According to ViziSense, an online audience measurement and analytics provider platform, Gmail, Google’s free e-mail service is now India’s largest free e-mail service provider with more than 18 million users. Yahoo Mail, which held the top spot until the previous month has now been relegated to the second spot.

Yahoo Mail boasts of 16.8 million unique users and has seen its usage dip 8 percent since August this year. This, coupled with Gmail’s continued growth which averaged 3 percent since August, has ensured that Gmail surpassed the number of Yahoo users in early October. Microsoft’s Windows Live Mail too is seeing a surge in its userbase with it managing a very impressive 8 percent growth in India since August. Rediff Mail is at number three with 6.25 million users.

However, on the global scale, it might be a while till Gmail usurps the throne from Yahoo to be the world’s largest e-mail provider. Besides, it also has another adversary to counter, Windows Live Mail from Microsoft which is right up there at number 2. As seen in a recent ComScore report, Gmail has been growing pretty fast in U.S. as well– and unless Yahoo and Windows Mail don’t do something drastic, Gmail, in its current form, will eclipse the “traditional” webmail providers in the years to come.

Incidentally, it was just last week that Yahoo carried a full front page ad across leading national dailies in India. Was this an attempt to woo its once loyal users who have started migrating to Gmail?

Microsoft is planning to make Windows 8 an 128-bit operating system, according to details leaked from the software giant’s Research department.

The discovery came to light after Microsoft Research employee, Robert Morgan, carelessly left details of his work on the social-networking site, LinkedIn.

The senior researcher’s profile said he was: “Working in high security department for research and development involving strategic planning for medium and longterm projects. Research & Development projects including 128-bit architecture compatibility with the Windows 8 kernel and Windows 9 project plan. Forming relationships with major partners: Intel, AMD, HP and IBM.”

Morgan’s LinkedIn profile has now been pulled down, but a version remains in the Google search cache.

A move to 128-bit support would be a bold move for Microsoft. Many, including PC Pro’s own Jon Honeyball, were urging Microsoft to make Windows 7 64-bit only, but the company continues to offer a 32-bit version of the forthcoming OS.

Microsoft has said very little publicly about Windows 8, although on a visit to the UK earlier this week, CEO Steve Ballmer denied rumours that Windows 7 would be the last major client OS the company produced. Ballmer admitted that planning was underway on Windows 8, although it’s highly unlikely that the OS will arrive until 2012 at the earliest.

Morgan’s talk of planning for Windows 9 supports Ballmer’s claim that the company thinks there is plenty of life left in Windows yet.

The majority of passwords revealed in the recent Hotmail phishing attack would not have taken much cracking in the first place, according to a researcher at security firm Acunetix.

Bogdan Calin said in a blog post that an analysis of the phishing attack and the hacked accounts revealed that the most common password was ‘123456′.

The details of some 10,000 Windows Live Hotmail accounts were posted online by an anonymous hacker earlier this week, and Calin suspects that it was rather a crude attack that managed to grab just low-hanging passwords.

“My impression is that these passwords have been gathered using phishing kits. Even more, the phishing kit used most probably was badly designed. I think it just returned an error message after grabbing the credentials. I noticed this because some of the passwords are repeated once or twice (sometimes with different capitalisation),” he wrote.

“What most probably happened is that the users didn’t understand what was happening, and they tried to enter the same password again and again, thinking the password was wrong.”

Calin found that the most popular passwords were rather similar, and that the majority were made up of alphanumeric combinations, as opposed to the often recommended letter/number/symbol combinations. Sixty-four accounts used ‘123456′, and the second most common was ‘123456789′ with 18 users.

Forty-two per cent of users stuck with lower case alpha passwords containing only characters from ‘a’ to ‘z’, and 19 per cent used numeric passwords containing only the numbers ‘0′ to ‘9′. Just six per cent used mixed passwords containing letters, numbers and other characters.

Here is another reason for you to join Twitter, for slim people worldwide are now posting their healthy food diet on ‘Tweet What

The food chart also gives the calorific value of the food. And because millions around the world see the online food chart, people are “shamed” into following their healthy diet.

Some report to have shed a good measure of flab. Actor Stephen Fry reportedly lost about six stone in six months, using his Twitter page.

Comedian Matt Lucas wrote on his Twitter page: “Have lost half a stone in the last fortnight.”

“Tracking what you eat using technology helps, as most of us are appalling at estimating what we’ve eaten,” the Sun quoted the WeightWatchers as saying.

PC security giant Symantec today released Symantec Norton 2010 and Norton Antivirus 2010 package that features real-time security service and technology that evaluates the reputations of the files and applications running on PC.

The new 2010 products uses extensive online intelligence systems to pro-actively protect the PC and keep users informed of the security and performance.

David Hall, Symantec Regional Product Manager, Asia Pacific, said that the new products leverage a new model of security codenamed Quorum.

“The 2010 products helps to attain unmatched detection of new malware and advanced far beyond traditional signature and behavior-based detection. Since July, thousands of users have been test driving beta versions of the Quorum-enhanced software from the Symantec site.” he added.

With the Quorum technology the software tracks files and applications and dozens of their attributes including their age, download source, digital signature and prevalence. The attributes are then run through several complex algorithms to determine the reputation of a file.

“As a file is distributed across the Internet and these attributes change, Quorum updates the reputation of the file. This reputation is especially important when a file is new, likely to be a threat, and traditional defenses are not likely to detect it,” David explained.

According to Symantec, Norton 2010 installs in about a minute, uses just over 10MB of memory and scans a hard drives and solid state drives in 61 seconds and 31 seconds, respectively.

NIS 2010 comes at a suggested retail price of $69.99 for a three-PC license. Norton AntiVirus 2010 will sell for $39.99 and includes a one-year service subscription. Users with an active subscription can also receive the product updates.

There are a lot of methods that you may have read on how to lose stomach fat in men. Although exercise can be of help you but the easy dietary strategies experts who has been featured in bodybuilding and fitness magazines including IRONMAN magazine (US, Italian and Australian editions), Natural Bodybuilding, Muscular Development, Exercise for Men, Men’s Exercise and Men’s Fitness.

Here are some of the diatery strategies you can start immediately to lose your stomach fat :-

* Eat 5-6 small meals per day of relatively equal proportions.

* You should try to eat a meal about every three waking hours.

* Increasing your meal frequency is important towards losing body fat and promoting a lean body is that it helps to maintain a more stable and steady blood sugar throughout the day. This keeps your insulin levels more stable and allows you to be in a fat burning mode for more of the day.

* It is very hard to lose body fat when you’re only eating 2-3 large meals per day. In addition to promoting a leaner body, eating 5-6 smaller meals throughout each day will also provide you with more consistent energy levels without the mood swings.

* Plan all of your meals for each entire week and go to grocery store shopping with full stomach. By doing this you will only choose the items you need for your planned meals and eliminate the habit of buying junk foods (if you don’t have junk around the house, you most likely won’t eat junk).

* Eat a portion of lean protein at each meal, along with a portion of fibrous healthy carbohydrates, and a portion of healthy fats. Do not attempt to limit any portion of carbs, fats and protein since there play an equall ‘role’ in your body hormon and metabolisme.

* Focus on unrefined, unprocessed foods in their natural state. Processed foods mostly contains high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and trans fats (hydrogenated oils, margarine, shortening). The food manufacturers are only concerned with maximizing profits, and do not take into consideration the consumer’s health.

HFCS is also found in ketchup, sweetened cereals, cakes, cookies, pasta sauces, barbeque sauces, salad dressings, and many other products.

* Focus on lower glycemic index carbohydrate sources for the majority of your meals, but don’t worry about avoiding healthy higher glycemic index choices like bananas, raisins, and carrots. These foods have beneficial nutrients and the glycemic response can be controlled if the portions are kept low and combined properly with other foods.

What I have shared with you is only part of the complete expert strategy, which have other other key ingredients that proven how to lose stomach fat in men.

Indians’ hand-washing habits may not be up to sniffles, but Canadians have the cleanest hands, a hygiene survey.

While 90% of people surveyed in Canada feel that washing hands regularly is good protection against catching flu, only 44% of Indians believe the same, says an international survey, conducted by Global Hygiene Council supported by Dettol, in 2008.

Ideas of hygiene and health vary from country to country, and in India, food also comes into play: 20% of Indians believe that avoiding eating meat can keep the flu away, while other countries, especially Australia and South Africa, do not believe it at all.

The survey – which also covers South Africa, Malaysia, Italy, Great Britian, Australia and USA – revealed some interesting nuggets on people’s perceptions. The questions, on measures to prevent flu and washing hands, were posed to 1,000 respondents.

Cross-country

Even as 58% of people in Italy believe that avoiding public places is another preventive measure to prevent the flu, only 12% of Indians agree. While 71% of Malaysians believe a rubbish bin poses the greatest risk of transmitting germs to a person or child, 16% of Indians think the bin poses the greatest risk, while 44% Indians think the toilet seat is a risk best not taken.

Though 27% of Indians wash their hands for a minute after using the toilet, in Italy, 28% do so. However, 41% of people in South Africa wash their hands after using toilets, but only for five seconds.

Kiddy habits

When it comes to children washing their hands before eating, 79% of Indian kids obediently do so, while only 29% of Australians do, and 80% of Malaysians wash up before eating.

The survey says 45% Indian parents believe in asking their children to wash hands as they come home from school or nursery, to prevent them from picking up germs and becoming ill.

The importance of teaching children good hygiene habits was highlighted by the survey, which revealed that 50% of Indians do not wash their hands after coughing or sneezing, thus pushing up chances of picking up germs from each other. When someone coughs or sneezes, millions of germs can be expelled into the air, so it’s important that children understand the ways to protect themselves and their classmates from illness.

Suggestions

* Leftover food in lunch boxes should be discarded, and the box thoroughly cleaned. Crumbs in school bags can spread salmonella and cause gastrointestinal upsets

* Kids should be taught to clean even hard-to-reach areas like between the fingers, around the nails and even thumbs. They should know that just because they can’t see dirt on their hands, it doesn’t mean there are no germs

* When kids cough or sneeze, they should use tissue and dispose it in a bin. If they don’t have a tissue, teach them to cough or sneeze into the crook of their arm rather than into their hands – this way, bacteria and viruses aren’t transferred to their hands, and then on to the surfaces they touch, and on to other children

Top 5 illnesses picked up at school

Common cold
Stomach flu (viral gastroenteritis)
Ear infection
Conjunctivitis
Sore throat

INDIAN SOAP OPERA

12% believe avoiding public places prevents contracting flu
44% wash hands use regular soap
32% prefer anti-bacterial soap
3% use sanitizer
11% only running water

Being a good and caring girlfriend is a nice way of letting your boyfriend know, how lucky he is to have you. You don’t have to go out of your way to be ‘good’, just to please your boyfriend. You already have it in you, that is why your boyfriend chose you in the first place. You just have to express what you genuinely feel about your boyfriend.

Following are a few tips on how to be a good girlfriend.

Give Him Space – Don’t Nag

Most girls are so overwhelmed with the feeling of having a boyfriend that they tend to cut themselves off from the rest of the world and expect their boyfriends to do the same. However, there is a difference in the way men and women look at a relationship. Women tend to devote all of their time to their new relationship, while men only think of it as an addition to their existing ones. However, that does not mean that your boyfriend does not want to spend time with you, he only needs his own space. Let your boyfriend spend time with his friends and family if he really wants to. Don’t nag all the time, because nagging is something men really hate. After, all what’s the use of having a boyfriend by your side all the time, when his mind is somewhere else?

Be Independent

Men really like women who are independent and capable of taking care of their lives. Calling your boyfriend at the slightest sign of trouble is definitely not a good idea. In the initial stages of a relationship, your boyfriend may like it when you turn to him for help, for every petty reason, however he may get irritated, if you make it a habit. Instead, show him that you can look after yourself and can handle problems without having to rely on him. It is best if you make yourself financially independent as well, not only will it help you to support yourself but will also make your boyfriend respect you.

Share His Interests

Sharing his interests and participating in his favorite activities is a nice way of showing your boyfriend, that you are ready to go that extra mile to make the relationship work. Obviously, nobody expects you to enjoy his activities as much as he does but your willingness to share his interest will make your boyfriend very happy. Sacrificing a romantic flick for a football match, once a while, can help you build a healthy relationship, without you knowing it.

Be Honest

Be honest to yourself and your boyfriend but do not expect it in return. You can be honest about your life, your past relationships, your ex-boyfriend, etc. but it is unfair to expect the same from him. He may have his own reasons for not divulging details of his past, so respect his feelings. However, you can always communicate your feelings and expectations. Being honest about your expectations from the relationship will help both of you to understand where your relationship stands.

Don’t Be Overtly Possessive

Although, over-possessiveness is usually associated with guys, some girls just don’t let go of their boyfriends and cling to them all the time. Beware girls, this attitude may make your guy claustrophobic and it won’t be too long before he sees red. Don’t confront him if some chick checks out your guy because it is not his fault. Instead, be happy that you are dating a guy, most girls would be desperate to be with. Similarly, don’t hack his passwords and read his mails or text messages. Such behavior may make you look like a desperate person who feels insecure about her relationship.

Don’t Be a Control Freak

Most girls try to get the control of the relationship by trying to change their boyfriends. Criticizing his looks, clothes, habits can really turn him off. Just as you wouldn’t want to change yourself for anyone, your boyfriend also loves himself the way he is. Always remember that you fell for him for what he is. If there is something unpleasant about him or his appearance, give him subtle hints, don’t ever yell at him, that’ll make the matter worse.

Be Patient

Men do not believe in expressing their feelings the way women do, hence be patient if your boyfriend seems in a sombre mood and refuses to talk to you. Do not frustrate him by asking too many questions. Just leave him alone, he’ll himself come back to you whenever he feels like talking about whatever was bothering him.

Don’t Ask Awkward Questions

Women have this habit of asking a wrong question at a wrong time. Nothing infuriates a man more than a ‘do you love me?’ amidst a romantic sequence. Use your common sense ladies, would he be with you, if he never loved you in the first place? Do not expect your boyfriend to profess his love for you, all the time. And for God’s sake, refrain from asking him ‘how much?’ if he ever bothers to answer your first question.

Being a good girlfriend is really not that difficult if you let your guy get some life and learn to get some yourself. You may feel like you are sacrificing some things in the process of becoming a good girlfriend but remember these small sacrifices go a long way in consolidating your relationship. Finally, follow the above ‘how to become a good girlfriend tips’ only if you think your boyfriend is worth it, else you know what to do!

Google Inc is working on a new test version of its search engine, which the company claims will be faster and more relevant than ever before. The company has dubbed the new search engine “caffeine”.

Look-wise, the new engine doesn’t appear different, but its developers hope that the technology they have used will noticeably index new content faster.

Google engineers are said to have invited web developers to test the new search engine, and give their feedback. Matt Cutts, a principal engineer at Google, and Sitaram Iyer, a staff software engineer, have posted an entry on the company’s webmaster central blog, appealing to developers to try the newly improved service and send them some feedback.

“For the last several months, a large team of Googlers has been working on a secret project: a next-generation architecture for Google’s web search. It’s the first step in a process that will let us push the envelope on size, indexing speed, accuracy, comprehensiveness and other dimensions,” the Telegraph quoted them as having written on the blog.

“The new infrastructure sits “under the hood” of Google’s search engine, which means that most users won’t notice a difference in search results. But web developers and power searchers might notice a few differences, so we’re opening up a web developer preview to collect feedback,” they said.

A Google spokesperson added: “”Google is always working on new technologies to improve the quality of our search services. We hope this new system will improve search in the areas of speed, accuracy, and comprehensiveness.”

Martin McNulty, director of search marketing specialist, Trafficbroker, who has tried the new version, said: “Google’s caffeine is undoubtedly faster, almost twice as fast at times. It’s like a Google GTi. Caffeine may be ‘under the hood’ but with this noticeable injection of speed it won’t remain under the radar for long. As for accuracy, it’s hard to say at this early stage but Google is clearly upping its game by including real-time results and more breaking news, as well as updates from the likes of Facebook and Twitter.”

Earlier today, Facebook successfully acquired FriendFeed service. This is yet another major partnership deal after the recent Microsoft-Yahoo search deal. “

FriendFeed’s 12-employee team will join Facebook family. The four founders of FriendFeed – Paul Buchheit, Bret Taylor, Jim Norris and Sanjeev Singh, will take senior positions in Facebook’s Engineering and Product teams. The founders of FriendFeed are all from Google’s development team who handled Gmail and Google Maps.

Currently, the acquisition amount is undisclosed but FriendFeed looks happy with the acquisition and the joy was expressed in a recent post on their blog.

FriendFeed was looked upon as close competitor of Twitter, microblogging service for the same task – sharing information online. However, both services combined don’t have enough users to match up Facebook’s more than 250 million user base. Facebook couldn’t buy Twitter, a service that has seen a tremendous growth since its inception, so, the next close substitute was FriendFeed. Twitter has been facing some problems like the recent worm and DDoS attack, database upscaling issues. People cannot see their tweets older than two days or to a week if they don’t tweet frequently. So having that glittering five figure updates is pointless since you’ll never get to see your first update.

In May, Google was eyeing to acquire Twitter since the search giant was interested to venture into real-time search. However, the indexing of old Twitter updates for real-time search results has been quite an issue lately. If Google buys Twitter then all the search excellence can be used for tweaking Twitter’s search code.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said, “I’ve admired their team for creating such a simple and elegant service for people to share information.” As of now FriendFeed will work as it is and the founders are yet to lay out future plans for integration of both services. Facebook’s FriendFeed acquisition is buzzed as directly challenging Google and leap frogs Twitter. “

FriendFeed service went out cold until they had announced the second version of their API this month. So, now Facebook will make use of ex-Google’s excellence in expanding Facebook platform to the next paradigm: Real-time search. If Google and Twitter is listening to this, they better sit together at least for mutual partnership on Twitter’s search technology.