Features of a USB TV Tuner

A lot of people right now don't understand USB TV tuners very much, they don't know what a USB TV tuner is. Also, they don't know what they can do with it. This post will help you get a clear idea about the USB TV tuner.

What is a USB TV tuner?
A USB TV tuner is a stick that can be used to connect TV signal to your computer so that you can watch live TV right on your PC without using TV monitor. To make this work, you should firstly connect your TV signal to the USB tuner. It's very simple and can be done in one or two minutes.

The four features of a USB TV tuner
Ok, now let's get down to the features of USB tuner, actually, there are 4 basic features of it, let's find it out.

#1. Use it to watch TV
This is an obvious feature. It should be able to be used to watch TV, or it cannot be called as a tuner. However, there is a very important tip for you when you watch TV with the tuner and that is: you can record the TV you're watching and edit them. This is really useful when you want to save some of the scenes. Also, you can extract music from the TV shows and use it in your own recordings.

#2. Use it to play PS3
This is the feature that a lot of people don't know about. A USB television tuner can receive analog signal, and PS3 can send out analog signal, therefore, this device can convert the signal to PC. This is very interesting. It means you can play PS3 on your PC monitor after connecting it to the PC through a tuner. So, enjoy.


#3. Use it to play Xbox
This is unbelievable too. However, it's true. Actually, the theory is just as same as playing PS3 on PC. You can connect your Xbox 360 to PC through a USB TV tuner. Another cool thing about this is that you can also connect to the internet while you're playing games on your Xbox. It means you can communicate with your friends while playing games. Also, you can do something else, for example, you can surf the internet to find some info about the game. It's very helpful.


#4. Use it to record a DVD
This is cool. Sometimes, when you come across such a good DVD and you want to save it to computer. However, the computer prompt that you cannot copy the DVD because it's copy protected. But what can you do if you really want the content? You can use a USB TV tuner to record it to your computer. It will capture the video image direct to the PC without copying the original file.

Note: as long as you don't intentionally spread these copied movies, it's absolutely legal. And as the DVD is very easy to get broken, you can keep the movie longer in this way.
That's it. That's the basic 4 features about a USB TV tuner. You might already know some of the features and you might not know some of them either. For the latter, I think this article can help you know more about TV tuner. Just enjoy.

Check out all kinds of USB TV tuner in Newmi and choose your favorite one. There are all kinds of USB tuners on the market for your to choose, for example, there are TV box, TV card and many others. Find the one for yourself. Go to http://www.newmi.com now

Pakistan's social media landscape

The ongoing unrest in the Muslim world has sparked increased discussion not only of the possibility of revolt in various places (though such talk has become more subdued of late, with the surge in violence in Libya and Yemen), but also the role social media and technology are playing in political movements in the developing world. Pakistan exhibits many of the traits noted in the countries currently experiencing upheaval; rising unemployment, pent up frustration and a teeming population of young people, trapped in a seemingly endless spiral of inflation. Indigenous factors such as growing religious extremism and ever-present paranoia about foreign interference further increase the likelihood of such an upheaval. In the wake of events in Egypt and Tunisia, Pakistani political parties are already starting to predict an imminent uprising. The question that needs to be answered is what role, if any, does the Internet and social media play in contemporary Pakistani politics.

Pakistan is estimated to have a population of 177 million of whom 18.5 million (10.4 percent) are connected to the Internet, though government officials quote a slightly higher figure of 20 million. These penetration percentages are less than those in Tunisia (33.4 percent) and Egypt (21.1 percent).
However, Internet use in Pakistan is growing at a rapid rate, particularly in urban centers, which are also home to populations who often form the backbone of mass-scale uprisings. Mobile Internet use shot up 161 percent in 2010 alone. While it is hard to objectively judge just what role the Internet plays in the fabric of Pakistani society, a recent survey by the BBC of 27,000 Pakistanis concluded that the Internet has yet to mature as a powerful tool for social change, with four out of five users believing the Internet to not be at all essential to such transformation.

Still, while the Internet was in the 1990s only available in large urban centers of Pakistan, coverage has been increasing rapidly ever since. Even in relatively smaller cities such as my hometown of Sargodha, in Punjab province, broadband Internet is now freely available. The cost of Internet use, which started out at astronomical rates, has also been steadily dropping ever since. However, high speed broadband and wireless Internet still remain beyond the reach of the average Pakistani. Coupled with widespread illiteracy, Internet use remains skewed towards Pakistan's urban elites.

This is not to say that the Internet is irrelevant. On the contrary, websites such as Facebook have become increasingly prominent tools for social communication. In the last six months, the number of Facebook users in Pakistan has doubled from 1.8 to 3.6 million, of whom 52 percent are between 18 and 24-years old. And far from being a private world of virtual social connectivity, it is constantly under the microscope of the religious right in Pakistan. It was thus no wonder that a judge in a court in Punjab province decided to ban Facebook, YouTube, Google and Twitter, amongst several other sites, after a Facebook page invited users to participate in an "Everybody Draw Muhammad Day" contest. Further controversy was generated from the "Burn a Quran day" fiasco, which sparked violent riots throughout the country. Beyond the usual American-Israeli flag burning frenzies, the response included the creation of a "Muslim Facebook" called Millatfacebook.com, which not only provides a sanitized environment for religious Pakistanis to find their soul mate, but also allows for live shots from Mecca to be viewed from the homepage.

Additionally, the January of Punjab's liberal governor Salman Taseer transformed Facebook into a veritable battleground between liberals and conservatives. While supporters of Taseer's assassin Mumtaz Qadri were quick to set up several Facebook pages in honor of their hero, liberals set up rival pages in favor of Taseer that outnumber those of their rivals in "fans." Meanwhile, Millatfacebook.com prominently "Salutes the Hero of Islam," Qadri, on its homepage.

Facebook has also provides solace to media-savvy politicians with minimal real influence, such as ousted military ruler Pervez Musharraf (378,049 "likes") and former cricket star-turned politician Imran Khan (168,095 "likes"). These numbers are in sharp contrast to those of established mainstream political parties such as the current ruling Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and the main opposition party, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) led by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, neither of which have more than 2,000 "likes." However, these figures are not entirely surprising, when considering that much of the voter pool for the major political parties resides in rural areas, where Internet penetration is very limited.

Twitter has even lesser penetration in Pakistani cyberspace. Of the few public figures that use Twitter, Salman Taseer was the most prominent (with another notable user being Pakistan's current Ambassador to the United States, Husain Haqqani). Before his murder, Taseer used his account to pick on the Saudi royalty and other topics in addition to "tweeting" about Pakistan. He is however, now most vividly remembered by his prescient last message, "I was under huge pressure sure 2 cow down b4 rightest (sic) pressure on blasphemy. Refused. Even if I'm the last man standing."

Twitter played a very limited role in the movement to restore Pakistan's Chief Justice to the court during the Musharraf era, but it would be fictitious to state it had any concrete effort of any consequence. Bloggers also have a limited following ; Café Pyala, a blog that primarily deals with Pakistan's fiery broadcast media, is possibly the most prominent one, recently blowing the lid on falsely planted "Wikileaks" cables in Pakistani newspapers. However, television remains the singular most powerful medium that sets the political tone and landscape.

The influence of the Internet and social media is currently restricted mostly to the urban populations of Pakistan. Further increase in users will continue to be limited by low literacy rates and poor socioeconomic conditions in rural areas, conditions that will not change without major social reform. Nevertheless, the educated urbanites who represent much of the "ruling class" in Pakistan have taken to social media enthusiastically, meaning that changes in communication can still have a transcendent impact on Pakistani society through the millions of educated Pakistanis who are already using it regularly. However, it is difficult to foresee how this increasing connectivity between people of similar and differing ideologies will affect the educated Pakistani Internet user. The answer to this question, nevertheless however, will have enormous regional and global implications. 

Laptop Buying Guide

Everyone is going laptop these days. Hence, one must be familiar with few things before buying a laptop so that you get a quality product against your well earned money.
Check Points: You may need to consider following things while purchasing a new laptop.


Price:
Go to laptop manufacturer’s  website, find out its price and convert foreign currency into local currency and then match the price with local computer market.
Usually the price on manufacturer’s website should match the local market, with slight margin of difference due to currency rate fluctuation.

Is it refurbished?
Refurbished laptops means Manufacture Company (such as DELL) repaired a laptop. By repair we mean, any part of laptop is repaired and is ready for sale with all accessories and packaging but at a low price.
There are slight chances that you might be getting a refurbished laptop, while you buy it as a NEW LAPTOP with 1 year warranty at low price.
For checking if laptop is refurbished or not, you must get laptop’s serial number and find out the remaining warranty of this particular laptop from its website. If remaining warranty is less than one year then you are surely buying a refurbished laptop.
Watch out, sometimes retailers remove serial sticker from the back of refurbished laptops.
Most of the time refurbished laptops are being offered with 3 to 6 months warranty.

Warranty: Is it locally claimed or internationally? With local warranty, it is easy for you to claim warranty – while if you are planning to travel across the globe then International warranty should be your choice.

Warranty Period: In How many years, months or days you can claim warranty for the laptop? , here don’t forget the warranty period time of refurbished laptop.

Accessories: what accessories should come with the box? For that you can check the manufacturer website to know the accessories sent during shipment by giving serial number of the laptop.
Usually retailers take our accessories and sell them with separate price to customers, such as ear phones etc
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Dead Pixel check: request retailer/seller to install any free dead pixel program, easily available online or download while checking the laptop at the shop (as most of the computer shops have WiFi).
By dead pixel we mean dead display areas in LCD of the laptop. You can also manually check this by changing background color of the desktop screen into white, green, red, blue and black. By changing these colors you can easily find out any dot or spot on the screen.

Keyboard keys check:
Write down the old one “the quick brown fox” statement to check working sense of keyboard alphabets and write in caps and small both forms.
Later on you can also check numeric pad as well with function keys.

HDMI Port Check:
Sometime, HDMI port is installed in laptop, but driver refuse detecting that HDMI port’s physical installation. For checking this out reinstall the drivers or check in device manager of the laptop to verify the functionality of the HDMI port.

Bluetooth Check:
In our local markets, most of laptops come with built-in Bluetooth devices, check and confirm from manufacturer and retailer about the Bluetooth device availability in the laptop.
It merits mentioning here that Bluetooth devices are usually taken out of laptop by resellers, so that they can sell it as a standalone product.

Factory Dos installed Laptops:
These laptops don’t come with windows operating system by default. So, if you get these laptops installed with windows operating system, this must be some pirated copy of windows installation.
These dos installed laptops are less expensive than factory installed windows Operating Systems.

Memory (RAM module) installations:
Sometime, retailers replace 1GB ram with 2 pairs of 512 mb ram that reduces the cost of laptop, but also reduce the speed and reselling of the laptop. As buying ram in 2 modules or less expensive than in a single module, so check the modules installation  and prefer single modules installation like 1GB or 2GB or 2GB+1GB=3GB etc

Facebook Privacy Settings Every User Needs to Know

Facebook’s privacy settings are extremely detailed, giving you the ability to fine-tune the privacy aspects of almost every little part of your Facebook account. Unfortunately, for most users, this level of micromanagement makes Facebook’s privacy settings a convoluted mess.
Even worse, these settings change often; you may think you know everything there is about them, only to be greeted with a completely different layout and a bunch of new options the next time you visit the dreaded Facebook Privacy Settings page.

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1. Sharing on Facebook

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Account > Privacy Settings > Sharing on Facebook
Controlling how you share content is quite complex and will probably make your head hurt, but it’s essential that you take a good look at the settings and decide for yourself what you want to share and with whom.
Facebook gives you the easy way out: You can share content with Everyone, Friends of Friends, or Friends only. However, if you’re using lists (see item number eight on this list), you might want to customize the settings and set a certain type of content to be visible to the people on some of your lists, and invisible to others. For example, only my close friends can see all my photos, while business associates can see just a few.
It’s important to note the “Preview my Profile” option which lets you see your profile as someone else would. Setting all the options just right can sometimes be tricky. When in doubt, defer to this option.

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2. Existing Photos

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Account > Privacy Settings > Sharing on Facebook > Customize Settings > Edit album privacy for existing photos
Settings for sharing content on Facebook can be treacherous as they don’t always apply to all your existing photos. With this setting, you can go through your old albums and change the privacy setting for each one, including your Wall Photos.

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3. Checking In to Places

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Account > Privacy Settings > Sharing on Facebook > Customize Settings > Friends can check me in to Places
Another setting under Sharing on Facebook often goes unnoticed, and it can be very important, as it lets your friends check you in to Places. Having someone else telling the world where you are can be unpleasant and even dangerous in some cases. If you want to avoid it, disable this feature.

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4. Connecting on Facebook

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Account > Privacy Settings > Connecting on Facebook
Privacy settings for sharing content on Facebook are separated from the settings for connecting, which basically means sharing information about you: Your photo, gender, age, education, hometown etc.
Furthermore, these settings determine how people can find you on Facebook. Can they do it simply by searching for your name? Can anyone add you as a friend, and send you a message?
Here, you can change those settings to Friends Only, Friends of Friends, Everyone or — in some cases — customize them. For example, if you get pestered by too many anonymous messages, you might consider letting only your friends send them. Be careful: If you set everything to the strictest available privacy setting, people may have a harder time finding you on Facebook.

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5. Apps You Use

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Account > Privacy Settings > Apps and Websites > Apps You Use
This is another painful setting as it usually means wading through dozens of apps and either removing them or editing the privacy settings for each of them individually.
We suggest removing all of the apps you’re not using (hint: If you can’t remember what it is, you probably don’t need it), and carefully reviewing the permissions you’ve given each individual app. For example, some apps like to post on your Wall even though they don’t require the option to function.

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6. Instant Personalization

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Account > Privacy Settings > Apps and Websites > Instant Personalization
We’ve covered this setting in-depth before. For detailed info on what it does, check out this article. Essentially, it lets third-party websites personalize your experience, which can be nice, but it also allows access to your personal data.
You can opt-out of Instant Personalization on individual third-party websites, such as Pandora, simply by clicking on “No Thanks” when asked about it. However, on Facebook you can completely disable it by leaving the checkbox before “Enable instant personalization on partner websites” unchecked.

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7. Info Accessible to Your Friends

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Account > Privacy Settings > Apps and Websites > Info accessible through your friends
This is where Facebook’s privacy settings get really tricky, and most users don’t realize it. No matter how tight your privacy settings are, you’re still sharing some of your content and info with a group of people, even if it’s only your closest friends. However, what you share with them doesn’t necessarily end with them, especially if their privacy settings are lax. In the end, your friends might be sharing your info with third-party services, which is precisely what you want to avoid.
With this setting, you can set exactly what information is available to apps and websites if your friends use them.

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8. Public Search

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Account > Privacy Settings > Apps and Websites > Public Search
When someone searches for you on a search engine, they might get a preview of your public profile which, in some cases, can be very revealing. If you don’t want that to happen, you should turn this option off.

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9. Friend Lists

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Friends > Edit Friends > Create a List

If you’re a typical Facebook user, you have 130 friends, and it’s very likely that you don’t want to share every detail of your life with all of these people.
This is where Friend Lists come into play. By creating lists of — for example — your family members, close friends and business acquaintances, you can finely tune the details you want to share with each list (as explained above).
Creating lists can be a bit dull at first, especially if you start doing it when you already have hundreds of friends, but once you set them up, it’s easy to add each new friend to a particular list.

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10. Enabling HTTPS

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Account > Account Settings > Account Security > Secure Browsing (HTTPS)

The last setting we’d like to highlight has more to do with security than privacy. However, if someone hacks into your account or sniffs your data (which can be easily done with an app like Firesheep), all the privacy settings in the world won’t help you protect it.

Recently, Facebook started introducing HTTPS support, which makes it a lot harder for someone connected to the same network to sniff your password and other data. It makes Facebook a bit slower, and certain features don’t work yet, but we highly recommend it as HTTPS is essential to online security on all web services, not just Facebook.

If the option isn’t available to you just yet, don’t worry. Facebook promised it will gradually roll out the feature in the following weeks.

Tips to Secure your Computer

Security is not just about a firewall or antivirus. There are many layers of security you could apply to your home network. The following article will outline seven tips to secure every part of your home network from the router to your laptop.

Use a router with NAT and a firewall.

Most common attacks will be blocked by this solution as they won’t be able to connect directly to your computer. If you have a router provided by your ISP try buying one from Linksys or Netgear. This will usually come with tighter security and more features.

Enable WPA2 on your router

With the popularity or laptops wireless is more common than ever. A big problem is that lots of routers come with wireless security turned off. Or if provided by your ISP you may have WPA (If your lucky). The only problem is that WPA is compromised by a professional in 5 minutes. If your router does not support WPA2 I would recommend upgrading your router as you can be help responsible for anyone misusing your internet connection.

Use a Firewall on your PC

Using a firewall on your computer will stop any programs that get onto your computer from transferring any personal data over the internet. Comodo firewall is totally free and is not just a firewall. It also tells you when software is trying to install itself so you can see when unauthorised software is on your PC.

Update your Operating System

Keeping your operating system up to date is very important. The infamous Conficker worm spread so fast because many computers were not up to date. The patch to stop Conficker was released 4 months before the worm was released.
Keeping the operating system upto date is not just about patches but about running the latest version of your OS. Many computers are running Windows XP and with Windows 7 just released it has improved security over XP.

UAC

Many loathe it. The fact is that it does improve security and will notify you if a program tries to change part of your operating system that it shouldn’t. Also the UAC included in Windows 7 is less intrusive than in Vista.

x64 Operating System

64-bit versions of Windows allow you to only use drivers that are signed by Microsoft. This can reduced crashes from badly coded drivers and improve security.
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IE Protected Mode or Firefox

Using the Latest browser is essential when surfing the internet. One wrong click and an old browser will be breached and install malware on your computer.

Some major reasons not to buy an iPhone

Let's look at some of the top reasons to resist temptation and pass on the iPhone for now.


1. It costs too much
At launch, the Apple mobile retailed US$499 for the 4GB model and US$599 for the 8GB model. Now, after a two hundred dollar price cut, the device still remains on the wrong side of affordable — there is the two-year AT&T contract to consider after all. It's not the most expensive mobile phone on the market by any means (after all, the Motorola SLVR Diamond went for 75 grand (yes, that's 75 thousand US dollars), and other phones have cost as much as a million dollars. But those are toys for gazillionaires. For the rest of us, 400 bucks is a lot to pay for a phone. Many are willing to shell out that much, if the phone is really, really great. But as the following list illustrates, it may be just a bit too hefty for the iPhone in its current incarnation.

2. It doesn't fully support Exchange
Many business users get their mail via Exchange servers. iPhone proponents claim that the phone supports Exchange and it does — sort of. What it supports is IMAP (the Internet Message Access Protocol), a generic e-mail protocol for accessing mail on a remote server. You can enable IMAP on your Exchange server and get your mail, but you lose the 'push mail' ability, wherein each message is sent to your device as it's received. Instead, the device checks the server at regular intervals ('pull' mail) to see if there's new mail, so you may not get your messages instantly.
Even more importantly, since the iPhone doesn't support Exchange ActiveSync, you don't get remote access to your calendar and contacts. That can be a deal breaker for business users. There are rumours floating around that Apple has licensed ActiveSync and will support it in a future version of the iPhone. That's all the more reason to wait on buying one.

3. User-unfriendly battery
A mobile phone without a user-removable/replaceable battery? Surely you jest. But it's true; when the iPhone's battery dies, you have to send it back to Apple to get a new one (for a fee). Sending your iPod away for a few days to have the battery replaced is bad enough, but most people can manage without music for a short time. Being without your cell phone for days (or weeks) could pose a real problem, since many of us rely on them for business and safety reasons, and more and more people have ditched their landlines and use their mobiles as their only phone.
The iPhone's battery has a decent charge life, but what about those of us who like to plan for contingencies? With my Samsung i730, I can take an extra charged battery along with me and pop it in if I use up all the juice in the primary one. No such convenience for iPhone users.
I can't believe there won't be a lot of weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth when those batteries start to go bad. This seems like one of the top issues Apple should address in the next version; it's a deal-breaker for too many folks who otherwise like the iPhone.

4. Where's the keyboard?
As other PDA phone vendors strive to make their keyboards bigger and better (transitioning to side-slide keyboards with more usable keys), Apple went the other way and did away with the physical keyboard completely. The iPhone boasts a large on-screen keyboard, but a lot of folks out there started out with BlackBerrys and have become proficient at using their thumbs to key in information. That's going to mean learning a whole new way of keyboarding with the iPhone.
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5. No third-party applications
Those of us who have been using Windows Mobile phones are used to being able to download and install the applications we want to add, just like with a 'real computer'. With the iPhone, you can't install third-party applications. Apple undoubtedly did this with the idea that it would prevent a lot of tech support problems and make the phone's operating system more stable, but I think it was a big mistake. People who shell out this much money for a phone expect it to be a full-fledged handheld computer, too — and that means being able to add your own apps.

6. Stuck with one operator
By limiting the iPhone offering to only one mobile phone provider, Apple immediately took itself out of the market for the many people who prefer other carriers.

Of course, users may be able to do a workaround now that there are reportedly hacks available to allow the iPhone to work onto other networks, but for the average user who isn't particular tech-savvy, it's not the ideal solution.

Even if you do hack your way off the AT&T network, you'll have to pay a US$175 early cancellation fee to get out of your AT&T contract.

7. The bleedingly slow EDGE
Not only are you stuck with AT&T's network, with the iPhone, you don't even get to use its fastest network. Instead, you're limited to the slower EDGE network. People who buy Internet-enabled phones want high-speed Internet.

8. Smile! You're on iPhone camera
The built-in camera on the iPhone marks it as a consumer product, not a business-oriented one. Many business users don't want cameras on their mobile phones because there are plenty of places where cameras are prohibited, and it's a pain to have to surrender your cell phone at the door or leave it in the car just to get in.
But even for those consumers who do want to take photos with their phones, the iPhone camera leaves a lot to be desired. Although it does have some cool features, like the ability to set a picture you've taken as wallpaper or assign them to your contacts, it's an adequate but not outstanding 2 megapixel model. There's no zoom and most important, there's no flash on the camera, so you'll have to do your picture-taking in well lit areas.
Admittedly, it's at least as good as the cameras on many other mobiles, but most other devices with cameras don't cost this much.

9. iTunes required to sync
Apple assumes that everyone has iTunes installed on their computers, but many of us Windows users don't. However, if you want to sync your iPhone with your computer, you'll have to install it because that's the mechanism the iPhone uses to sync files, contacts, calendar, e-mail accounts, etc.
Want to sync to your work computer but you're not allowed to install music programs like iTunes on it? Oops. I guess you're out of luck.

10. The dead zone
There have been reports about a display problem on some iPhones that manifests as a 'dead strip' that loses sensitivity to touch input. Since the iPhone is all about the touch-screen, this is not a good thing.
Even worse, some reports suggest that more phones are likely to fall victim to this problem as they're used more.

Summary
The iPhone looks cool, but if you're a serious business user, there are other, less expensive phones that provide better functionality. And even if you're not a business user, unless you have plenty of money lying around and absolutely must have the latest neat gadget as soon as it comes out, I'd recommend waiting for version two of the iPhone, which, we hope, will cost less and fix at least a few of these issues.

Mobile Technology Trends For 2011

Forrester Research has published its annual mobile technology outlook for 2011, outlining the top-level projections it sees for the year ahead.  In grading itself on its predictions from last year, Forrester gave itself a “B+,” saying nearly all of its projections came to fruition.

Forrester said most the trends they outlined last year will continue into this year, but also offered several additions.  Here’s a snapshot of what they predict:

• The mobile/social/local combo will explode in usage but generate little revenue.
• 2011 will be the year of the “dumb” smartphone user. Thanks to handset subsidies, smartphones will be available to the masses. Expect new smartphone users to be less engaged and active than the first cohorts of Android and iPhone early adopters. The good news is that thanks to customer education and the convenience that these devices offer, even “dumb” smartphone users will consume more mobile media than ever before and will have incremental usage of mobile data!
• The mobile fragmentation problem will continue in 2011. Prioritizing mobile developments will still be a challenge, and cross-platform development has not yet been achieved successfully.
• The apps versus mobile Internet debate will continue — and remain irrelevant. This isn’t a question of either/or — but both.
• Mobile marketing spend will grow significantly and surpass $1 billion in the US as consumers spend billions via mobile. For more information, Forrester clients should read our US mobile marketing predictions.
• Mobile will increasingly prompt consumers to interact with their physical environment.Technologies such as QR codes and mobile augmented reality are already helping bridge the real and digital worlds via mobile devices. 2011 is — finally — the year that Near Field Communication (NFC) begins to matter. The market will finally move away from the trial stage in regions where NFC infrastructure is in place.
• The attention paid to 4G will vastly outweigh the impact of these new networks. Despite the current buzz about US carriers’ efforts, the service will primarily, if not exclusively, be available on USB keys; few LTE devices will be available for consumers before the end of the year.
• Companies will invest first in convenient services for customers; acquisition will come second. In the hierarchy of benefits that mobile offers — revenue generation, cost savings, and convenience — convenience will reign for the next year. However, for some industries, particularly in the retail space, we expect more and more companies to reach seven figures in direct mobile transactions.
• Casual gaming will continue to lead the mobile charge for content companies. Forrester has already highlighted how media companies have some of the most advanced mobile strategies. Several news publishers that Forrester spoke with expect mobile to represent more than 20% of their total online audience. While they don’t expect advertisers to follow consumers that quickly, they will need to generate new revenue streams. Expect new business models based on subscriptions, microtransactions, and in-application billing to expand from gaming to other content categories, such as news and music.
• The term “mobile” will mean a lot more than mobile phones.  Consumers are connecting more and more devices wirelessly to the Internet. The recent CES show in Las Vegas showed that competitors’ answers to the first Apple iPad are now available and that tablets will emerge as category of their own in the years to come. Forrester clients can read recent analysis from our colleague Sarah Rotman Epps on why tablets will grow as quickly as MP3 players. However, only mobile phones will sell in the hundreds of millions and are truly “pocketable,” providing anywhere, anytime connectivity.

How to Install Linux Mint 12

Linux Mint is the most searched Linux distribution now. Linux Mint was originally a derived distribution from Ubuntu and recently a Debian derivative (from which Ubuntu itself is derived) was also released. Ubuntu’s adoption of unity desktop and user frustration with it  seems to have worked in favor of Linux Mint. Linux Mint 11 retained Gnome 2 as the desktop environment and in Linux Mint 12 both Gnome 2 and 3 is supported.
Linux Mint 12 codenamed Lisa is now available for download and is based on Ubuntu. However it comes with the Gnome 3 desktop. Like it or not, Gnome 3 seems to be the future for Linux desktops. In my experience Gnome 3 seems to be more stable and responsive than Unity.

Installing Linux Mint 12

I downloaded 32 bit Linux Mint 12 DVD which contains Gnome + MATE desktop. MATE is a fork of Gnome2 which will work along with Gnome 3. So if you don’t have 3D acceleration turned on, Lisa will use MATE desktop instead of Gnome 3!
When you boot with Linux Mint 12 DVD, you are quickly taken to the desktop with an option to install Lisa. Click on "Install Linux Mint" shortcut.

Select your language and click on  continue. Linux Mint 12 tells you that for best results, you need the following,

• At least 5.6GB of hard drive space (more if you have large swap space)
• An active connection to internet If you are installing on a brand new machine, Linux Mint 12 will give you the following options. You can either allow Lisa to create partitions or create them manually. I selected automatic installation. During installation, Lisa created a swap partition with the same size as the RAM I had on my machine and used the rest of the space for the primary root partition.

Lisa tells me that she will use the entire disk for installing Mint,

Click on "Install Now" to begin installation. During installation, you are prompted to select your location, keyboard layout and your login data. You can choose between automatic login or manual login. If you are paranoiac about your data, you can encrypt your home folder as well.

Click on continue. If internet connection is active, Lisa will download language packs. Sit back and enjoy the slide show of various features in Linux Mint 12 while installation is in progress. In my Intel i5 system, it took less than 5 minutes for Linux Mint 12 installation.
I removed Linux Mint 12 DVD from the drive and restarted the system. And voila! I have the sexy Gnome 3 up and running after the boot. It is possible to switch between various Gnome versions during login,

After the first login, Lisa shows you an overview of various resources available for Mint 12. Click on the shield icon on the top bar right to install all updates available for Linux Mint 12. This will keep your system up to date and free of security vulnerabilities. It took me about 20 minutes to apply all the updates.

The DVD 32 bit installer comes with all the common applications and utilities for a desktop Linux system. Some of the applications installed by default are,

• Graphics  – Gimp, LibreOffice Draw, Image Viewer and Document Viewer
• Internet – Firefox, Pidgin, Thunderbird Emails, XChat IRC
• Office – LibreOffice Suite
• Media Players – Brasero, Banshee, GNOME MPlayer, VLC media player
• Others – Sun Java 6, Standard Linux Tools

Click on the Software manager icon (star icon) to add more applications (Menu => Software Manager). The software manager tells me that there are 36075 packages available for installation! When you select a category, the packages inside it are listed based on its user rating.

List of free desktop blog editors – post directly from desktop!

I use w.bloggar to post to this blog. This desktop tool allows me to update my blog fast, without logging onto the wordpress console. The only problem is that w.bloggar doesn’t support creation of new categories (which I don’t need very often, but if you are using categories as tags you will find it a problem).
Here is a list of free desktop based blog publishing tools. Most of these atleast support WordPress and Movable Type platforms. Please note I haven’t included any commercial or trial versions (for example, ecto).
Are you using one of these tools? Please let me know if I have missed out anything.
Free Desktop blogging tools for Windows

• Bleezer
• blogBuddy
• BlogDesk
• BlogED
• JBlogEditor
• IMHO
• Lycos-Qumana

• PowerBlog
• Post2Blog Express
• PostXING
• Qumana
• RocketPost Basic (Remember it is really basic!)
• Semagic
• SharpMT
• Slug
• Tanjunka (no longer available since domain expired!)
• w.bloggar
• Zoundry

Free Desktop blogging tools for Linux

• Bleezer

• BloGTK
• Drivel
• Gnome Blog
• JBlogEditor

Free Desktop blogging tools for Mac

• Bleezer

• BlogED
• iJournal
• JBlogEditor
• Lycos-Qumana
• Qumana
• Xjournal