Web Crunch

 Microsoft to buy Yahoo

Well this one could be one of the biggest take overs in the history of the online space if it actually does happen. Though it has been in the rumours since last year and even we have blogged about the possibility of Microsoft acquiring Yahoo till date there was no official confirmation of the same.

 But now Microsoft has officially made a 44 billion $ bid to take over Yahoo. The bid which will consist of cash and Microsoft stock, values Yahoo shares at $31 a share, a 62% premium on Thursdays closing price.

This interesting table from Techcrunch which kind of gives you a glimpse of what the Yahoo takeover by Microsoft may mean to their main competitor that is google.

The above chart clearly shows that Microsoft benefits the maximum when it comes to the US Search Market Share while in all other aspects it is far larger than yahoo. Microsoft has cited reasons like operational efficiencies and consolidation of manpower and knowledge for this bid. But from the above chart its fairly clear that this bid is to take Google on in the online advertising game as Microsoft had earlier acquired aquantive in response to google’s double click aquisition.

 Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer also admitted that this acquisition was a move to make microsoft a more web based Saas (Software as a service) kind of company. So windows live and office live could be in the pipeline which directly compete with googles docs and spreadsheets.

- Henry

Sulekha.com Blogs - Sulekha Blog Sucks

Any good free blog service will provide cool blogging service for its viewers. With this mind-set, Sulekha.com started the blog but they are too much concerned about the content written by the blogger.

When I blogged at Sulekha Blogs it was just a dumbest thing I did in my entire blogging life. The sign up page and My dashboard pages are all bombared with heavy advertisement banners which distract the attention of blogging experience.

More over Sulekha Blog does not allows to place hyperlinks in the personal blog written by bloggers. This is really dumb thing! I really dont know who is behind the sulekha blog management. They are just head-less chicken.

My blog on SSL - Certificate was deleted twice. It was the funniest thing when the so called stupid editor of sulekha blog emailed me to say that they dont allow external links in blog. God knows how the blog readers will ever reach the destination if we dont place link to the product information of the same?

Moreover that person said my blog was sounding like an advertisement! WTF. Sulekha blogs are just useless. It’s my personal place on sulekha web site but what’s the use of that blog service if I cant express my views?

I request you to avoid such mad blogging service like Sulekha Blogs. I’m waiting to receive some spam email from them. That’s only thing I expect from such a service.

- Rajeev

 Wordpress Tweaks

Tweaking and playing with wordpress is always fun, and also brings out something interesting into our blogs. Here are a few wordpress tweaks and addons

 1. Search Hilite

The Search Hilite Plugin highlites Search-Words, from external Searches over Yahoo,Google, Lycos and Baidu, as well as WordPress internal Searches, on the Search Results-Pages. When someone searches for a keyword in any search engine, and if they reach your blog through there, the keyword you searched will be highlighted for making search more easier for you.

2. Gravatars plugin

Gravatar, also called as globally recognized avatar is an avatar that follows from blog to blog with your comments. It is similar to avatars as of the forums. Gravatar aims to put a face behind the name. Gravatar will be a way to establish trust between producers and consumers on the internet. It will be the next best thing to meeting in person. It helps in making your online identity.

3. Podpress

A dream plugin for Podcasters using WordPress. WordPress is a fantastic Blogging platform and while it does have some Podcasting support, its just all that a Podcaster could want. Podpress helps in converting your RSS Really Simple Syndication into Itunes valid feed which can be played by a good flash player that is given by Podpress.

4. Feed Autodiscovery

Most modern browsers can automatically detect feeds offered by websites with feed autodiscovery enabled. This makes it easier to subscribe to these sites. If your blog doesn’t have feed autodiscovery enabled already, you need to set it up. Read the scratch99 blog for complete info and installation of this plugin.

5. Subscribe to Comments 2.1

Subscribe to Comments 2.1 is a plugin that allows commenters on your blog to check a box before commenting and get e-mail notification of further comments. It is one of the most popular WordPress plugins out there for the simple reason that it helps foster a community around your blog by encouraging commenters to come back and stay engaged in the dialog.

– contributed by Nitin

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