Monday, February 26, 2007

History In Pocket - For kids & numismatists

If you are a numismatist (A collector and student of money (and coins in particular)) then you would love to visit this site http://www.usmint.gov/kids/campCoin/collectorsWorkshop/.
This site provides information about coins and how to collect them.

Coins tell a lot about people, places and events. Knowing what clues to look for and what they mean provide you greater insight in knowing about the bygone era. This site provides step by step tutorial in understanding the nuts and bolts of coin collection starting from why people collect coins and how they do it. In next sections, it provides what clues to look into the coins and their inner meaning and gives tips of coin collection. There are some coin case studies to analyze and solve the mysteries. These are very intuitive in nature and are built on flash.

There are seven sections like games, time machine, cartoons, News about coins, Camp coins and lesson plans to teachers on how to educate kids about coin collection.
Games section provides simple to complex puzzles.. put real coins together and create your own coins etc..
Time machine is built on flash and gives you the option to choose any particular period from year 1667 till date. Once you choose any year, it provides information related to that year and a small puzzle related to the coins of that era. You need to choose the right outfit suitable to that year and enter the time machine and resolve the puzzle. Site provides key information about the year and the civilization details during the time machine travel. Its very informative for kids and for elders also and equally spectacular with nice flash animations.
Coin news is dedicated to all newsworthy about coins and camp coin is the place where one learns the art of coin collection. A guide on how to navigate and what each section meant is there to easily use the site.

Conclusion: Informative and fun filled site for kids and numismatists and to all who would like to learn a thing or two of history through coin’s lenses.

visit them at http://www.usmint.gov/kids/

Sunday, February 25, 2007

Indiaparenting.com

Winner of 6th Britannica Internet guide,this site is very popular(http://www.indiaparenting.com/news/index.shtml) and is already been reviewd by major channels and I don;t have to write anything more about it. But would like to share my own experiences with this site.
They have a section to get lucky names by numerology and I use that section quite often and it has given me good results also. From their message boards section, we could find maid agencies in and around bangalore and could reach one and get a maid also. Ofcourse, the service of the agency after the payment is not up to the mark which cannot be blamed on this site anyway.

A very good and informative site for all parents and would be parents. It talks about stories to be told to our children to tips for their upbringing and informs about the responsibilities of parents. They have sections like Indian culture, Indian stories and legends, Indian prayers, Children Rhymes and songs and many more.

A must visit for all married people as they have some thing or other for them.
www.indiaparenting.com

Friday, February 23, 2007

For hungry Bangaloreans.. Find out who offers what and where..

Bangaloreans can now find the restaurants near to their place and order online. This services is offered to you by http://www.hungrybangalore.com/

It’s probably one of its kind of a site where you can search what hotels and restaurants that are operating in a particular area. The site claims to have details about more than 150 restaurants and the list is growing.

So, what’s the fun? I can google them also Yeah. You can google and get their contact numbers also. But, this site shows what the menu that particular restaurant is having and also the indicative price. So, you can choose your food and restaurant based on the weight of your wallet. Also, there is an option to reserve a seat to avoid disappointments at later stage. If you are not I a mood to visit, you can order online also.. and what’s more.. the service is free. Keep in mind that not all restaurants of this site offer these services but there are plenty which are participating in this service.

If you are in a mood to relinquish the tastes of Rajastani or Persian or simple south Indian, just search the hotels according to their specialty and enjoy their dishes. If you don't have time to order during the work day, order ahead and specify a later preparation time and delivery time.

You can browse through different recipes submitted by members. You can also submit a secret recipe and win free meal vouchers and if you want to provide a feedback on a restaurant you can do so for the benefit of all others.

You can plan a party by providing your details and I think they will contact you with options. I haven’t tried yet this option though! They have a good FAQ section both for customers and for restaurant owners to know more in detail about their services.

Conclusion: Next time you want to give a party or want to enjoy a special variety of food.. you know now where to log on to. .. www.hungrybangalore.com

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Know your googling - make your search easier and focused

Name of the site: www.googleguide.com
One of the most popular search engines undoubtedly is google, so much so that the word searching is now being replaced by the word “googling” in day to day conversations. But, many of use would not have used the search engines capabilities fully, largely because we may not be aware of its strengths. But now, we have an option to know and understand how google works and also how we can use its capabilities to our advantage. Searching can be made easier and focused using these search capabilities.

You can find the guide to google at http://www.googleguide.com/
It’s an online tutorial where one can find and learn details about googling. In this guide, you can learn

How to place your query to search more effectively


What happens inside google engine once you click the word “go” meaning how google is going to interpret your search

The additional details available with our search results like cache, similar pages, sponsored links etc

What to do if we are not satisfied with our results

How to search locally and how to use synonym search / domain specific search

  • And how actually google search engine works and what is the process of any search engines and the related terminology like crawler, robot etc.

    It has a neat interface with options to jump to which ever part we want to go. So, if you are finished one chapter and next day you can jump start from next chapter from the home page itself. Also, option is there to choose novice or experienced user according to your understanding of the search engine.

    Conclusion: A highly recommended site for all to fasten their search and get focused results and also to know how and what many unknown features are available in google search. Of course, one can get some of the details from google’s advance search tips page; this site provides elaborate details and is like a tutorial which one can refer when ever he is in doubt. You have an option to print the complete guide or only those parts which you feel are important. The tutorial is available in Hebrew and Danish languages also.

Monday, February 19, 2007

National Portal of India :www.india.gov.in

What's it about: Its the national portal of India to provide single window access to information and services provided by various Indian government bodies.
Features: The purpose of this portal is to provide the information on the services being provided by various government agencies for the citizens and other stakeholders. The portal claims "An attempt has been made through this Portal to provide comprehensive, accurate, and reliable and one stop source of information about India and its various facets".Once you visit this site, from here you can access many Indian government sites. You can book your train tickets and send e-post clicking from here as these links are available here.There are different categories to cater to different people. Like for citizens of India, you can get the details about Health,educatin,employement,housing,law and order etc details. Once you enter into a particular field, you will get to know what various schemes are available from government on that chosen field and also links to official websites of representing those ministries.

There is a How do I? section which gives details on how you can get a birth certificate, PAN number, Passport, Driving license etc and also the relevant forms are available for download.

Other sections like Business deals with how you can set up your own business, what forms are required from your side and what is the procedure of registering a company etc. These details are broken down to state level meaning how you have to deal with each state.

For overseas persons who want to visit India, this site provides details like Know India where you can find the culture and heritage of India and how to get visa and what options are there to study in India etc.They have the up to date news scrolling on their home page so you will not be missing what’s happening around when you are on this site.The information on this site is enormous and one has to visit and explore it as it is difficult to write everything here.You can get register here and you will get a personalized portal dealing with your state specific details and links to state specific government agencies based on your profile.

Conclusion: A great site to know the details of government of India and its policies. Links at various places, too, have been provided to other Indian Government Portals/websites.Visit them at http://www.india.gov.in/

Friday, February 16, 2007

Simple to complex ideas galore at Instructables

Want to know how to solve sudoku without using brain but using a simple methodical way or want to make a 5 people bike or you made something and want to share with others and show how they also can make it? then the place to be is http://www.instructables.com

Check some of great ideas like Solve Sudoku (Without even thinking!)
http://www.instructables.com/id/EJLUBKN48JEPD7QXGR/
or Inexpensive wall decor that will be easy to put together, fun to do, and take up a lot of space on a wall at
http://www.instructables.com/id/EVFXIRDZ9JEXCFKGTL/
like this you can get lot of ideas when you visit this site.

Iinstructables is the place where you can find step by step collaboration.The ideas can be explored by just clicking on the keywords which scroll continuously on the home page. You can enter into the site and explore where over 3000 great how to do guides are waiting to be explored.

There are groups where you can join and meet your like minded people and see what they are doing. Also you can get a rating for your creativity and comments from fellow users.Groups like electronics,home gift ideas, USB toys etc are there to choose from over 200 such groups.
They have forums where you can post your questions and expect some great answers.
If you want to contribute your work, you need to become a member which is free registration.They have a blog by the people who are responsible for this site where you can get latest updates about the site. Also there are some competitions happen from time to time and if you are lucky enough, you may be the winner!

If you are facinated with this site, you can subscribe to their RSS feeds and you will be upto date with the latest contributions and simple and usefule ideas. A great place to be collaborated and share ideas.(http://www.instructables.com)

Thursday, February 15, 2007

Guide to America's fortune 500 companies

Many of us have relatives, friends working in US for various companies. If we want to know more about those companies we can visit their particular website. But, if you want to know details of the most popular fortune 500 companies all at one place and also if you want to know about their revenues and where they are located -- Visit www.americancompanies.com. It has details of over 500 companies spread across length and breadth of US.You have the option to view these company details either by their location or by their industry. The location details are drilled down to The west, Midwest, south, east and New York city. By industry, these are grouped into Manufacturing, Service, Financial and Information technology. You can find the respective companies in their groups. Once you click on the details of the company, you will get a small description of what they do and what are their major products and their sales and revenue details. You can also get the companies website address and also its location address. You can find the company building photograph along with the details. Soon to be added features include all companies rankings by revenues and revenue wise top 20 companies list. Some of the companies that find their place here are Enron,Microsoft,Nike,Pacific corp etc to name a few. On the home page, you can find "today's company" where the newly added company details will be there.
Conclusion :The site has got more textual content and even though you have the pictures of the companies buildings shown in their profiles, they doesn't take much time to load. The navigation is simple and easy. This site is mostly useful for all those who would like to know which company is doing what and what's their sales and revenue. Also, as a general knowledge we can get to know about the companies in and around a particular state and also we can understand how big a company is based on their sales and revenues.

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Want to share with world? Diggit

Digg is your way of sharing what you think is appropriate. We come across innumerable number of articles, videos or a podcast during our routine searching. And once you are impressed with it, we would like to share it with our friends. Now you have the option to share it with the entire world. Just digg it. Meaning, submit the piece to www.digg.com.These days, we are finding a hyper link on the corners or below the articles or videos which says "Add to digg". You just have to click on that link and you are ready to share it with world.
What happens to your submission? After you submit, it will appear in the "upcoming stories" events of the page where other members can find it and if they like it, they digg. It. Once your article acquires some critical number of diggs, it becomes popular and will be moved to the homepage of that particular section. Now that way you can become popular.
If you don’t want to submit anything, just visit this site and read what is hot and what other people are reading or sharing. If you like something, you can comment or discuss about it with other members. And if you find it abusive, then you can notify it. If you don’t like it or if you feel it’s a spam, bury it and if all members feel the same, the article is buried and will be removed from the content.
The site is essentially a user driven social content website where surfers like us are building up the content. Its very useful to know and keep you updated with news or technology related happenings and also to view videos or podcasts.
And one more good reason to dig is, those links or articles are stored under your login name and you can retrieve them where ever you want. Essentially you are carrying your information with you not on your memory stick but on world wide web!. All it takes is to become a member of digg.com.

Sunday, February 11, 2007

Download Licensed software Freely and daily

Imagine the common concerns we all face. You are working on some downloaded software and suddenly it says your evaluation period is out. Or when you click on that too important tool bar it say.. "You are not licensed to use. Pay and download it and start enjoying". Now, to answer to all these problems we all need a licensed software and imagine if it comes freely!. That’s what you get at http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/.
What's it about :. You can download a licensed.. Yes I repeat a licensed software freely and daily from this site. All you need to do is to visit this site daily and see what's the software that they are offering for that day and if it suits your requirement, you have it for free.
Features The day's give away with details will be greeting you when you open the site with comments from already who downloaded it. And remember, it is strictly for a day and the time also is indicated how much is left before a new software replaces this one. They have RSS feeds option to keep you updated and allowing you not to miss the cool downloads. You can also spread the word by choosing to keep their banner on your blogs/web sites. You have the option to look into archives and know what’s offered but you certainly cannot download them any more.
Usefulness Well to all of us who are interested in getting the licensed software for our own use, we can get it free of cost here. It has variety of downloads ranging from virus check software to games and music and movie related software to educational software.
Conclusion:Well the catch word is free but with some stars on its top corner. you know what I mean.. Conditions apply. And what are they? "under specific Terms and Conditions, which limit the software usage to non-commercial only, and may also limit software updates and technical support".

Saturday, February 10, 2007

seek your luck at seekluck.com

Name of site : http://www.seekluck.com

What's it about : In its own words "It aspires to promote entrepreneurship and self-employment" by providing guidelines and directions on how to make money

Features: You have different sections like Income ideas, Money masters,Money secrets, Cash courses and money makers. I will explain in detail what each fearure is for.
Income ideas : It gives some income ideas like for example Ebook business,internet business etc. There are good articles and how to guides for each idea. Its up to the self enterprenure to explore them and grab the idea develop in his own way
Money masters talks about stories about real person who made money and how they made it in their own words.
Money secrets :Let money seek you. How? visit this section to know about the secrets of making money and sustaining the money flow
Cash courses : a practical and step by step guide to make your first money as an individual. Learn about the crash courses about cash..

Look and placements : The site is clean with not many adsense coming into the main topics. Colors used are fine and the updates on each section are clearly mentioned on top corner for regular visitors. Probably they know once visited they will come again and again. For first time visitors also there is no problem in finding the topics of their intrest. The left corner of the page is for new visitor with clear description of topics and links to them.

usefulness : Useful for all those hardworking and willing to experiment and dare to dream people and earn some bucks out of their creativity and hardworking.

conclusion : Get ideas and think what suits you and do it with dedication and hard work. Keep in mind, dont think about the result but fulfill your duty. and This site provides the ideas to make money by thinking differently and also see what others are thinking and adapt them if you are fine with them.

Friday, February 9, 2007

Links to American Literature sites

Name of the site : http://www.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/sites.htm

What's it about : This site has a treasure of information and links to various literary sites. Here you can find the sites related to American literature, General literature, Sites where you can read online, Nineteenth-Century Periodicals and Primary Sources and some other Miscellaneous Resources
Features : Search the site option available using which you can search the site for any literary information

Look and placements : This is no nonsense no popups and limited jpg site. Meaning, most of it is in text and hyper links to other sites. So, it should load fast.

Usefulness: This site is mostly useful for all those literarory lovers who would like to have the information about American or general literature. They can jump from here. Make it as your home page and start moving to all the literature banks and start gaining knowledge and have the reading pleasure. There is a link on the top of the site to quizzes and crossword puzzles. So, if you are preparing for any literary quiz competition you should have a look at it first. They have an online quiz bank with questions and multiple answers and you can click on the correct answer. If your answer is correct a smiley :) comes other wise a big X So you know what’s correct and what’s not. This site has prominent links displayed on the top portion and they link to American authors, brief time line of American literature and events (from pre 1620 to 1920)and links to literary movements. This would help any research scholar who is looking information for his doctorate degree.There is a site update weblog also available which should help frequent visitors to have know the updates from time to time.

Conclusion: A great site for literature lovers with lots of links to variety of literary movements and periodicals.

Thursday, February 8, 2007

New tabbed search engine

http://www.twerq.com/.

These days we are flooded with tabbed browsers. I don’t have to name them here as all of us know them very well. Now for a change we have tabbed search engine. Yes. "The internet's first and only search tool to feature tabbed results" is the welcome message you get to read when you visit the site http://www.twerq.com/.

So what? Is it a new search engine? No, it is not a new search engine. It only places your results in tabbed fashion for your convenience. You don’t have to have a tabbed browser for this. It basically gives an option to search either goggle or yahoo or both and the results are shown in tabbed pages. That's not the only feature it has, but a lot many. Like for example
* You can do a bulk search with a single click. Meaning you can search the terms SAP and Oracle at the same time by using ++ sign (SAP++Oracle) your results are shown in different tabs one for SAP and other for oracle. You have both at the same time and saving your time
* You can use a first term repeater : meaning if you want case studies of SAP and oracle, type case studies//SAP++ORACLE and you have both displayed in different tabs
* Similarly you can try last term repeater with \\ (sap++oracle\\installations)

* It has got its own RSS feed database and if you need any RSS feed specific to your need and it happens to be there in its database you can search like “)news” and you get all rss feeds for news

*and you can save your search terms and search results by creating quick tags.

So, all in all it’s in its beta version and slowly gaining popularity and promising to come up with great user experience. One more thing. you have the option to sponsor the search results and that too for a meager amount ($50 for a year) and your company logo and link to your website is displayed on the search results page. As it's in its nascent state, only 6-10 sponsors are there so they repeat every time you search and on every tab your results are shown..

Its time to grab the slot before its occupied.

Only problem I encountered is its pretty slow.. may be my network is slow?

Tuesday, February 6, 2007

mail2web.com - Access your mail from anywhere

No matter where you are, you can access your office mail and that too without getting registered for! .Yes. www.mail2web.com offers this service. You just have to give your mail id and your password and your latest mails are there for you to display. Keep in mind, it shows only new mails and not all your mails that are there in your office desktop hard disk. Meaning, if you are storing your mails on the server then you can have all the mails, otherwise, only those mails which are not yet moved to your personal folders you can see.
It's a free service and the good thing is you don;t have to register yourself. As most of the consultants will have different mail id's, they can easily access their mail box from this site!.

Ofcourse there are some paid services also.
So check out... when you are travelling, never mind your mail is with you.

Monday, February 5, 2007

http://traffic.mapunity.org/ ..Watch / Know Bangalore traffic online

http://traffic.mapunity.org/
All bangaloreans can cheer up now and know the traffic update online. This is very interactive site and tells the status of the traffic slow / smooth for all directions of the bangalore North, south, East, West, Central.
Also you can get the directions from one place to another. very intutive and information is provided. This is on the lines of www.mapquest.com or google maps. Localized for bangaloreans.

It also provides the BMTC bus details and their route information.

One more!. you can add the map to your blogs/ websites!. Here I tried. Just check it out.

Cheer up! It's great to know about traffic so that we can plan! This is ofcourse now in Beta version.. but I believe that this soon will become a much used and more appreciated site!
congratulations to the site creators!

Krishna vippagunta

Sunday, February 4, 2007

I heard about this site(www.ecityindia.com) from my newspaper snippet and wanted to check what it is. And here are my observations and comments.This web site is for online purchase of groceries. Currently this is serving the people of Bangalore only and soon planning to expand to other cities. It has got good range of categories ranging from rice to powders, sanitary napkins tocereals etc. All you need to do is to get register herewhich is free and activate your membership via the mail sent to your mail box. Pretty much similar to many such sites. Once youregister you can search the online stores for the things you need and add to yourshopping cart. The prices are lesser than the MRP rates on the goods. This might attract you to go for it!. You can pay the bills in three different ways. Either through your credit card or through you debit card or after receiving the goods by cash. There is a service tax of 10% if you are paying through credit card and 5%in the other two ways. Also, thereis shipping and delivery charges of 12.5% in all three cases.The minimum amount of purchase as of now is Rs500. So, if you shopfor Rs500 then you need to pay 500 + 12.5*500 + 5*500 =Rs587.5. The advantage of this site is they service throughout Bangalore. You are relived of the parking fees and parking tensions. Sitting at your home / office you can order and get your monthly groceries delivered to your doorstep. The only problem I see is the amount of service charges. But I think that is compensated as the prices are lesser than the MRP. So, sometimes, when you are too lazy to drive on the traffic and happy watching your favorite DVD and want your groceries for next week's party.. you may opt for this site.. Visit them at www.ecityindia.com. Please note that, I am just a user like many and is not related in anyway with this site or its promoters

Site reviews

I google a lot and often visit new and intresting sites. I would like to share about all those sites that I visit.
So. here we go.. the first site is not that I liked it much... but the one which I visited recently.

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