Selamat Datang di dagdigdug

Posted on July 3, 2008 by netzilla6

Selamat Datang di dagdigdug.com. Ini posting pertamamu , Ekspresikan perasaanmu. Ngebloglah sekarang juga !

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Fox Protection – Best Security Software to Protect Data

Posted on May 9, 2008 by netzilla6

Saat ini saya sedang mencoba software Fox Protection (produk OICsoft Security) untuk memproteksi data-data crucial dan sensitif di Notebook. Berhubung saya baru menginstall software sehingga belum mengetahui secara pasti kehandalan software ini.

Tetapi dari beberapa situs yang menjadi bahan referensi, saya memperoleh beberapa informasi berkaitan dengan software ini.

www.download.com :

Fox Protection (original File Protector) is an easy to use, friendly interface secure software. With Fox Protection you can lock file, folder and drive, protect your important data and your privacy in seconds. Fox Protection supports the newly adopted AES (US Government’s Encryption Standard) secret-key encryption algorithm known as Rijndael which uses 128, 192 or 256-bit keys. Use AES encryption to ensure your data is secure. Fox Protection offers the perfect solution for your personal computer data security.

www.coredownload.com :

Fox Protection is an easy to use, friendly interface secure software. With Fox Protection you can lock file, folder and drive, protect your important data and your privacy in seconds. Fox Protection supports the newly adopted AES (US Government’s Encryption Standard) secret-key encryption algorithm known as Rijndael which uses 128, 192 or 256-bit keys. Use AES encryption to ensure your data is secure. Fox Protection offers the perfect solution for your personal computer data security.

1.Prevent File Operation (Copy, Delete, Open, Run, Rename, Move, etc…)

2.Protect Folder (Include Subfolder)

3.Protect Folder (Include Subfolder)

4.Implements the US Government’s AES Standard

5.Easy to Lock Drive

6.100% Safe, No Report With Lost File and Data

7.Control Application Usage

8.Support All File Types

9.Support Import File and Folder

10.Support Batch Process

11.Easy Use & Manage

12.Dynamic Observation File

13.No Limit of File Count and File Size

14.Support to Protect Itself and Uninstaller.

15.Protects Files/Folders in Safe Mode.

Berikut ini adalah link ke situs vendornya :

www.oicsoft.com

Posted in IT Technology, Security, Security Tools | Leave a comment

Banyak Pemakai Web Gunakan Password Tunggal

Posted on April 18, 2008 by netzilla6

Bayangkan Anda menggunakan satu kunci yang sama untuk semua pintu di rumah Anda. Tidak tanggung-tanggung, kunci yang sama juga dapat digunakan pada semua lemari dan kendaraan Anda. Kalau ada penjahat yang berhasil mencopet kunci tersebut, dia bisa memasuki semua ruangan rumah, membuka lemari dan mencuri semua kendaraan yang Anda punyai.

Pada praktiknya ini tidak pernah terjadi. Kita biasanya membuat kunci yang berbeda-beda untuk setiap kamar, lemari, pintu depan, dan bela- kang rumah. Mobil dan sepeda motor juga mendapat kunci mereka masing-masing. Namun menurut hasil survei yang dilakukan Accenture, perilaku dalam kehidupan sehari-hari ini tidak terjadi di jaringan web.

Pada survei yang dilakukan di Inggris Raya tersebut, seperti yang dikutip Associated Press, ditemukan hampir setengah responden menggunakan password (kata sandi) tunggal untuk semua akun online mereka. Pada hampir semua situs web, kata sandi merupakan padanan kunci di dunia fisik. Kata sandi merupakan pengaman, yang mencegah akses pada hal-hal yang tidak dibolehkan untuk orang yang tak berhak.

Pada saat yang sama 88% dari 800 orang yang diwawancarai dalam survei tersebut mengatakan bahwa keteledoran merupakan sebab kunci pencurian identitas.

Para peneliti menyebutkan bahwa fakta ini agaknya menunjukkan para pengguna meremehkan ancaman dari organisasi penjahat cyber internasional, yang memperoleh keuntungan besar dari penjualan identitas curian.

“Banyak orang tidak menyangka bahwa ada masalah,” kata Robert Dyson, eksekutif senior praktek sekurit Accenture. Menurut Dyson, karena menurut pemakai identitas mereka belum dicuri, dan mereka tidak mengenal orang yang mengalaminya, berarti masalah itu tidak ada.

Pengelolaan password

Pengulangan kata sandi, seperti penggunaan kunci tunggal, mempermudah orang-orang yang berniat jahat. Dalam hal kejahatan online, orang yang berhasil membongkar satu akun dapat dengan mudah menebak kata sandi yang digunakan pada semua akun pengguna tersebut.

Alasan pengguna mengulangi kata sandi ini sederhana saja: agar mereka tidak lupa. Survei menunjukkan 70% responden di Inggris Raya menyebutkan mereka tidak mencatat kata sandi mereka.

Di Amerika Serikat angkanya lebih rendah, tetapi masih cukup banyak, yaitu 49%. Semua responden dalam survei tersebut menggunakan komputer di rumah, memiliki akses Internet berkecepatan tinggi, dan online minimal dua kali seminggu, selain memeriksa e-mail. Rata-rata usia pemakai adalah 46 tahun. Mar- gin kesalahan adalah 3,5 persen untuk semua responden.

Masalah mengelola kata sandi ini sebenarnya dapat dipe-cahkan dengan utilitas penge- lola kata sandi (password manager). Dengan utilitas ini biasanya kita cukup mengingat satu kata sandi saja (master password atau kata sandi utama).

Pengelola kata sandi akan secara otomatis memberikan kata sandi pada situs yang di-minta, asalkan kita sudah mengisikan kata sandi utama sebelumnya.

Pengelolaan kata sandi saat ini sudah secara otomatis diintegrasikan dalam sistem operasi milik Apple Inc, Mac OS X. Sistem operasi paling populer di komputer pribadi saat ini, Microsoft Windows, belum memilikinya. Namun, utilitas pengelola kata sandi sudah banyak tersedia dari pihak ketiga. Pengelolaan kata sandi juga tersedia buat browser alternatif Mozilla Firefox.

Saat ini cukup banyak komputer jinjing yang sudah dilengkapi dengan pembaca sidik jari. Metode biometri ini merupakan alternatif lain yang lebih mudah, dan umumnya juga dapat digunakan dengan pengelola kata sandi.

Masalahnya, survei Accenture tersebut menemukan bahwa hanya 7% dari total res- ponden yang menggunakan pengelola kata sandi atau pembaca sidik jari. (redaksi@bisnis.co.id)

Oleh Gombang Nan Cengka
Kontributor Bisnis Indonesia

Sumber : Harian Bisnis Indonesia (www.bisnis.com) tanggal 18 April 2008

Posted in Article, Internet, Security | Leave a comment

Hosting Blog Lokal Kurang Berkembang

Posted on April 18, 2008 by netzilla6

JAKARTA: Layanan hosting blog gratis yang dikembangkan lokal dinilai masih terlalu sedikit dibandingkan dengan populasi pengguna Internet. Padahal layanan itu sangat dibutuhkan untuk menumbuhkan konten Internet lokal.

Didi Nugrahadi, Chief Executive Officer PT Inti Marketing Komunika-pengelola layanan hosting blog gratis Dagdigdug.com, menilai jumlah penyedia layanan hosting blog gratis di Indonesia masih terlalu sedikit.

“Mungkin hanya dua yang populer dan gratis, lainnya mulai komersial. Padahal pengguna Internet sampai akhir 2007 mencapai 25 juta dan terus tumbuh secara eksponensial,” ujarnya belum lama ini.

Didi mengutip data profil di Blogspot Oktober 2007 yang menyebutkan jumlah blog di Indonesia diperkirakan sekitar 130.000 blog. Dalam tempo enam bulan, sekarang jumlahnya naik hampir dua kali lipat, menjadi 247.000 yaitu muncul sekitar 600 blog baru setiap hari.

“Kebutuhan tersebut semakin meningkat belakangan ini karena jumlah blog dan blogger terus tumbuh pesat,” tegasnya.

Pengguna blog di Tanah Air lebih memilih layanan hosting gratis dari luar negeri yang menyebabkan melonjaknya penggunaan bandwidth internasional. Dengan adanya layanan hosting blog dalam negeri, jumlah konten lokal diharapkan menjadi lebih beragam, bermutu, dan semakin banyak.

Didi mengingatkan penggunaan hosting blog di Indonesia akan menghemat biaya koneksi Internet international.

“Blog hosting juga akan mendorong pemanfaatan blog sebagai sarana pendidikan, pemberdayaan, dan pencerahan masyarakat,” ujarnya.

Mobile blog

Pekan lalu, Menkominfo Mohammad Nuh menyatakan pemerintah memandang komunitas blogger atau pembuat situs pribadi sebagai bagian dari komunitas yang berperan serta dalam mengembangkan dunia teknologi informasi di Indonesia.

Menkominfo pekan lalu bertemu dengan komunitas blogger di kantor Depkominfo di Jakarta saat diminta menjelaskan sudut pandang pemerintah terhadap blogger.

Nuh menyarankan agar para blogger dapat membuat konten yang bermanfaat bagi masyarakat dan negara.

“Kami ingin mendorong agar blogger menjadi komunitas baru, menyebarluaskan fungsi edukasi, fungsi penguatan kepada masyarakat dan menyebarluaskan fungsi pencerahan untuk mengembangkan nasionalisme,” jelasnya.

Dengan perkembangan blog dan bertambahnya pengguna seluler di Tanah Air, PT Inti Marketing mulai mengarahkan layanan hosting melalui perangkat bergerak dengan sejumlah fitur seperti SMS blogging, mobile blogging, dan BlackBerry blogging.

“Fitur ini akan didukung PT Excelcomindo Pratama Tbk, untuk memenuhi dan mempermudah kebutuhan aktivitas blogging melalui ponsel yang kami perkirakan akan meningkat,” jelasnya.

Saat ini jumlah pengguna ponsel di Indonesia diperkirakan mencapai 100 juta sesuai dengan data Asosiasi Telepon Seluler Indonesia dengan pertumbuhan sekitar 40%.

Antyo Rentjoko, Publisher Dagdigdug.com, menuturkan melalui layanan itu akan semakin banyak orang lokal yang tertarik untuk berbagi informasi, mengembangkan jejaring sosial dan memberdayakan masyarakat melalui blog. “Karena blog bukan tren yang sifatnya sesaat,” tegasnya.

Dagdigdug menggunakan mesin blog WordPress Multiple User (WP MU) yang diklaim fleksibel dan mudah dipakai karena hanya membutuhkan tiga langkah membuat satu blog.

Layanan tersebut juga menyediakan solusi untuk kebutuhan perangkat mobile blogging, yaitu notebook dan konektivitas Internet dengan menggandeng PT Berca Cakra Teknologi, penyedia notebook Relion dan XL Business Solution, penyedia koneksi Internet. (roni.yunianto@bisnis.co.id)

Oleh Roni Yunianto
Bisnis Indonesia

Sumber : Harian Bisnis Indonesia (www.bisnis.com) tanggal 17 April 2008

Posted in Article, Blogging, Internet, IT Technology | Leave a comment

15 Common Mistakes that Violate Google Adsense TOS

Posted on April 13, 2008 by netzilla6

Google Adsense program is a popular web advertising program which provides a good income source for many websites. There are well defined terms of service to strictly adhere to when participating in the program.

On my visit through sites and forums, I daily notice several instances of misuse of Adsense ads. So here a few helpful Google Adsense tips, probably many you already know, and few you might gain by knowing now. These adsense faq are all picked from the Program Policies, Terms and Conditions and FAQ itself and presented in a simplified manner.

1. Never click your own adsense ads or get them clicked for whatever reason. You know this one very well. This is a surefire way to close you Adsense account. Never tell your office associates or friends to click on them. Keep a check if your family or children are busy increasing your income by clicking your ads and indirectly trying to stop your income. Dont even think of offering incentives for clicks, using automated clicking tools, or other deceptive software. Adsense is very smart to detect fraudulent clicks. Check the ads which appear on your pages by the Google Preview tool if required.

2. Never change the Adsense code. There are enough means of adsense optimization & customizations available to change the colour, background or border to suit your needs. Do whatever you want to do outside the code, never fiddle within the ad or the search code. They know it when you do. The search code has more limitations to colour and placement, but you should adhere to the rules. The code may stop working and violates the TOS.

3. Do not place more than 3 ad units and 3 ad links or 2 adsense search boxes on any web page. Anyway, ads will not appear in those units even if you place more ad units. But this is the limit they set, so it is better to stick to it.

4. Do not run competitive contextual text ad or search services on the same site which offer Google Adsense competition in their field. Never try to create link structures resembling the adsense ads. Never use other competitive search tools on the same pages which have Adsense powered Google search. They do allow affiliate or limited-text links. Update: Google has allowed you to run contextual advertising like Yahoo ads, Chitika etc provided the ads do not resemble Adsense ads.

5. Do not disclose confidential information about your account like the CTR, CPM and income derived via individual ad units or any other confidential information they may reveal to you. However, you may reveal the total money you make as per recent updates to the TOS.

6. Label headings as “sponsored links” or “advertisements” only. Other labels are not allowed. I have seen many sites label ads with other titles. Dont make your site a target in a few seconds gaze.

7. Never launch a New Page for clicked ads by default. Adsense ads should open on the same page. You may be using a base target tag to open all links in a new window or frame by default. Correct it now as they do not want new pages opening from clicked ads.

8. One Account suffices for Multiple websites. You do not need to create 5 accounts for 5 different websites. One account will do. If you live in the fear that if one account is closed down for violation of TOS, believe me they will close all accounts when they find out. You can keep track of clicks by using channels with real time statistics. They will automatically detect the new site and display relevant ads.

9. Place ads only on Content Pages. Advertisers pay only for content based ads. Content drives relevant ads. Although you might manage some clicks from error, login, registration, “thank you” or welcome pages, parking pages or pop ups, it will get you out of the program.

10. Do not mask ad elements. Alteration of colours and border is a facility to blend or contrast ads as per your site requirements. I have seen many sites where the url part is of the same colour as the background. While blending the ad with your site is a good idea, hiding relevant components of the ads is not allowed. Also do not block the visibility of ads by overlapping images, pop ups, tables etc.

11. Do not send your ads by email. Html formatted emails look good and allow placement of these javascript ads. But it is not allowed as per TOS. You do not want impressions registering on their logs from any email even once. They are watching!

12. Keep track of your content. So Adsense is not allowed on several non content pages. But it is also not allowed on several content pages too. Do not add it on web pages with MP3, Video, News Groups, and Image Results. Also exclude any pornographic, hate-related, violent, or illegal content.

13. Do not alter the results after ad clicks or searches – Ensure you are not in any way altering the site which the user reaches to after clicking the ads. Do not frame, minimize, remove, redirect or otherwise inhibit the full and complete display of any Advertiser Page or Search Results Page after the user clicks on any Ad or Search results.

14. Avoid excessive advertising and keyword stuffing – Although the definition of ‘excessive’ is a gray area and is subject to discretion, yet Google adsense with correct placement, focused content and high traffic will get you much more income than other programs, so excessive advertising is not required. Keyword stuffing does target better focused ads, but overdoing it is not required.

15. Ensure you Language is Supported – Adsense supports “Chinese (simplified), Japanese, Danish, Korean, Dutch, Norwegian, English, Polish, Finnish, Portuguese, French, Russian, German, Spanish, Hungarian, Swedish, Italian and Turkish”. In addition, AdSense for search is available in Czech, Slovak, and Traditional Chinese. If your web pages language is not supported, do not use the code on such pages.

Update:
16. Maximum 2 referral button per product per page – With the launch of the google adsense referral program, you are allowed to put only 2 referral buttons for adsense referral, adwords referral, Google pack and Firefox with google toolbar referral.

17. Do not specify Google ads as your alternate ads. – Several services like Chitika eminimalls allow you to place alternate urls, when a targeted paying ad cannot be displayed. This involved creating an simple html page and putting the ad to be displayed instead. Even Adsense allows an alternate url feature instead of displaying public service ads. But never use Adsense ads as alternate urls.

18. Do not confuse with adjacent images - It was a common policy to increase CTR by placing same number of images as the number of text ads, which falsely gave the impression that the text ads represented an explanation to these images. Inserting a small space or a line between the images and ads is not allowed. Make sure that the ads and images are not arranged in a way that could easily mislead or confuse your visitors. More.

Whenever in doubt, it is better to ask for adsense help from the learned staff of Google Adsense. They are very helpful!

Source : quickonlinetips.com

Posted in Article, Internet, IT Technology | 1 Comment

Free Essential Tools for Blogger Blogs

Posted on April 13, 2008 by netzilla6

So you have decide to create your first blog on Blogger. It has a simple and fine interface that takes care of many things for you. This is my suggestion to you for your first free essential must haves for your blog.

1. Feedburner - It generates an smart feed compatible with all feed readers for free like my feed. It allows you to put easy subscribe buttons for XML, Add to yahoo, Add to Newsgator, Add to MSN etc. Read about how their single feed policy can benefit you.

It can give you a cool feed count chicklet button to show how many readers are using your feed to read your blog. It also gives you a headline animator which you can attach to your blog to display the recent 5 posts in a nice animated fashion. You can get an authentic Creative Common license, get a browser friendly RSS feed, Splice photos and links and more…

2. Haloscan – Trackback is an essential component of blogging these days. Unfortunately Blogger does not have trackback. Haloscan provides you with a seamless way to integrate free trackback in your blog by adding a small code. You can also integrate their comments component if you like to replace the Blogger comments. Read about Haloscan or Blogger comments.

The benefits are that you can edit Haloscan comments, and open them in a pop up and keep them separate from your post (Blogger allows you to only delete comments and not edit them, also on the post page all comments will show whether you like it or not).

The main disadvantage is it will not email you these comments (like Blogger) for free and it is difficult to track where these comments were made. Another major benefit is that it allows you to send pings and trackback to other sites when you mention about them in your posts.

3. Imageshack – Dont you want to fill your blog with images without hassles of registration. Imageshack provides an excellent interface to take care of your free image hosting needs. Maybe it is this the fastest way to host an image on the web. Allows lots of image format, hotlinking, transloading from other sites. Its a good idea to register to keep track of all your images in one place. It is much convenient than the proposed Hello and Picassa options…

Update: Blogger enabled hosting of images on its own webspace making it easier to host images in your posts. But you cannot manage or edit / delete your blogger images in any way

4. Technorati - Create and add a technorati profile. It allows you to claim your blog in this huge blogosphere. It allows you to put an excellent technorati search on your blog. The best part is that whenever someone mentions or links to any page of your blog, technorati knows and a search for your blog on technorati shows exactly how many sites link to which pages of your blog and when they were added with a small description. See why you need a technorati account.

5 – Sitemeter – Just takes 5 minutes to get a free tracker which gives you realtime site traffic statistics to check the quantity and quality of your site traffic with detailed referrer and geographic data. I have checked out several other tracking sites, but this one seems the best. Although you need to keep a counter visible (as a logo, visitor counter) and the statistics can be made private too.

StatCounter gives much more detailed statistics and the counter is totally invisible and free totally till you start getting large traffic, when you need to pay. But the disadvantage is that both of these track the last 100 visitors only, while another free service Extreme Tracking tracks them all… but you statistics cannot be made private. More options I like are Google Analytics for deep traffic statistical analysis and it is hidden too.

6. Feedblitz – It quickly allows your blog visitors to subscribe by email to your new posts. They just have to enter their email. You decide which page opens after they press Subscribe. A quick confirmatory email to them and they get 1 email daily with all your new posts. You can decide if you want to send the full post or short posts with defined number of characters. Very good to keep your subscribers informed of new posts. It allows them to unsubscribe easily also. Example for our blog.

7. My Blog Log – Tracks outgoing links to let you know where your traffic is going. The free limited version data is not in much detail, yet provides a good idea. You can also add a Top 5 Our Links module to your web site. Now they have a MyBlogLog community to get some extra site traffic too.

8 AudioBlogger- Audioblogger allows free unlimited audio posts from any phone to your Blogger blog. You call the number (Currently a US phone number), record a post, then your blog is updated with an audioblogger icon and a link to your recorded audio.

9. w.bloggar – It is a Post and Template editor, with several features and resources that the browser based blog editors do not offer. It enables users to have only one interface to several accounts hosted on several different sites, using different publishing systems. Helps to manage multiple blogs on Blogger very effectively.

10 Blogger Mobile – opens a new concept of Moblogging i.e. blogging by your mobile phone. When you send text or photos from your mobile device to go@blogger.com they’re automatically posted to your new blog page.

11. Blogexplosion – helps you get confirmed traffic to your blog. The principle is simple, you visit other peoples blogs and they visit yours. For every 2 blogs you visit, one visitor comes to you. This is very good if you are new blogger and have hardly any traffic. Definitely try the Rent a Blog advertising swap service.

12. Pingoat – Pinging lets dozens of blogging services know you’ve updated your site and increases traffic to your blog. Just enter your blog name and blog home page, check the blogging services you want to ping, just click ‘Submit Pings’ and in one click it pings all of them. Pingoat offers a wide variety of such services and is fast too. See many more one click pinging services.

13. Creative Commons – It offers a flexible range of protections and freedoms for authors and artists. They have built upon the “all rights reserved” of traditional copyright to create a voluntary “some rights reserved” copyright. They are nonprofit and all tools are free and useful to highlight the way in which you want others to use you content.

14. Google Adsense and Search – When you take all effort to write for a blog, why not optimize it to make some money. Let users search for good posts in your blog. And now it even helps to monetize you feeds.

Source : quickonlinetips.com

Posted in Blogging Tool, Internet, IT Technology, Tips & Trick | Leave a comment

Giant Blogging Terms Glossary: Need a Blog Dictionary?

Posted on April 13, 2008 by netzilla6

Are you puzzled by strange blogging terms and unusual blog abbreviations and blogging acronyms? Then this post will get the Blargon Demystified. This article attempts to simplify some common blogging terms organized into a simple blogging glossary. Only common and popular blog tools and services have been included.

Note : The language used here is mostly non technical to make the newbie blogger understand the blogging basics. These have not been created by me, but collected over time. This is NOT a substitute for dictionary meaning or a strict definition of these terms, but a simple layman approach to understanding what they mean. Please feel free to propose a better meaning in the comments.

BLOGGING
  • Weblog- An online dated diary listing your periodic thoughts on a specific topic, often in reverse chronological order.
  • Blog – short form for weblog
  • Blogging - the act of posting on blogs
  • Blogger - a person who blogs
  • Blogosphere - The internet blogging community
BLOGGING FORMS
  • Photoblogging - a blog predominantly using and focusing on photographs and images. Photoblogs are created by photobloggers
  • Podcasting - a method of distributing multimedia files (audio / videos) online using feeds for playback on mobile devices and personal computers. Podcasts are created by podcasters.
  • Autocasting - is an automated form of podcasting
  • Blogcasting - the blog and the podcast merged into a single website.
  • Vlogging - Also called video blogging. Shortened to vlog. Posted by vlogger. A variant on the blogging using video instead of text.
  • Audioblogging - Also called audioblog, MP3 blog or musicblogs. a variant on the blogging using audio instead of text. Created by audioblogger.
  • Moblogging - Also called moblogs. A blog posted and maintained via mobile phone. Moblogs are created by mobloggers.
BLOG COMPONENTS AND FUNCTIONS
  • Index page – the front page fo the blog
  • Header - the topmost part of the blog usually listing the blog title.
  • Footer - the most bottom part of the blog usually listing navigation and copyright statements
  • Sidebar - One or more columns along one or both sides of most blogs main page
  • Categories - A collection of topic specific posts
  • Post, Entry- individual articles that make up a blog
  • Comments - enabling readers to leave their remarks
  • Captcha - short for “Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart”. Those word and letter verification images you need to type in to show you are human and not a bot. Helful to block automated spam comments. more
  • Ping – Short for Packet Internet Grouper. Blog and ping helps to notify other blog tracking tools for updates, changes and trackbacks.
  • Trackback - A system by which a ping is sent to another blog to notify that their article has been mentioned by you
  • Pingback - See trackback.
  • Permalink - A link to a specific article
  • Tags - labelling / attaching keywords to collect similar posts
  • Tag cloud – Displaying tags lists or keywords in a blog.
  • Blogroll - list of links to other blogs in your sidebar. Also see blogrolling.com
  • Sideblog - A smaller blog usually placed in the sidebar of a blog.
  • Template - the blog presentation design
  • BlogThis - a function allows a blogger to blog the entry they a reading
  • Plugins - Small files that add improved functionality and new features. WordPress plugins can greatly improve your blog usage and interactivity
  • Dashboard - When you login to your blogging account, it is the first screen with all controls, tools and functions.
  • Archives – a collection of all your posts on one page. Can be categorized by month etc.
  • Expandable post summaries – show a small teaser part of the post on the index page that link to the full post. more
  • Jump – the continuation of a the story on another page to preserve space on index page.
  • FTP - short for file transfer protocol. Transferring file to and fro from your web host using FTP tools like Filezilla
WEB FEEDS
  • Web Feed – allows online users to subscribe to websites that change or add content regularly.
  • RSS - a family of web feed formats used for Web syndication. Short form for Really Simple Syndication (RSS 2.0), Rich Site Summary (RSS 0.91, RSS 1.0), RDF Site Summary (RSS 0.9 and 1.0). WordPress generates RSS 2.0
  • XML - short for eXtensible Markup Language. a general-purpose markup language for syndication formats used on blogs.
  • RDF - short for Resource Description Framework. A web content syndication format.
  • Atom - another specific web feed format. Blogger feeds are usually of this type.
  • OPML – short for Outline Processor Markup Language. It is an XML format for outlines. Easily import and export multiple blog subscriptions between different rss aggregators.
  • Photofeed- a web feed with image enclosures.
BLOGGING SOFTWARE / CLIENTS
  • Blogger - a free blogging platform by Google.
  • Blogspot - free Blogger hosting blog at name.blogspot.com
  • LiveJournal - free blogging tool by SixApart
  • Movable Type – paid blogging tool by SixApart
  • Typepad - paid blogging tool by SixApart
  • WordPress.org- Free. Easy to Upload, customize and upgrade.
  • WordPress.com – A WordPress blog hosted free for you.
  • Radio Userland – another blog publishing software package
TYPES OF BLOGS
  • Group blog- with multiple contributing bloggers.
  • Event blog – focussed on an event
  • Kittyblogger – writing about cats.
  • Celeblog – focused on a celebrity.
  • Celebriblog – maintained by a celebrity.
  • Clog Blog – written in Dutch and/or in Holland.
  • CEOBlog – run by a chief executive officer.
  • Plog - a project blog. Also for Amazon.com personalised weblogs
  • Movlogs - mobile video blogs.
  • Splog- a spam blog
  • Tech blog – focused on a technical subject.
  • Anonoblog – by an anonymous blogger
  • Linguablog - about linguistics, translation etc.
  • Metablog – a blog about blogging.
  • Milblog - a military blog.
  • Blawg – blogged by lawyer / related to legal stuff
  • Edu-blog – education oriented blog.
  • Progblog - A progressive blog.
  • Shocklog - provokes discussion by posting shocking content
  • Klog - used by company knowledge workers. by Kloggers
  • Blogsite - A web site that combines blog feeds from a number of different sources
  • Dark Blog- A non-public blog
  • Photocast- a photoblog that automatically updates when new photos are added.
BLOGGING HABITS
  • Metablogging - writing articles about blogging
  • Blogstipation - writer’s block for bloggers. Cant think of what to blog about?
  • Blogathy - I do not want to post today and I do not care about it
  • Blogopotamus - A long long blog post
  • Blogorrhea - unusually high output of articles
  • Bleg - To use one’s blog to beg for assistance etc.
  • Hitnosis - Refreshing your browser repeatedly to see if your hit counter or comments have increased
  • GAD - Google Adsense Disorder. Repeatedly checking your adsense earnings. more
  • Blego - Blog+Ego. Measuring blogger worth
  • Blog hopping – jumping from one blog to another
  • Blogroach - A commenter who rudely disagrees with posted content
  • Blogoholic - addicted to blogging
  • Blogorific = blogtastic – something which a blogger says is terrific
  • Blogsit - maintaining a blog while the primary blogger is on leave
  • Blogvertising - Also called blogvert. Advertising on a blog.
  • Blurker - a blog reader not posting comments, just lurking around quietly.
  • Blogathon - update your website every 30 minutes for 24 hours straight. Maybe collect sponsorships. more
  • Blogiversary - your blog birthday
  • Blog Carnival – Links to other articles covering a specific topic.
  • Multiblog - running multiple blogs
  • Blog Tipping – Compliment 3 blogs on day 1 of every month. more
  • Blogger bash - a blogger party
  • Commenter - someone who leaves remarks / comments
  • Reciprocal Links - called link love. You link to my blog, I link to yours. To improve search engine rankings.
  • Linkbaiting - a habit of writing good content with the sole purpose of getting it linked from multiple sites.
  • Blogstorm – a large amount of blogosphere activity due to particular controversy. Also called Blog Swarm.
  • Blogsnob – refusing to respond to blog comments from “not-friends”.
  • Doppelblogger – plagiarize the content of another blogger. To Doppelblog.
  • Blogophobia – Fear of blogs and blogging.
  • Bloggerel – the same opinion posted repeatedly on a blog
BLOGGER TYPES
  • Problogger - professional blogger
  • Blognoscenti - especially knowledgable bloggers
  • Blogebrity - a famous blogger.
  • Blogerati - the blogosphere intelligentsia.
  • Commentariat - The community of those leaving comments.
  • Dooced - lost a job because of blog entries. To Dooce.
  • Blogther - a fellow blogger.
  • A-List- the top bloggers who influence the blogosphere.
  • Blogstar- blogger running a popular blog
OTHER BLOGGING TERMS
  • Bloggies- Annual blogging awards. more
  • MSM - Mainstream Media, or old media like newspapers etc.
  • BSM - Blogstream media. from most heavily trafficked blogs.
  • Blog Day – 31 August. Find 5 new Blogs that you find interesting and tell them. more
  • Blaudience - your blog audience.
  • Blargon - Also called Blogssary. Blogging slang and glossary. What I am telling you now.
  • Blogiversary - your blog birthday
  • Blogiverse - see blogosphere
  • XFN – short for XHTML Friends Network. Is a simple way to represent human relationships using hyperlinks.
  • Blogonomics - blogging conference on a Blog Cruise in 2006. more
  • EFF - short for Electronic Frontier Foundation. A nonprofit group working to protect blogger rights.
  • Blog of Note – a recommended blog. more
  • Navbar - a navigation bar usually seen on top of Blogger blogspot hosted blogs. more
  • Blook - a book created from a blog. more
  • Hat Tip- acknowledgement of the source that tipped you the news.
  • Spomments- Spam comments
  • Blammer- Blog spammer
  • SOB- acronym for Successful and Outstanding Blogger. From successful-blog.com
  • Blogiday- you get fed up and take a holiday from blogging
BLOGGING TOOLS & SERVICES
  • Bloglines, Rojo, Newsgator, Kinja, - are News Aggregators that display content from syndicated Web content from web feed. Can be configured online or downloaded on your desktop. Like . Also called RSS readers, feed readers, feed aggregators or news readers
  • Pageflakes, Newsvine – Track multiple feeds on a single page by modules.
  • Odeo, Podnova - are Podcatchers, a form of aggregator used to automatically download podcasts and can sometimes transfer a portable media player. Like
  • Feedburner - a professional feed management system
  • Pingomatic, Pingoat – ping multiple blog tracking services. More
  • Feedblitz, Zokooda – Email subscriptions and newletter tools.
  • Technorati – a real-time search engine that keeps track of what is going on in the blogosphere
  • b5media, 9rules – examples of popular blogging networks. Collection of blogs and bloggers providing great content, with revenue sharing sometimes.
  • K2, Blix – names of some popular wordpress themes.
  • Blogexplosion, Blogclicker- popular blog traffic generation / exchange services.
  • Adsense, Adbrite, CJ, Chitka, Blogads – popular affiliate programs to generate money from your blogs.
  • Sphere, Icerocket – blog search engines
  • Live Bookmarks – a firefox web browser feature. Update themselves automatically with the latest content from the Web.
  • Creative Commons – licenses provide a flexible range of protections and freedoms for authors to offer a voluntary “some rights reserved” approach.
  • CoComment - Tracks your comments across different platforms and follow conversations
  • WBloggar, Ecto, Qumanna – desktop blog publishing tools
  • Mint, Mybloglog, Measuremap, Analytics – site traffic tracking tools.
  • Haloscan- free trackback service
  • YouTube, Rapidshare- puts video on your blog
  • Flickr, Imageshack - photo sharing service. Host images on your blog
  • Del.icio.us, furl, spurl – share social bookmarks.
  • Blogburst - Syndicating your feed to top publishers.
  • Bloggeropoly - professional blogger recruiting agency. more
  • Blogger code – a way to describe different types of bloggers. more
  • Bloggoggle - Directory of Blogging Professionals
  • BlogHer - where the women bloggers are. At Blogher.org
BLOG TRAFFIC SURGES
  • Digged - link posted on digg.com driving huge traffic to your blog
  • Slashdotted - link posted on slashdot.org driving huge traffic to your blog. more
  • Instalanche - link posted on instapundit.com driving huge traffic to your blog
  • Farked – link posted on fark.com driving huge traffic to your blog
  • Boing Boinged – link posted on boingboing.net driving huge traffic to your blog
MISCELLANEOUS BLOGGING TERMS
  • Ajax - acronym for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML. creates interactive web applications.
  • Greasemonkey - a firefox web browser extension that can alter the functionality of any website using specific scripts.
  • Wiki - a collaborative on-line software that allows readers to add and edit content.
  • SEO - search engine optimization. To improve your search engine rankings.
  • Page Rank – Google measures of importance of a page which reflects in its rankings.
  • CMS – short for Content management system. software used to publish and manage websites.

This post is constantly updated. Help me develop this blogging resource to include all popular blogging terms and create a useful blogging glossary. I repeat that this is NOT a substitute for dictionary meaning or a strict definition of these terms, but a simple layman approach to understanding what they mean. Please feel free to propose a better meaning in the comments.

Bloggingly Yours…

Source : quickonlinetips.com

Posted in Blogging Tool, Internet, IT Technology | Leave a comment

Maximum Firefox Extensions You Can Install : 200 or More!

Posted on April 13, 2008 by netzilla6

We all love Firefox extensions. I love these 50 best firefox extensions. How many firefox extensions can you install to power up your browser? Maybe unlimited. The first to attempt this was Splasho who decided to install 100 most popular extensions at the same time, nicknamed the Superbrowser, it worked smooth enough.

Now CyberNet went through the top Firefox extension page until he installed 200 firefox extensions.

“It took 6-minutes to start Firefox with the 200 extensions installed but it worked! Not only that but there are the popup windows that you get for certain extensions right after they are installed…yeah…I received 47 of those. That also seemed to delay the initial start time but I didn’t sit there filling out information for all of the options, otherwise that would have taken me hours.

It was quite a site to see and there was a very limited viewing area for websites because of the toolbars. On my 24″ widescreen monitor I had about 2″ of viewable area at the bottom of the browser. But hey, it was still usable.”

Each extension makes your browser more usable, and there are hundreds of them. But you should install only those that “suits your need”. I am sure right now someone out there is thinking of Firefox with 300 extensions or more!

Source : quickonlinetips.com

Posted in Browser, Firefox, Internet | Leave a comment

50 Best Firefox Extensions for Power Surfing

Posted on April 13, 2008 by netzilla6

Which are the top firefox extensions? Here is an attempt to collect the 50 popular and best firefox extensions which make your browsing, downloading and navigation in Firefox as easy as possible, while harnessing the full power and features of Firefox.

These extensions should work on the latest versions of the Firefox (use the Nightly Tester Tools extension to make them work). Use extensions which work best for *your* needs. The fastest way to install these extensions from developer sites is to drag them to the url bar. Look at these top extensions to manage firefox extensions if you decide to install lots of them.

Control Firefox Tabs
  • All-in-One Gestures – merges the popular following extensions for management of mouse gestures, scrolling and power navigation. (Mix of Mouse Gestures, Rocker navigation, Tab scroller, History scroller, Link tooltip and Autoscrolling extensions)
  • Tabbrowser Preferences – a comprehensive UI for changing a number of the hidden tabbed browsing preferences in Firefox. It also provides the ability to control how internal and external links are opened in the browser and how the browser will react when links are sent to it.
  • Tab Mix Plus – More tweaks added to tabs. Ability to select and open muliple links in tabs, open link in a duplicated tab, merge tabs and close tabs from similar domain…
  • Duplicate Tab – allows you to clone a tab with its history and place the duplicate tab in a new window or in the current window.
  • Colorful Tabs – Colors every tab in a different color and makes them easy to distinguish while beautifying the overall appeal of the interface.
  • Viamatic foXpose – Click on the icon in the status bar to view all the browser windows with a single click.
  • Firefox Showcase – easily locate and select any open browser window in Firefox.
  • Separe – Helps you keeping tabs tidy by introducing a new kind of tab.
  • Permatabs – turn tabs of your choice into permanent tabs that can’t be closed, and stick around between sessions.
  • FaviconizeTab – resizes the width of the tab to display the favicon only (and back again).
Control Website Links
  • Linky – Lets you open or download all or selected links, image links and even web addresses found in the text in separate or different tabs or windows.
  • Linkification – Allows Firefox (0.9+) to view plain-text URLs and e-mail addresses as actual links
  • IE Tab – can open the current page or a selected link embedding Internet Explorer in tabs of Mozilla/Firefox. Very useful for those IE only pages.
  • FirefoxView – Open Firefox with the current page or a selected link displayed in Internet Explorer. Adds “View in Firefox” menu items to the content and link context menus.
  • Paste and Go – lets you paste an URL from the clipboard into the address bar and load it as a single step, either via the adress bar’s context menu or by pressing Ctrl-Shift-V
  • ErrorZilla – changes the default 404 error page with following choices: a google cache, an archival snapshot from the wayback machine, a ping, a trace route, and a whois lookup.
Control File Downloads
  • FlashGot – handles single and massive downloads with several external Download Managers.
  • PDF Download – Every time you click on a link, checks if the target is a pdf file and in this case let you choose what you want to do (open pdf file inside a new tab, download it to the filesystem or view it as HTML).
  • ScrapBook – helps you to save Web pages and easily manage collections.
  • DownThemAll! – adds new advanced downloading capabilities to your browser. It lets you download in just one click all the links or images contained in a webpage or refine your preferences using fully customizable filters.
  • TargetAlert – provides visual cues for the destinations of hyperlinks. If a hyperlink points to a something that is not a web page (in cases of pdf, doc, zip files etc.), then TargetAlert will try to append an icon to the hyperlink that represents its destination
  • Download Manager Tweak – modifies the default appearance of the firefox download manager and allows it to be opened in a separate window, the sidebar, or a tab.
  • Download Statusbar – is a browser extension that allows you to keep track of ongoing and completed downloads in a hide-away statusbar
  • Disable Targets For Downloads – Prevents sites spawning blank windows when clicking binary downloads.
  • FireFTP – is a free, secure, cross-platform FTP client for Mozilla Firefox which provides easy and intuitive access to FTP servers.
Control Webpage Behaviour and Navigation
  • GreaseMonkey – Install user scripts and change the behavior of any web page
  • Image Zoom – Right click on an image and select a zoom option from the popup menu, or, hold down the right mouse button in combination with the mouse wheel to zoom in or out on an image.
  • Fasterfox – Speed up Firefox. Dynamic speed increases can be obtained with Fasterfox’s unique prefetching mechanism, which recycles idle bandwidth by silently loading and caching all of the links on the page you are browsing. Also tweaks many network and rendering settings. (Some readers said it actually slowed down their firefox – verify yourself)
  • SpellBound – enables spell checking in web forms such as html textarea / input elements (html input password elements are not checked by SpellBound) and rich text form elements. This allows you to spell check forms before submitting them.
  • BugMeNot – Bypasses compulsory web registration using the BugMeNot without the hassle of surfing to it and querying its database everytime.
  • AutoCopy – Select text on any web page and it will be automatically copied to the clipboard. Middle click to Paste.
  • Copy Plain Text – Copies text without formatting. Have you ever copied something and been annoyed that the text formatting (bold, font size, etc) came with it? Don’t you wish you could just copy the text itself, without having to copy it, paste it into notepad, then copy it again?
  • Google Images Re-Linker – This will let you click the thumbnail images on images.google.com, skip the referred framed page, and jump straight to the full-size image.
  • Extended Statusbar – adds an Opera-like statusbar for Firefox that shows number of loaded images, bytes downloaded, average download speed, load time and percentage of the page loaded.
  • Resizeable Textarea – Resize small textareas in forums to your needed size avoiding scrolling.
  • Adblock Plus – is an enhanced version of Adblock. Block ads, applets, flash, embedded-media etc.
  • Flashblock – blocks all Flash content from loading on a webpage.
  • Sage – add a lightweight RSS and Atom feed aggregator which integrates with Firefox’s bookmark storage and Live Bookmarks.
  • Cacheout!- lets you try to access articles on servers affected by the Digg Effect /Slashdot Effect through Google’s caching service and CoralCDN.org.
  • Pearl Crescent Page Saver – capture screenshots and save full webpages as images easily.
  • Reload Every – adds an option to the context menu to reload the web page you are viewing every so many seconds or minutes. Useful if you keep refreshing some pages often.
  • Copy URL+ – copy to the clipboard the current document’s address along with additional information such as the document’s title, the current selection or both. Customize it to add your own menu entries.
  • InFormEnter – adds a small, clickable icon next to every input field in a web form, from where you can select the item to be inserted with your frequently used information such as name, email, address and whatever else you want to be available from the form menu.
  • All-in-One Sidebar – is a sidebar control, inspired by Opera that lets you quickly switch between sidebars, view dialog windows such as downloads, extensions, and more in the sidebar, or view source code or websites in the sidebar. Can be extensively customized.
  • Text size toolbar – Adds buttons to increase or decrease text size or restore default size easily. Useful for those small unreadable font sizes.
  • Reveal – allows you to see thumbnails of pages in your session history and quickly find the page you want.
  • Mystickies – allows you to place sticky notes all over the web and organize them with tags.
  • Clear Cache Button – Adds a clear cache toolbar button that cleans the cache in one click. Very handy for those who have use for it.
  • gTranslate – translate any text in a webpage just by selecting and right-clicking over it. Uses the Google translation services.
  • Xinha Here! – is a wrapper for the Xinha HTML editor that enables WYSIWYG editing in any textarea and text box on any website.
  • Yoono – instantly suggests alternate sites and people who share the same interests while you are surfing.
  • BlueOrganizer – It helps you personalize your web experience based on what you already like, helping you discover relevant new information and save time.
Control Privacy / Security
  • SwitchProxy – lets you manage and switch between multiple proxy configurations quickly and easily. You can also use it as an anonymizer to protect your computer from prying eyes.
  • NoScript – allows JavaScript, Java (and other plugins) only for trusted domains of your choice. This whitelist based pre-emptive blocking approach prevents exploitation of security vulnerabilities with no loss of functionality
  • Always Remember Password – Instructs web sites to always remember your password. Some sites like Yahoo Mail, Hotmail, and banking sites instruct the browser to never allow your password manager to retain your information.
  • CookieCuller – Extended Cookie Manager to protect/unprotect selected cookies.
  • Stealther – surf the web without leaving a trace in your local computer by *temporarily disabling history (and address bar), cookies, formFill, disk cache and sending of ReferrerHeader. Verify details of what exactly it can work for you.
Control Web Searches
  • Google Toolbar for Firefox – Lets you search google and all its services easily. Also powered by Google Suggest (Get query suggestions as you type in the search box), SpellCheck, AutoFill, Pagerank of webpage, access to gmail, WordTranslator etc.
  • CustomizeGoogle – enhances Google search results by adding extra information (like links to Yahoo, Ask Jeeves, MSN etc) and removing unwanted information (like ads and spam).
  • NextPlease! – allows you to assign keyboard shortcuts to jump to next and previous links on search results pages, like Google, Yahoo, Ebay, Amazon, and many other sites.
  • BetterSearch – enhances Google, MSN Search, Yahoo Search, A9, Answers.com, AllTheWeb, Dogpile.com, del.icio.us and Simpy.com bookmarks by adding previews (thumbnails) and Amazon product images and info etc.
  • Answers – Press Alt (or Option on a Mac) and click any word to get a quick, relevant definition or explanation, drawn from a collection of over 100 reference titles.
Control Your Music / Video
  • FoxyTunes – Listen to music while surfing the Web, and control your favorite media player without ever leaving the browser.
  • MediaPlayerConnectivity – Allow you to launch embed video of website in an external application with a simple click
Control Your Email
  • Better Gmail – A range of Gmail enhancements (with best Greasemonkey scripts), including skins, saved searches, keyboard macros, secure access, attachment icons, attachment reminders, label colors, signature floating and more.
  • Gmail Manager – Allows you to manage multiple Gmail accounts and receive new mail notifications. Displays your account details including unread messages, saved drafts, spam messages, labels with new mail, space used, and new mail snippets.
  • Gmail Notifier – checks and notifies your email in Gmail accounts.
  • AJAX Yahoo! Mail – Preview your messages with a single click. Adds AJAX support to the Yahoo! mail.
Control Your Bookmarks
  • Bookmark with Del.icio.us – Integrate del.icio.us right into Firefox. Easily access your bookmarks and post new bookmarks. Post a bookmark without leaving the page you are on.
  • Foxmarks Bookmark Synchronizer – Install Foxmarks on each computer, and it will work silently in the background to keep your bookmarks synchronized
  • StumbleUpon – is an intelligent browsing tool for sharing and discovering great websites.
  • Reliby – provides you with Reload all Live Bookmarks functionality.
  • Clipmarks – lets you save and share Web page content without having to bookmark the entire page.
  • Shareaholic – Share, bookmark and e-mail web pages quickly without leaving your browser.
Control Other Popular Services
  • Adsense Notifier – Displays your Adsense earnings on the statusbar.
  • Forecastfox Enhanced – Get international weather forecasts and display it in any toolbar or statusbar. Now with improved radar images and allows for pausing, restarting and setting the frequency of automatic updates.
  • DictionarySearch – Looks up a user selected word in an online dictionary you selected.
  • Web Developer – Adds a menu and a toolbar with various essential web developer tools.
  • Scribefire – A full featured blog editor that sits right within Firefox and lets you easily post to your WordPress, MovableType or Blogger blogs.
  • Map+ – enables you to quickly view a map of a selected address in Firefox without changing windows or tabs.
  • ChatZilla – is a clean and easy to use Internet relay chat (IRC) client.
  • TwitterFox – notifies you of your friends’ tweets of Twitter.

This list is by no means complete and you may not agree with my choice, but this is merely an attempt to find the top and best firefox extensions. This post is regularly updated. If there is some favorite firefox extension you use which deserves a mention here, post it in comments… [This post is constantly updated.]

Source : quickonlinetips.com

Posted in Browser, Firefox, Internet | Leave a comment

Microsoft Introduces Tool for Avoiding Traffic Jams

Posted on April 11, 2008 by netzilla6

By JOHN MARKOFF

SAN FRANCISCO — Microsoft on Thursday plans to introduce a Web-based service for driving directions that incorporates complex software models to help users avoid traffic jams.

The new service’s software technology, called Clearflow, was developed over the last five years by a group of artificial-intelligence researchers at the company’s Microsoft Research laboratories. It is an ambitious attempt to apply machine-learning techniques to the problem of traffic congestion. The system is intended to reflect the complex traffic interactions that occur as traffic backs up on freeways and spills over onto city streets.

The Clearflow system will be freely available as part of the company’s Live.com site (maps.live.com) for 72 cities in the United States. Microsoft says it will give drivers alternative route information that is more accurate and attuned to current traffic patterns on both freeways and side streets.

A system for driving directions that Microsoft introduced last fall was limited, because without Clearflow there was no information available about traffic conditions on city streets adjacent to the highways. Because the system assumed that those routes would be clear, drivers were on occasion sent into areas that were more congested than the freeways.

The new service will on occasion plan routes that might not be intuitive to a driver. For example, in some cases Clearflow will compute that a trip will be faster if a driver stays on a crowded highway, rather than taking a detour, because side streets are even more backed up by cars that have fled the original traffic jam.

The new service is part of Microsoft’s efforts to catch up with Google, the dominant search engine provider, by offering an attractive array of related services surrounding its Live search service.

Traffic updates have recently become a standard feature offered by the major Web portals as well as a number of specialized services that send the information to cars or to smartphones and other portable devices.

Greg Sterling, an Internet analyst at Sterling Market Intelligence in San Francisco, said there was consumer demand for traffic information, especially among mobile users. The challenge, he said, will be to demonstrate the improvement the company is claiming.

“This is a sophisticated layer of technology that will not be easily understood by the average person,” he said.

The project began in 2003 when Eric Horvitz, an artificial-intelligence researcher at Microsoft, found himself stuck on the freeway while looking for a new restaurant in Seattle. Thinking that he might avoid the traffic jam, he instructed the navigation device in his car to route him via side streets. The result was a nightmare.

“It was awful,” he said. “Everything seemed to be backed up.”

That set Mr. Horvitz, who is the current president of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, to pondering the problem.

“It hit me that we had to do all the side streets,” he said. “We really needed to understand the whole city.”

The Microsoft researchers began trying to do just that by building software algorithms that modeled traffic behavior and collecting trip data from Microsoft employees who volunteered to carry G.P.S. units in their cars.

In the end they were able to build a model for predicting traffic based on four years of data and 16,500 discrete trips covering over 125,000 miles. The system effectively created individual “personalities” for over 819,000 road segments in the Seattle region.

After creating the Clearflow simulation for Seattle, the Microsoft researchers were able to transfer the model by using the algorithms they had developed and then applying them to other cities. The city models are combined with live traffic data generated by networks of highway sensors to create about 60 million road segments, allowing the system to predict congestion based on time of day, weather and other variables like sporting events.

“I consider this to be the moon mission of our machine-learning research,” Mr. Horvitz said. “I’m still buzzing with the glow that this is actually possible.”

Source : The New York Times (nytimes.com) April 10, 2008

Posted in Article, Internet, IT Technology, Microsoft | Leave a comment