Geek Fun

You clicked send. Oh crap. When you send a no-take-backs email — maybe an official email, or accidental reply-all — there's an instant pang of regret. It feels like there's no going back. Meet Gmail's Undo Send feature, a lifesaving little hack buried in the Gmail Labs settings. It gives you a 30-second window to "undo" sending an outgoing email. You just have to enable it first. Here's how it works: 1. Click the gear icon in the top-right corner of your Gmail window and select Settings from the dropdown menu. Gmail screenshot 2. Select Labs from the row of tabs. Gmail screenshot 3. Scroll all the way to the bottom where you see Undo Send and click Enable. Gmail screenshot 4. Hit Save Changes at the bottom. 5. Breathe easy. Now when you send an email, the yellow dialogue that displays "Your message has been sent" will also give you the option to Undo. Click it, and the email will reop...

Google says next version of Android will be called KitKat NEW DELHI: Sundar Pichai, head of Android division at Google, on Tuesday revealed on Twitter that the next version of the company's mobile operating system (OS) will be called Android KitKat. "We now have over 1 billion Android activations and hope this guy in front of the building keeps that momentum going," Pichai tweeted as well as posted an image of a giant Android mascot built like KitKat chocolate. Earlier, there were rumours that the next version of the OS would be called Android Key Lime Pie. Since Android 1.5, Google has named each version of the OS after a sweet. Android 1.5 was Cupcake. Android 1.6 was Donut. Android 2.0 was Eclair. Android 2.2 was Froyo. Android 2.3 was Gingerbread. Android 3.0 was Honeycomb. Android 4.0 was Ice Cream Sandwich. And Android 4.1, 4.2 and 4.3 have been called Jelly Bean. "Android is the operating system that powers over 1 billion smartpho...

Microsoft's Nokia deal: Layoffs look inevitable   ( read original ) BANGALORE: Microsoft and Nokia's India operations are among the biggest outside their home countries, and it looks like a certain number of redundancies and consequent layoffs are inevitable. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer's email to Microsoft employees on the Nokia deal said the companies would integrate all global marketing and have a unified brand and advertising strategy. It said that finance, legal, HR, communications, evangelism, customer care and business development would integrate functionally at Microsoft. ICM/IT will also integrate functionally for traditional IT roles, it said. Such integration in most cases implies redundancies. Nokia has 9,000 employees in India, almost a tenth of its global workforce. Microsoft has 6,000 employees here, out of its global strength of 97,000. It's unlikely that there will be much overlap at the engineering, support and R&D lev...

Russia Why Russian Tech Entrepreneurs Are Willing to Risk Backing Navalny (original document) A group of Russian Internet entrepreneurs has taken the unusual and potentially risky step of speaking out publicly in support of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny. In an open letter distributed on Aug. 7 to local media outlets, 37 leaders of Russian Web startups said they were backing Navalny’s campaign for mayor of Moscow, as a protest against corruption and other official abuses. They said they were speaking as individuals, rather than as representatives of their businesses. “The situation in Russia is deteriorating beyond reasonable limits,” Kamil Kurmakayev, a Web entrepreneur who organized the effort, tells  Bloomberg Businessweek  in an interview. He says the government’s treatment of Navalny, who is running for mayor while appealing a recent conviction on theft charges, mirrors the experience of business people who see that “in Russia, the government can do...

Cisco to lay off 4,000 employees  source: TOI NEW YORK: Cisco's earnings and revenue grew in the latest quarter as demand for its computer networking equipment increased. But CEO John Chambers called the global economy "challenging and inconsistent" and the company said it is cutting about 4,000 jobs, or about 5% of its work force. Cisco's revenue guidance  for the current quarter was weaker than Wall Street expected, and shares fell sharply in extended trading. The company's stock fell $2.51, or 9.5%, to $23.87 in extended trading after the results were released. The stock closed up 6 cents at $26.38 in the day's regular trading session. Cisco Systems  earned $2.27 billion, or 42 cents per share, in the three months that ended on July 27. That's up from $1.92 billion, or 36 cents per share, a year earlier. Adjusted earnings were 52 cents per share in the latest quarter, squeaking past Wall Street's expectations by a penny. This figure excl...

Microsoft to launch Windows 8.1 on October 18 source: TOI SAN FRANCISCO: A tweaked version of Microsoft's Windows operating system which restores the "Start" button missed by users and updates other features will be available on October 18, the company said.  Windows 8.1  will be offered as a free download to those already using Windows 8, and comes in response to a lukewarm reception to the operating system introduced last year aimed at serving both mobile devices and PCs.  A full retail version of Windows 8.1 will also be available on the same date.  "I know a lot of folks are eager to find out when they will be able to get Windows 8.1," said a blog posting from Microsoft's Brandon LeBlanc.  LeBlanc said it would roll out worldwide starting in New Zealand just after midnight.  "Windows 8.1 brings many improvements in areas like personalization, Internet Explorer 11, search which is powered by Bing, built-in apps including a few new ones, an impro...

BSNL to set up defence telecom network by July 2015 State-run telecom operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited ( BSNL ) is reportedly working to set up an alternative communication network for exclusive use by the Indian defence sector. BSNL is supposed to hand over the network by July 2015. After setting up of the new network, the defence sector is likely to release the 150 MHz of spectrum in frequency range of 1700 MHz to 2000 MHz. . According to BSNL Chairman and Managing Director RK Upadhyay, the new network uses optical fibre and satellite links and is "is targeted to be completed in three years from Cabinet approval and this works out to July 2015. It's a tight schedule, but BSNL is making all efforts to meet it." BSNL is likely to begin rolling out the optical fibre cable network across 57,000 kilometres by January 2014. The telco has issued tenders for a 3,000 kilometre OFC network for the navy, which is likely to be ready by the end of next year. The ...