The firm is beta-testing a new version of personalized search that learns from people's search histories and the results they've previously clicked on.Google Inc. launched in beta a new version of personalized search that learns from people's search histories and the results they've clicked on.
The new capabilities have been added to the personalized search service the company launched this year. The service requires users to sign up for a Google account.
By "learning" as people search, the new version is expected to deliver more relevant search results to users as they build a search historyPrivacy experts have voiced concern over Google's search-history technology, saying that it could reveal private information about the user.
Google, based in Mountain View, Calif., stores a person's search history on its servers, which enables a person to make use of personalized search from a browser on any computer. People can delete items from their search history, and turn off the personalized-search feature temporarily, if they don't want a web search recorded.
Resource:
InformationWeek
Web Directory
Hedir compiled a list of webdirectories, the list is in xml-feed.
Here's the
feed.
You can use this feed to display the directory listings in your newsreader at your desktop!
At present the list has 100 good clean directories. Hedir is constantly adding new directories to the list.
They only add directories which provide value to the listings, all listings in the list provide SE friendy static urls. More information about the directory like submission fees and alexa rankings are also provided in the feed.
How to submit your site to this list check this
forum and add your webresource.
A new web directory at the horizon. This brandnew web directory is called
A Great Directory. It's a general topic web directory with lots of topics to choose from such as business, computing, automotive and more.
A clear layout and an easy to navigate
web directory submit your link for free at A Great Directory. Check the categories and add your site.
There are a few features in this
directory like
What's New and
What's Hot.
With each listing there's an option to give a review for an certain listing.
Microsoft plans to include in the next version of Windows features to manage Web content distributed via RSS, an increasingly popular way of reading online news and blogs.Windows Longhorn will include features to help PC users subscribe to information published by bloggers and Web news sites using the Really Simple Syndication protocol.
A test version of Longhorn--the desktop operating system due late next year--that Microsoft plans to distribute at its Professional Developers Conference in September will include the ability to subscribe to news feeds, blog entries, and other Web content published via RSS from within the Windows user interface.
The RSS protocol, based on XML, is a popular way for authors of online news sites, blogs, and audio "podcasts" to automatically alert their subscribers that new content is available. Today, most PC users who subscribe to RSS feeds view entries with special reader software or through Web sites like Technorati.com and Bloglines.com that aggregate the feeds. Apple Computer has built some support for subscribing to RSS feeds into its Safari Web browser, and the Mozilla Foundation includes the ability to bookmark RSS headlines in its Firefox browser.
Some of the features Microsoft plans for Longhorn will be available to Windows XP users as well. The RSS extensions and ability to subscribe to feeds from within Windows will also appear in a version of Internet Explorer 7 for Windows XP.
Resource:
InformationWeek
Blaze MediaConvert is a powerful multimedia (audio, image, and video) batch converter and CD ripper software application supporting conversion among over 70 image, audio, animation and video formats quickly and easily. Unlike other conversion applications that support only one or (at most) a few formats, Blaze MediaConvert is able to batch convert among nearly all multimedia formats conceivable. Blaze MediaConvert can also perform two-way video conversions among MPEG-1, MPEG-2, AVI, WMV, Multi-Page TIFF, and FLIC. The Video Constructor combines selected images as frames to create a video in the destination format. The Video Decompiler saves all frames within the selected video file as single images. The extracted images can be saved as BAY, BMP, GIF, JPG, PCX, PNG, PNM, RAS, RGB, TGA, TIFF and XPM.
The conversions are easy to use and straight-forward. Simply select the type of conversion to perform, add the files to convert, arrange the files in any desired order (optional), select the output format, and select the convert command.
More info about this software check this site:
Blaze MediaConvert and download your free trial today!
Visual audio editor and converter software supporting many advanced and powerful operations with audio data.Two-way conversions among CD, MP3, MP2, WAV, WMA, OGG, and more are supported. It can burn music CDs from any of these audio formats and also offers compression capabilities for these formats (changing from one bitrate to another, for example).
With AudioEdit Deluxe you can:
- Open, create, and save audio files in any of the supported formats (can also save any portion of a loaded file to disk as a new file);
- Display audio data waveform (Zoom Full, Zoom In, Zoom Out, Zoom Vertical);
- Play audio files or any portion of the files (Play, Pause, Stop);
- Record audio from a microphone or any other available input device and save directly to WAV, MP3, WMA, OGG, etc. files;
- Edit audio files visually (Cut, Copy, Delete Selection, Delete Silence, Paste, Paste From File, Mix, Mix From File);
- Apply various effects (Amplify, Compressor, Delay, Equalize, Fade In and Fade Out, Flanger, Invert, Normalize, Phaser, Reverb, Reverse, Silence, Shrink, Stretch, Vibrato, etc.);
- Burn audio CDs from MP3, WMA, WAV, and OGG. The audio CD burner feature is very powerful, yet easy to use.
- Apply different filters to any selected portion of audio files;
- Perform two-way conversions among CD, WAV, MP3, WMA, OGG, and much more!
Great software, more info at:
Auto Editor
Full-featured batch image processing and conversion software. Over 140 image formats are supported, and the software provides an entire arsenal of image enhancement, editing, and processing operations. Multi-page image conversion and processing is fully supported. Processing and conversion operations have numerous options that can be optionally set for maximum control. The entire application is highly customizable.
AutoImager also offers complete command-line support.
AutoImager supports over 140 different graphic image formats.All image editor operations can be performed in batch mode for an entire list of selected images. Image lists can be saved and loaded again at a later time. All processing and conversion operations have numerous options that can be optionally set for maximum control.
See for more information about the AutoImager:
AutoImager or you can try it first
Download Free Trial
From
Blaze Media Pro there software available that's a Powerhouse all-in-one converter, burner, audio and video editing software for all popular audio and video formats...and much more!
Some of the formats supported by the software's audio editing and video editing include MP3, WMA, WAV, OGG, AVI, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, WMV, and more.
Blaze Media Pro includes an
audio and video converter, audio editing and video editing, video capture, audio recorder, data CD/DVD burner,
audio CD burner, Video CD (VCD/SVCD) burner, audio CD copy, effects, media management, playlist, full-screen video support, and more all-in-one software application!
Resource:
blazemp.com
The European iTunes Music Stores have catalogs of over 1 million songs each, and feature content from all major music companies and over 1,000 independent record labels. "We're thrilled to have sold and delivered over 50 million songs in our first year," said Eddy Cue, Apple's vice president of Applications.ITunes Music Stores were launched in the UK, France and Germany in June 2004, and now operate in 17 European countries including Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
Today Apple announced that music fans have purchased and downloaded more than 50 million songs from its European iTunes Music Stores in its first year.
The European iTunes Music Stores have catalogs of over 1 million songs each, and feature content from all major music companies and over 1,000 independent record labels.All iTunes Music Stores offer the same features, pricing and seamless integration with iPod that have made iTunes the No. 1 online music service.
Resource:
MacNews
Reacting to angry protests from several of its top sponsors, Yahoo Inc. has pulled the plug on perhaps hundreds of chat rooms operating on its site after a media report revealed that some of the rooms were used to promote sex with minors. Companies such as PepsiCo Inc., State Farm Insurance and Georgia-Pacific Corp. stopped advertising on Yahoo after they were informed that adults were attempting to lure children into sexual encounters within some of Yahoo's user-created chat rooms, according to a report by KPRC-TV in Houston.
Yahoo spokeswoman Mary Osako, who declined to say when the service will return or why all the user-created sites were closed, said the Internet portal shuttered the service for improvements and to ensure "compliance with our terms of service."
While Yahoo may be cracking down on violators of its terms, others, who presumably were adhering to the terms, have been barred from their chat rooms as well.
How long the chat rooms that allegedly promoted sex with minors have operated is unclear. Yahoo does not monitor the content in the chat rooms, but will close a room if it receives complaints, Osako said.
Resource:
Forbes
IN A MOVE TO CUT down on spam and phishing schemes, MSN's Hotmail service Wednesday began moving e-mails that do not have sender identification authentication data into people's junk mailboxes. "Sender ID is aiding MSN Hotmail in its efforts to help protect customers from phishing, and this week MSN also made Sender ID "warning alert" notifications visible via a new safety bar in the MSN Hotmail user interface," The program compares the IP address of the server against a registered list of IP addresses submitted by domain owners.
In addition to moving messages that aren't authenticated into the junk mail box, MSN now marks them with a disclaimer stating that the message's sender could not be authenticated.
"We think of it as the first step in a multistep process to start rooting out spam,"They're saying 'If you don't authenticate, we're going to put it in the junk mailbox, and we're going to put a big disclaimer on your e-mail.'"
Resource:
MediaPost
Microsoft said the beta version of its MSN Local Search is the beginning of a larger effort that will eventually include more interactive maps as well as links to local business and residential databases and information such as news, movie times and weather reports.The launch of MSN Local Search beta underscores MSN's efforts to move onto equal footing with its rivals but also is a reminder of the difficulty that the search engines face in differentiating themselves. Yahoo, Google and MSN now all offer virtually the same lineup of search tools and features.
Microsoft's local search is being powered in part by Amacai Information Corp., which is providing white and yellow page listings for the search engine.
MSN said the number of upgrades it has made to its search site in recent months is testimony to the commitment it has made to improve Web search. MSN also said it would roll the Virtual Earth program, a mapping effort that uses satellite and other data, into the local search unit.
Resource:
Technology News
Google is preparing an online-payment system that would compete with PayPal, according to an online retailer who has been approached by Google to take part in the effort. In addition to representing a direct challenge to eBay, which owns PayPal, the largest Internet payment system, the move signals Google's intention to become much more deeply involved in online commerce.
Google's flagship search engine and its Froogle shopping service are significant sources of customers for Internet stores. But so far, Google's only way to profit from its presence in online shopping is by selling advertisements that appear next to its search results and on Froogle pages.
PayPal has 72 million accounts and handled $6.2 billion in payments in the first quarter.
Scot Wingo, the chief executive of ChannelAdvisor, a company that helps merchants sell on eBay and other online sites, said that several of his clients had told him that they had heard from Google about plans for a payment service, which they referred to as Google Wallet.
The prospect of a payment system could help Google's core search advertising business as well, online commerce analysts said.
Sara Bettencourt, a spokeswoman for PayPal, said that her company had heard rumors of a pending Google payment service but that it would not comment on a product that had yet to be announced.
Resource:
NYTimes
In a bid to become an all-encompassing internet communications company, Yahoo has revealed plans to broaden its VoIP offerings.
Yahoo Inc. said Tuesday it had acquired DialPad Communications Inc., a 6-year-old company whose software lets people to place calls over the Internet for a fraction of the cost of regular telephone service.
The Internet's leading portal will use DialPad to expand its product array in the burgeoning niche of Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP, said company spokeswoman Joanna Stevens.
The technology converts conversations into data packets that traverse the Internet over broadband connections.
Yahoo also announced yesterday it has licensed a SIP-based development kit from Xten Networks Inc to beef up its PC-to-PC VoIP.
Yahoo currently is using just the voice-engine component of Xten's software development, called eyebeam.
Milpitas-based DialPad, which has about 40 employees, competes with a growing number of startups that reroute calls from computers to servers to telephones.
Current mainstream VoIP services let callers use standard phone handsets or even cell phones to make or receive calls, a big improvement on the computer-to-computer of early Internet telephony.
Depending on the subscription plan, Dialpad charges as little as 1.7 cents per minute for calls, including international calls to more than 200 countries.
New products from Yahoo that integrate DialPad technology could debut within a month, Stevens said.
Resource:
BusinessWeek
At hoteliers.com you can book your hotelroom or meeting facility direct at the hotel.
Why book direct at the hotel instead of using a (online) travel agent?Hoteliers.com has: Better rates, Better service, No reservation fees, No cancellation fees if you cancel in advance and You pay at the hotel.
This platform is a reaction to the fact that the traditional businessmodel of a high commission per booking has not changed despite new opportunities such as the internet. The internet is a direct channel but most hotels did not profit from that as such, the costs of generating bookings remained the same for many hoteliers.
Booking at
hoteliers.com means we don’t charge the hotelier any commission fees for your booking (travel agents charge up to 35% per booking) therefore hoteliers can offer better rates at hoteliers.com
Easy to navigate and find your hotel quickly or search by an extensive map and locate your hotel.
Resource:
Hotels Amsterdam
dirSpace Express Submisson
Due the many free website submission at the Web Directory
dirSpace, average waiting to for a site to be reviewed is about 8 weeks, I have decided to create an express submission process.
When paying just $3,- through paypal your website will be reviewed within 48 hours from payment. The site will be included in the category of choice and an extra link will be provided from the dirSpace
partners page.
The directory is getting over 150 unique visitors every day and over 50 free submissions.
Here your change to get in dirSpace Web Directory for only $3,-
Surf through the site and find your category, hit Add Url and fill in the site details at Express Submissions, after everything is filled in you will be forwarded to paypal and complete the payment process.
If the site is not accepted you'll get a full refund.
Resource:
dirSpace Web Directory
Business Directory Web Central
A recently updated web-directory it has a pr4 and is doing well in google, with over 100 topics to choose from you will find a webresource quickly.
Every listing comes with an detailed page for that resource, check for instance this page form an example:
website detailYou can add your resource for free, they also have a page with
hot listings.
A nice and clean directory, well worth submitting your website!
More info:
Web Central
FindWhat to Rebrand as Miva
The FindWhat and Espotting networks will become Miva Media.
FindWhat.com announced plans today to bring its various online marketing and e-commerce properties it has acquired over the last 18 months together under three divisions, all with the Miva brand name.
Miva's e-commerce services, based on the Miva Merchant platform, will become Miva Small Business. The company conducted several market research studies before choosing a new name for the consolidated company.
The new positioning will be announced in a marketing campaign covering the U.S., U.K., Germany, France, Italy and Spain. It includes print and online advertising as well as direct mail. In the U.S., a series of ads will appear in The New York Times and several trade publications beginning June 13.
FindWhat had faced tough times with dwindling profits and a lingering patent dispute with Yahoo!
The company's NASDAQ ticker symbol will change to "MIVA" on June 13.
Resource:
clickz
Mapping the human brain
IBM and Switzerland-based Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne have announced a joint initiative to create a model of the circuitry in the human neocortex, which is believed to be the center for higher cognitive functions.
On its Web site, IBM notes that researchers can learn more about the morphology of the neocortex by inserting blue dye into each neuron.
Resource:
news images
185 Paid Web Directories
The list of 185 Paid Web Directories shows the web directory domain, the Google/Yahoo/MSN inbound links, directory info & some comments by tooltiping the book ---> Google IBL: 1,340; Yahoo IBL: 6,395; MSN IBL: 3,721;
This tooltip box provides Google/Yahoo/MSN inbound links and information on the distinguishing features of each web directory entry. in the Info column.
Each column is can be sorted so you can see which directories have the highest toolbar PR, the lowest Alexa ranking, or you can sort them by domain name so you can find a directory easier.
The list also shows the price (shows if it has a option to add you site for free), the toolbar PR of the home page, whether the PR has gone up or down in the last toolbar PR update, the number of files each directory has in Google, Yahoo and MSN, and the 3 month Alexa ranking.
Resource:
Paid Web Directories
News.com Says Apple Switching to Intel
CNET News.com claims that Apple will announce a switch to Intel x86 processors on Monday at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference - a move that has been rumored for years yet never materialized.
According to the report, the switch would start with Apple's low-end computers by the middle of next year, with higher end systems following in 2007. News.com did not address several issues, including the lack of emulation for easing the transition and necessary support from major third-party developers such as Adobe and Microsoft.
Neither Advanced Micro Devices nor Intel has made it any secret that they have attempted to court Apple in the past.
The last time Apple made a major change in its processor architecture -- from Motorola 68k to PowerPC nearly a decade ago.
Some have speculated that a switch to Intel could be due to Apple's frustration with IBM over shipping delays and a lack of difference in processors.
A switch could also bring faster processors into Apple's PowerBooks. So far, IBM has been unable to successfully produce a G5 processor that is small enough to fit in Apple's form factors.
Resource:
BetaNews
Search Engine Colossus
Find search engines across the world with
Search Engine Colossus!
Since 1998 Search Engine Colossus offers you links to search engines and directories from 198 countries and 60 territories around the world!
Gain quick, efficient access to search engines from countries around the world with Search Engine Colossus - International Directory of Search Engines.
Make your own website submissions! Conduct extensive web searches! Locate your new favourite search engines! Search the web using your choice of language.
Check out for instance the
USA Search engine and directory page, very good resources available.
Quick links to the resources you're looking for in the extensive database.
Resource:
Search Engine Colossus
Google tests tool to aid Web indexing
Google has launched an experiment designed to speed the flow of Web site information to the search giant's index.
The program, called Sitemaps, is free to site administrators and owners, whether they manage single-page or corporate sites.
Sitemaps, which is currently in beta, calls for Web administrators to place a Sitemaps-formatted file on their Web servers. This allows the Google crawlers to see which pages are present on a site and which have been changed.
In order to use the tool, known as the Sitemap Generator, a Web administrator must create an XML file, know how to transfer files to a Web server and know how to run scripts. Sitemap Generator requires Python 2.2 or higher, according to Google.
The company notes, however, that using Sitemaps will not influence a site's ranking on Google's search listings.More info at
Google
Yahoo Joins Cisco In Combating Spam
In order to combat the spam menace, Yahoo Mail! and Cisco Systems are launching an authentication technology designed to combat e-mail forgery by verifying the address of origin of e-mail messages.
The
combined technology solution would be called DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM), and would be offered royalty-free to the industry at large.
The e-mail authentication proposal is expected to enhance consumer protection from e-mail forgery, and also enhance accountability for spam and phishing scams.
Yahoo is receiving more than 350 million messages signed by DomainKeys per day. By collobarating with key players like Cisco and technology visionaries like Eric Allman of Sendmail, we can offer a solution that addresses the problem of e-mail forgery today, and also increase the level of defense against fraudulent e-mails and phishing attacks,"
They have also developed and implemented DomainKeys Technology in an effort to address the growing threat of e-mail forgery.
Resource:
CXOtoday
Office 12 To Boost XML Support, Document Security
When Office 12 debuts next year, the default "save-to" file format of the applications will be XML. Or at least a version which Microsoft is calling Microsoft Open XML Formats.
The default format can be changed during or after deployment, Microsoft said. With this version of Office, PowerPoint is brought into the XML fold, along with Word and Excel. Backward compatibility with current file formats is also important.
A document designated with a .docx suffix, for example, will neuter embedded .exe files while one with a .docm suffix will allow them to run.
The current Office 2003 allows users to save Word and Excel documents to its own WordML and SpreadsheetML (XML) formats. The new version adds PowerPoint to the mix. Numoto said those formats, as well as the upcoming iterations, are completely compliant with the XML 1.0 standard.
Microsoft partners say the company has to show users—who loathe change-- why they should upgrade. "For me, the compelling reason to move to Office 2003 was SharePoint integration. If, in Office 12, they go collaboration crazy by integrating more Groove technologies, that could be big," said one long-time Microsoft partner in the south.
The company is also reportedly still weighing Excel server functionality that would probably end up pairing the Excel calculation engine with SharePoint Portal Server functions. Right now, with the Excel client application, when results are sent out, they are sent with the underlying formula, a situation that could cause a security problem.
Office 12 is due to beta this fall and to ship in the second half of 2006.
Resource:
CRN
Code-Abiding Porn to Get .xxx Domain
The nonprofit organization that oversees Internet addresses has approved a new online neighborhood specifically for pornographic Web sites: the .xxx domain.
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers said on Wednesday that it had approved a new "top-level domain" specifically for adult-oriented Web sites that voluntarily agree to adhere to a set of "industry best practices."
The decision by ICANN to sponsor an adult-content domain is a reversal of the group's previous stance; the organization turned down a proposal to create a .xxx domain in 2000.
Under the Protect Act passed by Congress in 2003, for example, adult-content Web sites with misleading addresses could be held liable if it is found that they are exposing children to adult content.
Corn-Revere disputed Weinstein's objection to the .xxx domain. "It is not designed to be and could not be sustained as a mandatory addressing system," he said.
See also:
WashingtonPost
EBay To Buy Shopping.com For $620 Million
EBay Inc. on Wednesday said it has agreed to buy comparison-shopping site Shopping.com for $620 million in cash, a move seen as an attempt to boost the auction giant's slowing growth.
If completed, the deal would give EBay sellers another channel for reaching consumers with their products.
Under the agreement, EBay would acquire all outstanding shares of Brisbane, Calif.-based, Shopping.com for $21 a share in cash. Shopping.com is one of the largest sites where consumers can go to compare products and prices among a variety of vendors.
The acquisition of Shopping.com will allow us to provide even more opportunities for our sellers," Bill Cobb, president of EBay, North America, said in a statement.
With Shopping.com, EBay looks to take advantage of consumer preference for comparison-shopping on the Internet.
Shopping.com's cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities were valued at $140 million, as of May 31. EBay expects the acquisition to be dilutive to its full-year 2005 earnings, based on generally accepted accounting principles.
See also:
InternetWeek
167 Free Web Directories
This Free Web Directories list contains some of the top Free Web Directories in the Directory industry.
The seocomany free directory list.
If you are looking for the free Web Directories in the the industry check out the free directories. There is lots of information about the directories like, page rank, Google / Yahoo and MSN backlinks. And the alexa ranking for a particular site.
With some directories you can tooltiping the book for more comments about that site.
Each column is can be sorted so you can see which directories have the highest toolbar PR, the lowest Alexa ranking, or you can sort them by domain name so you can find a directory easier.
Another great
free directory resource!
Yahoo Launches Sorting Tool For Search Results
Yahoo Inc. has released in beta a tool that sorts search results according to whether they are commercial or more informational, such as from academic or research-oriented sources.
Mindset appears as a slider on the top of Yahoo search results. The midpoint of the slider is the default setting that shows the order of results matching Yahoo's normal listing.
Called
Mindset, the tool is available through the Yahoo Research
Labs site Yahoo Next.
Machine learning is used in Mindset to score search results on a continuous scale ranging from "very commercial" to "very non-commercial," officials with the Sunnyvale, Calif., entertainment portal said.
The new tool can be tried on Yahoo, and does not require downloading software.
See also:
internetweek
