I scream, you scream, we all scream for iGoogle social!

8/12/2009 12:00:00 PM

We launched iGoogle in 2005 as a way for people to quickly and easily personalize their Google experience with all the information on the web that was most useful to them. Now tens of millions of people choose to use their iGoogle homepage to check email, track the news, watch videos, chat with friends and much more. Today, we're pleased to tell you about the new social features that we're introducing to iGoogle.

First, we're excited to introduce social gadgets for iGoogle. Social gadgets let you share, collaborate and play games with your friends on top of all the things you can already do on your homepage. The 19 social gadgets we're debuting today offer many new ways to make your homepage more useful and fun. If you're a gaming fanatic, compete with others in Who has the biggest brain? or challenge your fellow Chess or Scrabble enthusiasts to a quick match. Stay tuned in to the latest buzz with media-sharing gadgets from NPR, The Huffington Post, and YouTube. To manage your day-to-day more efficiently, check things off alongside your friends with the social To-Do list gadget.

Your friends are able to see what you share or do in your social gadgets either by having the same gadgets on their homepages, or through a new feed called Updates. Updates can include your recently shared photo albums, your favorite comics strips, your travel plans for the weekend and more. To help you manage who you are sharing with, we've created a Friends group. You can add and edit friends in this group at any time. If you already have a Friends group within your Google Contacts, you'll be able to easily share with those friends on iGoogle as well. If you don't care to share, iGoogle's social features are optional and can be disabled on a gadget-to-gadget basis with just a few clicks.

It's developers who have really made iGoogle into the rich experience it is — growing our gadget directory to over 60,000 gadgets today — and we know iGoogle developers will help us quickly expand our collection of social gadgets. You can get information about how to build social gadgets for iGoogle on our developer site: code.google.com/igoogle.

We introduced these new social features recently to Australia users and are gradually rolling them out to users in the U.S. over the next week. Don't fret if you don't see your iGoogle page updated yet — just check back soon. The Google homepage has always been a place that connects people to information, and we're excited to now also be a place that connects people to each other. We hope these social gadgets make iGoogle an even more fun and personal homepage for you. You can learn more by checking out the video below.



Posted by Marissa Mayer, VP, Search Products & User Experience and Rose Yao, iGoogle Product Manager

How to transfer contacts from a Nokia to a Blackberry cellphone

Here’s the situation: just got a Blackberry 9000 and needs to transfer contacts from old Nokia N93.

Here’s the solution:

1. Using Nokia PC Suite, I synched Nokia mobile phone to either Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express (Windows Address Book). I’m really not a big fan of Microsoft Outlook so I never installed it on any of our computers / laptops. Outlook Express, however, is, I think, always installed in XP or Vista operating systems. So, in my case, I synched to Outlook Express. I’m not really sure but I think Outlook Express uses the Windows Address Book.
2. Using the Blackberry Desktop Manager, I synched from Windows Address Book to Blackberry Device. You have to select where to sync from using the Synchronization configuration window.
3. That’s it.

There are several solutions available in the Net and there’s this solution about exporting your contacts to CSV, import it your e-mail client or Gmail, export it to CSV, use ABC Amber Converter to convert the CSV file to an IPD file (this is the file where Blackberry holds its contacts) and restore the IPD file to your Blackberry device.

While this solution works, it’s not entirely accurate. The mobile phone number ends up being saved in the Notes field of your contact card. If someone calls or sends you SMS, you won’t know who called or sent.

The Windows Address Book sync approach, on the other hand, (more?) accurately saves the mobile number to the appropriate Blackberry contact field. In fact, in the Blackberry Desktop Manager, you can select which Windows Address Book fields map to which Blackberry contact fields.

Eclipses during the year 2009 in Pakistan.

There will be Six eclipses, two solar (of the sun) and four lunar (of the moon) during the year 2009. Two eclipses will be visible in Pakistan. The circumstances of the eclipses are as follows: -

1. Annular Eclipse of the SUN – Monday 26^th January 2009

(Not Visible in Pakistan)

The first Solar eclipse of the year 2009 occurs at the Moon’s ascending mode in Western Capricorn us. An Annular eclipse will be visible from Indian Ocean and Western Indonesia. A partial eclipse will be visible from Africa, Madagascar, Australia except Tasmania, southern India, Southeast Asia and Indonesia. It will NOT be visible from Pakistan.

Hrs : Mts

Eclipse begins Annular phase begins	04 : 57 UT 06 : 05 UT
Greatest annular eclipse	07 : 29 UT
Annular phase ends	08 : 53 UT
Eclipse ends	11 : 01 UT

Magnitude of greatest Eclipse= 0.9282

2. Penumbral Eclipse of the MOON – Monday 09^th February 2009

(Partially Visible in Pakistan for a very short time)

It is the deepest penumbral eclipse of the year 2009. It will be easily visible to the naked eye as a dusky shading in the northern half of the Moon. It will be visible from Eastern Canada, USA, Alaska, Hawaii, Australia, or East Asia.

Hrs : Mts

Penumbral Eclipse begins	12 : 39 UT
Greatest Eclipse	14 : 38 UT
Penumbral Eclipse Ends	16 : 38 UT
Penumbral magnitude=0.899

3. Penumbral Eclipse of the MOON – Tuesday 07^th July 2009

(Not Visible in Pakistan)

The Penumbral eclipse of the Moon on 07^th July 2009 only visible from most of Canada, America and Australia. It is so minor as to be completely invisible to the naked eye.

Hrs : Mts

Penumbral Eclipse begins	08 : 33 UT
Greatest Eclipse	09 : 19 UT
Penumbral Eclipse Ends	10 : 44 UT

Penumbral Magnitude=0.156

4. Total Eclipse of the SUN – Wednesday 22^nd July 2009

(Visible in Pakistan)

The total eclipse of the Sun is visible from India, China, Japanese island and the South Pasific Ocean. The partial eclipse will be visible from eastern Asia, Indonesia and Pasific Ocean.

Hrs : Mts

Eclipse begins Total eclipse begins	23 : 58 UT 00 : 53 UT
Greatest Eclipse	02 : 35 UT
Total eclipse end	04 : 18 UT
Eclipse ends	05 : 12 UT

Eclipse Magnitude=1.0799

5. Penumbral Eclipse of the MOON – Thursday 06^th August 2009

(Visible in Pakistan)

It will be visible from the most part of Europe, Africa and South America. It will be not visible to the naked eye. It will be partially visible in Pakistan at time of Moon set.

Hrs : Mts

Penumbral Eclipse begins	23 : 01 UT
Greatest Eclipse	00 : 39 UT
Penumbral Eclipse Ends	02 : 17 UT

Penumbral Magnitude=0.4276

6. Partial Eclipse of the MOON – Thursday 31^st December 2009

(Visible in Pakistan)

It will be best visible from the northern Canada, Alaska, Australia, Indonesia, Asia, Africa, Europe and the Artic regions. It will also be visible from Pakistan.

Hrs : Mts

Partial eclipse begins	18 : 52 UT
Greatest eclipse	19 : 23 UT
Partial eclipse ends	19 : 54 UT

Eclipse magnitude=1.0808

Home Made Masks For Hair

Egg, Honey And Olive Oil Mask

These three things are easily available at home. Mix all of them and store it in a bottle. Apply them on your hair for 30 minutes and cover your head with shower cap. Wash it with some light or herbal shampoo after 30 minutes. This mask will make your hair strong and it will give the outstanding shine to your hair.

Coconut Cream Mask

Massage your head and hair with coconut cream or if its not available then use coconut oil. Wrap your hair with hot towel and wash it after one hour.

Egg Mask

This mask is good for dull hair. Beat 2 eggs and add 2 tbsp water and 2 tbsp mustard oil in it. Mix it well and apply it on your hair. Wash it with shampoo after 30 minutes.

Banana Mask

You can eat banana and you can also apply it on your hair. It is good in both ways. In one egg mix banana and honey and 3tbsp milk and 5 tbsp olive oil. Apply this for half an hour and first wash it with water and then shampoo.

Yogurt Mask

Add yogurt in egg white and beat it. Apply this for half an hour and then wash.

Almond And Soft Banana Mask

This mask is for dry hair and it is very effective especially in winters. Don’t throw soft bananas, use them in making this mask. Grind the almonds and mix them in mashed banana and 2tbsp of any oil which you use. Apply it and wash it after 1 hour.

Orange Mask

If you need a quick shine then take an orange juice, honey and sandal oil, mix it and store it in some bottle and use it whenever you want.

How to Enjoy Unexpected Guests

Enjoy Unexpected Guests

Entertaining is fun, but many people take it too seriously. Formal entertaining requires time and preparation, but when guests arrive unexpectedly, the rules go out the window. Still, if you can stay calm and improvise, you can enjoy even unexpected guests.

1. Step 1

   Be polite. You may not have invited them, but your guests have arrived. Bad manners will only make an awkward situation more uncomfortable. Put on your host hat and get to work. Invite those guests into your home and make them feel welcome. You can worry about their manners at showing up uninvited later.

2. Step 2

   Allow yourself to be entertained. Guests who arrive unexpectedly usually have their own agenda. Let your guests entertain you with news they may have brought. If their agenda isn't obvious, wait for it. Allow your uninvited guests to carry the conversation. This may give you a clue as to why they stopped by in the first place.

3. Step 3

   Relax. Expectations are low for a host who wasn't anticipating company. You needn't rush around to prepare food and tidy up when guests arrive unexpectedly. When you're a host by default, you just have to roll with it. Offer your guests whatever you were planning to eat yourself. If there's not enough, it will be an obvious hint that they shouldn't stay long.

4. Step 4

   Share your hosting duties. Once you settle into the idea of entertaining these people who just dropped by, get them involved in the act. Preparing food can be a fun and social activity. Bring your guests into the kitchen while you prepare a meal or snack and give them jobs. Someone can open a bottle of juices while another cuts some apples and cheese. You'll have time to run upstairs and change your clothes while the snacks are being prepared.