Google ressurects JotSpot as Google Sites

Google Inc said on Wednesday it is offering a simple Website publishing tool for office workers to set up and run their team collaboration sites, taking aim at Microsoft Corp's rival SharePoint franchise.

Google Sites, as the new site publishing service is known, is a scaled back version of JotSpot, an easy-to-edit service for organisations and individuals to set up and edit Websites that Google had acquired 16 months ago for undisclosed terms.

The new service, the latest stage in the Internet leader's push into the market for business and educational users, allows non-technical users to organise and share digital information such as Web links, calendars, photos, videos, presentations, attachments and other documents in an easy-to-maintain site.

"Creating a team website has always been too complicated, requiring dedicated hardware and software as well as programming skills," said Dave Girouard, general manager of Google's Enterprise unit, which is aimed at office workers.

Google Sites is a stripped-down version of Microsoft's SharePoint collaboration software, which lets users inside an organisation share documents and maintain calendars on secure Web sites, but is far more complex to set up and maintain.

Unlike SharePoint, which typically requires organisations to buy and maintain their own hardware and software at costs that can run from tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars to serve one hundred users, Google Sites is hosted on Google computers and is free to users of Google Apps, which the company offers at a fraction of the cost of Microsoft tools.

"We think this is SharePoint-like, but better," Girouard said in an interview. Basic sites are free or carry a small monthly per-user fee, depending on whether organisations have purchased fuller-featured versions of Google Apps that allow for centralised technical management.

Google Sites puts control of Web sites into the hands of regular office workers rather than an organisation's network administrators or technical support desk, Girouard said.

"The idea is that IT (Information Technology departments) don't have to do anything except enable users to serve themselves," the Google executive said.

Google Sites enables any user invited to join a site to edit pages without requiring knowledge of Webcoding or design.

Any information published to the site is searchable by visitors with permission to use the site, the company said.

The site publishing framework lets office workers create "intranets" — centralised archives of company information that can only be viewed within an organisation rather than on the public Web. Such sites can be used to manage team projects.

Individual teams members can also create profile pages of their activities, interests and schedules.

In school settings, Google Sites can function as virtual classrooms for posting homework assignments, class notes or other student resources.

Girouard said he considered Google Sites the biggest new product introduction in a steady stream of innovations since his company introduced Google Apps only a year ago this month.

Google Apps offers a suite of word-processing, spreadsheet and presentation software that let groups of users edit and view documents over the Web, together with e-mail and basic personal Web site publishing tools.

Over the past year, Google said more than 500,000 businesses and several thousand schools and universities have adopted Google Apps.

"Google Sites is relatively easy to use and free," said Rebecca Wettemann, an analyst with technical consulting firm Nucleus Research of Wellesley, Massachusetts."

"Google is making people think differently about how businesses use the Web." But Wettemannn said Google's Website publishing framework so far lacks management features that let organizations control the unbridled proliferation of poorly maintained or out-of-date Web sites that can occur when such tools are let loose."

"Just because it is easy to use and intuitive doesn't mean users don't have to sit down and think about the business problems they are trying to solve," she said.

newsby: ibnlive

Dear Husband, will you leave your job for me?

A recent TeamLease survey of 425 ‘Two Career’ couples across five cities – Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Pune and Bangalore – revealed that balancing work and family life is not any easier today than it was say 20 years back. While 87 per cent of the couples polled agreed to their work-life balance being “just fine”, others felt that working wives could mean more disagreements and more cases of divorce. In our earlier story, Modern marriage survey: Is everybody really fine, we quoted the abovementioned TeamLease survey. Two points seem to resonate greatly with the readers: (1) 54 per cent of the couples polled said they will not give up their career plans for their spouse and (2) 77 per cent men agreed to be actively involved in responsibilities, including child reading.

The following is a response emailed by ibnlive.com reader, Priyanka Khandelwal: Her response to the truth behind husband’s helping at home… And whether they really do. Thankyou Priyanka! As contributed by Priyanka Khandelwal “77 per cent of the men polled say they are more actively involved in sharing responsibilities including child-rearing.” And that is what you get when you poll men on ‘how’ involved they are in household chores. Try asking their female counterparts the same and there you will have the true picture of the household scenario, which will put the survey numbers to shame. Picture this: A working couple.

The woman makes breakfast (and serves it too), prepares their lunches, readies herself (and the spouse too) for office and rushes off. The office of course gives no regard to the fact that the lady has already had a tough beginning and she is expected to give as much, if not more, as her male colleagues. Come evening, she rushes home for she has the dinner to tend to (men don’t like waiting for their food) and then of course listen to her husband’s day at work. It’s now her turn to unburden her troubles, but by that time, the husband is fast asleep (he has had a tough day after all). Fast forward a few years and you have children too in the whole scenario. And God forbid if there are the in-laws to look after as well. The responsibilities just go on increasing. While most of the men would vehemently disagree with the above, the fact remains that most marriages work this way. The root cause, as I believe, lies in the upbringing of the Indian males. They are brought up in environments where the females pamper the male ego.

Where the females are ‘expected’ to do all the household chores; where the entry of males into the kitchen is probably once in a blue moon affair. How many mothers teach their sons how to cook? Because of course, if their son will need to be fed, they will simply marry him to a ‘nice homely’ girl. And what happens when the ‘nice homely’ girl decides to pursue her own career? What happens when the girl turns out to be better at her work than her spouse? What will happen if heaven forbid the girl begins to earn more than her spouse? Surveys of course would show that the men are quite comfortable with the idea, but the reality is quite different and uglier too. The humongous male ego, fed since their infant days starts to ruin their life. Husbands don’t ‘ask’ their wife’s if they are OK with the idea of shifting base due to his transfer – they expect it. It is taken for granted that a wife’s primary duty is towards her family. Don’t take me wrong. I am not averse to the idea, but it’s only revolting when it doesn’t have to be the other way too. Will a man as readily leave his job when his wife is given a transfer? I don’t think so. And neither is he expected to.

The good news? Slowly, very slowly the male mindset is accepting the fact that women today are walking shoulder to shoulder with males. We have our dreams too, we have our parents’ dreams to fulfill too. We too have been brought up like princesses in our parents’ home. Our career too is as important as yours is. We are as exhausted, probably even more, after a days work at office. And like you we too were too busy in our careers to learn to cook delicious gastromic delights. We too are not superhumans. What we do is not because we are ‘expected’ to do it, but because we love to do it for our family. And we don’t really mind being occasionally appreciated for it.

newsby: ibnlive

Microsoft sets up tech lab in IIT Chennai

Microsoft Corporation India Pvt Ltd on Monday announced the inauguration of a technology lab the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras.

Microsoft is investing Rs 90 lakh initially in the IITM Microsoft Windows Technologies Lab that will harness innovation through research and provide a platform for faculty and students to leverage it for a variety of research and training, Prof T A Gonsalves, Head, Department of Computer Science Education, IIT-M, told reporters during the inauguration.

The lab will offer best-of-the-breed MS technology for the faculty and students to work with, apart from helping students with their B Tech and M Tech projects and also the MS and PhD students in their research.

Microsoft Corporation Ltd's VP, Will Poole, said experts from the company will visit the lab to conduct seminars and workshops and also help the institution in research and innovation in the long run.

The initial focus in the lab will be on Windows Terminal services, device drivers, networking protocols, windows mobile and multi-modal localisation.

Six companies have already spoken to IIT for using the lab and TCS was one of them, Gonsalves said.

newsby: ibnlive

Big B will quit Mumbai, if Raj's charges are true

Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan is 'very hurt' over the attacks on him by MNS chief Raj Thackeray, the actor's close friend and Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh said on Wednesday.

Singh said he could, on behalf of Bachchan, state that the actor would leave Mumbai if it was proved that he has not done more for Maharashtra than for UP.

"He is sentimentally very hurt. He is a very matured and dignified person and he is very hurt, particularly on these charges," Singh said.

"Let Thackeray come out with a list, what all he (Bachchan) has done for UP and what all he has done for Maharashtra. If he has not done much more for Maharashtra, where he is residing, then on his behalf I am saying, he will leave Mumbai," he said.

He was responding to a query on the criticism of Bachchan by Thackeray that while living in Mumbai he is championing the cause of UP.

"You see this point is absolutely, absolutely wrong. He picks up this line Chora Ganga Kinare Wala (from the film Don)", he said, adding that if he picks up this line he could also pick up Anthony from Bandra (Amar, Akbar, Anthony).

Listing Bachchan's contributions to Maharashtra, Singh said the actor has done so much for Breach Candy Hospital, for Hinduja Hospital and for the victims of Latur earthquake.

Singh said around 2,000-3,000 Maharashtrians are employed in Bachchan's business enterprises and "this is something no one can dispute".

newsby: ibnlive

A look at best Facebook applications

If Facebook is the great whale of social networking, applications are the barnacles on its back, firmly attached and along for the ride.

As Facebook's 55 million users are well aware, the site doesn't just contain the staples of social networking. The California-based site last year opened its platform to software developers that offer applications of all kinds, which users can add to their profile pages.

The result has been a land rush for virtual space. Developers hope to entice as many Facebook users as possible to add their wares, which range from trivia quizzes to maps that show where a user has travelled.

MySpace, still the most popular social network, recently announced similar plans to let in software developers. The decision is further proof that social networks firmly believe that the best way to remain fresh is to allow the entrepreneurship of the Web to piggyback on its platforms.

A great many of the applications on Facebook are simply ways to enhance your profile page or further your self-expression – a list for your favorite books, or an icon for your favorite baseball team.

But many can be the source of hours of entertainment in their own right.

Perhaps the most famous of these is Scrabulous, a miniature online version of Scrabble. Though, it’s future is in doubt because the makers and owners of the rights of Scrabble (Hasbro and Mattel) last month served a cease and desist letter to the creators of Scrabulous, two brothers in India.

However, it must be said that most of the applications are extremely lame like the quiz, which asks ‘What kind of mom will you be?’ But in many hours spent perusing the applications of Facebook, these were the most interesting:

Scramble: While Scrabulous is a version of Scrabble, Scramble is the Facebook application answer to Boggle.

GameDesire Bridge: This is a game that enables you to play bridge on Facebook. Not surprisingly, it's not exactly hugely popular. But simply having the ability to play a card game so strongly associated with old age on such a young, hip social networking site surely is a sign that Facebook isn't just a playground for kids anymore.

PuzzleBee: Jigsaw puzzles typically demand a lot of tabletop space. With the application PuzzleBee, though, you can solve puzzles and create them yourself without spilling little pieces of cardboard all over your living room.

Dogbook & Catbook: It's high time that Fido and Mrs Bigglesworth got to join the social networking fun. Dogbook and Catbook allow you to make a little profile, just like yours, for your four-legged friends. But if your pets are going to be active on Facebook, you may want to have them spayed or neutered.

Attack! This is another application clearly modelled on an already popular board game; it even advertises itself as ‘like Risk for the facebook.’ Now, you can play the game of world domination from your office cubicle.

The Promise of a Better Tomorrow

The lost look on Baskanya’s face speaks volumes about the struggles that have been her lot in life.

Frustrated by the birth of girls, her mother named her Baskanya meaning “enough girls”. She received a cold welcome into this world.

But Baskanya does not have time to ponder over the misfortune of her birth.

She has to complete the household chores and look after her siblings while her parents and older siblings graze the neighbour’s cattle.

Baskanya has dreams for her future—dreams she knows may never come true . In her dreams, she recalls the three years she was in school. She sees herself telling her “two tames tables”!

“I had to stop my studies then after the children came along,” she says, pointing to the younger ones, oblivious to the fact that she too is still a child….

“She was good at studies,” says her mother. “But when we don’t have enough to eat, how will I send her to school?”With their meager income, Baskanya's parents cannot make her dreams come true.

Given her circumstances, chances are that Baskanya too will grow up like her mother and older sister, who got married at twelve—under-nourished, illiterate, and bearing one child after the other.

But YOU can step in and make a difference! Be the one to rewrite a child’s life! Sponsor a child like Baskanya with World Vision India and change the life of a needy child. Begin a life-changing relationship and set a child free from the bondage of poverty.

Child Sponsorship is a unique relationship between you and a deserving child. It works on the simple yet powerful principle that the best way to change the life of a needy child is to change the world in which he/she lives.

Your sponsorship gift of Rs. 600/- every month ensures that the child goes to school and has access to good health. The child’s parents also receive assistance through income generation schemes.

You could be the one to give them a second chance at life!

Source: http://www.worldvision.in/?Story_of_Baskanya