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Best of the Best FREE WordPress Themes

WordPress – is an award-winning CMS, which enables you to build Blogs, Web sites and powerful online applications. Many aspects, including its ease-of-use and extensibility, have made WordPress the most popular blog software available. Best of all, WordPress is an open source solution that is freely available to everyone.

There are hundreds of WordPress themes online waiting to be paid for. Some of them are worth it, some are not. Just because many of our followers decided to stay with Premium themes, that doesn’t mean Free Themes are ugly, cluttered, and boring.

In this showcase below, I have handpicked some Excellent Collection of Fresh High-Quality Free WordPress Themes Around because We all know that we’re going to use our blog as a tool to promote our business, with a clean, professional, corporate look.

Most important they are FREE !!

1.  Foodiary

PREVIEW – DOWNLOAD

2.  ThrillingHeroics

PREVIEW – DOWNLOAD

3.  Morning After

PREVIEW – DOWNLOAD

4.  Berryllimous

PREVIEW – DOWNLOAD

5.  Mayumi

PREVIEW – DOWNLOAD

6.  WP Premium WordPress Theme

PREVIEW – DOWNLOAD

7.  Florance WordPress Theme

PREVIEW – DOWNLOAD

8.  Monkeypr

PREVIEW – DOWNLOAD

Hope you will enjoy using them and make your Blogs worth a visit !

Mashups with Google and Bing Maps

Google or Bing Map-based mashups abound these days. Mashups require services that can be mashed up. Location-based mashups need services that provide boundary information. With Web-based mapping providers, you can easily create a map-based mashup with little or no capital investment and now it covers wide variety of areas starting from Celebrity location to Real Estate to YouTube video popularities.

See some of them in Action here, following site www.taxiwiz.com helps you to calculate the Taxi Fares, mostly though in US cities. Check out !

Since Google and Bing have its’ Maps API, numerous applications, called Mashups, have been developed that integrate customized data on top of Google’s map interface. With the Maps API, it’s straightforward to center a map at a given location, add markers, and display content in info windows—especially if the location is static. However, if the location is driven by user input or retrieved dynamically, the process is somewhat more complex because of the need to geo-code the address.

The following is one cool example that provides a map of all the airports in the world along with routes from those airports and operating airlines. Also provides the ability to read and write reviews for each airport and airline.

Check it out at: http://www.whereables.co.uk/

Finally, see the way to follow the Centuries hit by Sachin Tendulkar, again based on Maps.

Find out more at http://www.mibazaar.com/cricket/sachintestrecord.html

Do let me know how you like these. Also read “Mashups” to know what it means.

Synchronize with Syncplicity or Live Mesh

To bring your digital thought under one roof there is a continuous product innovation in the form of high-end laptops to iphones, while to sync and update your digital world and all the information that is important and all that you least cared for can now be accessed from anywhere anytime-check out on Syncplicity and Live mesh.

Gone are the days when you will need a file back up, when you increasingly run the risk of forgetting to copying them to the USB drives on your way down the presentation hall or the feeling of annoyance as you fail to attach the file to your email.

These are the myriad reasons why software programs like Syncplicity, Live Mesh is created and make Foldershare a passé.

What does Syncplicity or Live Mesh do?

They have finally put an end to downloading, burning, emailing and copying. Syncplicity can keep all your files in-sync and up-to-date across all computers without compromising on the security features. Similarly, Microsoft Window’s Live Mesh helps you connect to another computer and gives access to other’s desktop as if you are working sitting right infront of it.

How to go about it?

In Live Mesh to sync, share and access, install live mesh software in all the devices you want to synchronize and choose folders you wish to sync. As you sign up with Windows Live Mesh you need to Live Mesh client on all the devices you join to the Mesh known as the Mesh Operating environment (MOE). Helpful features such as a Mesh bar and a Notifier keeps you updated with a continuous feed of information as to what is happening in the synchronized folder. Live Mesh simply awes you with cross-functionality features too whereby your live desktop can stay connected with your friend’s Mac too.

Syncplicity is the brainchild of Leonard Chung that bridges the world of online and offline effectively and safely with speed and simplicity and works on Windows platform. It takes utmost care of all your files. For example if one file accidentally gets deleted then it is not lost from the system, instead it is stored in the recycle bins of respective windows. Syncplicity helps integrate data across all multiple computers and integrates with Zoho, Google, Scribd and Picnik. Registration, installation and getting started with Syncplicity is very easy.

One can always start off with a free subscription of 2GB space and two computers and then upgrade to almost 50 GB for just $9.99 per month with syncplicity. Whereas in Live Mesh you have 5GB free storage space initially. This implies that you can create files and store on Microsoft’s servers that you simply can access from anywhere.

In syncplicity it is easier to add files in the sync folder than in the Live Mesh Syncing folders. However it is Syncplicity’s conflict resolution management system that eats up the available storage place as the original copy of the files are kept and additionally it creates other copies of the file (1 from each machine of the sync group). So in the process of synchronization, chewing up the remaining space happens and the message that you have exceeded your quota is flashed. It is here that Windows Live Mesh scores better as shadow copies of files is not kept in the file system and thus the additional storage place remains unhindered when conflict arises.

The future of cloud management storage is picking up and everywhere the buzz is all about cloud computing. Check out my next post on cloud computing too.

Agile Methodology

Nowadays we hear much about Agile Methodologies, especially in the context when we want to jumpstart any development quickly without the documentation part and where requirements are not very clear at the beginning.

To put it in simple words, this methodology is another style of software development that has been characterized by quick start on development, less documentation, change driven and iterative.

In other words, Agile software development is a conceptual framework for undertaking software development projects that can get developed fast without the strict classic guidelines of maintaining the entire life-cycle of the project.

All Agile methodologies generally engage in an iterative workflow and follow an incremental way to deliver software in short time-boxed situations. An iteration could be a small release of software or results being achieved at short intervals. Naturally in these time-boxed development situations, things like coding, design and testing will run in parallel and Iterations are typically a fixed length and this length will depend on the chosen methods under Agile. Each iteration can be referred as a cycle in this context of Agile Methodologies.

There are a number of agile software development methods, most of them give the same time-boxed iterations approach, which could typically last one to four weeks but again depends on the nature of the project. Each iteration is like a miniature software project of its own, and includes all of the tasks necessary to release the mini-increment of new functionality: planning, requirements analysis, design, coding, testing, and documentation.

The most popular Agile methodologies in use today appear to be Extreme Programming (XP), Scrum, Feature Driven Development (FDD), Lean Software Development, Agile Unified Process (Agile UP or AUP), Crystal, and Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM).

Some of the principles behind the Agile are:

• Customer satisfaction by rapid, continuous delivery of useful software
• Working software is delivered frequently (weeks rather than months)
• Working software is the principal measure of progress
• Even late changes in requirements are welcomed
• Close, daily, cooperation between business people and developers
• Face-to-face conversation is the best form of communication
• Projects are built around motivated individuals, who should be trusted
• Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design
• Simplicity
• Self-organizing teams
• Regular adaptation to changing circumstances

Agile home ground:

• Low criticality
• Senior developers
• Requirements change very often
• Small number of developers
• Culture that thrives on chaos

Criticisms include:

• lack of structure and necessary documentation
• only works with senior-level developers
• incorporates insufficient software design
• requires too much cultural change to adopt
• can lead to more difficult contractual negotiations

Agile methods are sometimes characterized as being at the opposite end of the spectrum from “plan-driven” or “disciplined” methods. This distinction is misleading, as it implies that agile methods are “unplanned” or “undisciplined”. A more accurate distinction is that methods exist on a continuum from “adaptive” to “predictive”. Agile methods lie on the “adaptive” side of this continuum.

Some mistakenly believe that Agile methods avoid planning. This is a misconception, as Agile methods pay considerable attention to planning. However, Agile methods apply a planning process that is adaptive so as to accommodate inevitable change. Traditional, non-Agile methods tend to apply predictive planning that resists change and suffers the consequence of conflict between static plans and dynamic reality. Agile development has been widely documented as applicable to small, co-located development teams. Agile methods are more suitable when requirements are emergent and rapidly changing; they are less suitable for systems that have high criticality, reliability and safety requirements, though there is no complete consensus on this point.

Artificial Intelligence in a nutshell

Ever tried the voice recognition feature in your mobile or computer? Most of us have!! And I am sure most of you were amused to see how a machine could recognize the language we speak. All this is possible due to Artificial Intelligence and this is a small speck of the enormous potential AI and its application hold with in.

Artificial Intelligence is a branch of computer science that aims at making machines or software programs that exhibit intelligent behavior like human beings i.e. a machine can perceive their surroundings, analyze and react in the best possible way. The AI involves various other fields like Cognitive Science, Mathematical Logic, computational science to name a few.

The history of artificial intelligence can be traced to 1950 when Alan Turing proposed the Turing test as a measure of machine intelligence. The Turing test   Prof. John McCarthy coined the term Artificial Intelligence at the conference on the campus of Dartmouth College in summer of 1956.Over the time AI has been divided into:

Strong AI :  Strong AI (Very often called as ‘true AI’) refers to AI that inculcates intelligence in the machine that matches or exceeds human intelligence. This has still not come in to existence but finds a place in many of the sci-fi movies like Matrix, Terminator etc.

Weak AI : Weak AI refers to AI that enables machines to only mimic humans based on their programming. This kind of AI just simulates the human thoughts and actions that they are programmed to. AI. The true AI features like independent reasoning, to learn freely and adapt are absent. All current form of AI is weak.

There are many areas in which weak AI already inhabits today’s world and in many cases we don’t even realize that we use Artificial Intelligence. Lets see some of such applications:

• The self-parking technology in cars is based on AI.
• AI is used in monitoring frauds in Banks.
• The voice recognition in mobile phones was made possible using AI.
• The intelligent homes comprising of temperature, passive infrared, electricity and light sensors are AI based.
• Unmanned aerial vehicles, autonomous submersibles, unmanned surveillance in shallow water used in Military also involve AI.
• The Computer chess built on AI defeated the world Champion Garry Kasparov in a game.

The dream of making machines that are ‘Truly AI’ does not seem impossible. Companies like Google are aiming at making search engine fully artificially intelligent. In future we will have a search engine that will not be based on ‘just the words we type in without the search engine understanding the meaning’, instead it will exactly understand what we want.

Some Hot Technology trends of 2010

As the economy is recovering, technology holds the key for business expansion. In these days it is difficult to predict future as market economy is volatile, consumer demand is erratic and unpredictable while innovation is reaching new heights.

Technology today will touch your lives digitally some way or the other tomorrow.

Here is just a sneak peek into some tech trends that is expected to create an upheaval in the last year of the first decade of the 21^st century.

Semantic Web

In no time you will find an extension of WWW in the form of Semantic Web. The obvious question that is making rounds is what is semantic web? Internet with a mind of its own is Semantic web. For example if you wish to buy a smart phone, all you do now is Google  your search and you are given top 10 or 20 products with the reviews, price comparisons and flipsides. It is only after reading them that you reach a decision. But with semantic web, the best deal will be presented in front of you by finding and combining data. To achieve this, Metadata will be used and soon tools will be available that will transform the Web into indexed database. The latest buzzwords in the world of semantic web today is Resource Description Format (RDF), data interchange formats such as XML, RDF, Turtle and RDF schema coupled with Web Ontology language. So, World Wide Web will soon take over your life completely.

Cloud Computing

Soon there will be a paradigm shift for business houses as Cloud Computing will rule as the most efficient IT model in the business sector. Computing resources will no longer be in-house; instead it will be used on demand enabling businesses to be more agile and flexible. Businesses will be benefitted as the cost will be greatly reduced. Comanies like Amazon, Microsoft, IBM are all putting their strenths to encash this emerging area. Check out for Microsoft’s Azure Cloud computing services to taste this concept.

4G phone

There is writing on the wall that mobile technology is geared up for many innovations in the coming days. The word G holds special significance in the world of communication.  From 2G in the 90’s where a switch to text messaging and digital format is made to 3G ushering a new wave of faster communication and transmission of data, innovation will not get stopped here. People today are at the threshold of 4G and 2010 will see lot many launches of 4G phones worldwide and you can expect much enhanced versions from current say Apple 3GS.

3D television

Interesting changes will soon catch your attention even when you sit in front of the idiot box. The paramount question is how? Well, did you watch James Cameron’s latest magnanimous $300 billion budget movie Avatar? Yes, I am talking about wearing goggles and feeling the depth of the movie in the Cineplex. Whether Yes or No, don’t get surprised if you soon find that television landscape is walking towards a path of change and soon there will be launch of 3D televisions and you get option of depth as well to choose.

Mobile Banking

The entire financial gamut is looking forward for a change in the coming year. The reason is simple. With advancement in mobile technology, banking is expected to reach out to the masses from depositing funds in the account to creating a fixed deposit through just few text messages.

Augmented Reality

It is the new age reality and tomorrow will be better viewed, seen and heard with Augmented Reality. Soon you will have a device powered by AR that will take a snapshot of the person you are talking to, will process the image and present you with all information by checking out profiles at LinkedIn or Facebook. A huge potential is just waiting to herald a new change.

Enterprise social networking

Tomorrow’s business models will be largely dominated by collaboration. The way business is conducted will undergo a dramatic change soon. Earlier e-mail paved a new era and tomorrow enterprise version of Facebook, Wikis and Twitter will be the competitive method of communication. Business deals will get closed faster, decision making process will be accelerated, consumers will receive quicker resolution and employees will get more empowered.

Social gaming

Don’t you hear too often these days that your friend, colleague or brother has recently bought half a dozen chickens, two tractors and some cows? Yes, am speaking of Farmville by Zynga that has driven a large crowd to Facebook. Its not only Farmville, large section is also hooked on Mafia Wars. You will be also be amazed to know that by the last quarter of 2009, Second Life, another popular social gaming has almost 16 million users. Whether you a mingler or loner, social gaming is the best way to stay connected and social gaming is here to stay and more changes are on its way.

So, overall it will be an exciting year ahead in 2010 and we will revisit the Hot Technology Trends of 2010 to validate how much and how many of such trends can really create an impact to the technology domain.

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