IPL chairman is listed as owner of 132 web domains

IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi appears to have recognised the power of the Internet to leverage businesses. 'Lalit Modi' is listed as the owner of as many as 132 domains on the web, including the official websites of the IPL and the Champions League. One J Cherian, who is listed as the technical/administrative contact for the official website of the IPL, has an email address hosted at modi.com, the mailserver address and domain name of Modi's family business empire.

His name, along with Modi's is associated with as many as 174 domains, investigations by this newspaper show. Modi also appears to have registered several permutations and combination of the official website. As many as 24 domains such as these are registered in his name, and list his email ID as lalitkmodi@ gmail.com.

Interestingly, the address given in several such domains is 25, Chester Street, London, London SW1x 7bl . This is in the tony Belgravia area of London, a stone's throw from Buckingham Palace and Belgravia Square. The property at 25 Chester Street does not officially list the owner's details. But mouseprice.com, a popular London property website, lists the property as a 233 square metre terrace flat. Similar properties in the area range around a quarter of a million pounds.

Interestingly, there appears to have been some attempts to change some of the records at these sites. The official website of IPL,iplt20, which used to list Cherian as the administrative contact and gave the address as 3rd Floor, Nirlon House, Worli, Mumbai, now lists 'bccl/ipl' as the owner and gives the address as Wankhede Stadium. Incidentally, Wankhede Stadium is currently closed as it is being completely rebuilt. Modi's connections with those holding the digital, Internet and mobile rights of IPL have already sparked a controversy.

Sources close to the current investigation say there is nothing illegal in Modi owning these domains, many of which can be registered for just a handful of dollars per year. However, the BCCI would find that it will have to evict the 'domain squatters' in case it ever wants to officially claim ownership of the IPL brand, which is valued at over $4 billion (Rs 17,726 crore) commercially. In which case, it might have to fight a legal battle to wrest control from Modi, even if Modi is removed from the IPL in future. Emailed queries sent to Modi went unanswered.

Jesus Seen On Google Earth

GOOGLE has captured the face of Jesus — in the middle of a FIELD.

Satellite pictures appear to reveal the Lord's bearded face staring out of the ground in eastern Hungary.

Eagle-eyed web browsers noticed it while looking at Google Maps images of remote farmland.

Last month, we reported how the Son of God's face was spotted burned into the cooking fat of a pan of bacon.

7 Future Facebook Features

7 Future Facebook Features

Facebook hasn’t updated in quite sometime and rumors are floating around that another big update is just around the bend. This has been met with mixed reactions: some people upset at the idea of another change in interface so soon, some still upset about the last update, and some just upset about Facebook for ideological reasons.

1. The “Stalk” Button: For years now, you have been able to poke your friends, message your friends, tag your friends, send your friends potatoes, IM them, and so on. And throughout it all, you have been able to stalk your “friends.” But there was never a fun, simple, and efficient way to do it. Well coming soon, just below the poke button on your friends profiles will be the “stalk” button. “Stalking” someone will make it easy to do what it is you do. Some features of the stalk button include:

- Notifying that person that you are stalking them (obviously)

- Always sending their updates to the top of your news feed.

- Once a day between the hours of 1 am and 4 am, sending them a message or IM from you containing only “……..”

Of course, you will be able to customize your stalker settings, cause everyone does it differently, right?

2. Facebook Credits Usable Around the Web: You know Facebook credits, the real money method of paying for lots of the micro-payment games like Farmville, Mafia Wars, etc. And right now all you can do with is pay for little games on Facebook. But soon you will be able to use those Facebook credits to make purchases around the web. You will be able to buy books, games, shoes, Russian brides — really anything that you can order up on the internet. Facebook wants you to be more tied to your Facebook profile, wants to serve as everything and anything someone needs on the internet. It is likely that Facebook will make credits worth slightly more than what they are purchased for so that people are encouraged to switch all their currency to the digital dollar.

3. Wingdings (New Language Options): People around the world have been able to enjoy Facebook because of the wide array of language options for a user’s home page. And with this new update, Facebook will be adding to the long list of available languages to reach even more people. Everyone has heard of the ability of people to change their language to “Pirate.” Well among the new languages available, the most popular is Wingdings. Although it’s not technically a language, it is primary font of communication for some Facebook users. Some other notable additions include:

- Hieroglyphics

- Morse Code

- Brail/Spoken Word

- Laymen’s Terms

- Complete Gibberish

- That African Bushmen Language Consisting Mostly of Clicks

And in an odd move, Facebook has decided to remove “French” from the languages available.

4. The 141 Character “Quik Update”: The powers that be at Facebook have decided that you need to be able to update more than just your status. That’s why they will be adding the 141 character “Quik Update.” These updates will not show up in the main news feed like your regular update. Rather, they will actually appear in the sidebar, with ads scattered amongst them. Facebook is hoping that by utilizing even the ad space for updates and features that users will get as much enjoyment out of the site as possible. These “Quik Updates” are for shorter, more concise, or even shorthand messages. Regular updates will still be in use for longer messages or those that are more important/focused. No one is really sure why they chose the 141 character size limit on these updates.

5. “Super Public” Profiles: In order to better advertise Facebook, and to get YOU as many friends as possible, Facebook will be rolling out their new “Super Public” profiles. The way “super public” works is that in place of ads, your picture and parts of your profile will be advertised around the web. Also, in Google search results, rather than just a link to your profile, it will show your main page in the results. In some rare cases, your profile/updates will be posted on billboards as Facebook ads. Of course, you can get out of this system, have a “regular public” profile, or even a private profile, but the default will be set to the new “super public.” This newest update has met with strong opposition, but Facebook maintains that Facebook is a free service, and they retain the right to do what they believe is in the product’s best interest.

6. Autonomous Profiles: Some people do not update their profiles often enough for Facebook. Once this update kicks in, a person’s profile will be automatically updated after it’s been idle for over 2 hours. Using an intelligent scanning method, your profile goes through all the actions you have taken (updates, games, friends, etc.), creates an “artificial” update, and posts it on your wall. This way, you will be able to keep up with your friends, even when you aren’t there. You can rest assured that your profile will always be a current representation of yourself — or at least what the internet thinks you are like. Don’t worry, it won’t do anything personal or embarrassing, like posting random and possibly creepy messages to that girl’s profile that you secretly visit hundreds of times a day.

7. Needy Profiles: Even while becoming more autonomous, your Facebook profile is going to be made more dependent on you. If you do not log in, or visit Facebook for a certain amount of time (a couple of days), then your profile will begin notifying you. First it will send you an email, then it will start texting you, and eventually, it will activate the microchip planted in your body all those years ago while you were fast asleep, and you will feel the need to log back in and play Farmville some more.

This is going to be the tipping point, the first self-aware machine is going to be your Facebook profile. Oh the havoc it will wreak. Facebook updates will ensure its decisive rule of the internet, and all the people on it. You could say you won’t visit it ever again, won’t feed the monster, but that’s not really gonna happen. You have to tend your crops, and make fun of your friends for being tagged in those photos from that one party that ended up with you sleeping in a petting zoo.

Show Your Location Automatically to Your Gmail Signature

An exciting new feature has been added to Gmail Labs is “Location in Signature”. Just enable this lab feature and Gmail will automatically append your current location (the city and the country name) to your Gmail signature, like this:

Here is the step by step procedure to turn on this feature-

   1. Log into your Gmail inbox.
   2. Go to Settings -> Labs and scroll down a bit to locate the “Location in Signature” feature.
   3. Check the Enable radio button to enable this feature and click on save changes.

4. Now go to Settings -> General and go to the signature settings. Check Append your location

That’s it. Now your signature will always contain your current location. As this feature uses your IP address, guess you must have understood how exactly this feature works. It tracks the location of your IP and appends the same location as your “location signature” and hence, as said earlier, your location may vary slightly. 

"Microsoft Windows 8" –> July next year <-

The marketing campaign of Microsoft for Windows 8 appears to have begun – the company briefly published a blog on msdn.com, and then took it down almost immediately. The blogger added that Windows 8 was “something completely different” from previous operating systems.

Rumours had surfaced last month that Windows 8, which is referred to in the blog post as Windows Next, would launch on July 2011.

Although the blog post reveals little detail, its brief appearance and subsequent deletion probably means that it will attract more attention than had it simply been published. Publicly, the company’s European head of Consumer and Online, John Mangelaars has said only that “Windows 8 will be mindblowing”.


Sales of Windows 7, launched in July last year, were behind a large part of Microsoft’s 60 per cent increase in quarterly profits for the end of 2009, but the company is likely to come under increasing pressure in coming months. Google’s Chrome OS and Apple’s iPad are likely to challenge Microsoft’s position on netbooks and high-end laptops respectively.

Why Google operating system will flop… 7 reasons!!!

Search giant Google is once again ready to take on Microsoft with its new operating system. The company showed off its Google Chrome OS, saying that the lower-end PCs called Netbooks will include it in the second half of 2010.
The new operating system will be based on Google’s 9-month-old Web browser, Chrome. Google intends to rely on help from the community of open-source programmers to develop Chrome operating system. It is promising that users will be able to fire up their computers and get on the Web in a few seconds.
The rivals have spent years attacking each other, but with Chrome OS, Google makes it entry into Microsoft’s core territory, its lair. So, is it time for Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer to get worried? Not really, feel many analysts. Here’s why.

Windows in Netbooks

The early versions of the Chrome operating system will be tailored for Netbooks, a breed of low-cost, less powerful laptop computers that are becoming increasingly popular. However, a vast majority of Netbooks already run on Windows, and that is unlikely to change unless Google can demonstrate the Chrome operating system is a significant improvement, said Forrester Research analyst Paul Jackson.
He pointed out that many customers had returned the original Netbooks that used open-source alternatives to Windows. "It was not what people expected," he said. "People wanted Windows because they knew how to use it and knew how applications worked."

Lacks browser freedom

Chrome is built into Chrome OS. And users who want Firefox, or Internet Explorer can’t really have them. Though Google says that Chrome OS is open source, which means that Mozilla or Microsoft or others can develop their own Chrome OS operating system.
However, no guesses required for how easy that is going to be.

Hardware and app support

One major challenge that could delay adoption is getting makers of printers, networking gear, cameras and other devices to develop software that lets their equipment work with the new Google system. There are more than 2 million software drivers that connect devices to Windows PCs.
The success of the Chrome operating system will likely hinge on its acceptance among computer manufacturers that have been loyal Windows customers for years, said Matt Rosoff, an analyst for the research group Directions on Microsoft. "Most people, when they get a new operating system, they get it with their PC," he said. "I don’t think most people think much about their operating systems."
If enough computer manufacturers embrace the Chrome operating system, it could weaken Microsoft while opening up new avenues for Google to persuade consumers and businesses to use its suite of online applications and other Internet services, generating more opportunities for Google to sell lucrative Internet ads.
Getting consumers and businesses to switch to computers powered by a new operating system won’t be easy, as Google has learned from the introduction of Chrome.

Windows’ user base

Microsoft’s Windows operating system has been even more dominant for a longer period time despite challenges from Apple Inc and various systems based on Linux, the same type of open-source software that Google plans to use. Analysts feel that people may ***** about Windows, but they are used to it. Windows is almost habit for many. And it is tough to change habits.
"It’s going to be tough," Standard & Poor’s equity analyst Scott Kessler said of Google’s foray into PC operating systems. "The reality is that as the importance of a device or task increases, people have a much lower inclination to consider a change."
Businesses will be especially reluctant to abandon Windows because, on average, about 70 per cent of their applications are designed to run on that, said Gartner Inc analyst Michael Silver.

Offline work support

Julie Bort of ComputerWorld wonders about the OSes offline work support. As Sundar Pichai, VP, product management for Google’s Chrome OS, said that the only way to work with apps and data offline is if the app developer builds some sort of mechanism into the app, supported by Chrome OS.
The company seems to look a bit unclear as to how this would be done. May be through Google Gears, Bort presumes. For, Gears happens to be the method used by Google Apps for offline access. However, applications need to specifically support it, and so far not many do.

Web as backbone

Similarly, analysts wonder if applications that could once only run on local computers will reliably work on the Web. For, as everyone knows Web has been a disruptive technology, but then it is not always reliable. Network connections can be slow, or non-existent, and any functions that require frequent connections have the possibility of letting users down.
Google has tried to work round this by allowing users to store functions offline. But it remains to be seen Web does pose risk.

Games

According to Tony Bradley of PCWorld, one of the driving forces behind PC hardware development and PC sales is gaming. Nobody needs a high-end graphics card to use Microsoft Office, or a surround sound speaker system for checking emails.
And though there are games available on the Web, hardcore gamers want the raw horsepower that a PC provides.

Chrome’s ‘limited’ success

The new operating system is based on a product from Google that has had limited success: the Chrome browser. As of February, it claimed 1.2 per cent market share, compared to nearly 70 per cent for Microsoft’s browser, according to researcher Net Applications.

Web user interface

Google Chrome’s Web user interface too is a dampener. As Randall C Kennedy of InfoWorld wrote, "Google looks at the world through the prism of a Web page. So it comes as no surprise that the primary interface to the Chrome OS is … Chrome, as in the Google browser. Unlike a traditional OS, there’s no desktop."
The so-called applications running under the Chrome OS are just interactive Web pages, with the Chrome browser’s tabs serving to separate and organize them visually on the screen.

Microsoft Bing and more…

Analysts also had a warning for Google, cautioning the company’s executives against letting their foray into the PC desktop distract them from the company’s core search and advertising business, where Microsoft is making progress.
Bing, launched June 3 to generally positive reviews, handled 8.23 per cent of US Web searches in June, up from 7.21 per cent in April, according to Internet data firm StatCounter. "They have been making all these attempts at Microsoft. They have been doing nothing with their search," said Fred Hickey, editor of the High-Tech Strategist Newsletter.