Microsoft Soapbox to Shutdown

MSN will no longer offer Soapbox!! Soapbox was Microsoft's version of user generated video service and was also a part of MSN Video. Sadly it has met the grave and will be laid to rest on August 31, 2009. Microsoft Soapbox was considered to be the tech giant’s answer to Google’s most-popular video sharing service YouTube. The demise was announced via a formal e-mail a few minutes ago.

Microsoft hasn't completely backed out of the video sharing/streaming market though - as MSN Video will remain online. MSN Video gets roughly about 88 million unique visitors per month that translates to 480 million video streams a month. On the other hand Soapbox was getting a mere less than 5% of what MSN Video gets. So, it was quite obvious that the service need to be shut down. Hope Soapbox videos don't get listed on Irish buy and sell web site.

From 29th July 2009, users will NOT be able to upload any videos onto Soapbox and those folks who have uploaded videos earlier into their Soapbox account will have time until August 31, 2009 to download them. So maybe you need to download and upload onto youtube for greater prosperity!! I feel that the folks at Microsoft should have given an easy option for the SoapBox users to directly send the videos onto their MSN Videos account.

UnPacking the HP Officejet Pro 8500 Wireless All-in-One Printer

Last week I received a very unusual package – guess what? It was a brand new HP Officejet Pro 8500 Wireless All-in-One printer courtesy HP Imaging and Printing Group as well as their consultants Genesis Burson-Marsteller.

I received the unit to do my very own hands on assessment on how this printer performs and also answer the burning question “Is an Office Inkjet better than a Laser?”. I will be sharing with you folks a series of reviews over the coming weeks on each of it’s vast features. But even before that, I would like to clearly state that all my reviews on this product are entirely my OWN and are in NO way influenced by HP or it’s partners.

Having said that, lets begin unpacking the unit. I have created a small video of the entire unpacking exercise. Have a look at it below.

Some of the brief specs about the HP Officejet Pro 8500 are:

• Print capability of A4 duplex colour prints using inkjet features.
• High resolution 4800 x 2400ppi scanner.
• Integrated plain paper Fax.
• Print DPI quality of an amazing 4,800 x 2,400 dpi.
• Supports Wireless operation using WiFi.
• USB 2.0 connectivity.
• Computer-less copy/print operation both in B/W and color.
• Supports direct use of multiple data cards like SD, MMC, etc.
• Supports PictBridge operations.
• Sports a very large 250-sheet paper tray.

During the coming days I will be posting on how I set up the printer and how well it performs in my SOHO (Small Office Home Office) setup. Stay tuned.

Free Online Computer Training Courses on YouTube

If you're looking for using free online video sharing websites, such as YouTube or Google Videos, for enhancing or honing your computer skills or simply to attend online training, then you're unquestionably in luck. On YouTube, you can find thousands, if not millions of video recordings that are available for you to view, often most of them are full length and also for free.

YouTube makes video viewing at ease. They do this by placing all the video recordings into several channels or categories. You will be able to easily find online video recordings by seeing the ones that are watched the most, the ones that have the most remarks and gossips or simply the ones that are rated the highest. Besides those categories, you'll as well find categories that break up videos into particular subject categories, based on the specific video content. The category that we will need to look up for particular is the Technology Category.

YouTube also has a channel that is labeled Science and Technology. The Science and Technology or Education videos often include videos that help you master on a specific configuration or use of a particular feature. The best thing online is that these video's are a shot from different parts of the globe. Popular video tutorials are mainly on Windows Technologies and I found the k alliance sub site on YouTube to be particularly useful..

As you might already know, the biggest reason why YouTube is so popular is because it's free. Yes, absolutely free. This signifies that you are able to not only view as many video recordings as you wish, without being forced to pay a thing, but you will be able to also produce and share your own. Though YouTube is free to utilize, they do request that you register with the website and that can be done with your existing gmail ID too. This registration is absolutely free of charge. In spite of being optional, the registration will render you access to other additional YouTube features, including the power to rate/comment videos that you've lately watched.

The above-named channels / categories are just a couple of the numerous that you will be able to find on YouTube. So make the best use of technology when you can easily get it for free!!

Complete List of ZooZoo Wallpapers and Free Screensaver

ZooZoo has become very popular nowadays. So many folks have become fans of these cartoonistic humans. So here are the list of Free ZooZoo Wallpapers.

Click on Wallpaper to Enlarge and Download

Also, here is the Free ZooZoo Screensaver.

You would also like to read this article : Vodafone ZooZoo Cartoon Ads: Are they real humans?

Vodafone ZooZoo Cartoon Ads: Are they real humans?

ZooZoo's are the new eye-catching and very funny looking creatures in the new Vodafone ads that are mostly screened during the current IPL matches. But little did anyone know that they were real human's that were acting the show and not some animated character's as most of us had previously thought off. ZooZoo have now become an icon for Vodafone. Fresh from the Vodafone's Ad inventory, these cute and pesky looking characters promote most of Vodafone's services in a very funny, quirky and laughable way.

ZooZoo's were conceptualized by the Ad agency O&M for the latest Vodafone Ad campaigns. ZooZoo characters though they look like animated characters are actually played by real people. The real people are dressed in white outfits. The sets have been constructed by shadows created by spray painting.

It seems that the production team divided the outfit into two separate parts - body and head. The body part of the outfit was stuffed with foam in some places, while the head was attached separately. To make it look bigger than a human head, a harder material called Perspex was used, which in turn was stuffed with foam (with scope for ventilation). Here's how they decided on the size of ZooZoo's head: a human head would typically reach up to the mouth level of this giant Zoozoo head. So the creators kept the hands and legs thin. Also, the cast comprised mostly of women – and occasionally children coz they fitted well into it. The thin limbs, contrasted with big bellies and a bulbous head, all add to the illusion that these creatures are ‘smaller’ than humans.

Sets were actually created to suit the size of the Zoozoos. Cinematically, ZooZoo's actual size was a trick: the creatures look smaller than they actually are on screen, this was done deliberately to portray a different world of sorts. For this, the speed of shooting was altered, it is originally shot in a high-speed format to make them look the size that they do and also make their movements look funny.

Also, another trick up the sleves of O&M was to use simple backdrops that were created and spray painted with neutral Greys – a colour of choice so that attention isn’t diverted from the ZooZoo's (main characters). And also for a supposedly ‘outdoor’ shot, even the shadow of a Zoozoo was kept ‘live’ and not done in post production: it was painted in a darker shade of grey on the ground!!. And an even lighting was maintained throughout. O&M claims that there was virtually no post production work done.

The films were shot by Nirvana Films in Cape Town, South Africa, with the help of a local production house there, called Platypus. Incidentally, the same combination of people also worked on the ‘Happy to Help’ series last year round for Vodafone.

Also there is a very cool ZooZoo community on Facebook which has thousands of fans(including me). The group has ZooZoo commercials that have been released so far, ZooZoo emoticons and also ‘Tag me’ application.

You can also watch all the ZooZoo Video's online here.

Are Training Videos really better than books?

For those who have a choice of actually ordering a training video or a book - the decision making calls for extreme thinking. For all those who are doing Microsoft Certification Courses like MSCE, MCAD, MCTS, etc or the various Cisco certification courses like CCNA there are umpteen number of choices and the most obvious ones come out to be a video training course or a book.

Books have traditionally been the matter of choice while preparing for exams, but do they really fit in when you want to take some competitive exams that really test your skills and ability to perform. I for once, doubt that having a mere bookish knowledge will not definitely help in any way.

Training Videos seem to be the best option in such situations. Videos show you the practicality of doing things and the demonstrations get easily registered in your mind. I recently checked out a website that specializes on a+ training videos. Well, these are very specially designed videos for each of the courses. Each video starts of with an introduction and a brief specifics on what is being covered in the video. You also have some really cool and interactive lab sessions designed in the video which simulate the actual workings of the topic - this helps a person easily register the session in his/her mind.

The player used in the videos have all the basic operations that you will find on the latest media players and you can at any time pause and then resume at a later point of time. I for once found the Bookmarking functionality to be very useful to bookmark important concepts that can be retouched later in time. Also, these videos come with a complete Course Map by which you can easily select specific topics to cover and finish them. The search functionality too helps you out - you can search by words or phrases.

You can take notes right away and also print the content for easy review and to study offline. Finally, you can congratulate yourself by printing a certificate of course completion. So, with so many possibilities - books will sure remain an impasse to these modern training videos.

Getting the best Video Production Services

How many times have you had a tough task to find a Video Production Service for that office event or your loved ones birthday or a party or just about some event for which you wanted professional video coverage of the event?

Well, you wait and time to get around and schedule it has become just a click away - For professional yet cost effective Video Production Services. Yes you can now at the click of your mouse arrange for some very professional coverage of corporate events like product launches, tv commercials, corporate video, etc. They also help you with 2D and 3D graphics, animation of logo, etc.

They have been in the business for well over 10 years and can easily help you with preparation of video, or getting a pack of PowerPoint slides arranged. They have such a stunning in-house team that has a recent credit of design a campaign that brought a client well over a million in sales.

Last but not the least they also help you in designing a very robust web 2.0 based website that is total cost-effective as well as good looking and much easier to work with. A new and revamped website can itself drive in lots and lots of sales. The design team sits with each of the client and proposes an optimal design before starting off. Also, a range of specialized CDs or DVDs can be printed for any occasion. So everything's just a click away!!

Now watch videos on YouTube in 720p High Definition (HD) quality for Free

YouTube recently launched an exclusive High Definition section for the US users. Users who have access to this section can watch the videos in 720p HD quality.

How YouTube has this working is when you happen to upload a video onto YouTube in HD quality - YouTube will automatically have a new buton called "Watch it in HD" just below the player's lower right hand corner. Currently you have a button called "watch it in high quality" in that space for a few videos. On clicking the "Watch it in HD" button, it expands the standard viewing window to 16 x 9 with a 1280 x 720 resolution for HD viewing.

Also, YouTube already says that users who would like to have their videos available in HD quality need to look at the videos' aspect ratio. Also, the new YouTube widescreen player will automatically add "pillarbox" bars to 4:3 videos, so if a video was already letterboxed to fit the 4:3 window, it will be doubly resized (that's a concern since it will surely create an unpleasant viewing experience).

Currently we are seeing that the HD resolution of 720p is fast becoming a standard among the online video sharing sites. Professional video content syndication web sites such as Hulu already offer HD as an option. Soon we'll have Netflix and Amazon video on-demand services to offer high definition through the browser as well. So this area is gonna be competitive!!

Indian Premier League (IPL) Complete Match Schedule

Indian Premier League will kick off on April 18 in Bangalore with the match between Bangalore and Kolkata. Mumbai will host the semifinals and the final, which is scheduled for June 1.

Below is the complete match schedule for the Indian Premier League (IPL).

April 18: Bangalore vs Kolkata at Bangalore
April 19: Mohali vs Chennai at Mohali and Delhi vs Jaipur at Delhi
April 20: Mumbai vs Bangalore at Mumbai; Kolkata vs Hyderabad at Kolkata
April 21: Jaipur vs Mohali at Jaipur
April 22: Hyderabad vs Delhi at Hyderabad
April 23: Chennai vs Mumbai at Chennai
April 24: Hyderabad vs Jaipur at Hyderabad
April 25: Mohali vs Mumbai at Mohali
April 26: Bangalore vs Jaipur at Bangalore; Chennai vs Kolkata at Chennai
April 27: Mumbai vs Hyderabad at Mumbai; Mohali vs Delhi at Mohali
April 28: Bangalore vs Chennai at Bangalore
April 29: Kolkata vs Mumbai at Kolkata
April 30: Delhi vs Bangalore at Delhi.
May 1: Hyderabad vs Mohali at Hyderabad; Jaipur vs Kolkata at Jaipur
May 2: Chennai vs Delhi at Chennai.
May 3: Hyderabad vs Bangalore at Hyderabad; Mohali vs Kolkata at Mohali
May 4: Mumbai vs Delhi at Mumbai; Jaipur vs Chennai at Jaipur
May 5: Bangalore vs Mohali at Bangalore
May 6: Chennai vs Hyderabad at Chennai
May 7: Mumbai vs Jaipur at Mumbai
May 8: Delhi vs Chennai at Delhi; Kolkata vs Bangalore at Kolkata
May 9: Jaipur vs Hyderabad at Jaipur
May 10: Bangalore vs Mumbai at Bangalore; Chennai vs Mohali at Chennai
May 11: Hyderabad vs Kolkata at Hyderabad; Jaipur vs Delhi at Jaipur
May 12: Mohali vs Bangalore at Mohali
May 13: Kolkata vs Delhi at Kolkata
May 14: Mumbai vs Chennai at Mumbai; Mohali vs Jaipur at Mohali
May 15: Delhi vs Hyderabad at Delhi
May 16: Mumbai vs Kolkata at Mumbai
May 17: Delhi vs Mohali at Delhi; Jaipur vs Bangalore at Jaipur
May 18: Hyderabad vs Mumbai at Hyderabad; Kolkata vs Chennai at Kolkata
May 19: Bangalore vs Delhi at Bangalore
May 20: Kolkata vs Jaipur at Kolkata
May 21: Mumbai vs Mohali at Mumbai; Chennai vs Bangalore at Chennai
May 22: Delhi vs Kolkata at Delhi
May 23: Mohali vs Hyderabad at Mohali.
May 24: Delhi vs Mumbai at Delhi; Chennai vs Jaipur at Chennai
May 25: Bangalore vs Hyderabad at Bangalore; Kolkata vs Mohali at Kolkata
May 26: Jaipur vs Mumbai at Jaipur
May 27: Hyderabad vs Chennai at Hyderabad
May 28 and 29: Rest days
May 30: First semi-final at Mumbai
May 31: Second semi-final at Mumbai
June 1: Final at Mumbai

IPL Teams Squads As Of Now (Will Update if any changes)

Delhi

Virender Sehwag (icon),
Daniel Vettori (US$ 625,000),
Shoaib Malik (US$ 500,000),
Mohammad Asif (US$ 650,000),
AB de Villiers (US$ 300,000),
Dinesh Karthik (US$ 525,000),
Farveez Maharoof (US$ 225,000),
Tillakaratne Dilshan (US$ 250,000)

Kolkata

Sourav Ganguly (icon),
Ishant sharma (US$ 950,000)
Shoaib Akhtar (US$ 425,000),
Ricky Ponting (US$ 400,000),
Brendon McCullum (US$ 700,000),
Chris Gayle (US$ 800,000),
Ajit Agarkar (US$ 330,000),
Murali kartik (US $425,000)

Mohali

Yuvraj Singh (icon),
Mahela Jayawardene (US$ 475,000),
Kumar Sangakkara (US$ 700,000),
Brett Lee (US$ 900,000),
Sreesanth (US$ 625,000),
Irfan Pathan (US$ 925,000)
Piyush Chawla (US $400,000)

Hyderabad

Adam Gilchrist (US$ 700,000),
Andrew Symonds (US$ 1.35 million),
Herschelle Gibbs (US$ 575,000),
Shahid Afridi (US$ 675,000),
Scott Styris (US$ 175,000)
R P Singh (US $875,000)

Bangalore

Rahul Dravid (icon),
Anil Kumble (US$ 500,000),
Jacques Kallis (US$ 900,000),
Zaheer Khan (US$ 450,000),
Mark Boucher (US$ 450,000),
Cameron White (US$ 500,000),
Makhaya ntini (US$ 200,000),
Nathan bracken (US$ 325,000. )
Dale Steyn (US$ 325,000)

Mumbai

Sachin Tendulkar (icon),
Sanath Jayasuriya (US$ 975,000),
Harbhajan Singh (US$ 850,000),
Shaun Pollock (US$ 550,000),
Lasith malinga (US$ 350,000)
Dilhara fernando (US$ $150,000)

Chennai

MS Dhoni (US$ 1.5 million),
Muttiah Muralitharan (US$ 600,00),
Matthew Hayden (US$ 375,000),
Jacob Oram (US$ 675,000),
Stephen Fleming (US$ 350,000),
Parthiv Patel (US$ 325,000),
Joginder Sharma (US$ 225,000),
Albie Morkel (US$ 650,000)

Jaipur

Shane Warne (US$ 450,000),
Graeme Smith (US$ 475,000),
Younis Khan (US$ 225,000),
Kamran Akmal (US$ 150,000),
Munaf Patel (US$ 275,000)
Yusuf (US$ 475,000)

Click here to know how to Watch Cricket matches LIVE online for free

CNN IBN :: The Coolest news channel :: Live Streaming Feed for free

Rajdeep Sardesai has been a name to reckon with in Journalism for the past decade.The blue-eyed boy of NDTV raised a few eyebrows when he left them to start his own news channel.Few could have foreseen that he would tie up with one of the best news channels in the world and give even the best a run for his money.

Rajdeep says that his channel is built on the age old ethic that editorial sovereignty is inviolable and calls his channel ’journalist driven’. he has managed to conjure up a good team of professionals handpicked for the job. Anubha Bhosle, Sagorika Ghose and several others provide credibilty to the channel. He is also backed by the sound experience of TV 18’s news gathering techniques and infrastructure which provides a huge back up of sorts for the newsdesk apart from CNN’s huge eminent and extensive news network that provides global news to the Indian subscribers.

Also, CNN IBN has been one of the few Indian News Channels to allow a Live News Feed to be available online. You can access the feed via this link. The one pre-requisite is that you have Windows Media Player installed in your PC.

Complete List of Websites to Watch Tamil Movies Online for FREE

Here is a complete list of websites on which you can watch all the Tamil Movies online for Free.

Most movies are uploaded onto youTube or other video sharing websites.

Here we go with the list of websites:

• Videomasti
• Desivideos
• IdleMovies
• Tamilwire

Watch the Twenty20 20-20 Finals between India Vs Pakistan Free Online - Streaming Website Link

Most of you have already been geared up to watch the Grand Finale of the Twenty20 (20-20) Cricket Match between India and Pakistan. But for some reason if you are struck in office and have No access to the television set - here's help.

I have found the following website which provides live streaming of the cricket match for FREE.

The website is www.ulinkx.com/cricket

Let's wish both the teams all the very best!!

Related Link : Watch Cricket matches LIVE online for free

Can you Blend an iPhone really?

The iPhone was released recently and it has been a great hit. Though I don't give it much of a praise as I feel that the iPhone is still not a true value for money product in the offering - Given it's price and functionality.

Below is a Stunning Video on How you can Blend an iPhone?

Democracy Player :: Watch all the best internet TV shows and videos

Democracy Player lets you watch Internet videos like you watch TV. Download and watch all the best internet TV shows and videos in one powerful application. The good thing is that new channels arrive daily in the built-in Channel Guide. Stop squinting at tedious web videos-- sit back and watch big, high resolution videos one after another. It's so easy to use that you'll be watching interesting videos in moments.

Five Top Reasons to get Democracy Player:
1. Can't play a video? Try it.
Play virtually any video-- Quicktime, WMV, MPEG, AVI, XVID, and more. Browse your collection, make playlists, stay organized.
2. Get Internet TV Shows
Subscribe to any video RSS feed, podcast, or video blog. Explore over 1,000 free channels with the built-in Channel Guide.
3. Search YouTube
Download and save videos from YouTube, Google Video, Yahoo Video, and other sites.
4. High Definition and Fullscreen
Your computer screen is a high-def display. Watch free HD videos in gorgeous fullscreen.
5. BitTorrent Animal
Easily download any BitTorrent file. Fast. Then watch it in the same app. Simple.

You can get Democracy Player [Freeware] here.

Apple TV to now support YouTube :: New Software Update Released

Apple TV got a new update released today. With the new update Apple TV will support YouTube - The most popular video sharing service online. The new software update for Apple TV is available for free to all the owners of the device and can be accessed through the software update feature included as part of Apple TV.

Once you have the new update installed, you can easily login to your YouTube account and start viewing clips right in your Apple TV.

What's more interesting is that the must awaited iPhone will have a new application exclusively developed by Apple to wirelessly stream YouTube’s content to iPhone over Wi-Fi or EDGE networks and play it on iPhone’s stunning 3.5 inch display.

So now I guess Apple is promoting Google's YouTube a lot with a realistic concept that you can enjoy YouTube wherever you are — on your iPhone, on your Mac or on a widescreen TV in your living room with Apple TV!!

Movavi Online :: Free Video Conversion service Online

I had earlier talked about the Movavi Video Suite, looks like the folks at Movavi have come up with a better product now - A Free Online Video Convertor called Movavi Online.

It is one beautiful and useful web application for you to convert the video. It is a free service that allows you to convert video's from the following formats (DivX, XVid), MPEG (1, 2, 4), MP4, 3gp, 3gp2, WMV, MOV (QT) to the following formats (XVid), MPEG-4, MPEG-2 (DVD Quality, PAL), MPEG-2 (DVD Quality, NTSC), iPod video, iPod 5G video, PSP video, 3gp, 3gp2, MPEG-4 (.mov), Flash (.flv).

The cool feature is that you can add up to 5 files limited to 10 min each and 100 Mb total size. I guess the site has the fastest online conversion and without too much of advertisements(or NO ads right now). But the pain point is that you need to give your email and a notification is sent to you when your converted video is ready for download.

Once you receive the link for the download in your mail - you will have 24 hours of time in order to unload your video, after that the converted video is automatically deleted from the server.

Video Screensaver for your Windows XP from Microsoft

I Had earlier posted on How to enable DreamScene Video Wallpapers in ALL Windows Vista Versions but it seems that Microsoft had sometime back released a small patch that comes with one of Microsoft's own video's which you can set as a Screensaver in Windows XP. So I guess Video Screensavers are NOT just confined to Windows Vista anymore.

So essentially what you can do is - download and install this package from Microsoft Website(You will need to undergo WGA) or from Softpedia(without any WGA checks). Once you have this installed, it allows you to browse and set any Video in your computer as a Screensaver.

This software is also not constrained to just playing wmv files as a screensaver in XP but I was also able to play .avi files. I guess it is using all the codecs available with your Windows Media Player.

Go ahead and beautify your Windows XP!!

Complete set of Codecs for Windows Vista now Available

With Vista Codec Package installed, you won't need to install any other codec or filter. Many user suggested default settings are implemented. It does not contain a media player. It does not associates filetypes. With this package installed you will be able to use any media player (limited only by the players capabilities) to play DVD's, movies and video clips of any format. Streaming video (real and quicktime) is supported in web browsers.

Latest Features:

• MP4 playback supported.
  
• Improved Nero product compatibility.
• Allows thunbnail views for rmvb,mp4,flv,mov,mkv and many more formats.
  
• Several redundant files/filters are removed from installation.
  
• DVD Playback in WinXP is seamless.
  
• FFDshow is updated to support 1283 unicode.
• AC3Filter updated to 1.45b with Language files.
• Haali components updated to 1.7.189.11
• MPEG1 files handled by microsoft decoders itself.
  

Now you need not worry for any media file from NOT playing on your Windows Vista PC. The website has seperate downloads for 32 bit Vista and 64 bit Vista.

You can download the Vista Codec Package for FREE from the Developer's Website or here.

Website to Watch Raj TV Online for Free

You can now watch the popular Tamil TV Channel - Raj TV Online for Free.

All you need is :

• Windows Media Player 9 or above.
• BroadBand Internet Connection with 256kbps or more.

Once you have the above, simply click on this link and start enjoying Live and Free Streaming Raj TV on your computer.

Below is a screenshot of the quality of feed I am getting currently. But often the feed goes down which I guess is due to too many requests. The videos are streamed and hence, there is a time lag at times.

Similarly, my other article deals with how to Watch Sun TV programs online for free.

YouTube will curb Copyright Infringement by using a new Video Identification System

YouTube plans to launch a video identification system that will help it curb copyrighted material from being uploaded. It is reported that tests will begin initially with Walt Disney and Time Warner.

In about a month, YouTube will start using clips supplied by Walt Disney and Time Warner to identify unique characteristics within clips posted by users. If a match is found, the content owner will be alerted. The companies that own the copyright can decide to either remove the content, or leave it up and get a cut of the advertising revenue gained from ads appearing around the video. The technology could eventually be used to block the uploading of copyrighted clips if the studio desires.

Meanwhile, YouTube brought more lawsuits - Viacom suing the search giant for publishing videos without authorization and requiring $1 billion in damages. The announcement was made just after the MTV owner demanded the removal of 100.000 clips from the official page.

So be careful the next time you try to upload a Copyrighted video on YouTube - Big Brother's watching.