One of the latest additions to Gravity is the Google Reader integration. That’s right! Our favorite Twitter app for Symbian can now receive and manage updates for Google Reader. Go watch it in action.

Screenshot of Gravity with Google Reader

Your feeds can be shared on Delicious, Instapaper, Read-it-Later, or Twitter. You can also add to favorites or open the link in your web browser. Searching feeds also find all the posts that contains your entered text.

Below is a short demo of Google Reader on the Nokia N97 Mini.

In related news, build 6365 update was just released for Gravity. One of the many reasons we like this app so much is that it is constantly updated for new features and bug fixes. It was just a few days ago when build 6358 was released.

New to 6365:

• Foursquare: Badges, history, silent check-in
• Read it Later
• Google Reader cached
• User Profile image upload
• Fixed: GPS handling: several crash-bugs

(Click on the image to enlarge it… )

For example, did you know that the first “portable” computer weighed 25 kg (55 lb) and cost close to $20,000, that the first laser printer was big enough to fill up most of a room, or that you basically had to build the first Apple computer yourself?

This article takes a look at the time when the computer equipment we now take for granted was invented and what it looked like back then.

The first computer mouse

The first computer mouse was invented in 1963 by Douglas Engelbart at the Stanford Research Institute. (He is also one of the inventors of hypertext.) The first mouse used two wheels positioned at a 90-degree angle to each other to keep track of the movement (see picture below). The ball mouse wasn’t invented until 1972, and the optical mouse was invented circa 1980 although it didn’t come to popular use until much later.

Douglas Engelbart never received any royalties for his invention and his patent had run out by the time the mouse became commonplace in the era of home PCs.

Above: The first mouse. To the right you can see the wheels it used for movement and positioning.

The first trackball

The trackball was actually invented 11 years BEFORE the mouse, in 1952. It was invented by Tom Cranston and Fred Longstaff as part of a computerized battlefield information system called DATAR, initiated by the Canadian Navy. It used a standard five-pin bowling ball as its trackball, which is smaller than the more common 10-pin bowling ball.

Above: The first trackball, bowling ball and all.

The first portable computer

Well, perhaps that should be “movable” computer… The IBM 5100 Portable Computer was introduced in 1975, weighed 25 kg (55 lb), was the size of a small suitcase and needed external power to operate. It held everything in the same unit, packing in a processor, ROM (several hundreds of KB) and RAM (16-64 KB), a five-inch CRT display, keyboard and a tape drive, which was an amazing feat at the time. It also came with built-in BASIC and/or APL. The different models of the IBM 5100 sold for $8,975 – $19,975.

Above: The IBM 5100 Portable Computer.

The first laptop computer

The first laptop computer (or notebook) was the Grid Compass 1100 (called the GRiD) and was designed in 1979 by a British industrial designer, Bill Moggridge. The computer didn’t start selling until 1982, then featuring a 320×200 screen, an Intel 8086 processor, 340 KB of magnetic bubble memory (a now obsolete, non-volatile memory type) and a 1200 bps modem. It weighed 5 kg (11 lb) and cost $8-10,000. The GRiD was mainly used by NASA and the US military.

Above left: Closeup of the Grid Compass 1100. Above right: NASA astronaut posing with the GRiD in space (that’s Spock on the screen.)

The first IBM PC

The IBM Personal Computer was introduced in 1981 as the IBM 5150. The platform became so pervasive in the 80s that although the term “personal computer” had been in use since the early 70s, a PC became synonymous with an IBM PC-compatible computer.

During its development, the IBM 5150 had been internally referred to as “Project Chess” and was created by a team of 12 people headed by Don Estridge and Larry Potter. To speed up development and cut costs, IBM had decided to use off-the-shelf parts, something that they normally wouldn’t do.

The first IBM PC had an Intel 8088 processor, 64 KB of RAM (extendible to 256 KB), a floppy disk drive (which could be used to boot the computer with a rebranded version of MS-DOS (PC-DOS)) and a CGA or monochrome video card. The machine also had a version of Microsoft BASIC in ROM. On the first IBM PC the optional 10 MB hard disk drive could only be installed if the original power supply was replaced (the original one was too weak).

Above: The first IBM Personal Computer, the IBM 5150.

The first Apple computer

The first Apple personal computers (Apple I) were designed and hand-built by Steve Wozniak. The Apple I went on sale in 1976 for the price of $666.66. Only about 200 units were produced. The Apple I was basically just a motherboard with a processor, a total of 8KB of RAM, a display interface and some additional functionality. To have a working computer, the buyer would have to add a power supply, a keyboard and a display (and a case to keep mount it all in).

Above left: An Apple I computer. Above right: This was the Apple I, essentially a motherboard.

The first RAM

Arguably the first (writable) random access memory was Magnetic Core Memory (also called Ferrite-Core Memory) and was invented in 1951 as a result of work done by An Wang at Harvard University’s Computation Lab and Jay Forrester at MIT.

Core memory was a family of related technologies that used the magnetic properties of materials to give them a similar functionality to transistors. They stored their information using the polarity of tiny, magnetic ceramic rings with wires threaded through them. Unlike today’s RAM, core memory could keep its information even after the power was turned off.

Core memory was common until it was replaced by integrated silicon RAM chips in the 1970s. The “core” in core memory is why a memory dump is called a “core dump” even today.

Above left: Closeup of core memory. Above right: The core memory plane in the picture is 16×16 cm (6.3×6.3 inches), holding 128×128 bits (2048 byte).

The first hard disk drive

The IBM Model 350 Disk File was the first hard disk drive and was part of the IBM 305 RAMAC computer that IBM started delivering in 1956 (mainly intended for business accounting). It had 50 24-inch discs that together could store about 4.4 MB of data. The Model 350 spun at 1200 rpm, had a data transfer rate of 8,800 characters per second and an access time of approximately one second.

Above: The first hard disk drive, IBM Model 350.

The first laser printer

The laser printer was invented by Gary Starkweather at XEROX in 1969. His initial prototype was a modified laser copier where he had disabled the imaging system and introduced a spinning drum with eight mirrored sides. The first commercial implementation of a laser printer didn’t happen until IBM released the IBM model 3800 in 1976. It could pretty much fill up a room on its own.

Above: The IBM 3800, the first commercial laser printer.

The first web server

And since the Web is such an integral part of today’s computer experience, we couldn’t help but include another first: The first web server was a NeXT workstation that Tim Berners-Lee used when he invented the World Wide Web at CERN. The first web page was put online on August 6, 1991.

The computer had a note on it that said, “This machine is a server. DO NOT POWER IT DOWN!!” Understandable, considering that if you had shut it down in the early days you would have shut down the entire WWW.

Above: The web server that powered the first web pages on the WWW. Note the sticker with the warning to not turn it off.

It’s amazing how much has happened in the PC industry in just a few decades. Just imagine what things will be like 30-40 years from now…

Article Source

However a very talented person who goes by the alias spadival has managed to create a pipe on Yahoo using Yahoo India Maps to get driving directions for India. Click here to read more about pipes.You can find the pipe created by spadival here.

Now what this pipe does is, it uses Yahoo Maps India to search for directions which are fed into the “from” and “to” fields and gives an output on the map. The best part is that the output can also be saved as a kml file which can be loaded to the phone running MG Maps and then the application loads the file and the way-points are show on the phone.

Here is a detailed “how to” on plotting your route in advance, sending it to the phone and then taking it up from there:

• Go the pipe by clicking here.

• Fill in the fields of “From” and “To” and run the pipe.

You will be presented with a result on the map and the details of way-points will be shown under the map (I’ll stick to Jalandhar and Shimla as in my earlier post).

• Click “more options” and select “Get as kml”

• Save the file on the computer

• Now you can transfer the file to your phone. You can make a separate folder in the memory card eg. mgmaps and save the file in the folder

• Start MG Maps and select “services” and then click on “View KML” and select “Open file”.

• You will be presented with an option to manually type the file name or browse for it. Unfortunately the browse feature doesn’t load the file so you have to type it in manually and select “load kml”. Don’t forget to type in the maximum no of place you want to display. In case the no of way points in the kml file exceed this limit they won’t be shown on MG Maps.

• Now you will be presented with the list of way-points. Just select the first way-point and in the options menu select “Center Map”.

• Success, You can see the way-points on the map.

• Clicking the center/ select button will open a detail of the way point and you go to the next way-point by pressing 3 and the previous way-point by pressing 1.

This still might not be a perfect navigation solution as it still doesn’t highlight the route and it also doesn’t have voice directions. I’d still say its the best free navigation solution I’ve been able to find for India.

Try it and tell me how it worked for you?

The Papua New Guinea jungle has given up one of its darkest secrets – the systematic slaughter of every male baby born in two villages to prevent future tribal clashes.

By virtually wiping out the ‘male stock’, tribal women hope they can avoid deadly bow-and-arrow wars between the villages in the future.

‘Babies grow into men and men turn into warriors,’ said Rona Luke, a village wife who is attending a special ‘peace and reconciliation’ meeting in the mountain village of Goroka.

‘It’s because of the terrible fights that have brought death and destruction to our villages for the past 20 years that all the womenfolk have agreed to have all new-born male babies killed,’ said Mrs Luke.

‘The women have had enough of men engaging in tribal conflicts and bringing misery to them.’

The sensational claims recall the Biblical story of the Old Testament pharaoh who ordered all midwives to kill Israelite baby boys because he wanted to ensure there were never enough young men to fight in an army against the Egyptians.

Mrs Luke said that the village women agreed that if they stopped producing males, allowing only female babies to survive, their tribe’s stock of boys would go down and there would be no men in future to fight.

A resident of Agibu village, Mrs Luke said she did not know how many male babies were killed by being smothered, but it had happened to all males over a 10 year period – and she suggested it was still happening.

Choking back tears she added: ‘It’s a terrible, unbearable crime, but the women had to do it.

‘The women have really being forced into it as it’s the only means available to them as women to bring an end to tribal fights.’

Confirming the shocking infanticide claims, Mrs Kipiyona Belas from the rival Amosa village, told a newspaper that getting food for their families was difficult because husbands were fighting other tribes with bows-and- arrows and spears.

Often the men did not come back, having been killed on the ‘battle field’, usually a clearing in the jungle.

Now, with the help of the Salvation Army and the initiative of local Pastor Michael Hemuno, the tribal women hope the slaughter of babies can end and those men who are still warriors will lay down their weapons and talk peace.

‘We are trying to get them to live peacefully and end all the deaths of young and old,’ said Pastor Hemuno.

Tribal fighting in the region of Gimi, in the country’s Eastern Highlands, has been going on since 1986, many of the clashes arising over claims of sorcery.

Papua New Guinea tribes, who dress up in warrior paint and feathered finery for special occasions, are strong believers in sorcery and often blame their enemies for bringing about deaths through witchcraft.

Adobe Reader, Adobe Acrobat and Adobe Acrobat 3D can be prevented from updating using a simple registry entry in your windows.

1. Copy the code that is given below into notepad and save it with extension *.reg

For Adobe Reader 7.0 and Adobe Acrobat 7.0:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Acrobat Reader\7.0\FeatureLockdown] “bUpdater”=dword:00000000 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat\7.0\FeatureLockdown] “bUpdater”=dword:00000000

For Adobe Reader 8.0 and Adobe Acrobat 8.0

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Adobe\Acrobat Reader\8.0\FeatureLockdown] “bUpdater”=dword:00000000 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat\8.0\FeatureLockdown] “bUpdater”=dword:00000000

2. After you have created the *.reg, import this into your Windows Registry.

You can also created these entries manually to Windows registry by using regedit command in the Windows Run dialog.

Note: Disabling automatic updates may leave your computer running Adobe products vulnerable to security breaches. Use it at your own risk.

I am not sure about the authenticity of this error but still it looks funny. What comes to your mind when you see this?

So What is the Problem ?

The main problem that now a days orkut has been banned in many of the corporate offices and other institutions due to which people are not able to access orkut.

So people use various proxies like..

1. http://www.jumboproxy.net
2. http://www.kproxy.com/

But normally these “servers are overloaded with chunks of traffic please try after sometime“.

“So today i am going to tell how we can access orkut with proxy but without using any of the above proxy servers”

In order to access blocked or restricted orkut without using any proxy servers you need a proxy or anonymous program like JAP(JAP — ANONYMITY & PRIVACY).

How JAP Works ?
It acts as a local proxy between the browser and the insecure Internet. All web pages requested by the browser go directly to JAP, and are multiply encrypted and request goes through a mix cascade being formed by the user itself.

Note: In short it makes your system to act as a proxy server for you.

How To Do Use JAP to Access Orkut:

1. Firstly download JAP from here and install it.

2. Disable the windows firewall Control Panel>>Windows Firewall (Select the OFF option to disable the firewall ) or disable any other firewall if installed on your system.

Note: If you don’t have any firewall ignore the step 2.

3. Start JAP and Complete Start Up wizard by first selecting the language.

3.1 Now click next and select the green option among the radio buttons in the next two upcoming screens.

3.2 Now just click next and next to simply end the wizard.

4. Configuring your browsers

4.1 For Internet Explorer

a) In Menu Bar of IE, Go To Tools>Internet Options and click the Connections Tab.

b) Click Lan Settings and Select the Check box which says “Use a Proxy server for your Lan” and Enter the follwing info in the boxes.

c) Address: 127.0.0.1 , Port: 4001

d) Click ok.
4.2 For Firefox

a)Go to the menu bar “Tools”, choose the submenu “Options”. The settings window will open. Choose the “Advanced” category and then the tab “Network”

b) To change the proxy server, click on the “Settings…” button. In the new window that opens, choose “Manual proxy configuration”. Activate “Use this proxy server for all protocols” and enter “127.0.0.1″ as the server and “4001″ as the port (without the quotation marks).

c) Click ok.

5. On the JAP Interface Click on the Services Drop Box.(As shown in the image below).

Note: This software allows to you to use Mix Cascades both ways by paying money and for free also so Don’t select cascades with cost as they will ask for money.

So Select any of the network in the Mix cascades without costs or Single Mixes and check the connectivity status(As shown Below the anonymity meter should be above ok or above it and if it is not try other network from the list).

6. Thats it. Done!

Now Open the Browser(IE Or FireFox) which you have configured previously and access orkut by simply entering the url www.orkut.com and it will be accessible with complete functionality .

Please Note:

“If you face any issues or problems in following the procedure or configuring the browsers or software to access the blocked sites leave a comment here I will answer your query asap.”

Well Ubuntu linux has got a good marketing poster for them.