, which also offer face-to-face tech support services by appointment, as well as classes for new users to familiarize themselves with the platform.

By contrast, Microsoft largely represents the image of the PC because a vast majority of them function with the Windows operating system. But that's only software. There are dozens of PC hardware manufacturers around the world that compete with each other on everything from features to pricing. The one common denominator is that they overwhelmingly run on Windows, which means that the manufacturers have deals worked out with Microsoft. When buying a PC, you are also paying for the license to use Windows.

Basically, PC manufacturers will compete by targeting all consumer segments — low-end casual users to specialized and highly technical consumers. Apple typically targets a mid-level-and-higher type of consumer, but also has a very loyal fan base for its brand. They also use more expensive parts and components across the board. These are the key reasons why Apple charges as much as it does.

Macs are good for multimedia (graphics, video, photography), while PCs are better for everything else.

Truth: Depending on your needs, Macs and PCs are beneficial to both the graphic artist and the business person.

The next time you look at a magazine, newspaper, billboard or any other visual media, remember that it was likely designed and produced using Macs. For a long time, Macs had the reputation of being ubiquitous in schools and businesses that worked in publishing. This has changed a little now that Macs have become very widely used in the music and movie industries, television broadcasting and in other service-based industries.

PCs, on the other hand, are a key backbone to how the world does business. It's a platform that knows no real borders and can be used for just about any purpose. Looking at how many different models each PC manufacturer has, you can see that they target many different types of consumers.

While certain sectors may stick with one platform, the average consumer only needs to really consider the basics: what you need it for and what kind of value proposition you're looking for. In most cases, there are equal options for both, but the performance, look and feel of each one may differ greatly.

There's so much more software for PCs compared to Macs.

Truth: it's not quantity, but quality that counts - and both platforms have great and not-so-hot software, depending on your needs.

It may be true that there is more specialized software for the PC, like the kind of distinct programs engineers, auto mechanics and wedding planners might use, for example, but that's not true for everything else. The gap between the two has decreased steadily in the last 10 years, as it's now become more than likely that you will find a PC application's Mac equivalent. In many cases, this could simply be a native Mac version of what was originally a Windows app, or something developed purely for the Mac.

Either way, the number of applications for both platforms is easily in the thousands, so it's very possible that you'll find some sort of software that does what you want. But how well it performs is another matter altogether.

If I were to switch to a Mac, I wouldn't be able to use Windows programs.

Truth: With a Mac, you run Windows simultaneously with OS X. Compatibility is far less of an issue than it was a decade ago.

When Apple started using Intel processors, they eventually launched Boot Camp, a free program that allows you to install Windows and use it separately on your Mac when you need to. Aside from Boot Camp, there are other software programs like, Parallels and VMware that allow you to use Windows simultaneously with Mac OS X on your Mac. You can move files back and forth between them, and use Windows-exclusive software this way as well.

In cases like Microsoft Office, Windows Live Messenger, Firefox and iTunes to name a few, there are Mac versions for these programs that can integrate seamlessly with their PC counterparts. Compatibility is far less of an issue now than it was before between the two platforms, particularly since most computer peripherals and portable electronics work with both PCs and Macs as well.

If you are looking to switch from PC to Mac, be aware that the Windows installation you have on your old PC is yours, and you should take the license code with you. This way you would be able to install Windows on your Mac using the code that you had on your PC — and not pay again for a new copy of Windows.

Macs never get viruses, but PCs always seem to have problems with them.

Truth: Most viruses are developed for PCs (because of the sheer volume of PC users), there are still plenty of ways you can be victimized on the Internet - so you've got to exercise caution, regardless of your platform of choice.

This is one argument that many Mac enthusiasts love to point out. There are many pundits who publicly say that the Mac OS X operating system is generally more stable, secure and user-friendly when compared to Windows. Considering that Macs have less of a tendency to crash, don't require as much maintenance and aren't targeted as much, there is real truth to that.

But this has to be put in some perspective as well. Hackers were once the type to cause some mischief and claim bragging rights, except cyber crime has now become an entrepreneurial activity. Hackers now exploit holes in Windows for the sake of making money, which can be any number of things like, identity theft, stealing online banking passwords and bringing down a company website for ransom. Since 90 percent of computer users in the world are using PCs, it only makes sense for the hackers to go where the numbers and vulnerabilities are most lucrative.

As a result, most viruses and other forms of computer malware are written for Windows, so they wouldn't affect Macs anyway. Still, there are several ways in which you can be victimized via the Internet, regardless of what platform you use.

So, what's your choice?

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Do you believe in Aliens? - Detail info with Pictures

Do you believe in Aliens? - Detail info with Pictures

This thread is for all those alien fans out there :D I'm a big fan of aliens, love watching movies about aliens (fav. alien movie of all time "Independence Day"), love to read about it and love to see one face to face lol :P - We all know that we humans aren't the only walking/advanced creatures in this universe. So there has to be something out there, right? A more advanced and complexed living organism!

Scientist now believe that us humans never came from Earth, or... the bacteria that formed us humans never started or lived on Earth, it is believed that it came from somewhere else in this universe, somewhere far into deep space carried by a comet and crashed landed on to what we now know as Earth.

Now the question is, is there other living things out there like us? Is there more planets like Earth? And is there comets flying around out there carrying other form of living/advanced bacteria? And of course this question will always be there "Are we alone in the universe?"

So, is the Roswell UFO crash a fake made up story or is the government hiding something? Hmm.. who knows.

Real Alien Pictures Outside









One of the all time best pictures of aliens on earth, the set of four photos show the extraterrestrials roaming the country side in Mexico unaware of the brave person behind the camera. We have no further information on these pictures as far as the date they were taken or the person taking the pictures.

Pictures of the Alien Autopsy at Roswell, NM-1947









The case of Roswell New Mexico, or better known as Area 51, has been subject to controversy for years with no clear explanation. While there are dozens of witness testimonials about a UFO crash landing that looked like a flying sauser near Roswell in Corona, NM the Air Force and US Government used the time tested excuse of "it was just a weather baloon". Though in a report from Lt. Walter Haut from the Air Force in a Roswell news paper he claimed that they had recovered a UFO and several bodys. Not surprisingly that was soon covered up and disappeared off news stands just days later. Then in 1997 they added in the report that there were crash test dummies abord and was probably the reason people witnessed aliens being carried off. Which all seems a little too deceiving to us and the rest of the world to really be just another weather balloon.

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Mail and contact import for everyone

Mail and contact import for everyone

A few months ago, Google added the ability to import your old mail and contacts to Gmail. Google made this feature available for all newly-created Gmail accounts first, since people new to Gmail benefit most from being able to move their stuff with them. Friends who wanted to use Gmail but kept telling us how painful it would be finally made the switch!

But many old time Gmail users (including us) also have old accounts lurking. Often, these accounts predate Gmail, and occasionally we have to log into them to look at some old confirmation email or find the email address for someone with whom we've lost touch.

Now, with just a few clicks anyone can copy all of that to your Gmail account. It's easy — just go to the Settings > Accounts & Import page and click "Import mail and contacts." A window will pop out to lead you through the short import process. If you want us to continue to forward any new mail your other account gets for 30 days, we can do that too.

Copying mail over usually takes a couple days, occasionally up to a week — but eventually it all arrives. And once it's done, you can forget your old account and enjoy having everything in one place.

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ITR 1

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Sync Google Chrome Bookmarks

Sync Google Chrome Bookmarks

The most recent Google Chrome dev build added a feature that lets you synchronize your bookmarks with a Google account. Because of a technical issue with Google's new sync technology and because Google Chrome uses folders instead of labels, bookmarks will not be displayed in Google Bookmarks, but in Google Docs.



How to try the new feature? Make sure you use Google Chrome's dev channel, which includes a buggier and less polished version of Google Chrome. Then create a desktop shortcut for the browser, right-click on the shortcut, select "Properties" and edit the "Target" field by appending:

--enable-sync

(make sure to add a space before pasting the flag). You should see something like this if you're using Windows Vista:

C:\Users\Ionut\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe --enable-sync

Restart the browser and you should find a new option in the Tools menu: "Sync my bookmarks". Enter your credentials and the sync process should start immediately. You'll be able to access your bookmarks in a weird location: a read-only folder in Google Docs (things will look less weird when Google Docs is transformed into Google Drive, a general-purpose online storage service). Install Google Chrome's dev build on a different computer and you'll be able to access your bookmarks, edit them and all the changes will be saved online.

Google will release a sync API so that developers can add similar features for other services. "To make this sync infrastructure scale to millions of users, we decided to leverage existing XMPP-based Google Talk servers to give us "push" semantics, rather than only depending on periodically polling for updates. This means when a change occurs on one Google Chrome client, a part of the infrastructure effectively sends a tiny XMPP message, like a chat message, to other actively connected clients telling them to sync," explains a Chromium document.

Tip: import the bookmarks from Google Bookmarks by clicking on the Tools menu, selecting "Import bookmarks and settings" and choosing "Google Toolbar" from the list.

Update: The file that implements the syncing algorithms (syncapi.dll) includes many references to GDrive, so it's likely that Google will use the same technology to synchronize all the files stored in Google Drive.

If you are already using the Google Bookmarks Labs feature, you can also add the bookmarks in the Chrome Bookmarks Bar.

You just want to click to click in Import bookmarks from the tools menu and select Google Chrome. this will import all the Google Bookmarks from the Labs to the Google Chrome under a folder "Imported from Google Tool bar"

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Windows 7 Release Candidate Downloads End August 20th

Windows 7 Release Candidate Downloads End August 20th

Just a reminder that you have until this Thursday, August 20^th 2009 to download the Windows 7 Release Candidate.

After that date, you will still be able to register your product and get registration keys but, the media will no longer be available for download.

If you have not downloaded the Release Candidate, please do so here.

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Mutual Funds - Introduction

Introduction:

Simply put, a mutual fund pools together money from many investors just like you to make up a large lump sum. The money collected is invested either in stocks, bonds and other securities, or in a combination of the three. As an investor, you are issued units in proportion to the money you have invested.

The Asset Management Company(AMC) will collect the funds from the investors through New Fund Offer (NFO). Each NFO pertains to a specific scheme of mutual funds. Each scheme will be having a predefined portfolio. The funds of each investors will be invested as per the portfolio.

Benefits of investing in Mutual funds:

1. An expert on your side:
When you invest in a mutual fund, the analysis and strategic thinking that goes into investing is not your worry. That's what a fund manager does for you.

2. Limited risk:
Mutual funds are diversification in action and hence do not rely on the performance of a single entity.

3. More for less:
Your money can probably afford just a handful of stocks, but by investing in just one fund, you could get yourself a number of units across a spread of companies and industries!

4. Easy investing:
You can invest in a mutual fund with as little as Rs. 5,000. Salaried individuals also have the option of investing a little every month in a SIP or Systematic Investment Plan.

5. Convenience:
You can invest directly with a fund house, or through your financial adviser, or even over the Internet.

6. Quick access to your money:
Should you need your money at short notice, you can usually get it in four working days.

7. Transparency:
As an investor, you get updates on the value of your units, information on specific investments made by the mutual fund and the fund manager's strategy and outlook.

8. Low transaction costs:
A mutual fund, by the sheer scale of its investments is able to carry out cost-effective brokerage transactions.

9. Tax benefits:
Over the years, tax policies on mutual funds have been favourable to investors and continue to be so.

10. Investor protection:
A mutual fund in India is registered with The Securities and Exchange Board of India or SEBI, which also monitors the operations of mutual funds to protect your interests.

Limitations of Mutual funds:

• Costs Despite Negative Returns — Investors must pay sales charges, annual fees, and other expenses regardless of how the fund performs. And, depending on the timing of their investment, investors may also have to pay taxes on any capital gains distribution they receive — even if the fund went on to perform poorly after they bought shares.
  
  
  
• Lack of Control — Investors typically cannot ascertain the exact make-up of a fund's portfolio at any given time, nor can they directly influence which securities the fund manager buys and sells or the timing of those trades.
  
  
  
• Price Uncertainty — With an individual stock, you can obtain real-time (or close to real-time) pricing information with relative ease by checking financial websites or by calling your broker. You can also monitor how a stock's price changes from hour to hour — or even second to second. By contrast, with a mutual fund, the price at which you purchase or redeem shares will typically depend on the fund's NAV, which the fund might not calculate until many hours after you've placed your order. In general, mutual funds must calculate their NAV at least once every business day, typically after the major U.S. exchanges close.

Types of Mutual Funds Scheme in India

Wide variety of Mutual Fund Schemes exist to cater to the needs such as financial position, risk tolerance and return expectations etc. The table below gives an overview into the existing types of schemes in the Industry.

• By Structure
  
  • Open - Ended Schemes
  • Close - Ended Schemes
  • Interval Schemes
    
    
    
• By Investment Objective
  
  • Growth Schemes
  • Income Schemes
  • Balanced Schemes
  • Money Market Schemes
    
    
    
• Other Schemes
  
  • Tax Saving Schemes
• Special Schemes
  
  • Index Schemes
  • Sector Specfic Schemes
  
  
  Criterias of Mutual funds:
  
  

  1. Liquidity:

  An advantage of mutual funds is the ability to get in and out with relative ease. In general, you are able to sell your mutual funds in a short period of time without there being much difference between the sale price and the most current market value. However, it is important to watch out for any fees associated with selling, including back-end load fees. Also, unlike stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which trade any time during market hours, mutual funds mutual funds transact only once per day after the fund's net asset value(NAV) is calculated.
  

  
  

  2. Safety:

  Unlike equity investment, the amount we invest in the mutual funds are are diversified. If one stock goes into red, the others may lift the value of the fund with its increase in market value. The safety of the invested money in mutual fund is on a higher side than the money invested in equity. More over, while investing in equity shares, we have to track the movement of stock and foresee the shares prices in order to gain through the sale of stocks. Failing which, our money in the equity shares are not safer. But in the case of mutual fund investments, the Asset Management Company will regularly track and forecast the share prices of the shares in the fund portfolio. The will make our money more safer. And also the AMC being professional trackers, our investment will be valued more.
  

  
  

  3. Returns:

  As explained earlier the funds can be classified as Growth, Income, Balanced and Money market schemes.
  

  The portfolio of the Growth funds will be concentrating more on the investing in equity market. The concept behind this is even though if the short term earnings will be uncertain, the longterm scenario may be positive and can also fetch an increased income. More risk is involved in the growth fund of the mutual funds.
  

  The portfolio of the dividend scheme of the funds will concentrate more on the debt over equity. As the debt market is lot more safer than the equity market. The returns from the dividend schemes, may be litter less when compared to the growth scheme because of the added risk carried by the growth scheme as more weightage is given to the equity than debt.
  

  Balanced funds have a fair share of equities and fixed income securities in their asset allocation. The proportion is indicated in their offer documents. These are appropriate for investors looking for moderate growth. NAVs of these funds are likely to be less volatile compared to pure equity funds.
  

  Primary objective of these schemes is to provide liquidity and moderate income. These invest exclusively in short-term instruments such as treasury bills, short term debt securities etc. These funds are appropriate for individuals and corporate as a means to park their surplus funds for short periods.
  

  
  

  4. Tax saving:

  A person who wants to save taxes as well as invest in stock market to take advantage of the high growth potential of investments in equities can go for ELSS offered by any of the mutual funds. ELSS is an instrument sold by mutual funds for the specific purpose of enabling taxpayers to save their taxes. The proceeds from ELSS are mostly invested in the stock market so that investors get the benefits of appreciation in stock prices, thereby marketing the stock market work for investors. The tax deduction for ELSS is available under section 82C of the Income Tax Act 1961 and the maximum amount invested in ELSS which will qualify for the tax deduction is Rs.1,00,000/-. Investing in NFO of any ELSS scheme may be risky because of the risk uncertainty of under performance of the fund. So it is wise to invest in the already issued NFO which are performing better in the market.

  The unit price of the performing fund may be high because naturally good performing funds will be high, but the fact that their performance has been good enough should give enough confidence that they would continue to perform better than the rest.
  

  
  

  5. Involvement:
  

  The involvement by the investor in selecting and tracking the fund should be effective in different senses. While selecting the Fund the investor has to study about the performance of the fund and while selecting the NFO the investor has to study the portfolio of the fund in which the AMC invests the funds of the investor.

  Whereas after investing in either the existing fund or NFO, the involvement towards the investment shifts from the investor to the AMC. The investor is now relieved from tracking and analysing the investment. Even though the investor should update his knowledge on the performance of the fund, his contribution towards the analysing will be less because the experts in the name of AMC will take care of the analysis and diversification part of it.
  

  
  

  6. Amount of Investment:

  There is no limitations on how much one should invest and for how many days of minimum investment he should have and all. The amount you invest in the fund the returns you get.Recent innovation to the mutual fund industry is, Systamatic Investment Plan. In SIP the investor is allowed to invest in the mutual funds not in the traditional fashion of paying the full amount and getting the units alloted to his name. Instead the investor can invest in the mutual fund like Recurring deposits. Like making a recurring deposit, the investor can invest in the SIP monthly in a particular fund, the investor then gets the allocation of units in his name based on the NAV of the particular fund at the particular date of payment of amount. Like this by paying the amount in monthly installments he will be benefited out of mutual fund in a simple way.

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Posted By Karthi to Investments at 8/18/2009 06:52:00 PM

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Equity - Introduction

Introduction:

Investment in shares of companies is investing in equities. Stocks can be bought/sold from the exchanges (secondary market) or via IPOs – Initial Public Offerings (primary market). Stocks are the best long-term investment options wherein the market volatility and the resultant risk of losses, if given enough time, is mitigated by the general upward momentum of the economy. There are two streams of revenue generation from this form of investment.

Criterias:

The main criterias to be considered before investing in the Equity market are:

1. Liquidity,

2. Safety,

3. Returns,

4. Involvement and

5. Amount of investment.

Liquidity:

The major advantage of Indian equity market is the nature of the liquidity of the equities which are floated in the market. Any investor can buy shares of any company and sell it at the end of the day. But the returns are not assured. This process is called Short Selling. The settlement process of equity is T+2, which means traded day plus two days. If u sell the stocks today the actual money u get will be day after tomorrow. But you will be debited with the amount as soon as the sale is made in the Demat account you maintain.

There is a regulation regarding the short selling issue, short selling means, selling the shares in one's name without being taking the possession of the shares. For those who are day traders, they buy the shares in the morning and with taking the possession they will sell it in the evening. so the liquidity is more in the case of short selling.

Safety:

The investment is Indian Equity market is more volatile in the recent past. All this is because of the quitting of the FIIs. In order to be safer without loosing so much of you money, the wise idea is to hold the stocks which will bring good returns once the crises settles and also the amount invested will be safer.

"It's far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price."

Returns:

The returns on investments from the Indian equity market is not so encouraging at this time. But with the good inflows of FII the equity market will yield good returns in all terms. At the time of good market conditions, the returns form the equity investments will be good for you. but at the time of crisis like at present, your returns will be ruined.

Involvement:

The involvement needed before and after investing in the Equities should be immense. No one can judge the future of Indian equity market. It is totally dependent on the foreign market. So the equity market investment involves immense involvement if u want to gain profit in short term. If u like to invest for long term, the only involvement u need is to purchase the stocks which will has a good future prospects.

Amount of investment:

You can enter into the trading with a minimum amount. There is no minimum amount to invest in equity market. If you have more money you can purchase more shares and vice-versa.

There is some thing called as trading leverage given by the DP where we maintain our demat account. Leverage means the excess amount provided by our DP to us for trading in the stock market. If we have 1000 rupees credit balance in our account, and if the DP gives us 4 times or 5 times leverage, then we can trade for 4000 or 5000 rupees respectively. It is good if we gain out of it. And if we incur any loss, say about 2500 rupees loss in the 5 times leverage, then we will be having a debit balance of 1500 rupees. which not easy for us to repay.

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Posted By Karthi to Investments at 8/18/2009 06:43:00 PM

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Initial Public Offer - Introduction

Introduction

Public issues can be classified into Initial Public Offering and further public offerings. In a public offering, the issuer makes an offer for new investors to enter its shareholding family. The issuer company makes detailed disclosures as per the DIP guidelines in its offer document and offers it for subscription. Initial Public Offering (IPO ) is when an unlisted company makes either a fresh issue of securities or an offer for sale of its existing securities or both for the first time to the public. This paves way for listing and trading of the issuer's securities.

IPO is New shares Offered to the public in the Primary Market .The first time the company is traded on the stock exchange. A prospectus is issued to read about its risk before investing. IPO is A company's first sale of stock to the public. Securities offered in an IPO are often, but not always, those of young, small companies seeking outside equity capital and a public market for their stock. Investors purchasing stock in IPOs generally must be prepared to accept very large risks for the possibility of large gains. Sometimes, Just before the IPO is launched, Existing share Holders get a very liberal bonus issues as a reward for their faith in risking money when the project was new

How to apply to a public issue ?

When a company floats a public issue or IPO, it prints forms for application to be filled by the investors. Public issues are open for a few days only. As per law, any public issue should be kept open for a minimum of 3days and a maximum of 21 days. For issues, which are underwritten by financial institutions, the offer should be kept open for a minimum of 3 days and a maximum of 21 days. For issues, which are underwritten by all India financial institutions, the offer should be kept open for a maximum of 10 days. Generally, issues are kept open for only 3 to 4 days. The duly complete application from, accompanied by cash, cheque, DD or stock invest should be deposited before the closing date as per the instruction on the from. IPO's by investment companies (closed end funds) usually contain underwriting fees which represent a load to buyers.

Before applying for any IPO , analyse the following factors:

1. Who are the Promoters ? What is their credibility and track record ?

2. What is the company manufacturing or providing services - Product, its potential

3. Does the Company have any Technology tie-up ? if yes , What is the reputation of the collaborators

4. What has been the past performance of the Company offering the IPO ?

5. What is the Project cost, What are the means of financing and profitability projections ?

6. What are the Risk factors involved ?

7. Who has appraised the Project ? In India Projects apprised by IDBI and ICICI have more credibility than small Merchant Bankers

Criterias:

The main criterias to be considered before investing in an IPO are:

1. Liquidity,

2. Safety,

3. Returns,

4. Involvement and

5. Amount of investment.

1. Liquidity:

For investing in an IPO the investor has to keep in mind that he has applied for shares of an organisation and that has to be approved by that company. There is a time gap between the date he has applied and date the company approves his application. The company allots shares in his name, either the full quantity of shares he applied and reduced units of shares.

Some of the companies which opened offer and listed last year are given in the table below.

Company Name	IPO opening	Listing from	Credit rating
Future capital holdings Ltd.	January 11th 2008	February 1th 2008	Grade - 3/5
Reliance Power Ltd.	January 15th 2008	February 11th 2008	Grade - 4/5
J. Kumar Infraprojects Limited	January 18th, 2008	February 12th, 2008	Grade - 2/5
OnMobile Global Limited	January 24th, 2008	February 19th, 2008	Grade - 4/5
IRB Infrastructure Developers Limited	January 31th, 2008	February 25th, 2008	Grade - 4/5

There fore in all the above cases the time gap between the IPO opening and listing in secondary market is on an average of 20 - 25 days. The investor has to keep this in mind that his investment will locked in the name of shares in the company and that can be released only on the date of listing. That is for about 25 days his investment will be locked in.

There is another case where the investors can trade the shares alloted in his name in the gray market. Even though this kind of trading the stocks is illegal, the trading of shares continues to happen.

2. Safety:

If the money invested by the investor is secured enough which will fetch back in a considerable period of time is said to be a safer investment. The invested money in the IPO will be taken back only after it is being listed in the secondary market. Not only it should be fetched back, the money invested should come back with some profit because it is been locked up for a particular period of time. And only if the credit rating of the company is good, the value of the shares of the company will gain some interest with the investors and the share value will rise and the investor can get back his investment.

3. Returns:

The returns criteria is a worrying thing only for the investors who expect it within a short period. If the investor cares about the returns then he should invest for a particular period of time. And that too in this scenario of economic conditions the investor may not be getting back his investment. This situation may not be happening for all the companies. Only those companies which fails to attract the investors, which are not finding business and able to make profits, will disappoint the investors from getting back money invested.

Name	Issue price (Rs.)	Listing day prices (BSE/NSE) (Rs.)	Current market price (Rs.) as on 28.Feb.2009
Future capital holding Ltd.	765.00	1044.00 / 1081.00	120.35 / 120.70
Reliance power Ltd.	450.00	547.80 / 530.00	99.70 / 99.95
J. Kumar Infraprojects Ltd.	110.00	100.00 / 109.00	55.05 / 55.00
OnMobile global Ltd.	440.00	440.00 / 440.00	235.35 / 230.00
IRB Infrastructure Developers Limited	185.00	170.05 / 194.90	99.70 / 99.90

The companies in the above listed table, have fetched only losses in the long term. This is because of the financial crises and the deep fall in stocks. So this clearly tells that the that the money invested by the investors are not safer enough to get back the money invested.

4. Involvement:

The involvement needed before investing into the IPO is very much based on the experts view. If the company is already existing then its financial statements can be used to compute the worth of the company. If the company is relatively new then the credit rating for the company and the view of experts on the company, company's future prospects are to be analysed before investing.

5. Amount of investment:

There is a maximum limit fixed by the company up to which the individual investors can invest in. Even if the investor is willing to invest more amount, he cannot invest because of the regulations fixed by the registrar.

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Posted By Karthi to Investments at 8/18/2009 07:03:00 PM

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