Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Symantec Launches Project Guru

Symantec Launches Guru....

[Symantec Corp. today announced that the company will preview the pilot release of Project Guru at the DEMO 2009 conference taking place March 1-3 in Palm Desert, Calif. Project Guru is a secure, Web-based service that enables tech savvy individuals to provide remote support for friends and family. This is the third consecutive year that a Symantec innovation has been chosen for demonstration at the prestigious DEMO conference.

Emerging technologies and new products introduced at DEMO conferences are hand-selected by a select panel of industry influencers. To be selected to show at DEMO, technologies and new products must make a significant contribution to the state of the art in its target market, change the dynamics of the marketplace into which it is introduced, and be backed by a management team capable of delivering the product to market.


“While there are many services available to consumers for technical support, many tech savvy individuals still find themselves as the de facto support resource for friends and family,” said Brian Hernacki, architect, Symantec. “Our goal with Project Guru is to provide tech savvy users with a convenient, secure online tool from a trusted source to help their friends and family efficiently and effectively.”


The Project Guru pilot provides individuals with a secure, scalable Web-based environment that enables users to provide remote technical support without the need to spend a lot of time on the phone or visiting in person. The pilot service enables secure remote desktop connections leveraging the same internally developed technology as Symantec’s Software as a Service (SaaS) Online Remote Access offering. Project Guru is complementary to Symantec’s NortonLive™ PC help services, which provide consumers who need immediate PC help with a direct, convenient, affordable and simple way to maintain and fix their PCs by calling a NortonLive expert 24/7.


To administer remote support using Project Guru, users sign up as a “Guru” by creating an online account and inviting friends and family members to join in their circle. Once the invitation has been accepted by a friend or family member and the minimal set up requirements are complete, the Guru can connect remotely to the system to troubleshoot and correct issues using the Project Guru online tools. Remote connections between the two systems are secured via encryption and authentication. The Project Guru pilot currently includes diagnostic tools for network monitoring and identifying the software installed on the remote system to aid the Guru in efficiently fixing computer problems for friends and family.


Project Guru is currently in pilot release with select partners. A pilot release for customers to provide feedback to assist in the ongoing development and advancement of Project Guru is planned for the second half of 2009.]



Source : Symantec Press Releases

Adobe, HBO, Turner & Warner Bros - Alliance Flash ?

Adobe Systems Incorporated and three Time Warner Inc. companies — Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc., and Home Box Office, Inc have announced a strategic alliance to foster collaboration on the development of next generation video and rich media experiences.

As part of this alliance, they will also collaborate to accelerate the development of digital rights management for the Web and desktop, and metadata and audience measurement solutions to improve the discovery and monetization of content.

The companies will utilize Adobe Flash Platform and video solutions to provide differentiated experiences for consumers of HBO, Turner Broadcasting and Warner Bros. Entertainment content across multiple distribution platforms.

More here


[Download PDF of Press release - Time Warner Companies — Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., and Home Box Office, Inc. — Form New Media Alliance with Adobe]

Flickr - No set limit & Videos for Free users

Flickr has announced that they have lifted the set limit for free members. Earlier free members could only create three sets but I guess that is unlimited now ? But what can you accomplish with Flickr sets that you cannot do with Flickr tags ?

Anyways the more importan announcement is that "Now you can upload videos too on Flickr. Yes this was available earlier to Flickr Pro members but the same is now for Flickr Free members too. Also you can have videos in Full HD"

Here are some details -

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3577/3323679176_b28df96633.jpg

[Previously limited to our Pro members, video on Flickr is now available for all. Our free account members can now share 2 videos a month (you’ll need to install Uploadr version 3.1.4 — now available from the Flickr Tools page). So, this is a perfect time for you to check out video mode on your camera. ....Be sure to check out our Frequently Asked Questions or head over to our Help Forum topics about Video for free members, HD Video and the new Uploadr.]



[Free account holders can upload 2 videos a month. If you’re a pro member, your account has unlimited bandwidth and storage space which includes video content.

But! Individual video files must be smaller than 150MB in size. (That should be more than enough for 90 seconds worth of video.)

Any member can upload HD video but it will only show as HD if your account is pro. We keep the original though, so if you upload an HD video to your free account it will be available in HD if you decide to upgrade later.]


How to chat on iGoogle ?

Official Google Blog: Chatting away on iGoogle...

Here is how to do chat on iGoogle...





[We're pleased to announce that starting today we are extending the feature to a larger set of iGoogle users.

Similar to the chat feature on Gmail, people will be able to send instant messages to their colleagues, friends and family straight from their iGoogle page. We've made this easy. If you're already a Gmail chat user, all your current chat settings will apply to iGoogle, so things will work the way you like in both places. But even more exciting is that you'll even be able to chat with friends who don't yet have a Gmail address — any email address will do. All you have to do is invite them as a chat buddy, and if they accept your invitation and sign up for iGoogle with their personal email account, their name becomes just a click away right on your page. Don't want to be bothered while you're checking out the latest news or reading your emails? You have a couple of options to hid the chat feature. You can either click the chat “options” link and selecting “hide chat,” or sign off completely by selecting "sign out of chat."

It's worth noting that this feature may have some kinks, so we ask for your patience as we work through them. Here at Google, it's common practice for us to involve our users as early possible so we can make sure we get it right. We'll also be rolling this feature out slowly, so if you don't see it on your iGoogle page and you simply can't wait to check it out, feel free to opt in by going to www.google.com/ig/v2invite.]


Monday, March 2, 2009

DBI (Douche Bag Index) - TweetSum

[DBI (affectionally called the Douche Bag Index) is a number that rates your followers according to how they use Twitter. DBI ranges from 0 to 100 and higher numbers represent people who are more likely to be annoying twitter users. Every follower's DBI is relative to all TweetSum users so the number is constantly becoming more accurate as more people log in and manage their followers.

The algorithm that we use to calculate DBI is based on several pieces of data. The usual suspects such as number of followers, friends, profile content, and tweet content are included, but we've got a few "custom" adjustments up our sleeve as well. We are constantly adjusting the algorithm to make it more useful.

We think the DBI is a helpful tool for deciding whether to follow someone back, but don't forget TweetSum gives you a lot of valuable information about each of your followers to help you make informed decisions.]

More at Tweetsum


Woodstock for Capitalists - Warren Buffet

[So join us at our Woodstock for Capitalists and let us know how you like the new format. Charlie and I look forward to seeing you.]

This is how Warren Buffet ends his 2008 letter to the Shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.: [pdf link] [For all letter see here]

For a quick analysis, have a look at Fred Wilson's piece here

“America’s Loss is the World’s Gain”

The hiring of immigrant high-tech workers was a heated issue well before the economy went into a tailspin. So it’s no real surprise that the bank bailout legislation includes language to discourage banks from recruiting skilled foreigners on work visas.

It seems to be a political gesture, understandable and probably empty. “Citibank and the others aren’t hiring, they’re firing,” Vivek Wadhwa, a former technology entrepreneur who is an adjunct professor at Duke University, said in an interview Sunday. “It has no practical effect, other than to make a couple of senators feel good. But it’s a stupid message to send.”

The real worry should not be smart foreigners coming to take jobs in America, said Mr. Wadhwa, but all the bright, ambitious immigrants who are leaving the United States and returning home, especially to India and China. That is the topic of a report, “America’s Loss is the World’s Gain,”, to be released Monday, with Mr. Wadhwa as its principal author and the Kauffman Foundation as the funder.

More at NY Times