Friday, October 19, 2007

Python Power: Go Get It


NASA uses Python....
...so does Honeywell, Rackspace, Industrial Light and Magic, AstraZeneca, Youtube and many more...

Python is a dynamic object-oriented programming language that can be used for many kinds of software development. It offers strong support for integration with other languages and tools, comes with extensive standard libraries, and can be learned in a few days. Many Python programmers report substantial productivity gains and feel the language encourages the development of higher quality, more maintainable code.


Python runs on Windows, Linux/Unix, Mac OS X, OS/2, Amiga, Palm Handhelds, and Nokia mobile phones. Python has also been ported to the Java and .NET virtual machines.

Python is distributed under an OSI-approved open source license that makes it free to use, even for commercial products.

The Python Software Foundation (PSF) holds and protects the intellectual property rights behind Python, underwrites the PyCon conference, and funds grants and other projects in the Python community.

Read more about Python HERE

Thursday, October 18, 2007

NO to the Microsoft Office format as an ISO standard


On 2 September 2007, ISO national bodies voted on Ecma 376, "OOXML". The ISO secretariat has decided to move forward with a Ballot Resolution Meeting in February 2008 to make the final decision. Microsoft got to pass with 19 "difficulties" round one (fasttrack OOXML) and lost round two (vote on OOXML), and now the fight moves to round three, the definitive one.

From February 25 to 29, 2008, national boards will meet in Geneva to discuss and vote finally on OOXML. If your country is not present, it won't have a say in the final result.

CLICK HERE for more information.

This website explains how to help your national ISO board do its job and reject OOXML.

SIGN A PETITION HERE
saying NO to the Microsoft Office format as an ISO standard.

Sunday, October 14, 2007

Highest Paying Search Terms

A List of Highest Paying search terms on the Google Ad System (Adwords).The prices set are in Canadian Dollars.

This is only a partial list of top search terms.For a full listing of these terms CLICK HERE.

$69.1 mesothelioma treatment options
$66.46 mesothelioma risk
$65.85 personal injury lawyer michigan
$65.74 michigan personal injury attorney
$62.59 student loans consolidation
$61.44 car accident attorney los angeles
$61.26 mesothelioma survival rate
$60.96 treatment of mesothelioma
$59.44 online car insurance quotes
$59.39 arizona dui lawyer
$59.04 mesothelioma article
$58.44 new york mesothelioma
$57.93 epithelioid mesothelioma
$57.87 michigan car accident attorney
$57.54 mesothelioma facts
$57.13 mesothelioma resource
$56.59 free auto insurance quote
$56.57 mesothelioma doctor
$56.24 mesothelioma
$55.67 mesothelioma lung
$55.61 mesothelioma texas
$55.57 mesothelioma attorneys
$55.36 mesothelioma compensation
$55.28 mesothelioma incidence
$55.26 malignant mesothelioma
$54.54 benign mesothelioma
$53.94 pleural mesothelioma
$53.37 pericardial mesothelioma
$53.17 personal injury lawyers los angeles
$52.31 free online auto insurance quote
$52.27 malignant pleural mesothelioma
$52.02 free online car insurance quote
$51.87 mesothelioma stage
$51.86 mesothelioma smoking
$51.82 mesothelioma treatment option
$51.73 free car insurance quotes
$51.47 austin dwi

and many more...

BitTorrent Streaming Service Launched


BitTorrent Inc. has officially launched its P2P streaming service allowing content providers to save a lot of bandwidth. On the other hand, ISPs will be less happy because the bandwidth a user consumes while streaming a video will double.

BitTorrent Streaming is based on the BitTorrent protocol familiar to all, with - of course - some clever modifications to make streaming possible. BitTorrent Inc. offers their streaming solutions as an alternative to http streaming that websites like YouTube use at the moment. Because P2P streaming significantly lowers the costs for the content provider, it opens up the door to higher quality streams than we are used to now.

It works like this; the user who wants to watch a stream first has to install the BitTorrent DNA application, which is also bundled with the BitTorrent mainline client. When the user plays a BitTorrent accelerated stream it will not only download data, but also upload it to other people who are watching the same stream, similar to a regular BitTorrent download.

Some people have argued that BitTorrent Inc. would use the application (DNA) to let people seed content that they never agreed on downloading, for instance, to speed up the downloads from their entertainment network or sell the bandwidth to others.

However, BitTorrent Inc. CEO Ashwin Navin refutes this rumor and told TorrentFreak: “BitTorrent DNA only accelerates content that a user clicks on. It does not anticipate user wants, or pre-load a user’s PC with content they did not explicitly ask for (via an HTTP request from a webpage). Our terms for DNA require websites to disclose to users why and how DNA improves the experience for video, software, and games with P2P acceleration.”

BitTorrent Inc announced earlier this year that they will launch an ad-supported TV-network this fall. A TV-network powered by BitTorrent’s streaming servoce will have a great advantage compared to competing services, because it saves on resources, and keeps the bandwidth bills relatively low.

ISPs will probably not be happy with P2P streams, because it will increase the bandwidth their consumers are using - so it will cost them more money. The bandwidth war is not over yet.

Earlier Post: Joost is here to Juice up your Life...

Space Time: 3D Browser Revolution


New York based SpaceTime has released SpaceTime 3D, a web browser that literally takes tagged browsing 3D.

SpaceTime allows users to map out their browsing progress in a visual timeline, treating each site as an object that can be manipulated and rearranged within the 3D environment. Users can alternate between a 3D and 2D perspective as required.

SpaceTime’s search functionality loads multiple search results as a stack of separate pages, simultaneously loading 10 results at a time, each in its own window. Users can the flip through results, re-arrange the pages or manipulate them. SpaceTime search currently supports Google, Google Images, Yahoo!, Yahoo! Images, Flickr, eBay and others.

It’s difficult to describe the user experience. It’s pure eye candy, sort of like Second Life meets Firefox. As a standalone browser SpaceTime 3D lacks most of the extras you’d expect from a browser. There’s no bookmark support, there’s really nothing aside from the 3D rendering and search. I can’t see people abandoning their traditional browsers to embrace this; however the barrier to success comes not from millions of users, but from enough users to see a return through direct deals with Google and others through search affiliation fees, the same model used for Flock and Firefox.

Check this video below and see it for yourself...