Test your Web Site’s Browser Compatibility

Interestingly when ever I made HTML pages, it never looked the same in Mozilla or Chrome as in IE. The questions in my mind where very obvious. If HTML was an Open Standard (ISO/IEC 15445:2000) then why does our web pages behave differently in each browser it is opened.
I did not get into finding the details but just checked out , if there was something available which informed me of the reactions of opening a page in every known web browser.
The search led me to come across browsershot.org.
This site lets you to understand how your website would behave when opened in different web browsers. Further more, it lets you set the following parameters before starting such an adventurous operation.
Screen Size : 640/800/1024/1280/1440/1600 pixels
Color Depth : 8/16/24/32 bit per pixel
Javascript : Enabled or Disabled [ checks compatibility with various versions of JavaScript, if enabled]
Java : Enabled / Disabled
Flash : Enabled/Disabled [ with various versions of Flash]
So,  if you are an amateur  designer, check out for compatibility with all the prevalent web browsers.
Browsershot is a free open-source online web application providing developers a miraculous way to test their website's browser compatibility in one place.

Technorati Tags: browser,Javascript,open source,web application,flash,Java

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This Summer wait for the Clouds to Perform

Some  Stats : 
a. 40% of technology innovations from new projects in open source are cloud-based. 
b. There were 10000 new mobile open source projects started in 2011, up from 4000 in 2010. 
c. More than 50% of software acquired in the next five years will be open source.
d. The market size for Cloud Computing would be $150 billion by 2013. The global cloud computing market was $40.7 billion in 2011.
e. 7 out of 10 Companies using cloud services will move new applications to the cloud.
f. 60%: Server workloads that will be virtualized by 2014.
g.By 2016, more than 50 percent of Global 1000 companies will have stored customer-sensitive data in the public cloud.
h.By 2012, 80% of new commercial enterprise apps will be deployed on cloud platforms.
i. Researchers estimate that Amazon Web Services is using at least 454,400 servers in seven data center hubs around the globe.
j. It is expected to grow more than $241 billion by 2020.

References :  statspotting.com , cloudcomputingtopics.com  , thecloudmarket.com , itweb.co.za


Technorati Tags: technology,size,Cloud,cloud Computing

A Combo Cloud Drive

Grabbing freebies for cloud storage?!  I have a  Sky drive of 7 GB , Google Drive of 5 GB , Drop Box of 2 GB ,  Box.net of 5 GB. That’s enough of  drive space  to carry files on the “drive” and equally cumbersome to manage. Almost all these storage solutions comes up with a mini app, so as to drag and drop your files.  Otixo is  a solution to combine all your clouds together and make an easy living.

A single umbrella  to the clouds , Otixo  has a desktop solution. I would not call it an App , as the site claims , but a solution which you should be able to swear by in the future. Its  nothing but a WebDAV feature.Microsoft introduced WebDAV client support in Microsoft Windows 98 with a feature called "Web folders". How many of us have effectively used it?  I am surprised that  many of these old features and commands are now coming so handy.[Refer to my previous blog on the DOS Command – SUBST]

To work with Otixo , just prepare a new sign-in and start enumerating the cloud storages you would like to get linked. If you have a FTP or WebDAV space , Otixo will allow you to integrate.

Once done, map a network drive to https://dav.otixo.com.  Enter the Username and password which you supplied while signing-up. You would love to use it when perplexed with so many storages.

But, every unit has a scope for improvement. Otixo does not come with a Mobile App!!! And, if you have a baggage full of data to be accessed, it allows only 250 MB bandwidth per month.
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Have you ever used the DOS command : SUBST ?

Some DOS commands were so important , that it created a base to evolve the future versions of the Windows cult. SUBST – I never used in my 21 years of fiddling with the computer till the time I started using the Storage Services on the cloud. In fact SUBST , is a key behind mapping of network drives. Let’s check what was so special and then make use of it for our daily needs.
SUBST was basically used to substitute paths on physical and logical drives with drive names [virtual drives]. A Microsoft Windows Command prompt displays the following help screen.
C:\>subst /?
Associates a path with a drive letter.
SUBST [drive1: [drive2:]path]
SUBST drive1: /D
  drive1:        Specifies a virtual drive to which you want to assign a path.
  [drive2:]path  Specifies a physical drive and path you want to assign to
                 a virtual drive.
  /D             Deletes a substituted (virtual) drive.
Type SUBST with no parameters to display a list of current virtual drives.

Now, let’s move on to the Visual Dynamics of the same command. Visual SUBST can be downloaded from :
http://www.ntwind.com/software/utilities/visual-subst.html or http://visual-subst.en.softonic.com/.

The installer is of 112 KB and a click is sufficient to make it alive. After installation : Select a drive letter for the path and click the green button.Here the virtual drive T: has been mapped to C:\Users\Kausik\Google Drive\ . Click the Red Button to delete the Virtual Drive. DOS had an undocumented command “TRUENAME” to reveal the true identity of virtual drives.Relevance of SUBST or its Visual Substitute makes a base for mapping network drives by OS derived out of  DOS

So, why an old horse which was rarely ridden becomes a hero at the outset of cloud storage?

Today , all cloud storage solutions sync data from pre-defined folders.

It could be a default or a user defined path. Making virtual drives of such paths helps us to drag and drop files which needs to be a part of the cloud.So, if Google Drive Syncs data stored in C:\Users\Username\Google Drive or Drop Box syncs every bit of C:\Users\Username\Dropbox, show some respect to these paths with a Drive Letter.

I’m sure your work becomes easier and faster.

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War of the Clouds!!!

Recently google came up with Google Drive. So, what was new that made google to create a launch pad so late when others are established as a name. Skydrive, Opendrive , Justcloud , Dropbox , Mimedia, icloud are leaders in their own right signifying SaaS[Storage –as – a- Service] to be something which can be traded.

Comparisons aren’t much. Apple has been the first mover to provide us with ipod,iphone or ipad. With limited attachments, glossy finish and a hyped marketing they have been able to secure a commendable market place. I have never been a proponent of the Apple saga and do not expect much from the Icloud, which only allows a device with iOS 5 or OS X Lion 10.7.2 to be backed up. Everything here is a paid service without knowing its worth.

Justcloud or mimedia are paid services. Although they allow some free space, you never know when they would ask for your credit card details. When I uninstalled justcloud, it offered 10GB @ $1 per month. The plan was not there in the pricelist. Apps are easy to install and syncs folders at ease.

Opendrive allows 5GB of free storage with a file size limitation of 100 MB. It does not belong to the open source syndicate, as the name suggests.

Dropbox which gives you 2GB of free space, easy interface and a soothing sync. Short and Smart indeed! 2GB is however too small to taste the goods. It provides you with a link to every file stored. Henceforth you prepare a web page, do not waste money on hosting sites, unless otherwise required.

I am always biased towards the open source market which nourishes and flourishes with a business model beyond comparison. Moreover, in case of the Microsofts and Apples, price paid for a product is not always proportional to your requirements. Technology products are not like toothpastes which needs to be used for the same purpose, with equal importance by every individual.

Microsoft launched its skydrive way back in 2007 and provides 7GB of free space. The desktop App was launched on 22^nd April, 2012.It supports files size upto 2GB. Truly Charitable on the part of Microsoft, which has built its reputation known to all. This might be one of the best moves by them in the recent years.

Google Docs, was already there. Then what’s new with Google Drive? It provides an additional 2.5 GB of data and is a reply to Skydrive Apps. Google drive Helps you to store files of any format , which was not possible with Docs. Soon the gmail attachments can be made a part of google drive. Being the best in “search technology” , it scans through stored images for texts which could help in searching. It has added support to 30 file types. So, now on if you need to check a Photoshop file and the Application is not in your machine, use google to open it. But, it has to evolve and mature.

So, the next time a cloud vendor says that you can access your files from anywhere and everywhere, check twice on the “any-ware” and “every-ware”… Cheers!!!

 

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An Update on the Musical Cloud …

Last week I had written a piece on Google Music. I just came across an idea of accessing it through web proxies. Now, have got an invitation for the Google music account. I just logged in with my normal Google account. It worked !!! After the invitation no web proxy was required. I quickly installed the music player, which in turn checked for music on my machine and started uploading on the cloud.

My android mobile was not compatible to install the music app as I was trying to access the cloud visible in the US.What can be the way out ? Get the apk and install it manually??!!!

I’m sure this strategy will work…. Music does not have barriers or boundaries and this is the only language we all understand!!!

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Music of the Clouds

I don’t think many Indians are used to http://www.soundcloud.com or the http://www.cloudplayer.com . These web sites allow you to upload music and make it a medium to socialise. Cloud Computing is a concept which would be there for a a long time to stay.

Google Music beta [ Don’t get confused with http://google.co.in/music ] available for American IPs,  has a made a mark in the Open Source cloud Arena.[Available at http://music.google.com]. You can store up to 20000 songs in your account.It syncs with your android device – a mobile or a tablet PC.

To top it all – it runs in offline mode on your android driven mobile device. Get connected to listen from the cloud. When not connected, it can run the recently played music. I think it’s a great step forward.

 

But there are pitfalls – The site is available in the US by invitation. If in India - To get an invitation, can logon with your normal google account  via web proxies.like http://zendproxy.com .

Cannot install the music player for android even with web proxies.

So, what's the take?if you get an invitation, be the first to use it when launched in India. It syncs, it shuffles and makes you dance to the tune from the clouds !!!!

One browser enough for your machine? The TAB story……..

I was trying out on many browsers to access sites. IE, Chrome, Mozilla, Safari …were some of them. Surprisingly all browsers were faster than IE. Even Apple’s Safari spoke well than the conventional IE. Then why use IE at all? We can have a browser which suits the best. But, many of the Enterprise Business Portals do not open or work properly in browsers other than IE. Solution was to come up with a tab which would have IE Extensions. Now a days, virtually all browsers have an IE extension.

Mozilla has an IE tab and can be downloaded from https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/ie-tab/ . The source is available in Mozilla’s CVS[Concurrent Version System] and can be downloaded from http://ietab.mozdev.org/source.html.[ Only of interest for CPP Programmers]
Chrome has a similar plug-in and can be downloaded from http://www.chromeextensions.org/utilities/ie-tab. You can only use Google chrome to download the extension.

Opera has also started IE browsing . Safari does not have any such extension available till date.

	So why do we need IE Tabs ? If you are using a site prepared by Share Point Portal or driving mails from Microsoft Exchange which uses Microsoft’s proprietary mechanisms , IE is the only answer.

Let’s look at the other way round. Does IE support other browsers for tabbed browsing?

Google’s Chrome Frame for IE 6 , 7 , 8 & 9 is a plug-in which supports Open Web Technologies and HTML5’s offline capabilities. If you are an IE user , try using Chrome Frame by installing it from http://www.google.com/chromeframe.

So, Open Web Technologies, Microsoft or Apple’s proprietary technologies need to shake hands very often in spite of the stand offs posed out. Shall try to find how intense these shakes are.