Yesterday, I stumbled upon the word ‘Orkut’ when I was searching for something over the web. This tempted me to visit Orkut and have a sneak into its features and interface. It’s been four years since I stopped using Orkut and moved to Facebook. To be honest I was pretty impressed with the way Orkut has changed. They have finally got rid of all those colourful fonts and images. There is much more uniformity now. However, it cannot be compared to Facebook which seems to be much more organized and clear. On further digging into its features, I somehow felt that some of the Google Plus interface has evolved from Okrut. I guess you will flame me for this. So, I decided to point out some comparisons.

Navigation bars on top
As you can see in the above images, there are two bars placed almost the same way as in Orkut. The use of text has been minimized in the navigation bars in Google Plus. Instead of the email ID, the name is shown on the right hand side and a drop down menu is used with a gear icon.

The second bar in Google Plus has exactly the same placement as in Orkut, i.e; the logo, navigation and the search bar. Here the only difference is that Google Plus features pictured buttons navigation whereas Orkut has a traditional navigation bar. However, Google has introduced new features like Circles and Games and placed them here.

Left hand side column

Have a closer look at the left hand side column. Don’t you think it’s pretty much the same thing as Orkut? However, there are slight modifications. The profile picture size has been minimized; it’s more like an icon now in Google Plus. The ‘all updates’ and ‘my updates’ have been replaced by the word ‘stream’. The chat function is still placed on the left hand side. When you click on a friend, his/her chat box appears on the right hand side of your screen just like Orkut.

Right hand side column

Moving on to the right column, the first thing you’ll notice is that the column has been cut down to almost half its size. Friends are still presented in the right hand side column but with smaller icons thus making the layout clear. One weird change to be noted is the ‘send invitations’ box being moved from left hand side to right hand size with a nice looking email icon.

The Middle column
The middle column has been widened by reducing the space in the right hand side column as mentioned earlier. The middle column’s primary function is to show news feed (now known as stream) just like Orkut. Also, if you observe carefully, the presentation of feeds is almost like Orkut. The profile picture size and placement is followed by name, date and sharing details exactly like Orkut. To be honest, the middle column hasn’t innovated much! ‘Reply’ has been replaced by ‘Comment’, ‘Like’ by ‘+1’ and the only extra option you can see is ‘share’.

Other points
If the background was colourful and the columns were clearly defined and separated just like Orkut, you would definitely say, “Is this Orkut?”

So what’s Google + when compared to Orkut and Facebook?

Google learned from its mistakes and created an improvised version of Orkut with enhanced and innovative features and named it Google Plus. Google had ample of time to look into what Facebook is doing and what it is performing like. They used some of the features or added some new features which Facebook did not have and presented it in Google Plus. So, why did Google create a completely new social network and not modify Orkut? The answer is simple; Google did not want to continue with something which started receiving bad feedback and was interested to start off new. Moreover, users from Orkut had already moved to Facebook which was a major setback.

Here’s an Orkut new features video that I saw while visiting Orkut. If you carefully observe the video, the layout does not match the layout which is used at present. This video was made more than a year ago. So, I wonder if Orkut was used by Google as a testing platform for Google Plus or the features have not yet been introduced in Orkut?

Google Plus may look similar but is definitely much more powerful than Orkut and is different from Facebook. Circles and Hangouts are two interesting features in Google Plus that make it better than Facebook. Google Plus is still growing and will take some time to earn peoples admiration. In the near future, if new features like apps, fan pages, etc are introduced, it might get better response from users.

PS: If you are still looking for Google Plus invites then feel free to comment here, I’ll send you one.

Today, while browsing I came across a website- Sellyourmac.com that buys second hand Apple products from you. It accepts Iphones, Mac books, iPads, Apple TV’s, Cinema Displays, etc. There’s a small form that you need to fill stating the product, its condition and the accessories that you are interested in selling. If the condition of the used product is good and you also have the box and accessories you are going to get a good price.

Well, if you have any old Apple product and you are interested in getting rid of it, then you should definitely try going to Sellyourmac.com. I cannot assure you that you may get a better price than eBay but you can surely avoid 15% PayPal/ eBay fees.

Best Websites to Compare Prices in the UK

Shopping.com
Shopping.com has been one of the most widely used websites for comparing products. I like the way the reviews are organized based on ratings. It’s something similar to Amazon.co.uk. If you click a product, you can see reviews of that product right below the product and the comparison of prices from different sellers on the right hand side.

Ciao.co.uk
When it comes to price comparison, being in the UK I would definitely choose Ciao. Ciao is a multi-million-strong online community that critically reviews and rates several products and services. It offers a much broader scope of comparison. If you are interested in comparing prices in Europe then Ciao is a good option.

PriceRunner.co.uk
PriceRunner is a popular website for comparing prices in UK. I have used it many times to compare prices. You can compare prices of different types of electrical goods and appliances. It features a really good and user friendly design and you can compare prices of stuff on different web sellers within seconds!

Kelkoo.co.uk
I find Kelkoo to be much more organized that PriceRunner. Kelkoo is pretty useful if you are comparing prices in the Europe as you can compare products in 10 countries across Europe. It saves consumers an average of 15% off high street prices.

TestFreaks.co.uk
TestFreaks is really useful if you are interested in looking at reviews from consumers and others. You can not only look at reviews but also compare the products from different sellers online. If you are interested in buying computer hardware or accessories, digital cameras, television, etc then this is a definitely a good place to look at.

Shopzilla.co.uk
Shopzilla is useful if you are comparing household appliances and sporting goods. They also give ratings for the stores apart from the reviews and ratings for the products. The reviews for the products can be seen in a small box when you click on the review button. This allows you to see other similar products as well instead of just seeing one product like most other websites.

So, which one do you think is the best website to compare prices in UK? Do, you have a better option than the ones above?

Click here to view the embedded video.

Now you might be wondering if this requires some Photoshop skills. Well, Alexandre used his Photoshop skills but you don’t need to. There’s a website known as FBcrop that allows you to do the same. You can have a look at the below video for a detailed tutorial.

Click here to view the embedded video.

It’s something new, definitely worth a try!

Make your profile pictures like the ones above

If you open the PDF file you might have noticed that it doesn’t show you the word count. So, the question arises how can you find the number of words in a PDF file? I stumbled upon a website which does the same. All you need to do is upload the file on the website and click on the ‘count’ button. And, there you go! You should be able to see number of words and characters.

Click here to Find Out the number of words in a PDF file

How to show a RSS Feed Icon in the address bar of a web browser?

To show the RSS feed icon in the address bar, all you need to enter is the following code in the header of your webpage:

Once done, just refresh your webpage and you should now see a new feed icon for your website in the address bar of any browser.

Here are a number of sources through which you can watch it online:

Watch World Cup 2010 Live on ESPN
Watch FIFA World Cup 2010 Online on FromSport
Watch FIFA World Cup 2010 on TV Bunch
Watch Live FIFA World Cup 2010 Online on ATDHE.net

Good CPM Advertising Networks

TribalFusion:
I personally use TribalFusion and would surely recommend it to anyone. The earning rate is pretty good. But, sadly, TribalFusion pays only 55% of the total earnings to publishers. But, the reporting panel is pretty cool.

BurstMedia:
Burst Media supports thousands of websites, but it doesn’t have features like other networks offer. Burst Media has the ability to fill many advertising spots, and the support team is good as well. The great part is that users receive 65% of the total revenue.

Value Click Media:
Value Click Media is pretty good, neither great nor bad. The pay rates are pretty decent. The reporting is little crappy and the user interface is a little slow. But, it’s not easy to get approved by Value Click Media.

Realtech Network:
It’s pretty easy to get approved by this network but I didn’t like it that much. The pay rates are really low.

AdsDaq:
AdsDaq provide CPM ads to only to certain countries. But, they can display backup ads from any network. It has a good CPM rate and is definitely a good choice.

Casale Media:
Casale Media offers competitive payouts i.e.; 70%, a user friendly interface and reporting, and different ad types such as leaderboards, skyscrapers, and pops.

Out of the above listed CPM Networks, I like Tribal Fusion and the next two options would be Burst Media and AdsDaq.

FREE CSS Editors for Windows

TopStyle Lite:
TopStyle Lite is actually a lighter version of the TopStyle Pro version. It allows you to edit and create CSS style sheets. Since, it’s the basic version; it contains only a small subset of features aimed at casual users that just need basic CSS editing features. It offers an instant preview as well as a style inspector with support for different CSS and browser specifications.

PSPad:
PSPad is a freeware programmer’s editor for Microsoft Windows operating systems. It supports many file types and languages, with syntax highlighting. There are macros, clip files and templates to automate repetitive tasks. Some of its interesting features are- Integrated HEX Editor, Project support, FTP Client, Macro Recorder, File Search/Replace, etc.

CSS Stylesheet Editor:
CSS Stylesheet Editor helps you to easily create and modify CSS stylesheets for use with HTML documents, without the need of knowing CSS syntax. It provides intuitive fields for all of the CSS properties you’re ever likely to need.

JustStyle CSS Editor:
JustStyle CSS Editor is full-featured, yet easy-to-use, software for webmasters. It is a specialized style sheets development environment, featuring everything needed to develop and deploy cascade style sheets. It is a cross-platform application. It works on different platforms, such as Microsoft Windows, IBM OS/2, Linux, Apple Mac OS, Mac OS X, etc.

Astyle:
Astyle is a simple and easy to CSS editor. It gives a good graphic tree-type view of attachment files and the CSS structure. You also have a very good grouped view of properties and selectors.

Simple CSS:
Simple CSS as it sounds is a simple CSS editor that helps you to create stylesheets from scratch, and/or modify existing ones, using a familiar point-and-click interface. Simple CSS is available both on Mac as well as Windows.

Notepad++:
Notepad++ is one of the widely used editors. It’s mainly because it’s free and supports several languages. It features a WYSIWYG interface.

How to Add Symbols to a Facebook Status:

Using the ALT button:
Go to you status message app and type in whatever you want to. Then to add a symbol, hold the ALT button on your keyboard and press any number. For instance; ALT+1, ALT+2, etc. ALT+1 will give you a smiley. You can keep trying various combinations of numbers to get different results.

Using Status Symbols app:
Status Symbols is an app that has a wide range of symbols, smilies, arrows, etc. You can create a status message right from the app using various symbols and stuff.

RELATED: How to Get Smilies in Facebook Chat Window

There are lots of online dictionaries with audio pronunciations. I’ll list some of the good ones below:
Merriam-webmaster
Howjsay
YourDictionary

How to Create a Photo Mosaic Online?

There are many web based services which allow you to create a Photo Mosaic with ease. All you need to do is upload the image you want to convert into a photo mosaic and within few seconds it will be done for you. I’ll list some of the web based photo mosaic creators below:

Patchwork, Pictosaic, Mozaiq, BigHugeLabs

How to Get New Orkut

You can easily get an invite to try out the new Orkut. You can get an invite by:

Joining the New Orkut Community:

Join the New Orkut Community. Once you join you’ll automatically get a new Orkut Invite.

By asking your friends:

You can ask your friends who have received a new Orkut invitation to invite you. When a person gets invited to new Orkut, he can invite 10 of his friends to try out the new Orkut. Once you get invited, you too can invite your friends. There’s an ‘invite your friends’ to new Orkut button under ‘My Friends’. You can invite your friends once you get invited.

Ask for an Invite here, i’ll invite you:

I have some spare invites. I’ll invite you. Just post a comment here. I’ll add you as a friend and then I’ll send you an invitation.

Using Instant Eyedropper is pretty simple. All you need to do is click on the Eyedropper tool and then press and hold it over the color. You should be able to see the HTML code for the color. By doing this you can find out the color code for each and every pixel. Pretty cool isn’t it?

Download Instant Eyedropper

SpeedBit Video Accelerator can buffer YouTube videos faster and thereby minimize video interruptions. Additionally, the SpeedBit Video Accelerator also allows you to search for videos. You can also bookmark favorite videos. Apart from buffering YouTube videos faster, it also supports faster streaming of videos on Metacafe, etc.

Download SpeedBit Video Accelerator