Do youknow Flock?

No, I did not know about it till 5 minutes ago. I read about it in Techcrunch.com

Flock is called a social web browser(?)

Once glance at it and I decided it is not for me. It is for those who are crazy about photos and like to upload it online at the slightest opportunity.

Yes, I have eyes to appreciate beautiful photos and I too would like to show off my tastes but I don't have a camera.

When using Flock, people can easily discover, access, create and share videos, photos, blogs, feeds and comments across social communities, media providers, and popular websites.

Surf the net together with friends.
Here is an interesting 'Extension' on Flock called Me.dium.
"Me.dium reveals the hidden world of people and activity behind your Flock browser. With Me.dium you and your friends can see each other moving around the internet. You can surf the web together, for the first time, in real-time. You can also meet new people interested in the same stuff as you - even ask them questions and start discussions. And you'll discover new websites based on the activity of other Me.dium users with the same interests as you. Me.dium is invite-only for now - but we're giving Flock users a limited chance to get in early.

Ok, I have decided to install this browser exclusively for this feature. It sounds exciting and fun.

Do you know Hittail?

What Hittail can do for us?

# View real time search hits
# Keyword suggestions tailored to your website
# Ideas for new content, blog posts, or PPC campaigns
# Easy to understand and actionable data

This is the best tool that I know of for bloggers who would like to know what made vistiors to land on their blog. HitTail reveals in real-time the least utilized, most promising keywords hidden in the Long Tail of your natural search results. These terms that can be used as suggestions that when acted on can boost the natural search results of your site.

About Hittail.
HitTail was developed by a team at Connors Communications, a leading technology search marketing and public relations firm specializing in influencer relations.

Read what Tech Crunch says about Hittail.com
"Bloggers interested in building search traffic should check out New York based HitTail, a deceptively simple tool that makes suggestions for words to use in blog post titles or topics to write about based on the search terms that are already bringing people to your site."

Your business is our concern.

If you ever come across a hoarding that displays, “Your business is our concern”, please don’t ignore by driving past it. It may be a genuine concern and not just words without any true meaning.

This is a true story that may inspire you also if you are also an entrepreneur like me but would like to take your business globally. If you have that intention and drive, please read on.

Once, I did stop and read an ad as I mentioned above. I made a note of the website address xpandercommunications.com and opened it when I reached my office 15 minutes later.

Xpander Communications specializes in hosted PBX small business VoIP phone systems that I view as the first step towards my goal of taking my small business across nations.

VoIP is such a fantastic invention in communication technology that it first reduces the cost of communication to almost nothing when compared to the running cost of landlines.

VoIP can put an end to the ‘per minute cost’ of every telephone call.

Then, of course the mobility that it facilitates; I can just move anywhere in world where an interconnection is available.

The following are some of the features of hosted PBX small business VoIP phone system offered by Xpandercommunications.com:

I am sure you will seriously consider a switch over your existing office communication system.

Do you know Larnaca salt lake?

First, let us not worry about whether the lake is literally salty or not.

Learn some about its location and history.
Location: Cyprus.

History:
Larnaca Salt Lake lies to the west of the town of Larnaca. It is a complex network of four salt lakes of different sizes. The largest is lake Aliki followed by lake Orphani, lake Soros and lake Spiro. They form the second largest salt lake in Cyprus after the Limassol Salt Lake.

The salt lake forms following the rains of winter months. During the summer, especially July and August, the lake dries out, leaving behind its storehouse of salt.

The Legend:
According to legend, the lake's saltiness stems from St Lazarus' request of an old woman for food and drink. She refused, claiming her vines had dried up, to which Lazarus replied: "may your vines be dry and be a salt lake forever more."

A more scientific explanation is that the salt water penetrates the porous rock between the lake and the sea, making the water very salty.

Heading for Madrid?

Then don’t fail to visit the magnificent ‘Buen Retiro Park’. The Jardines del Buen Retiro or Parque del Buen Retiro (literally "Gardens" or "Park of the Pleasant Retreat") is a large and popular, 1.4 km² (350 acre) park in Madrid's city center, not far from the Prado Museum. Once outside Madrid, the park is now entirely surrounded by the present day city.

Madrid is a lively international city that is thronged by travelers from all over the world. Hotels in Madrid offer accommodation even at the last minute and Cheaperthanhotels.co.uk throws hundreds of options.

But, I would recommend Jamyc Hostal Madrid, a one star hotel that also provides last minute accommodation.

Through CheaperThanHotels.co.uk we can book our accommodation after comparing the facilities, locations and price of several hotels in Spain.

For example, if you plan to stay in Barcelona, (I know you would), visit cheapertahnhotels.co.uk/Spain/Barcelona/ and you will immediately see a big list of hotels categorized as per their rating..

When compared to hotels in other European cities, hotels in Barcelona are cheaper. I can save you precious time by directly recommending San Ramon Hostal Barcelona for 33 Euros per day. Though I like the Marina beach in my city, you can visit all the seven beaches in Barcelona of which Sant Sebastià and Barceloneta beaches, both 1100 m in length, are the largest, oldest and the most frequented beaches in Barcelona.

While Spain offers more sight seeing places, these are the major cities there worth visiting. Hey, don't forget to learn a few Spanish words and surprise the hotel staff.

Do you know Bharat Student?

Bharat Student is all about the soul of India. It is a social network cum student community.

Till today, I did not about this website. I saw the name on the Yoono tool bar scrolling across my browser. I am happy that I did it.

Bharatstudent.com targets this demographic segment with many networks - Students in schools / colleges, Fresh graduates, Employees in corporates, Young Entrepreneurs, Groups of Artist / talented youngsters in different regions. Though each of these networks is independent, still have interconnectivity with other Indian network.

I recommend every Indian join this great community, contribute and make it popular in the world.

To join Bharatstudent.com, one has to be of Indian Origin and can join into a school or work network, or they can join a regional network. Make new friends, share interests, join groups, send messages, write blogs, View videos and share photos.

The few videos that I watched are of very poor quality.

Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh.

Had I not read about the rain forecast, I would have already landed in Nottingham to watch the second test match between India and England. The cricket test that is scheduled to start in a few hours may not take off due to rain.

“That is England for you Mala”, emailed my sister, now a British resident. I had arranged to book a hotel in London for me and my husband through cheaper than hotels website. I know it is a huge database of hotels in England.

My plan was to stay in London for a day and then move on to Manchester where I wanted to meet an online friend of mine who is also into pro blogging like me. Again, finding an accommodation in Manchester was not a problem because, I can always depend on Cheaperthanhotels.co.uk

She only suggested me to utilize the services cheaperthanhotels.co.uk where one can view all the hotels they have tie up with and choose the one that suits your budget. Though staying in budget hotels are not my style, I was advised to stay in one because I can use the saved money to stay for a couple of days more in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. I was invited for an overnight stay by my friend, I preferred to stay in a hotel in Edinburgh, as I like the hotel atmosphere more than staying as guest in someone else’s house.

I read some rave reviews about Arthur's Seat - the main peak of the group of hills which form most of Holyrood Park, a remarkably wild piece of highland landscape in the center of the of the city of Edinburgh, about a mile to the east of Edinburgh Castle. The hill rises above the city to a height of 251 m, provides excellent panoramic views of the city, is quite easy to climb, and is a popular walk.

Since I had to cancel my trip, may be I can re-plan it so that I will be in England at least for the third test match.

Gift baskets for all occasions.

I have a sharp sense for artistic work. My eyes quickly catch any work that is done with ultimate artistry and my heart openly appreciates it.

Though, personally, I blotch even a simple packing job, people approach me for feedback and opinion on their work that includes a gift wrapping, painting, embroidery or anything that is done to impress others.

Some people are extremely adept at presenting a product by arranging it beautifully. Some are very good at packing. For example, look at these wine gift baskets and don’t you think they are tastefully presented?

Gourmet Gift Baskets is a family business in operation since 1940. Sixty seven years of specialization in this trade really shows, isn’t it? It is obvious that they take pride in their quality and really value the occasion for which their products are ordered.

Giant Penguins.

My son insisted that I watch a movie on penguins titled 'The Emperor' because, the voice for the movie (documentary) is given by none other than Amitab Bacchan, the Hindi movie star whose voice still commands enormous respect world over.

Immediately after watching it, I was online to do some urgent work. Then I stumbled on to news item about giant penguins that lived 65 million years ago.

CNN reports that this big bird is the real thing, its recently discovered fossils providing researchers with several scientific oddities. Not only are the birds extra large by modern standards, they thrived in one of the warmest periods in the past 65 million years.

"The climate of the earth at that time was far different from the icy polar regions and the toastier, tropical middle section we inhabit today. There was relatively little difference between the temperatures at the poles and the equator at that time."

Google is eyeing Rediff.

The news is that both Google and Yahoo are trying to buy Rediff.com, the major Indian portal that is listed in Nasdaq.

In 1999, I created my second e-mail id with Rediff domain. Soon, I discontinued using it because of delayed delivery. But I used their shopping services a couple of times.

Even now, I feel their web site looks cluttered and the navigation is confusing. Since, it's share price started moving sharply, Google and Yahoo are trying to but it. Moreover, they must be considering their huge database of users too that will be very advantageous financially for their advertising.

"Rediff, Google and Yahoo officials could not be immediately reached for their comments. Talk of the deal is emerging in the context of a general worldwide rebound in the Internet business, and India emerging as a hot story in the global economy with strong growth in both telephone penetration and the Internet in urban areas."-Hindustan Times.

Natural advanced wellness.

Though I am not a ready buyer of everything that is advertised through the idiot box, I at least make a note of natural health products or products that are said to be made from herbs.

Have you noticed one thing that is peculiar to man kind? As we cross 40, we tend to favor natural products and herbal food supplements. I think we are ready to experiment with natural health supplements only at this age.

Even my husband, forever a skeptic on anything that is not allopathic, has agreed to try herbal coated rice to check his blood glucose. He also started taking bitter guard juice in the morning on empty stomach.

I read in an ezine article about MagO7, an herbal medicine that cleanses our digestive track fully. Our entire family complains about irregular bowel movements and this can be the ideal answer for us.

Everyone is longing to maintain a natural health system but mostly we don’t give the due attention our body deserves. We pay more attention to maintain our electronic devices than we do to our body.

Image courtesy: oasisadvancedwellness.com

See Brooklyn Bridge atop a double-decker.

My friend’s son just got a visa to study in the U.S. I forgot the name of the university in which he got an admission but I remember that he is heading for Brooklyn.

Since, I had already visited New York, he asked me for some information about living in New York, the cost of living, where he can get cheap accommodation, places to see in New York etc.

He also wanted to know, where he can get vegetarian Indian food.

Though I have all the details he asked for, I advised him the first thing he has to do after landing New York is to go around the city to familiarize himself.

I saw the New York City in the night and I could never forget that experience. I could still see those beautiful lights in Times Square, Manhattan and the Brooklyn Bridge as seen in movies.

I recommended to my friend’s son that he buy himself a ticket for New York City Tours online and take a window seat atop the double-decker bus that is open at the top. This is the most exciting way to see the city that never sleeps.

The guide provided by citysightsny.com was top class when I toured. I thoroughly enjoyed his shuttle sense of humor and his knowledge about New York.

Since he could get $5 off if booked online, I bought his ticket on the spot. He is taking the city tour on 25^th of this month.

This is a sponsored post.

Very amusing question.

Have You Ever Wondered if the "black box" flight recorder is never damaged during a plane crash, why isn't the whole damn airplane made out of that stuff?

That’s right? Why we (I) have not asked this question before? Definitely, I have heard or read about these mysterious black boxes that were said to be retrieved at the sight of a plane crash.

It is said to reveal the reason for the crash though the box itself crashed along with the plane.

Black box is a technical term for a device or system or objects when it is viewed primarily in terms of its input and output characteristics. Almost anything might occasionally be referred to as a black box: a transistor, an algorithm, humans, the Internet.

The term "black box" is used because the actual program being executed is not examined.

Tammy Alexander makes Capella proud.

My husband had won the Star of Honor award in his school final and his name was added in the big list of stars of his school. Obviously, his school was proud of him.

Imagine the immense pleasure and pride that capella university experienced when one of its students received the prestigious FBI Director’s Community Leadership Award. I know how it will be because recently several of my own students scored state ranks in their school final exam.

Tammy Alexander is a master’s degree student in the online university’s education—enrollment management program. She is pursuing her higher education online while working as the director for information assurance and cyber security training at Fountainhead College of Technology in Knoxville.

hen I came to know that she also serves as the vice president on the board of advisors for the Infragard East Tennessee Alliance, I was amazed at her varied interests and responsibilities.

For your kind information, Infragard is a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) program that aims to improve and extend information sharing between private industry and the government, particularly the FBI, when it comes to critical national infrastructures.

A music community.

Well, well, there is now an online community for music lovers.

With the coming of mobiles phones in which one can load and hear their favorite songs, music lovers all over the world started increasing.

Now, the iPod and and the iPhone turned the music world upside down and captured thousands of songs in a small chip about the size of a small candy.

Since then, I stumbled upon a few social communities that cater to the music lovers exclusively.
http://fairtilizer.com/ is one such social networking site designed exclusively for music lovers.

Members of this community share their favorites among each other. I am sorry, I have no further information because, I must be a member to browse this web site but to become a member, I need an invitation.

Who will invite me? Oh, I am not really botherd.

Living in the small world?

I am not talking about the physical world but a virtual small world where invited members can intereact with each other, share their life and ambitions.

ASMALLWORLD is a private online community, which is designed for those who already have strong connections with one another.

Is it one of those social networking websites? I suppose so, but only you need an invitation to join. They say it is one way of restricting. I don't know why they should restrict!


ASMALLWORLD also offers trusted and select information. Most of the content is produced by their members who offer travel suggestions, feedback, lively forum discussions, and other topics of common interest.

Features on the website include a forum of diverse topics, listings of events around the world, a personal messaging service, suggestions and user ratings for travel and restaurants, and city-based resources.

Erik Wachtmeister founded ASMALLWORLD as a private online community.

List of Infomercial buyers.

Information+commercial = Infomercial.

Why not? In Internet, I came across so many new words that an Englishman may never use but they are all taken in our stride. So, very soon, the word “Infomercial” may appear in the Oxford dictionary.

Telemarketers are the target people for sales prospects sellers. A list broker is an agent who markets sales prospects to business people of any kind who are in need of prospects’ addresses, e-mails and so on.

Telemarketers who call us with the intention of selling consumer loans, personal loans and credit cards buy consumer databases from a list broker and these telemarketers are also known as infomercial buyers.

Martin Worldwide is one such list broker that has built a reputation by offering innovative mailing list products to its clients. One of its most successful, ground breaking products is ResponseCom which is a huge database of consumers of every kind.

A California based corporate that is dealing in discount shopping coupons can buy a list of Californians from a list broker.

One more blog on Goa.

Before my vacation to Goa last month, I searched for blogs on Goa and the places to see in Goa. I never do a research on the food wherever I wanted to go as I can get on with just bread and pizzaz.

I stumbled upon only one blog in May that was worth reading. But still I went ahead with my vacation and managed somehow.

Today, I received an email update from world blogcollection and in that I read about one more blog on Goa

“Goa is a tropical beach paradise located on the west coast of India. It is unique from the rest of India because of its history and geography. The people of Goa or Goans are friendly, Goa party-loving and peaceful.”

No, I did not find anything unique in Goa. Only one thing surprised me; I did not find any traffic police in Goa. The traffic was very less and may be that is the reason for no traffic controller.

Do you know the Black Friday?

I wanted to find out about the mystery behind the Black Friday because I really wanted to know if it means really black and also to educate others.

Answers.com and wikipedia.org helped with plenty of information.

Where did it start? How has it evolved? Is it good or bad luck?

There have been a number of events known as "Black Fridays" in history. Usually, these events are devastating.

Some historians propose that the origin of the "Black Friday" was the simultaneous arrest of hundreds of Knights of Templar on October 13, 1307 (Friday), to be later tortured into "admitting" heresy.

In history there have been a number of events that happened on a Friday and are known as Black Friday.
* Black Friday (1869), a financial crisis in the United States
* Black Friday (1929), a stock market crash in the United States
* Black Friday (1939), a day of devastating fires in Australia

Today, the concept of Friday the 13th has been extended through the 'black Friday' concept to incorporate anything really bad that happens on a Friday. For example, any Friday which falls on the 13th of a month is called a Black Friday. (isn't it too much?)

My first credit card was gifted.

My husband gave me an ‘add on’ card as a gift on our 15^th wedding anniversary. Even now, I cannot properly express my euphoria when I was holding it in my hand. It was as if I had achieved my financial freedom.

At that time, credit cards did not charge interest as they are charging today. So, I never felt any big financial strain in spite of my occasional spending spree.

Last week, I wanted to gift one to my son. He has completed his third year B.E. degree and I wanted him to remember that. Since the rate of interest varies with different card issuing companies, I wanted to find the cheapest one.

I typed in Low Rate Credit Card in a niche search engine called creditcardsearchengine.com and took my time to pour over the search results. The comparison is not yet over as I was committed to other matters.

May be this week end, I revive my pending task and must able to decide on the right credit card with the lowest rate of interest.

What is a deciduous forest?

There is a weekly article in our local daily 'The Hindu'. The article is titled,'Roadless traveled'
and appears in the travel section.

I liked the name, "Roadless traveled" meaning roads that are traveled less. Those are offbeat places that a normal traveler misses because they are not popular.

Last week, there was a mention about deciduous forest and I didn't know the meaning of it.

Deciduous means "temporary" or "tending to fall off" (deriving from the Latin word decidere, to fall off) and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally.

Do you know that many deciduous plants flower during the period when they are leafless, as this increases the effectiveness of pollination? The absence of leaves improves wind transmission of pollen in the case of wind-pollinated plants, and increases the visibility of the flowers to insects in insect-pollinated plants.

Even if the soil is wet, it is too cold in winter for the tree roots to get the water out of it. Deciduous trees avoid this problem by resting, without any leaves until the soil becomes warm in the spring. When the tree is bare, light can enter the soil directly without any hindrance.

Nature at its best adaptation-right?

Great courses offered at Capella.

When Isaac Pitman taught shorthand in 1840 via correspondence, he would not realized that he is launching a revolution in education.

In today’s distance learning, correspondence education has taken a backseat and communication is carried through the Internet between the teacher and the student.

Distance education, or distance learning is a field of education wherein teachers and students may communicate asynchronously at times of their own choosing through Internet.

Distance Education uses all forms of technology that includes radio, television, audio video conferencing, computer aided instruction, e-learning/on-line learning et al.

Founded in 1993, Capella University is an accredited, online university that offers graduate degree programs in business, information technology, education, human services, and psychology, and bachelor’s degree programs in business and information technology.

Capella University is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission and is a member of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA), ncahlc.org.

Some of the courses offered at Capella are unique and cannot be found else where.

You are invited to My Indian Space.

My Indian Space is a social networking web site where it is easy to get comments. Adding friends, leaving comments are encouraged to win a iPod.

Each time you add a friend, receive a comment or invite a new friend to join MyIndianPlace.com, you will receive points that will increase your chances of winning the iPod.

So, getting traffic is much easier in this social network. Like any other social networking, here too you can share pictures and text.

I noticed the web site is loading pretty slow mainly because of their design.

Myindianplace.com is owned by Khäwäb Communications, Inc and the brainchild of two creative minds who have the vision to create an online community that will network Indians from all over the word.

The profiles are created with much tastes like in Myspace. Soon, I foresee this web site to be in the top ten social networking sites.

Do you know Marsupial?

Marsupials are mammals in which the female typically has a pouch in which it rears its young through early infancy. Kangaroo belongs to this kind of mammals.

The name is derived is so because the pouch is called the marsupium.

There are 90 different kangaroos and mostly marsupials are found only in Australia. The smaller kangaroos are called wallabies and a baby kangaroo is called joey.

The largest and the tallest kangaroo is the red kangaroo and grows to a height up to 2 meters high.
Kangaroos are very good swimmers and diggers too.

The new born crawls from the mother's womb to the pouch without any effort from its mother and stays there for as long as 190 days.

Very interesting facts-right?







------> Wallaby