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Friday 8 June 2012

Search Engines

1. Ask (aka 'Ask Jeeves')

The Ask/AJ/Ask Jeeves search engine is a longtime name in the World Wide Web. The super-clean interface rivals the other major search engines, and the search options are as good as Google or Bing or DuckDuckGo. The results groupings are what really make Ask.com stand out. The presentation is arguably cleaner and easier to read than Google or Yahoo! or Bing, and the results groups seem to be more relevant. Decide for yourself if you agree... give Ask.com a whirl, and compare it to the other search engines you like.


2. Duck Duck Go

At first, DuckDuckGo.com looks like Google. But there are many subtleties that make this spartan search engine different. DuckDuckGo has some slick features, like 'zero-click' information (all your answers are found on the first results page). DuckDuckgo offers disambiguation prompts (helps to clarify what question you are really asking). And the ad spam is much less than Google. Give DuckDuckGo.com a try... you might really like this clean and simple search engine.

3. Bing

Bing is Microsoft's attempt at unseating Google. Bing used to be MSN search until it was updated in summer of 2009. Touted as a 'decision engine', Bing tries to support your researching by offering suggestions in the leftmost column, while also giving you various search options across the top of the screen. Things like 'wiki' suggestions, 'visual search', and 'related searches' might be very useful to you. Bing is not dethroning Google in the near future, no. But Bing is definitely worth trying.

4. The Internet Archive

The Internet Archive is a favorite destination for longtime Web lovers. The Archive has been taking snapshots of the entire World Wide Web for years now, allowing you and me to travel back in time to see what a web page looked like in 1999, or what the news was like around Hurricane Katrina in 2005. You won't visit the Archive daily, like you would Google or Yahoo or Bing, but when you do have need to travel back in time, use this search site.

5. Yippy (formerly 'Clusty')

Yippy is a Deep Web engine that searches other search engines for you. Unlike the regular Web, which is indexed by robot spider programs, Deep Web pages are usually harder to locate by conventional search. That's where Yippy becomes very useful. If you are searching for obscure hobby interest blogs, obscure government information, tough-to-find obscure news, academic research and otherwise-obscure content, then Yippy is your tool.

6. Yahoo!

Yahoo! is several things: it is a search engine, a news aggregator, a shopping center, an emailbox, a travel directory, a horoscope and games center, and more. This 'web portal' breadth of choice makes this a very helpful site for Internet beginners. Searching the Web should also be about discovery and exploration, and Yahoo! delivers that in wholesale quantities.

7. Mahalo

Mahalo is the one 'human-powered' search site in this list, employing a committee of editors to manually sift and vet thousands of pieces of content.  This means that you'll get fewer Mahalo hit results than you will get at Bing or Google. But it also means that most Mahalo results have a higher quality of content and relevance (as best as human editors can judge).
Mahalo also offers regular web searching in addition to asking questions.  Depending on which of the two search boxes you use at Mahalo, you will either get direct content topic hits or suggested answers to your question.
Try Mahalo.  You might like it enough to even become a editor there.

8. Dogpile

Years ago, Dogpile was the fast and efficient choice before Google.  Things changed, Dogpile faded into obscurity, and Google became king. But today, Dogpile is coming back, with a growing index and a clean and quick presentation that is testimony to its halcyon days.  If you want to try a search tool with pleasant presentation and helpful crosslink results, definitely try Dogpile.

9. Webopedia

Webopedia is one of the most useful websites on the World Wide Web. Webopedia is an encyclopedic resource dedicated to searching techno terminology and computer definitions. Teach yourself what 'domain name system' is, or teach yourself what 'DDRAM' means on your computer. Webopedia is absolutely a perfect resource for non-technical people to make more sense of the computers around them.

10. Google

Google is the undisputed king of 'spartan searching'. While it doesn't offer all the shopping center features of Yahoo!, Google is fast, relevant, and the largest single catalogue of Web pages available today. Make sure you try the Google 'images', 'maps' and 'news' features... they are outstanding services for locating photos, geographic directions, and news headlines.

Web Browsers

Top Web Browsers of All Time #1. Firefox

Firefox has a fairly decent share of the web browser market with a healthy 21.86%. It is mainly because Firefox is an open source web browser with exceptional community support. Along with other regular features, it has a private browsing mode, improved security, smooth and fast browsing, built-in spelling checker, and allows for various customisations. I personally love its add-ons which are open source developments. Firefox 4 is probably the best browser right now in terms of features. Based on its success, Mozilla has now launched a mobile web browser as well.
top web browsers
Supported platforms: Windows, Linux and Mac
Download the latest version here

Top Web Browsers of All Time #2. Google Chrome

Google Chrome was developed in December 2008 by Google targeting users who wanted a simple browsing experience. And it became successful in a short span of time due to a very effective advertising campaign by Google, plus the Google Chrome is very good web browser.  Google Chrome was the first browser which emphasised on maximising browsing window space, which was later followed by the leading browsers like Internet Explorer and Firefox. Google Chrome skins allow users to customise the browser’s layout to heighten their browsing experience. Adding to its list of innovative features are fast startup times and incognito browsing.
top web browsers
Supported platforms: Windows, Linux and Mac
Download the latest version here

Top Web Browsers of All Time #3. Opera

Developed by Opera Software and available to the public in 1996, Opera’s unique feature is its integrated Bittorrent client. Acclaimed as the fastest web browser, Opera is geared with all the features of the mainstream browsers. One of the best features of Opera is its “Opera Turbo Mode“. This mode speeds up (doubles or triples) surfing on slow connections by using Opera’s proxy servers to compress data and image traffic before it reaches the Opera browser on the client computer.
Opera was the first web browser for mobile phones.
top web browsers
Supported platforms: Windows, Mac, Linux
Download the latest version here

Top Web Browsers of All Time #4. Safari

Apple Inc developed Safari in the year 2003 as a part of Mac OS. Its elegant design (like all Apple products), HTML 5 and CSS3 support, webkit, private browsing are some of the features which make it stand out. Safari is the default browser for Mac OS, iPad, iPod touch and iPhone and works on Windows and Linux as well. Many people download it just because it gives a Mac-like browsing experience.
top web browsers
Supported platforms: Windows, Mac
Download the latest version here

Top Web Browsers of All Time #5. Rockmelt

You can call it a social media web browser, as it integrates Twitter, Facebook and Google Search. Rockmelt comes with a Facebook sidebar in case you want to contact any of your Facebook friends directly from the browser. There is a chat bar as well and you’re able to use to that update your Facebook status or change your profile picture. Virtually any Facebook-related task may be performed without leaving the active tab. There is also a mobile version for iOS.
top web browsers
Supported platforms: Windows, Mac
Download the latest version here
You may still download a copy of Netscape Navigator here

Top Web Browsers of All Time #6. Avant Browser

Based on Internet Explorer, Avant Browser is a no-frills, simple browser. It might fall short of the professional alternatives like Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome, but was fairly popular for its Opera-like approach of having a tabbed browsing interface. Internet Explorer had problems rendering certain web-pages which were not tested for IE compatibility and Avant swooped in to provide Opera-like features on an Internet Explorer platform launching these problematic webpages without a hiccup.
top web browsers
Supported platform: Windows
Download the latest version here

Top Web Browsers of All Time #7. Maxthon Web Browser

Maxthon might not be a very popular browser nor is it geared with top-notch features like Firefox and Chrome. Still, I find it unique because it is a powerful tabbed browser meant for users who are fed up of browser crashes. In other mainstream browsers, if one tab freezes, it’ll take the whole browser down with it, but with Maxthon’s isolator technology, a wall is built around each tab that prevents a bad page from freezing the entire browser. All in all, a better web experience is guaranteed if you like surfing many websites in a single session. Maxthon has also released a browser for Android phones and boasts of having the best RSS reader for mobile phones.
Platform support: Windows, Android
top web browsers
Download the latest version here

Top Web Browsers of All Time #8. Deepnet Explorer

Deepnet Explorer claims to be the world’s first browser with a built-in RSS news reader, phishing alarm and P2P client integration. Users can share files on the Gnutella network with the advanced version of Deepnet. Its RSS reader also comes with many news feeds pre-installed and is easy-to-use.
top web browsers
Supported platform: Windows
Download the latest version here

Top Web Browsers of All Time #9. Netscape Navigator

Based on the Mosaic browser, Netscape Navigator was very popular in the 1990s. By 2002, its usage had come to a decline due to the increased popularity of a better Internet Explorer. Later, Netscape Navigator was acquired by AOL, which decided to permanently halt development of Netscape Navigator browsers in 2007.
Netscape Navigator will always be remembered as the most-widely used browser by the early internet generation (users in 1990s), and impressed one and all through a simplistic web experience.
top web browsers
Supported platforms: Windows, Linux and Mac

Top Web Browsers of All Time #10. Internet Explorer

Internet Explorer is the most widely-used web browser in the market since its launch in 1995, probably because it comes included with Windows. Late last century, Internet Explorer had a huge market share and was the unanimous leader in the web browser market. With the growth of Firefox and Chrome, Internet Explorer’s user share dropped to 55.1% in April 2011 from almost 90% in 2004 (source: Wikipedia). In its current version, Internet Explorer 9 has pinning functionality, tab enhancements, InPrivate Browsing, and Windows 7 integration. With Internet Explorer 8 being a major flop, Internet Explorer 9 looks like its reversing Microsoft’s fortunes in the browser war with innovative features.
top ten web browsers
Supported platform: Windows
Download the latest version here
Through the above list, I’ve tried showcasing the top web browsers to date. Some web browsers like Firefox and Internet Explorer have become very popular, and have captured a fair share of the market. Others like Maxthon and Rockmelt have come up with very innovative features and target a specific user-base only. With the rapid advances in technology, browsers made specifically for mobile phones are becoming more popular.
The browser war is surely going to continue getting fiercer by the day, but this is one war which the whole of mankind (or should I say, the tech world) is going to benefit from. I for sure, would love trying different browsers to meet my ultimate goal when in front of my computer — to simplify browsing the web. Till then, I love my Firefox and Chrome.
What are you favourite browsers? Any suggestions to add to this list? Voice out in the comments.

Richest People

No. 1 Carlos Slim HelĂș


Net Worth:$69  billion – As of March 2012
Source: Telecom , Age: 72 , Citizenship: Mexico

No. 2 Bill Gates


Net Worth:$61 billion – As of March 2012
Source: Microsoft, self-made , Age: 56 , Citizenship: U.S.

No. 3 Warren Buffett


Net Worth:$44 billion – As of March 2012
Source: Berkshire Hathaway, self-made , Age: 81 , Citizenship: U.S.

No. 4 Bernard Arnault


Net Worth:$41 billion – As of March 2012
Source: LVMH, inherited and growing , Age: 63 , Citizenship: France

No. 5 Amancio Ortega


Net Worth:$37.5 billion – As of March 2012
Source: Zara, self-made , Age: 75 , Citizenship: Spain

No. 6 Larry Ellison


Net Worth:$36 billion – As of March 2012
Source: Oracle, self-made , Age: 67 , Citizenship: U.S.

No. 7 Eike Batista


Net Worth:$30 billion – As of March 2012
Source: Mining, oil, self-made , Age: 55 , Citizenship: Brazil

No. 8 Stefan Persson


Net Worth:$26 billion – As of March 2012
Source: Hennes & Mauritz , Age: 64 , Citizenship: Sweden

No. 9 Li Ka-shing


Net Worth:$25.5 billion – As of March 2012
Source: Diversified, self-made , Age: 83 , Citizenship: Hong Kong

No. 10 Karl Albrecht

Net Worth:$25.4 billion – As of March 2012
Source: Aldi, self-made , Age: 92 , Citizenship: Germany

Websites

10. Craigslist– Changed classified ads

Craigslist

Before the Internet if you ever had interest in a classified ad, you’d probably go straight to the local newspaper and see what you can find. Of course then the Internet came along and while you could find classified ads online, most of the websites were filled with spam posts or people looking to set you up while others were just unorganized and most of the time classified ads for smaller locations were nonexistent. However, today, if you’re ever looking for anything, and I mean anything, all you need to do is go to Craigslist.
You can find plenty of things on the classified ads website; from cars, to pets, to jobs, homes, and even a place to discuss anything you have on your mind. Despite recently coming under fire for its “personals” section of the website, Craigslist continues to be extremely popular among people all around the world. You can find ads in your state and then narrow down to a city which makes finding what you need much easier.
But, just like older classified ads websites, you will find spam ads and you will run into ads that are created by people looking to get your money and run. The website offers a service to report spammers and often shows a warning page explaining how many scammers work and what to look out for when using the site.

9. Geocities – Changed internet accessibility

Geocities

Even though nowadays anyone and everyone can access the Internet, from your 3rd cousin to your great-grandmother, when the Internet was first created, those who used it were mainly those involved in the technology or scientific fields and many times these people were looking for bugs, fixes, and ways to improve the technology that existed. As crazy as it seems, at one point in time, the Internet was pretty boring and bare. However, as websites began to pop up, more and more everyday people started to use the Internet. To continue this growth, websites such as GeoCities were created, which opened a whole new world to those people who weren’t the most tech-savvy as others. GeoCities allowed people to easily create their own website.
The website was started in 1994 and was first known as BHI (Beverly Hills Internet), which at the time was a small web-hosting company based out of Southern California. The company offered free service to people within various locations in California and years later became a country-wide service and then world-wide.
Today the website is defunct in the U.S. and Canada, but is still offered as a service in Japan. When Yahoo purchased the service after 10 years of success during what is called the dot com bubble, it is said that almost 38 million GeoCities pages were shut down. Despite only being offered in Japan, it’s safe to say that GeoCities allowed for some of the earliest web designers.

8. Blogger– Changed the blogging scene

Blogger

Blogging is the way of the world now. Who needs to scribble in a personal diary or to write random things on ripped pieces of notebook paper when you can hop on your computer, log in, and type all of your thoughts onto your computer screen, press upload, and have the opportunity to have the entire world read what you’ve got to say. Blogger was launched in 1999 and since then has allowed the blogging world to flourish.
While many want to credit LiveJournal or some other blogging site with raising the bar in the blogging world, Blogger most definitely came first and is often credited for setting the stage for the format of a common blog. The website has been designed and redesigned and most recently has begun to work closely with Google to include some of their most popular features.
The website on the Alexa scale is ranked #8 and each day over 388 million words are published on the website. Even though competitor websites such as WordPress, LiveJournal, and TypePad have come about, Blogger is easily credited with starting the blogging revolution.

7. Pandora – Changed how we listen to music

Pandora

The way we listen to music has drastically changed over time. Today MP3s and MP4s are the way of the world, but let’s not forget records, music cassettes, and of course, the radio. However, even though MP3s and digital music seem to be the latest fad, Pandora has stepped up and offered a way to listen to music online while you surf.
Pandora is an online radio station that basically lets you create your own station based on the music like you like to listen to. Of course, listening to music on the Internet isn’t something new, but being able to create your own music station is. Anyone can tune into music that is played on Yahoo or listen to your favorite radio station online, but the fact is that most of those songs are played every hour (or so it seems) and sometimes the song playing isn’t one that you particularly care for.
But, when it comes to Pandora, website will play a song and based on whether you like the band or not, the website will play similar music. The great thing is that Pandora often throws in new bands that are on the rise. You can easily type in a band on the website, listen to a song, and then have the chance to listen to a new band that is similar to your tastes.

6. Facebook – Changed how we interact

Facebook

First there was the telephone, then pagers, then cell phones, then along came the internet with instant messaging services and chatrooms, and before all of this when people wanted to communicate, there was conversational speaking and letters. Today, we have Facebook, and this one social networking site has seriously taken the world by storm. Though technically not the first social networking site created, many will argue that it is the most useful and is the one that has made the largest impact on our society.
It seems like everything we do is based on Facebook these days. Pictures, friends, relationships, gossip; it all ties into Facebook in some way of another, and wherever you go, you’ll usually find something Facebook-esque. Musicians are asking fans to add them on Facebook as are authors, political candidates, businesses, and anything and everything between.
The website was launched in February 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg six years later the website has exploded, attracting more than 500 million users, ranging from your average Joe, to celebrities, and even political world leaders.

5. Wikipedia – Changed how we research/learn

Wikipedia

Before Wikipedia came along, high school and college students had to do their own research the hard way. In all seriousness, before Wikipedia became one big booming e-encyclopedia, many of those that were offered online either required a paid membership to have access to information or the encyclopedia altogether lacked a lot of information. It was either go to the library to find the research you needed or dish out some money to get it.
However, Wikipedia changed all of this and really made research a breeze. The website became the first of its kind: a free e-encyclopedia that has grown and will probably continue to do so as long as the Internet is available. On April 16, 2010, the website had its 1 billionth edit and today it is ranked the #7 most visited website by Alexa. In the U.S. it is the 6th most visited website in the country.
The amazing thing about Wikipedia is that you can literally fin anything and almost everything on Wikipedia. With 3,410,052 articles and growing, there isn’t much you can’t find. If you can’t you can easily edit and add information yourself. The website appeals to Internet users from all over the world, offering information in various languages such as Spanish, Russian, French, German, Italian, and many others. And yes, Wikipedia has a Wikipedia page.

4. Amazon – Changed the face of retail shopping

Amazon

When you need food, you go to the grocery store. When you need clothes, you go to the mall or your favorite retail store. If you need pet supplies, you go to the pet store. If you want to listen to music, you go purchase a CD at a store. All of this is common sense, and generally when people need things, they visit a brick and mortar store. However, when Amazon was launched in 1995, the company, based out of Seattle, changed the entire face of retail shopping. Their name says it all; Amazon is the largest river in the world and Amazon.com is the largest online store on could imagine. Where else can you buy jewelry, MP3s, clothing, vitamins, dog toys, and anything else from the same location?
Most recently Amazon even began selling food products that can be delivered to your door. With the creation of Amazon, it’s safe to say that less and less people are visiting brick and mortar stores to purchase certain items. The website offers free shipping with a $25 purchase as well as a Prime account which promises free 2-day shipping or $3.99 next day shipping. The point is, anyone can count on Amazon to have what they need. It’s truly amazing how an e-shop can stock and supply such a wide array of items.

3. YouTube – Changed daily entertainment

YouTube

When it came time to looking or watching videos online, there wasn’t a wide variety of options. At times people would upload videos for people to watch, but many times due to bandwidth and other factors, those who owned websites just opted to stay away from the videos and other high bandwidth features. However, an easy fix to this problem came about in February 2005. YouTube, which has been successfully running for 5 years now, solved any and all problems when it came to entertainment on the Internet. Not only can you watch videos but you can also listen to music and even blog through videos.
Millions of people from all over the world enjoy the features of YouTube each day. Because of YouTube there is one great place for everyone to look at videos and even comment and review them. The website allows you to really watch anything you could ever think of. From music videos to bloggers, to tutorials and just outright random videos, you can surely find it on YouTube.
The website is ranked #3 on the Alexa scale and offers 29 different languages for users who live outside of the United States. Though other video websites are available, such as Hulu, none have been as successful as YouTube has been.

2. eBay – Changed how we buy and sell

ebay

While online shopping has become a great fad that it seems everyone has latched onto, eBay is one of many websites that should have credit for advancing this online phenomenon. Even though most websites today offer users the ability to purchase what they want online, eBay not only offers online shopping it also allows users to bid on some of the hottest items each year. eBay has most definitely made shopping something that anyone can do without having to get in the car, drive to a store or the mall, and then look around to find the right size or color.
With online shopping with a few simple clicks your shopping is done. eBay allows users from all over the world to bid and buy items. The good thing about the website is that many times you pay a lot less than you would in stores and even better is the fact that items are available that may not be sold in a store local to you. eBay has made it easy to find some of the most popular items as well as items that aren’t sold in stores anymore.
eBay is also well known for its ability for users to sell various items, from perfume to clothing to replica shoes and anything and everything in between. eBay is one of the very few websites that offers live real time auctions for products.

1. Google – Changed virtually everything

Google

As extreme as it sounds, it’s pretty safe to say that when it comes to the Internet Google can be found anywhere and everywhere. No matter what kind of activity you do online, from watching videos, to blogging, to just reading the local news online, you’re probably some way, somehow using a service provided by Google, and many times you don’t even know it. When you watch a YouTube video, you’re using a Google service. If you’ve ever used Blogger, that’s a Google service. Chrome: Google browser. If you’ve ever seen a Doubleclick ad; yep, that’s Google too.
So in essence, Google is everywhere; ubiquitous. From watching videos to uploading pictures to show to friends and family, whether you know it or not, Google is a very well used service all over the world. If you ever need to get somewhere, you probably go to Google.com. If you need to search for something, Google.com is probably the first place you go

Read more: http://www.toptenz.net/top-10-websites-that-changed-everyday-life.php#ixzz1xIMPaH6V

Foods

1. Sweet Potatoes

A nutritional All-Star — one of the best vegetables you can eat. They're loaded with carotenoids, vitamin C, potassium, and fiber. Bake and then mix in some unsweetened applesauce or crushed pineapple for extra moisture and sweetness.

2. Mangoes

Just one cup of mango supplies 100% of a day’s vitamin C, one-third of a day’s vitamin A, a decent dose of blood-pressure-lowering potassium, and 3 grams of fiber. Bonus: mango is one of the fruits least likely to have pesticide residues.

3. Unsweetened Greek Yogurt

Non-fat, plain Greek yogurt has a pleasant tartness that’s a perfect foil for the natural sweetness of berries, bananas, or your favorite breakfast cereal. It’s strained, so even the fat-free versions are thick and creamy. And the lost liquid means that the yogurt that’s left has twice the protein of ordinary yogurt – about 17 grams in 6 ounces of plain Greek yogurt.

4. Broccoli

It has lots of vitamin C, carotenoids, vitamin K and folic acid. Steam it just enough so that it's still firm and add a sprinkle of red pepper flakes and a spritz of lemon juice.

5. Wild Salmon

The omega-3 fats in fatty fish like salmon can help reduce the risk of sudden-death heart attacks. And wild-caught salmon has less PCB contaminants than farmed salmon.

6. Crispbreads

Whole-grain rye crackers, like Wasa, Kavli, and Ryvita — usually called crispbreads — are loaded with fiber and often fat-free. Drizzle with a little honey and sprinkle with cinnamon to satisfy your sweet tooth.

7. Garbanzo Beans

All beans are good beans. They’re rich in protein, fiber, iron, magnesium, potassium, and zinc. But garbanzos stand out because they’re so versatile. Just drain, rinse, and toss a handful on your green salad; throw them into vegetable stews, curries, and soups; mix them with brown rice, whole wheat couscous, bulgur, or other whole grains.

8. Watermelon

Watermelon is a heavyweight in the nutrient department. A standard serving (about 2 cups) has one-third of a day’s vitamins A and C, a nice shot of potassium, and a healthy dose of lycopene for only 80 fat-free, salt-free calories. And when they’re in season, watermelons are often locally grown, which means they may have a smaller carbon footprint than some other fruits.

9. Butternut Squash

Steam a sliced squash or buy peeled, diced butternut squash at the supermarket that’s ready to go into the oven, a stir-fry, or a soup. It’s an easy way to get lots of vitamins A and C and fiber.

10. Leafy Greens

Don’t miss out on powerhouse greens like kale, collards, spinach, turnip greens, mustard greens, and Swiss chard. These stand-out leafy greens are jam-packed with vitamins A, C, and K, folate, potassium, magnesium, calcium, iron, lutein, and fiber. Serve with a splash of lemon juice or red wine vinegar.