Treeduck

The next time you search Google for life expectancies or number of Internet users in the U.S., you'll find the specific figures plus an interactive chart letting you compare the U.S. with other countries.

Since Wednesday, Google has been tapping into data from the World Bank to provide key details and interactive charts on specific topics along with its own search results. The goal is to better help you search for and compare certain types of public data.

The World Bank is providing Google with facts and figures on 17 key indicators, including population growth, fertility rate, gross national product, and energy use.

Enter one of the 17 indicators into a Google search. You can phrase it as the specific indicator, for example, "population world," or type it as a natural question: "What is the population of the world?"

At the top of the search results, you'll find a thumbnail chart along with the latest statistics. (According to the World Bank, 72.4 percent of the U.S. population is on the Internet as of 2008.) Click on the chart or accompanying link, and up pops a larger interactive graph where you can visually compare the U.S. with other countries by clicking on their check boxes.

(Credit: Google)

You can embed the chart's HTML in your own blog or Web page and opt for the data to be updated automatically anytime the World Bank's information changes. Finally, a link for more info brings you directly to the World Bank's Web site where you can dig further into the results of your search.

This latest partnership with World Bank is part of Google's effort to offer data beyond that which it can grab from your average Web page. Back in April, the search giant started integrating stats and charts from the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

But the World Bank is the first source to provide global data for Google. The World Bank's figures come from its World Development Indicators (WDI), a collection of data derived from its own research and that of 30 other sources. The global data includes statistics on social, financial, and environmental areas encompassing more than 100 different countries.

Here's a topic I never thought I'd write about: Dolly Parton, the famed country singer, has endorsed Internet Explorer 8 and its Web Slices feature on YouTube.

During a minute-long video, Parton says she "wouldn't know a gigabyte from a snake bite. But the folks over at Microsoft sure know their computers." She goes on to say Microsoft checked out her "new" Web site and "turned us on to a little thing they call Web Slices."

According to a Microsoft representative, the software giant showed Parton's Web team "the new features in IE 8 and Silverlight, and they liked it so much, they wanted to implement it on their site."

Parton's site now features a three-tab Web Slice that includes her video diary, news on her career, and the option to buy some of her music. The Microsoft representative said in an e-mail that the software company "wasn't involved in the production or scripting" of Parton's Internet Explorer 8 endorsement.
Active content removed

Web Slices, which is available only in IE 8, enables users to keep up with sites they check often, such as ones for Web mail or weather reports. According to Microsoft, "if a Web Slice is available on a page, a green Web Slices icon will appear in the Command Bar." Users can simply click on that icon to subscribe to that page's Web Slice. Once complete, that Web Slice will be displayed in the user's Favorites Bar to make it easier to keep track of those sites the user often visits.

But the very fact that Parton (a portion of whose site is now available as a Web Slice, by the way), would endorse Internet Explorer 8 is a bit surprising. As she points out in the video, she "didn't even know there [were IE versions] 1 through 7."

Regardless, Parton seems to have found her stride. After all, like the singer says, maybe Internet Explorer 8 really is "just like your own little slice of heaven."
Originally posted at The Digital Home

Yahoo Messenger 10 beta is no more. At least not the "beta" part. This week, Yahoo gave the version 10 beta its stamp of approval, pulling away the "beta" marker and replacing Yahoo Messenger 9 with Yahoo Messenger 10 on Yahoo's download page.

For those using version 9 or below, Yahoo Messenger 10 adds a slew of design enhancements that draw out the chat app's social-networking side and video calls. If you're already using Yahoo Messenger 10 beta, you should be prompted to download a fresh version of Yahoo Messenger 10, but you won't see new goodies pop up since the beta was first introduced last August.

Check out screenshots of the Yahoo Messenger 10 features in this gallery before you download--the images are for the 10 beta, but they still apply. Pay close attention to our installation advice before you download; choose "Custom," not the default, if you'd rather avoid all of Yahoo's installation "perks," like the Yahoo Toolbar.
Yahoo Messenger 10 beta--screenshots

If you're not ready to make the jump, there's no hurry yet. Yahoo will currently continue to support Yahoo Messenger 9.
Originally posted at The Download Blog

eBay Motors founder Simon Rothman announced on Monday that he has officially launched a new e-commerce site, Glyde.

According to the press release, Glyde's goal "is to democratize e-commerce." The site was born out of Rothman's desire to make it easier for Web users to buy and sell products online.

But Glyde throws in a twist. The site's marketplace is designed for Web users to sell used goods. They can sell books, CDs, DVDs, and video games.

"The average American household has $3,000 worth of unwanted media collecting dust," Rothman said in a statement. "We built a service that makes buying and selling a used DVD as simple as trading a share of Disney stock. It's the NASDAQ for physical goods."

It's an interesting take on what Glyde is all about. But after using the site for awhile, I would agree that it does make it extremely easy to buy and sell goods.
Glyde

Glyde lets you search for DVDs, CDs, Games, or books.
(Credit: Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNET)

Glyde's design is extremely simple. If you decide you want to buy some products, you can flip through the listing of available inventory, pick what you want, and learn more about it by clicking on it without much trouble. Unlike sites like Amazon or eBay, which deliver you to a product's individual page listing, Glyde displays the listing over the search results. When you're done looking at it, simply click the "X" at the top right of the panel and you'll be returned to your spot in the results.

Placed prominently on all product pages is a "Buy Now" button. Users have the option of buying a used copy of the product from a seller or a new copy.
Glyde

Glyde shows off a product listing.
(Credit: Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNET)

Glyde's buying process isn't all that unique. It's standard fare. And even though it offers discounted pricing, I just don't think it competes well against Amazon's Marketplace or eBay. Those sites have far more products, competitive pricing, and simpler checkout processes. Unless Glyde can improve upon that, it might have a problem.

But it's Glyde's selling side that will probably appeal most to users. The site makes it incredibly simple to sell products. Users need only to list the product, set a sales price, and wait for someone to buy. Once they do, Glyde sends them a prestamped, preaddressed mailer. Sellers need to insert the item they're selling into the mailer and place it in their mailbox. Once the buyer receives the product, the funds are deposited into the seller's account, less the cost of the mailer and Glyde's fee, which is 10 percent of the sales price.

Even better, those selling products on Glyde can opt for the proceeds to go to the charity of their choice. It's a nice option.

Glyde provides a simple, efficient e-commerce solution. But by taking on giants eBay and Amazon in the used-goods market, it will be difficult for the company to stay relevant and capture significant market share.

When Microsoft launched its mobile app store last month, Windows Marketplace for Mobile was only available for Windows phones running operating system 6.5. Although highly anticipated among users, the execution of the app store nevertheless put Microsoft on wobbly competitive footing. Here was Microsoft, a year and a half behind Apple on producing an app store, and the company had already dropped a boulder on its big toe by limiting the storefront to its brand-new operating system, which a bulk of its users didn't have.

Thankfully, Redmond seems to have recovered, and on Monday, Microsoft opened up its Marketplace app to more Windows phones. If yours runs version 6.0 or 6.1 of the operating system, you can now download the free Marketplace application by sending yourself a link from Microsoft's Web site.

Microsoft boasts approving more than 800 applications for Windows Marketplace for Mobile as of November 16, a little over a month after launching the digital storefront. But the figure pales in comparison to Apple's announcement of its 100,000 app milestone just two weeks before. Microsoft's has some serious work to do if it wants to attract more developers and attempt to reach Apple's benchmark. Making the Marketplace available to more users is a necessary first step.

Related: Microsoft opens online mobile Marketplace
Originally posted at The Download Blog

Mozilla's homegrown tool for synchronizing Firefox across computers and devices graduates to beta and introduces incremental syncing and a more streamlined, less obtrusive experience. Mozilla Weave 1.0 beta 1 looks and feels far more polished than its predecessors.

Weave integrates smoothly into the Firefox options pane.

It does away with the "about:weave" access to the add-on's configuration pane, better handles Firefox preference integration when syncing for the first time, adds an automatic on-demand sync for when changes are detected and should more comprehensively sync history. This first beta also fixes a problem that the previous Weave v0.8 had when connecting via Fennec 1.0 beta 5.

However, Weave still has numerous problems. It conflicts with many add-ons, including AdBlock Plus, one of Firefox's most popular. The new incremental sync transfers data in chunks, so you can still use the browser, but it also prioritizes the first sync based on "interestingness." This amounts to syncing the data that you use most first, but it means that an initial sync could take hours depending on how much data you have. Weave is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux users.
Originally posted at The Download Blog

Just because there's a recession, it doesn't mean you can't find your dream job. So allow me to direct your boundless ambition toward an ad on Craigslist's Calgary site.
While many people scour Craigslist to see if Starbucks or Bed, Bath and Beyond might be seeking additions to their cheery teams, the poster of this ad is searching for an altogether more adventurous type, proudly announcing "Astronaut Needed (Northern Alberta)." Is that the cough of a million scoffs I hear? Perhaps. But this is truly an interesting opportunity, to say the least. Just look at the first, enticing sentence of the ad: "Astronaut needed for experimental flight to Titan."
Perhaps you might be concerned that this ad was not, in fact, placed by NASA. Please, let me put your mind into horizontal mode. The advertiser assures all applicants that he has been "working on this project for near 40 years." Indeed, the only reason he is seeking an Armstrong for his flight is that he himself seems to have weaker limbs now that the years have passed.
You might also be wondering what kind of craft will shuttle you into orbit. Well, again, I can be your Xanax. The advertiser declares that his secret craft is "the result of my professional experience and imagination while serving the U.S. military in advanced aeronautics as a scientist." You see, this man is a veritable expert in his field. This spaceship enjoys "a revolutionary propulsion system and its fuselage is fabricated with the most advanced material."

Surely, you can have no more concerns. Surely, you are ready to reply to this advertisement, beaming at the idea that you will soon be beamed into the great beyond. Well, in the interests of full disclosure, let me draw your attention to some of the finer details. In the advertiser's own persuasive and humane words: "I am certain you will make it safely to Titan but there will not be enough fuel to get home. This is for someone unique that has always wanted to see the universe first-hand and has perhaps a terminal view on life here at home. Here's your shot at romantic history."
Yes, that's right. You won't be coming back. At all. Ever. So perhaps you might want to check what the nightlife is like on Titan. Because that might be the only way you could really create romantic history.
Should I have failed to deter you from applying for your life's (and death's) dream, do note that the job specs declare that you should be no taller than 5 feet 10 inches and "relatively slim." One imagines that any appearances in a Ralph Lauren advertisement might enhance your chances of being chosen.
Oh, and the advertiser also requires that you should be "mentally sound."

Are Microsoft and Google hoping to get into Twitter's treasure trove of real-time information? Yes, says Kara Swisher of AllThingsD, citing sources who indicate that the two companies are separately in talks with Twitter about data licensing deals.
This would involve the exchange of several million dollars plus a revenue-share to "compensate Twitter for its huge and potentially valuable trove of real-time and content-sharing information, generated from the data stream of billions of tweets of its 54 million monthly users," Swisher wrote.
What's unclear is whether either deal will actually come to fruition. More concrete is the likelihood that Twitter won't strike any exclusive deals, considering the company is (according to Swisher) "seeking to create a large open platform, which many could plug into, from search engines to marketers to publishers to developers."
Twitter, which just raised about $100 million at a valuation somewhere in the neighborhood of $1 billion, doesn't have a significant revenue stream in place yet. It's slated to launch a premium-services package later this year, but big search-data deals with the likes of Microsoft and Google could be a significant additional source of cash.
Something that could be complicated for Microsoft, should it choose to pursue this opportunity with Twitter: It has a stake in Facebook, which has been making moves to make its own stash of real-time information--potentially far richer than Twitter's, with 300 million active users posting links, photos, status messages, and what-have-you--more searchable and open. Facebook has gone a long way from keeping all its content behind a log-in wall, but Twitter still wins in the openness category.
A recent minor product launch from Facebook, the "Gross National Happiness" app, illustrates this by using keywords in status message content to track how "happy" the Facebook population is on a given day.

Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) is a subsidiary of the Indian Railways that handles the catering, tourism and online ticketing operations of the railways.
Contents 1 Services,1.1 Catering,1.2 Online ticketing,1.3 Tourism,2 Awards and achievements,3 References,4 External links,Services
Catering
IRCTC is in charge of catering services on trains and railway stations across India. Depending on the distance covered by the train and average passenger load factor, the railways either equips trains with their own pantry cars or provides meals at select stations en route.
Online ticketing
IRCTC is better known for changing the face of railway ticketing in India. It pioneered Internet-based rail ticket booking through its website, as well as from mobile phones via GPRS or SMS. Ticket cancellations or modifications can also be done online. In addition to E-tickets, IRCTC also offers I-tickets that are basically like regular tickets except that they are booked online and delivered by post.
Commuters on Mumbai's suburban railway can also book season tickets through the IRCTC website.
IRCTC has also recently launched a loyalty program called "Shubh Yatra" for frequent travellers. Through this program, passengers can avail of discounts on all tickets booked round the year by paying an upfront annual fee.[1]
Tourism
IRCTC also organizes budget and deluxe package tours for domestic and foreign tourists. A popular tourism package for budget tourists covering important tourist destination across India is Bharat Darshan.[2] Luxury tourism packages are also available, that involve special luxury trains such as:
Palace on Wheels
Royal Orient Express
Golden Chariot
Deccan Odyssey
Royal Rajasthan on Wheels
One may log on to Rail Tourism India.[3] and book Rail Tour Package, Holiday Package, Hotels, Cabs, Tourist Trains online.
Apart from conventional tourism, IRCTC also offers adventure tourism packages that include water sports, adventure and wildlife treks, etc. A provision for customising tours as per specific requirements is also an added attraction.
Awards and achievements

Within a short span of its going online, the IRCTC website had become the largest and the fastest growing e-commerce website in the Asia-Pacific region, with about six lakh registered users in 2003.[4]
Some of the other awards won by IRCTC are:
Awarded the National Tourism Award of Excellence by Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India.
Awarded the National Award for E-Governance, 2007-08 jointly by Department of IT, Govt. of India and Govt. of Haryana.
Awarded the Genius of the Web Award 2007 for being the "Best E-Governance PSU Site" by CNBC.
IRCTC Tourism Unit of West Zone declared winner for the category Best Value Leisure Product in Travel and Tourism Fair of India (TTF & OTM 2008) held in Mumbai from 9 to 11 February 2008.
Won National award for E-Governance for being "Best Citizen Centric Application" for the year 2007-08.
IRCTC Tourism Unit declared winner for the category Most Innovative Product in Travel and Tourism Fair of India (TTF & OTM 2007) held in Mumbai from 10 to 12 February 2007.
Won CSI-Nihilent E-Governance award for "Best E-Governance Project" in 2007.
Won the ICICI Bank Retail Excellence Award in 2005.
Won Path Breaker Award from Dataquest in 2003 and 2004.

IRCTC website

Twitter may have finally found a way to monetize the billions of "tweets" its users send, thanks to potential agreements under which the social networking site would license Google and Microsoft to integrate those tweets in their search engines.
Microsoft and Google are reportedly in advanced negotiations with Twitter to license that company's live tweet feeds on a real-time basis, according to a Thursday report in The Wall Street Journal's All Things Digital blog, which can be read by clicking here.

And because of Yahoo's recent agreement to partner with Microsoft on search engines, Yahoo could potentially take advantage of any Microsoft agreement with Twitter, wrote Kara Swisher in the blog post.

While Twitter has its own search engine, it is currently not tied to other search engines. Swisher wrote that Twitter would be hard-pressed to expand its search capabilities to compete with Microsoft or Google.

It also is possible that neither Microsoft nor Google would finalize an agreement with Twitter, Swisher also wrote.

Such an agreement could have huge implications for the ability of Google and Microsoft to expand their search engine capabilities. Getting an exact number of how many tweets are generated per day or per month is difficult, but Twitter is certainly one of the most heavily-visited sites on the Internet.

Complete, an online media company measuring online consumer behavior, ranked Twitter as the 38th-most visit site August 2009, with an estimated 23.6 million visits, up about 803 percent over August 2008.

While much of the information that is sent via the 140-character tweets is mundane, Twitter users are also quick to tweet about events as they happen. This includes events spanning everything from major breaking news, such as a riot or flood, to breaking product or company news, making the real-time Twitter feed valuable to Microsoft or Google search engines.

However, even the mundane items, if data is mined properly, are valuable to search engines. Marketers, for instance, could use the Twitter feeds to check the status of a marketing campaign, or gain a sense of what Twitter users think about an event.