WHERE DID THE UNIVERSE COME FROM? PART 1: EINSTEIN'S BIG BLUNDER

100 years ago, Albert Einstein published
three papers that rocked the world.  These papers
proved the existence of the atom, introduced the
theory of relativity, and described quantum
mechanics.

   Pretty good debut for a 26 year old scientist, huh?

   His equations for relativity indicated that the universe
was expanding.  This bothered him, because if it was
expanding, it must have had a beginning and a beginner.
Since neither of these appealed to him, Einstein introduced
a 'fudge factor' that ensured a 'steady state' universe,
one that had no beginning or end.

   But in 1929, Edwin Hubble showed that the furthest
galaxies were fleeing away from each other, just as the
Big Bang model predicted.  So in 1931, Einstein embraced
what would later be known as the Big Bang theory, saying,
"This is the most beautiful and satisfactory explanation
of creation to which I have ever listened."  He referred
to the 'fudge factor' to achieve a steady-state universe
as the biggest blunder of his career.

   As I'll explain during the next couple of days,
Einstein's theories have been thoroughly proved and
verified by experiments and measurements.  But there's
an even more important implication of Einstein's discovery.
Not only does the universe have a beginning, but time
itself, our own dimension of cause and effect, began
with the Big Bang.

   That's right -- time itself does not exist before
then.  The very line of time begins with that creation
event.  Matter, energy, time and space were created
in an instant by an intelligence outside of space
and time.

   About this intelligence, Albert Einstein wrote
in his book "The World As I See It" that the harmony
of natural law "Reveals an intelligence of such superiority
that, compared with it, all the systematic thinking and acting
of human beings is an utterly insignificant reflection."*

   He went on to write, "Everyone who is seriously
involved in the pursuit of science becomes convinced
that a spirit is manifest in the laws of the Universe--
a spirit vastly superior to that of man, and one in
the face of which we with our modest powers must feel
humble."*

   Pretty significant statement, wouldn't you say?

   Stay tuned for tomorrow's installment:  "Bird Droppings
on my Telescope."

For any questions  click here
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WORLD'S FIRST HACK-FREE SOFTWARE 'DEVELOPED'

Scientists have developed what they claim is the world's first hack-free software which can protect systems from failure or malicious attacks. The 'seL4' microkernel has been developed by a team led by Australia's ICT Research Centre of Excellence's spinout company -- Open Kernel Labs (OK Labs). It is a small operating system kernel which regulates access to a computer's hardware.

Its unique feature is that it has been mathematically proven to operate correctly, enabling it to separate trusted from untrusted software, protecting critical services from a failure or a malicious attack, say the scientists.
In future applications, seL4 could ensure that trusted financial transaction software from secure sources like banks or stock exchanges can operate securely on a customer's mobile phone alongside "untrusted" software, such as games downloaded from the Internet, according to its developers.
It could also provide a secure and reliable environment for mission-critical defence data, operating on the same platform as everyday applications like email. Or, it could protect the life-supporting functions of an implanted medical device, such as a pacemaker, from hacking, they say.
"Our seL4 microkernel is the only operating system kernel in existence whose source code has been mathematically proven to implement its specification correctly. Under the assumptions of the proof, the seL4 kernel for ARM11 will always do precisely what its specification says it will do," lead scientist Gerwin Klein said.
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US AND EUROPE SPLIT ON CUTS

At Davos, Switzerland — European and US leaders laid out starkly different recovery strategies on Friday, with one side calling for deep spending cuts and the other warning against drastic action.
Members of the business and political elite gathered at the World Economic Forum were treated to appearances by Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron, US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel.
But, as delegates debated how best to protect and nurture the world's tentative economic recovery, these top figures from three of most prosperous Western economies brought very different messages.
Cameron vowed that under his leadership Britain would pursue huge spending cuts to slash its yawning deficit, despite the week's alarming British growth figures, which have triggered fears of renewed recession.
"Our first priority is to kill off the spectre of massive sovereign debts," he declared. "Those who argue that dealing with our deficit and promoting growth are somehow alternatives are wrong."
Cameron urged Europe to kickstart growth by slashing regulation and boosting enterprise, rather than through stimulus spending, and said he would reduce the deficit through cutting public spending and raising retail sales tax.
"It's going to be tough, but we must see it through. The scale of the task is immense, so we need to be bold in order to build this economy of the future," he argued, stressing that many European leaders agree with him.
Merkel also banged the drum for deficit reduction, warning delegates that: "Indebtedness is the biggest danger for prosperity on this continent. This is why we have to resolutely work against it.
"Budget consolidation remains of prime importance to us and has not caused us any problems, quite the opposite," she said, arguing that Germany's spending cuts have strengthened its return to growth.
But Geithner came with a quite different message, stressing that the United States was not for its part ready to contemplate drastic spending cuts until the health of the recovery was assured.
"You've got to make sure that you don't hurt the recovery and take too much risk that you damage the early expansion by shifting too prematurely to substantial restraints," he told the same Davos audience.
"We're not going to let that happen. There are some people who like to move... very quickly to do very deep cuts in spending but it is not the responsible way to do it," he said, in a question and answer session.
"It would undermine the long-term objective of making sure that we achieve a sustainable fiscal position," Geithner argued.
On Tuesday, Britain revealed that its economy slumped unexpectedly in the fourth quarter of 2010, shrinking 0.5 percent in the three months to December, after expansion of 0.7 percent in the third quarter.
Experts put some of the blame on unexpectedly extreme winter weather, which disrupted Christmas shopping and air travel, but the dip has given ammunition to critics who argue that Cameron is cutting too much, too fast.
In Washington, the US Commerce Department said Friday that the US economy grew at its fastest clip in five years in 2010, with growth reaching 2.9 percent for the year, reversing the 2.6 percent contraction in 2009.
Consumer spending grew 4.4 percent in the last quarter, while growing exports and declining imports also served to boost growth.
"There is much more confidence now that we've got a sustainable expansion," Geithner said ahead of the data release, while admitting: "It's not a boom, it's not an expansion that's going to offer the possibility of a rapid employment rate."
Obama's Republican critics -- who have just formed a majority in the House of Representatives -- are demanding deep spending cuts to rein in a budget deficit expected to hit a record 1.5 trillion dollars this year.
The annual Davos conference has attracted 2,500 key decision makers from business and politics to this snow-bound high altitude resort for four days of the world's most influential elite networking event.

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ISRO, SGL JV to develop third version of IGIS

After a successful launch of the second version of IGIS, India's first indigenous integrated GIS image processing software, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), alongwith its joint venture partner ScanPoint Geomatics Limited (SGL) is now planning to tap the need for microwave data processing. With the country set to witness the launch of a synthetic aperture radar satellite in the second half of 2011, the ISRO-SGL JV intends to develop the third version of IGIS to process microwave data emerging out of the satellite. "Not many packages combine tools of image processing with GIS like IGIS does. With the synthetic aperture radar satellite to be launched in second half of this year, there will be a need for reading and processing the microwave data that will be generated from the satellite. The current version can only process optical images and data and not microwave data. The next version of IGIS can focus on that need and create a fresh demand," said RR Navalgund, director, Space Application Centre (SAC), ISRO. The recently launched second version of IGIS has more than 300 applications including advanced GIS analysis, terrain analysis, 3D modelling, hydrology modelling, raster GIS analysis, GPS tools, zonal tools, tracking analyst, decision support and uncertainty management. The IGIS 1.1 version offers multi-criteria and multi-objective evaluation techniques with decision alternatives. The product also includes image processing tools for automated feature extraction, object segmentation, change detection and time series analysis. The JV between ISRO and Ahmedabad-based SGL began last year when the former floated a tender for development of an indigenous GIS image processing software which eventually SGL won. While the first version IGIS 1.0 was launched last year, the second version IGIS 1.1 was unveiled on Thursday. On its part, SGL is also looking at providing software solutions for specific sectors like defence, mining, urban planning, land records and power line management. "We are looking at specific sectors for spatial planning solutions. We intend to provide total software development and support solutions to these sectors," said Arup Dasgupta, director, SGL.                                               SUBSCRIBE TO BLOG

Market crash: Investors lose Rs 11 lakh cr since Diwali in INDIA

Investors have lost a whopping amount of nearly Rs 11,00,000 crore in the stock market in less than three months since Diwali last year, with over Rs 3 lakh crore  being wiped out in the past three days alone.

The stock market today plunged to its lowest level in nearly five months after three consecutive days of fall -- a period during which the benchmark Sensex plummetted by about 755 points, including a 288-point dip witnessed today.

Total investor wealth, measured in terms of cumulative market value of all listed stocks, today itself fell by over Rs 1,32,000 crore -- taking the loss for past three days to over Rs 3,00,000 crore amid macro-economic concerns emanating from inflationary and governance deficit related factors.

Experts said that downward pressures in the market extended well beyond the past three days and heavy selling pressure has continued for over two months now, primarily due to heavy outflows by overseas and domestic investors keeping away in the absence of any positive triggers.
In the process, the total investor wealth has fallen to near Rs 66,00,900 crore -- a huge dip of close to Rs 11,00,000 crore since last Diwali on November 5, 2010, the day when the Sensex scaled its record closing level of 21,004.96 points.
The Sensex has now fallen to 18,395.97 points -- marking a plunge of over 2,600 points since Diwali.
So far in 2011, the investor wealth has fallen by nearly Rs 9,00,000 crore, while nearly Rs 2,00,000 crore was lost during the last two months of 2010.
Experts said that a huge dip in investor confidence is also corroborated by a considerable plunge in the trading turnover at the bourses.
The average daily cash market turnover at the bourses have fallen to nearly Rs 15,000 crore, marking a decline of over one-third from approximately Rs 23,000 crore in October-November 2010.
The current level of turnover is not even one-third of the record level of business volume witnessed in mid-2009, when the daily average turnover was close to Rs 50,000 crore.
The intensity of current downward rally on the bourses can be gauged from the fact that only four stocks out of the 50 top blue-chips that make the Nifty index have given a positive return in the past one month. Even the gains of these four stocks -- namely HCL Tech, TCS, Sesa Goa and PowerGrid -- are only nominal between 0.6-7.3 per cent.
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Hubble telescope spots most ancient galaxy ever seen

Astronomers have discovered what they believe is the most distant and ancient galaxy thought to be more than 13 billion years old. The ageing Hubble Space Telescope has detected light from the dim object, which the researchers think would have formed when the universe was just 480 million years old.

This was a period when galaxy formation in the early Universe was going into "overdrive", said a NASA team involved in the discovery.
Galaxies are the vast archipelagoes of stars filling space, such as our own spiral-shaped Milky Way galaxy. But the new galaxy, called UDFj-39546284, is the most distant and ancient one yet spotted by astronomers.
According to Professor Richard Bouwens of Leiden Observatory in the Netherlands: "We're seeing these galaxies -- 'star cities'-- that are building themselves up over cosmic time."
The team, comprising US and European astronomers, observed rapid growth over a relatively short period of time. Their data showed there was just one galaxy in existence about 500 million years after the Big Bang.
But this rises to 10 galaxies some 150 million years later. The tally has doubled about 100 million years later.
"You start out with these little seeds in the very early Universe which would eventually have formed stars, then star clusters, baby galaxies then eventually these large majestic galaxies that we know today," according to Professor Bouwens.
"It's very exciting to see this complicated physical process actually take place somewhere that no man has seen before," Professor Bouwens told BBC News.
Dr Olivia Johnson of the Royal Greenwich Observatory at the National Maritime Museum said that quantifying the rapid evolution of the Universe will reveal a greater detail about what was happening in the early cosmos -- such as when the first stars and galaxies formed.
"These are big, open questions in astronomy and the fact that we are finally able to look into the primordial universe for the first time is quite exciting," she said.
According to the researchers, the new image from Hubble will enable astronomers to test their current theories of the evolution of the Universe.
Professor Bouwens stressed that the observation had yet to be confirmed but that he and his colleagues were "pretty confident" that they had discovered the oldest galaxy caught on camera to date.
"There are many different sorts of objects that can masquerade or look very much like these distant objects. We've done lots of checks and lots of tests and we think that this candidate is OK," he said.
The researchers detailed their finding in the journal Nature.
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Latest update OF CHROME, PDF loads in CHROME

Chrome has added  a built in PDF Viewer in the latest update and is been made default, To use it like before ,  go to about plugins in the address bar and disable Chrome PDF Viewer and there enable the Adobe reader !

One more point is you can also check whether the print option comes after right clicking the page which displays the PDF in the built in viewer , Occasionally if you get the display in frame open the frame contents by the same process that is right click , it would take you to a new tab and you can get the options there  !

Or you may also use these shortcuts ctrl + p (print) or ctrl + s (save) for printing and saving respectively in the provided Built in PDF reader !
For more help visit a  and  b.

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More PSP2 pics leak ahead of launch - rumours

Is that the Sony PSP2 reportedly set to be unveiled in two days? The hardware certainly looks like images we've seen in the past, and the inclusion of the stylus backs up those recent rumors we've heard about a touchscreen on the device--though, frankly, I think we'd all be surprised is the thing didn't rock the old touchscreen. The console image also squares with rumors that the PSP2 will support dual analog nubs.

The inclusion of the SD card and PSP2-branded memory stick are in-line with the likely rumors that such a device would abandon the proprietary UMD format that nobody outside of Sony ever really seemed to like.

As Kotaku (who first got ahold of the image) points out, the shot is pretty low-res, meaning that, if it did indeed come from Sony, it's likely not "official art," so much as something pulled off an internal memo.
Adds Kotaku,
The buttons and the d-pad look to be at a slightly different resolution. The copyright in the bottom left, which appears on official Sony images, is cut off, too. Likewise, odd. However, as mentioned above, this purported PSP2 image could be photo taken of official Sony art or of an official Sony handout, hence these resolution inconsistencies.
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Rockstar's "L.A. Noire" gets May 23 release date

Rockstar Games' latest video-game epic, "L.A. Noire," is set to be released on May 23, according to a trailer that was released on Monday.
The new "Serial Killer" trailer, embedded below, reveals that the player will be after a serial killer - or perhaps a copycat - that murders women and then displays messages on their bodies. Not exactly family friendly, but then Rockstar's games rarely are.

The game uses the MotionScan technology, which applies realistic motion capture and facial expressions to the game.

MotionScan is different from traditional motion capture technology in that it utilizes 32 high-definition cameras that capture an actor's expressions in full 3D at 30 frames per second. "L.A. Noire" will be the first video game to utilize this technology by Depth Analysis, which created MotionScan.
"L.A. Noire" is currently slated for release for Xbox 360 and PS3 for $59.99.
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New Device May Revolutionize Computer Memory field effect transistors ( F.E.T)

Researchers from North Carolina State University have developed a new device that represents a significant advance for computer memory, making large-scale “server farms” more energy efficient and allowing computers to start more quickly.

Traditionally, there are two types of computer memory devices. Slow memory devices are used in persistent data storage technologies such as flash drives. They allow us to save information for extended periods of time, and are therefore called nonvolatile devices. Fast memory devices allow our computers to operate quickly, but aren’t able to save data when the computers are turned off. The necessity for a constant source of power makes them volatile devices.
But now a research team from NC State has developed a single “unified” device that can perform both volatile and nonvolatile memory operation and may be used in the main memory.

Researchers have developed a single “unified” device that can perform both volatile and nonvolatile memory operation, with applications that could affect computer start times and energy efficiency for internet servers.

“We’ve invented a new device that may revolutionize computer memory,” says Dr. Paul Franzon, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at NC State and co-author of a paper describing the research. “Our device is called a double floating-gate field effect transistor (FET). Existing nonvolatile memory used in data storage devices utilizes a single floating gate, which stores charge in the floating gate to signify a 1 or 0 in the device – or one ‘bit’ of information. By using two floating gates, the device can store a bit in a nonvolatile mode, and/or it can store a bit in a fast, volatile mode – like the normal main memory on your computer.”
The double floating-gate FET could have a significant impact on a number of computer problems. For example, it would allow computers to start immediately, because the computer wouldn’t have to retrieve start-up data from its hard drive – the data could be stored in its main memory.
The new device would also allow “power proportional computing.” For example, Web server farms, such as those used by Google, consume an enormous amount of power – even when there are low levels of user activity – in part because the server farms can’t turn off the power without affecting their main memory.
“The double floating-gate FET would help solve this problem,” Franzon says, “because data could be stored quickly in nonvolatile memory – and retrieved just as quickly. This would allow portions of the server memory to be turned off during periods of low use without affecting performance.”
Franzon also notes that the research team has investigated questions about this technology’s reliability, and that they think the device “can have a very long lifetime, when it comes to storing data in the volatile mode.”
The paper, “Computing with Novel Floating-Gate Devices,” will be published Feb. 10 in IEEE’s Computer. The paper was authored by Franzon; former NC State Ph.D. student Daniel Schinke; former NC State master’s student Mihir Shiveshwarkar; and Dr. Neil Di Spigna, a research assistant professor at NC State. The research was funded by the National Science Foundation.

NC State’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering is part of the university’s College of Engineering.                        SUBSCRIBE TO OUR BLOG                                                           

· #Twitter Tip

Tip #1 Quickly drag and drop photos into your Tweet using Twitter for Mac

Did you know that you can use Twitter without even opening a browser? All you need is an Internet connection and a desktop app (wink wink) like the one we launched in the Mac App Store just last week! A desktop app is a downloadable widget that lets you access Twitter and all its functionality – and it’s just as real-time as Twitter’s website. Desktop apps offer a range of alternatives to Twitter.com, so pick the one that is best suited to how you use Twitter.

Mac users can now download Twitter for Mac, our desktop client, for free from the Mac App Store. One useful trick to know is that you can drag and drop photos into the app's Tweet box to include them in your message, as @donveto pointed out above! You’ll see the photo's thumbnail in the Tweet box, and your character count will account for the photo’s shortened URL. By default, photos will be hosted by yfrog, but you can specify your favorite image service in your preferences (under “Twitter” in the top menu bar).

Not a Mac user? Check out this list of other desktop apps at Oneforty.

Auto industry off to a fast start in the Motor City

After years of challenges, the news out of Detroit this week has automobile industry experts hopeful for a strong 2011. The 2011 North American International Auto Show in Detroit kicked off this week and as the world’s attention is on the Motor City, we thought it was time to take a closer look at what consumers are most interested in as it applies to cars and trucks.

Google’s North American Auto Team, headquartered out of Detroit with teams in NYC and California, works with auto makers, parts suppliers and agencies across the country to help market their latest and greatest. Like everyone else, we’re hopeful for a continued recovery across the industry and continue to be impressed by our clients’ creativity and innovation. NADA’s (National Automobile Dealers Association) chief economist Paul Taylor put it best when he recently said, “A revitalized auto industry benefits everyone—every consumer, every dealer and every manufacturer."

Each January, as the North American International Auto Show opens, we see a surge in searches related to new car models (the Hyundai Curb, for example) leading to a peak of interest in the summer—due in large part to special offers—and this year is no exception. Using Insights for Search, let’s take a closer look at what consumers are interested in and what the world is searching for in cars and trucks.

Over the last 30 days in the U.S., Ford tops the list of search queries in the entire automotive brand category, followed by BMW, Audi and Nissan.

Consumers and car shoppers in the United States are also searching for vehicles featured in movies, music and video games. Specifically, searches for [jeep black ops]—a vehicle featured in the video game “Call of Duty: Black Ops,” released in November—recently saw record highs. And with the release of the feature film “Green Hornet,” searches in the automotive category for both [green hornet] and [black beauty], the name of the car in the movie, are at record levels. Searches for [chrysler imperial] (the make of the Black Beauty) are also making a comeback. Finally, searches for [aston martin] and [aston martin music] are breakout terms, perhaps due to the hip-hop song “Aston Martin Music” by Rick Ross.


With more than 700 new car models on display (including the new Audi A8 with built-in Google Earth navigation) at the 2011 Detroit Auto Show and headed to dealer showrooms, consumers will have unprecedented choices in what they can drive this year. At the Detroit Show, auto makers from Detroit and abroad are showing off all-new sedans, sports cars, trucks and SUVs, led by the Chevrolet Volt which was named Car of the Year and the all-new Ford Explorer—which won 2011 Truck of the Year at the show. But based on data from Insights for Search, 2011 appears poised to be the year of the “crossover.” Consumer interest in the category has steadily risen over the past few years and some of the hottest car models in search—like [nissan juke], [honda crosstour] and [mitsubishi outlander]—are all crossovers.



Other trends may bode well for the auto industry in America. Searches in the auto financing subcategory for January 2009 through December of 2010 show a steady decrease in popularity in auto financing-related terms like [lease], [car loan] and [car calculator]—a signal that some interpret to mean financing of cars may not be a hurdle like it has been in past years.

At the other end of the purchase spectrum, luxury car and truck brands saw a smaller dip than other auto segments the past few years. Luxury buyers aren’t waiting for deals; rather, they’re looking to upgrade, and smart marketers are connecting with these shoppers. Factors like safety and entertainment drive purchases for luxury car buyers more than price and financing. Interestingly, in the luxury market, consumers are doing their car-buying research from their mobile phones. In fact, according to our latest research, 8% of luxury buyers used a mobile phone at the very beginning of their car buying research, 43% of luxury buyers used a mobile phone in the middle of their search and 28% of luxury buyers used a mobile phone at the very end of their car buying search. Savvy marketers like BMW, Mercedes Benz, Audi and Infiniti are capitalizing on the opportunity as they target specific marketing campaigns to consumers and car shoppers' mobile devices.

And finally, our data reveals that searches for [minivan] were up year over year—perhaps thanks to the creative folks over at Toyota and their “Swagger Wagon.” Although still not considered hip by everyone, it seems that predictions of a minivan comeback were right on target.



2011 is shaping up to be comeback year for not just Detroit, but for the entire auto industry. As a third generation Detroit-based automotive industry worker, I couldn’t be more excited for the future of Auto. The auto business is a great place to work and we have better things ahead of us. As the Motown great Stevie Wonder once said, “No one's gonna bring us down, oh no, 'til we reach our highest ground.”

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This week in search : about Google

Google is back in action after a lovely holiday season, and this week they have made a few changes to help you find music videos and refine your searches. Google has also announced World IPv6 Day, which will help ensure Google can continue giving you fast, relevant search results for generations to come.

Better results for music videos
People often go to Google to find music videos, and this week Google has improved their results so now when you’re searching for your favorite band or album, you’ll find popular clips organized in a new way. For example, search for [michael jackson] and you’ll find some of the King of Pop’s most famous videos, including clear text indicating the length of the video, the album and the year it was published. The feature scans the entire web for video content and algorithmically ranks the best sources for each song. Rather than return repetitive links, Google group results for the same song together, making it easier to scan and choose the song you’re looking for. Try searching for [green day], [maroon 5] or [beyonce] (for one of the best videos of all time!).

Google’s left-hand panel in Arabic, Farsi and Hebrew
This week Google expanded Google’s panel of search tools to Arabic, Farsi and Hebrew, enabling people who read right-to-left languages to access a dynamic set of search tools. Now Arabic, Farsi, Hebrew speaking users can refine their searches by content type (Images, Videos, News) or date, and easily access special views like the Wonder Wheel and Timeline. We can’t call it the “left-hand panel” of search tools, because the panel is actually on the right!


World IPv6 Day
The Internet is bursting at the seams with limited address space, and IPv6 is the best solution to the problem. Google have offered search over IPv6 since early 2008, but today only 0.2% of Internet users have native IPv6 connectivity. So on Wednesday, Google came together with the Internet Society and other major websites to announce World IPv6 Day, the first global trial for the next generation Internet protocol. On June 8, 2011, Google and other companies will enable IPv6 on their services (including Google Search) for IPv6 for 24 hours. The trial will help motivate companies across the industry to prepare for the transition and ensure Google and the web as we know it can continue to thrive.
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This week in search about Google

Google is back in action after a lovely holiday season, and this week they have made a few changes to help you find music videos and refine your searches. Google has also announced World IPv6 Day, which will help ensure Google can continue giving you fast, relevant search results for generations to come.

Better results for music videos
People often go to Google to find music videos, and this week Google has improved their results so now when you’re searching for your favorite band or album, you’ll find popular clips organized in a new way. For example, search for [michael jackson] and you’ll find some of the King of Pop’s most famous videos, including clear text indicating the length of the video, the album and the year it was published. The feature scans the entire web for video content and algorithmically ranks the best sources for each song. Rather than return repetitive links, Google group results for the same song together, making it easier to scan and choose the song you’re looking for. Try searching for [green day], [maroon 5] or [beyonce] (for one of the best videos of all time!).

Google’s left-hand panel in Arabic, Farsi and Hebrew
This week Google expanded Google’s panel of search tools to Arabic, Farsi and Hebrew, enabling people who read right-to-left languages to access a dynamic set of search tools. Now Arabic, Farsi, Hebrew speaking users can refine their searches by content type (Images, Videos, News) or date, and easily access special views like the Wonder Wheel and Timeline. We can’t call it the “left-hand panel” of search tools, because the panel is actually on the right!


World IPv6 Day
The Internet is bursting at the seams with limited address space, and IPv6 is the best solution to the problem. Google have offered search over IPv6 since early 2008, but today only 0.2% of Internet users have native IPv6 connectivity. So on Wednesday, Google came together with the Internet Society and other major websites to announce World IPv6 Day, the first global trial for the next generation Internet protocol. On June 8, 2011, Google and other companies will enable IPv6 on their services (including Google Search) for IPv6 for 24 hours. The trial will help motivate companies across the industry to prepare for the transition and ensure Google and the web as we know it can continue to thrive.
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The CSS Corner: CSS3 Media Queries in Internet explorer ( IE )

As Internet explorer announced with second Platform Preview last year, IE9 supports CSS3 Media Queries. CSS3 Media Queries enable you to style pages based on different display surface factors such as width, height, orientation, resolution, etc. Developers can use these factors to customize their sites for viewing on different devices such as a small-screen netbook or a widescreen monitor. In this post, I talk more about CSS3 Media Queries and the various scenarios they enable.

Evolution of Media Queries

Internet Explorer has supported the ‘screen’ and ‘print’ CSS2 media types since IE5. The print media type is especially useful if you want to change your printed page layout. It eliminates the need for Web sites to host a separate print-friendly version of their site and enables some useful print optimizations such as expanding hyperlinks. The CSS 2.1 media types spec includes definitions for many media types including handheld devices, speech synthesizers, and televisions. However, in practice only screen and print were widely adopted.

CSS3 Media Queries expands the notion of optimizing for a particular media type by making it possible to optimize for particular properties of the media. ‘Screen’ is a useful media type, but there are many types of screens—from mobile phones with tiny screens to laptops with averages screens to desktop machines connected to widescreen monitors as large as 30"; newer screens may be higher resolution than screens of the recent past. As a Web developer, you may want to reflow your Web page for each of these devices in order to give site visitors the best experience on their device. CSS3 Media Queries enable you to target your CSS as generally or as specifically as you like.

Basic Example

To write a media query which targets screens which are 1250px wide you could write the following (note: ‘screen’ width and height actually refer to the width and height of the browser window, not the physical display):

@media screen and (width:1250px) { ... }

However, targeting a screen (browser) which is exactly 1250px wide isn’t really that useful because it’s not often that the browser window will be exactly 1250px wide. Instead it’s more useful to target a range of sizes, such as 900px to 1300px:

@media screen and (min-width:900px) and (max-width:1300px) { ... }

On the IE Test Drive site you can find a CSS3 Media Queries demo which illustrates the use of a few different media queries to alter the page layout based on your screen (browser) width. The page is optimized for both widescreen sizes and very narrow sizes. To see the effect, be sure to change your browser window size as you view the page.

In a widescreen view, the page uses a side by side layout with large images and descriptive text:

In a narrow view, the page uses cropped images and removes the titles and descriptions.

In addition to writing @media rules within your CSS files, you can also use CSS3 media queries in the media attribute of link and style tags and within an @import block. A few examples:

<link rel="stylesheet" media="screen and (min-width:100px)" href="widescreenStyleSheet.css" />

<style type="text/css" media="print and (orientation:portrait)"> ... </style>

@import "widescreenStyleSheet.css" screen and (min-width:100px);

Media Features

In addition to width, IE9 supports the following media features:

• width – width of the display area
• height – height of the display area
• device-width – width of the device rendering surface
• device-height – height of the device rendering surface
• orientation – landscape or portrait
• aspect-ratio – ratio of the ‘width’ to ‘height’ media features
• device-aspect-ratio – ratio of the ‘device-width’ to ‘device-height’ media features
• resolution – resolution of the output device
• color – number of bits per color component of the output device
• color-index – number of entries in the color lookup table of the output device
• monochrome – number of bits per pixel in a monochrome frame buffer (0 if the device is not monochrome.)

With the exception of orientation, all IE9 supported media features can be used with the ‘min-’ and ‘max-’ prefixes.

Next Steps

The types, sizes, and capabilities of the displays that people browse with are growing more and more diverse. CSS3 Media Queries make it easy for web developers to build one site that delivers a great experience on all displays.

If you’ve found CSS3 Media Query bugs in your testing of IE9 Beta or the Platform Previews, please file them on Microsoft Connect.

Working with Pinned Sites in Internet explorer

With Internet Explorer 9 Beta, you can pin a Web site to the Windows 7 taskbar the same way you pin Windows applications. Once pinned, you can launch Web sites directly—just like you launch other things in Windows 7. Pinning a site is as easy as dragging an IE9 tab to the Windows 7 taskbar.

Previously, Web sites didn’t have a direct presence on the PC desktop and you had to effectively “boot twice”—once for the operating system and once for the browser—to get to a site. With Pinned Sites, users have a faster and easier time getting to the Web sites they use most often.

Once a site is pinned, Web developers can use the Pinned Site metadata and methods to add tasks to the taskbar icon’s Jump List, alert users with notification icons, and create thumbnail toolbar buttons to control a site. Adding this functionality to a Web site requires little development cost and offers your site visitors a much better Web experience. Developers can read more about this in User Experiences: Customizing Pinned Sites as well as Pinned Sites: Windows 7 Desktop Integration with Internet Explorer 9, or watch the PDC 2010 session “Taking Advantage of Pinned Sites with Internet Explorer 9 and Windows 7” (fast forward to about the 10 minute point).

New API Documentation

Today Internet explorer introduce new developer documentation that shows how to use the Pinned Site (aka Site Mode) API to enhance and create great-looking Pinned Sites in Windows 7. This documentation picks up from where the IE Test Drive Site Pinning samples left off, including lots of code that shows how the sample sites were developed.

Four scenarios are presented, each demonstrating an aspect of the Pinned Site capabilities of Internet Explorer 9:

Channel9 Podcast Player Sample: Basics

Jump List containing static tasks

Add basic pinned site functionality to the Channel9 Podcast Player sample, including static Jump List items. Also learn how to promote the Pinned Site functionality of your Web site.

Channel9 Podcast Player Sample: Remote Control

Thumbnail preview window with toolbar

Create thumbnail toolbar buttons to control audio playback in the Channel9 Podcast Player sample.

TweetFeed Sample: Search History

TweetFeed searches added to
custom Jump List category

Insert items into a custom Jump List category based on user interaction with the TweetFeed sample.

TweetFeed Sample: Notifications

  
Notification icons

Use notification icons to show activity in the TweetFeed sample.

Introduction to Pinned Sites is the best overview of the Pinned Site API. It also explains the benefits of the technology and describes how this functionality can improve user engagement with the sites you develop.

Feature-Detection for Pinned Sites

Feature detection is critical for developing sites that work properly across multiple browsers. Unlike techniques that detect specific browsers or check for the presence of unrelated features, feature detection enables developers to test whether a browser supports a specific feature before using it and allows the developer to test for known issues before applying a workaround (see Same Markup: Writing Cross-Browser Code).

Pinned Site APIs are no different; Internet explorer encourage the use of feature detection for verifying that Pinned Site functionality is available before using it. The msIsSiteMode method of the external object is the best way to determine whether the Pinned Sites feature is available. The following code provides the correct behavior for using the Pinned Sites API when available and triggering an alternate code path (in the catch clause) when it is not:

    try {

        if (external.msIsSiteMode()) {

            /*Code for when site mode is supported and active*/

        }

        else {

            /* Code for when site mode is supported, but inactive */

        }

    }

    catch (e) {

        /*Code for when site mode is not supported */

    }

Programming Pinned Sites from Adobe Flash and Microsoft Silverlight

Developers who use Adobe Flash or Microsoft Silverlight controls inside IE9 can also take advantage of the JavaScript Pinned Sites (Site Mode) APIs to integrate their site with the Windows 7 taskbar.

For example, pages that play audio or video using Adobe Flash can add media controls to the page thumbnail (see screen capture below). Developers should call the appropriate Flash Player playback control functions documented here on the 'msthumbnailclick' event handler on the Web page. This method uses JavaScript APIs to invoke Flash Player playback control functions.

Flash-generated media controls in Windows 7 taskbar thumbnail

Pages can also use ActionScript to offer users custom jump lists on the Taskbar as explained here. Microsoft Silverlight is capable of the same level of integration. For details on how to do this see this post. The only prerequisite to using this functionality with Flash or Silverlight is that the control be hosted in the IE9 browser, not a standalone application.

Developer Training Available

Starting today, January 17, 2011, Microsoft is conducting a series of Windows Development Boot Camps throughout the United States Central region. The Boot Camp is a one-day deep dive class on client development. The event covers developing for Windows 7, Internet Explorer 9, and Silverlight 4 out-of-browser. Part of this training includes how to use the Pinned Site (Site Mode) APIs to integrate with Windows 7. For more information visit http://www.windowsdevbootcamp.com/.

Pinned Sites provide a fast and easy way to access the Web sites used most often. By providing some of the advanced Pinned Site capabilities described here, you can make your Web site even easier for your site’s visitors to use.

• IEBlog

Firefox 4 Beta Gives You an Easier Firefox Sync Setup and 3D Graphics for the Holidays

Firefox are excited to release the latest Firefox 4 Beta. This beta offers easier account and new device setup for Firefox Sync, expanded support for 3D graphics in the browser and a revamped Firefox Add-ons Manager.
Streamlined Firefox Sync Setup
Firefox 4 Beta now includes a streamlined Firefox Sync setup, making it easier to bring Awesome bar history, bookmarks, open tabs and passwords across your computers and smartphones. Based on your feedback, Firefox’ve made it much easier to setup Firefox Sync while still securing your Firefox data with the same high-grade encryption. Ragavan Srinivasan, Project Manager for Firefox Sync, describes the new setup procedure for desktops, laptops, Android or Nokia Maemo phones and iPhones in more detail (and with videos!) in his blog post.
Increased Support for 3D Graphics
FirefoxbGL is an open standard for accelerated 3D graphic rendering on the Firefoxb that enables developers to build applications that until now required a user to install plug-ins. Firefox 4 Beta now supports FirefoxbGL for most modern built-in graphics cards, making it easier for developers to create interactive 3D games, vivid graphics and new visual experiences for the Firefox without the use of third-party plug-ins. For more information on FirefoxbGL, read this post
Combined with our previous work to bring open HTML5 technologies for animation, video, and sound to the Firefoxb, developers can now create amazing experiences that are rendered directly in the browser, combining themselves with live data from the Internet. Watch the video of the “Flight of the Navigator” below, or better yet, try it on your computer (it requires a modern computer with recent graphics hardware). The live demo is rendered in your browser as you watch. As Professor and Mozilla Developer Dave Humphrey describes, this is not a video – it’s built using open technologies, pulls in data from Twitter and Flickr, and puts it all together as you watch.
Automatic Updates with new Firefox Add-ons Manager
The revamped Firefox Add-ons Manager is now available on Windows, Mac and Linux with an easy way to manage and discover add-ons to enhance and personalize your browsing experience. Now, add-ons update automatically with the Firefox Add-Ons Manager enables add-ons to update automatically so your add-ons are always up to date. For more information on the Firefox Add-ons Manager, see this blog post from Jennifer Boriss on the Firefox User Experience team.
Making Firefox Add-ons Compatible
Firefox are working with the amazing community of add-ons developers to get the gallery of thousands of beneficial and fun add-ons ready to customize the features, look and functionality of Firefox 4 Beta. For more details on how to make your add-on compatible for Firefox 4, read this blog.
Thank you to all our beta testers for all the help building and testing Firefox 4 Beta. Please keep the feedback coming. Firefox love to hear from you and Firefox couldn’t build Firefox 4 Beta without you.
For more information:

• Download Firefox 4 Beta
• Learn more about the features
• Submit your feedback
• Short, to the point FAQ
• Long, technical release notes