Now, use Facebook for your financial transactions

Banks and stock broking firms are beginning to carry out business on Facebook.

MUMBAI: Banks and stock broking firms are beginning to carry out business on Facebook, an important step as they try to build deeper customer relationships through social media platforms. With nearly 45 million users in India and growing rapidly, Facebook's popularity is making banks test the waters with a few basic services to discover how comfortable customers are carrying out transactions on the social networking site. 

ICICI Bank, India's largest private bank, is one of the early movers. Its application lets customers check the balance in accounts; request statements and cheque books; or even upgrade debit cards right from their Facebook home page. "Social media is not a fringe channel and has become an important tool to interact with consumers," said Sujit Ganguly, a general manager at the bank.

Firefox users can know who is spying on them

Mozilla, the maker of Firefox, has unveiled a new add-on for the popular web browser that gives users an instant view of which companies are "watching" them as they browse.

LONDON: Mozilla, the maker of Firefox, has unveiled a new add-on for the popular web browser that gives users an instant view of which companies are "watching" them as they browse, the Daily Mail reported on Friday.

The move comes the same week that Googlepushed ahead with its controversial new privacy policy, built to provide even more data for Google's $28 billion advertising business - despite concerns that the harvesting of private data might be illegal in many countries.

Virat Kohli's best moment is yet to come

Virat Kohli should rule world cricket over the next 10 years, provided he doesn't let his attitude get the better of him. (TOI Photo)

Watching young Virat Kohli take Sri Lanka's bowling apart in Hobart on Tuesday, one was reminded of Aristotle's famous line: "Young people are in a condition like permanent intoxication, because youth is sweet and they are growing." 

The Greek philosopher's immortal quote from Nicomachean Ethics, his best-known work on human ethics, wonderfully sums up why Indian cricket must give itself a shot of elixir of youth to remain competitive in the international arena. 

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Team India heads home after disaster down under

The vanquished Indian cricket team, barring a copuple of players, traced its way back to home today, drawing curtains on a disastrous Australian tour during which it lost more than it gained.

As soon as Sri Lanka pipped Australia at the post in Melbourne last night, the reservation plans were put afoot and the players lost little time in leaving for home.

The players with bases in Mumbai and south India – Sachin Tendulkar, Zaheer Khan, Rohit Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Vinay Kumar, Ravichandran Ashwin and the entire support staff -- took a morning flight to Singapore where they would board respective connecting flights to Mumbai and Chennai.

NASA was hacked 13 times last year

NASA said hackers broke into its computer systems 13 times last year.

NASA said hackers broke into its computer systems 13 times last year, stealing employee credentials and gaining access to mission-critical projects in breaches that could compromise US national security. 

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration spends only $58 million of its $1.5 billion annual IT budget on cyber security,Paul Martin, the agency's inspector general, told a Congressional panel on NASA security earlier this week. 

"Some NASA systems house sensitive information which, if lost or stolen, could result in significant financial loss, adversely affect national security, or significantly impair our nation's competitive technological advantage," Martin said in testimony before the US House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, released on Wednesday. (http://bit.ly/yQFSB8) 

TCS to set benchmark with 'non-linear' revenues

MUMBAI: Tata Consultancy Services is ready to show off its 'non-linear' revenues for the first time next month, setting a benchmark for India's information technology (IT) services industry with a metric that is being closely watched as a sign of companies' maturity and competitiveness. 

A measure of revenue productivity, 'non-linear' growth has been on the lips of every Indian software company which thinks it is vital to break the stubborn link between sales growth and headcount addition. By deciding to make 'non-linear' revenue data public every quarter, India's largest software exporter could be challenging its rivals to do likewise and set off a revenue productivity race. 

Nearly two years ago, TCS chief executive officer N Chandrasekaran made a bold promise that his company would earn at least 10% of incremental revenues from 'non-linear' initiatives that do not require additional manpower to be allocated. 

Sri Lanka win ends India's nightmare tour Down Under

India's worst tour of Australia in the last 45 years ended on Friday when their faint hopes of qualifying for the tri-series finals were dashed with Sri Lanka pulling off a nail-biting nine-run victory over Australia in the last league in Melbourne.

India needed an Australian win to qualify for the finals but it was Sri Lanka who secured a passage to the summit showdown as they scraped past the hosts in a match which saw fortunes fluctuate till the very end at the MCG.

Electing to bat, Sri Lanka put up a modest 238 runs and then bowled out the hosts for 229 to win with five balls to spare.

In the nerve-wrecking final moments of the game, Australia needed 10 runs in the last over off Nuwan Kulasekar but David Hussey's mighty heave was caught by Tillakaratne Dilshan at long-off to trigger off wild celebrations in the Sri Lankan camp.

The Indians had lost a Test series 0-4 on Australian soil way back in 1967-68 and the current 0-4 whitewash is the heaviest defeat since then. India have been whitewashed in a Test series three times in Australia.

Hard to understand the psyche of Indian team: Gavaskar

Former captain Sunil Gavaskar came down heavily on the Indian cricket team after the conclusion of its disastrous tour Down Under, saying it was hard to understand the "psyche" of Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men.

"When they get through an achievement like a fifty, hundred or a wicket they snarl, snap and swear but when they drop a catch, they smile... it should be the other way round. It's very hard to understand the psyche of the Indian cricket team," said Gavaskar.

India's tour of Australia ended today when their hopes of qualifying for the tri-series finals were dashed with Sri Lanka pulling off a nail-biting nine-run victory over the hosts in the last league match in Melbourne.

Prior to the Commonwealth Bank ODI series, India were whitewashed 0-4 in the Test rubber.

PHOTOS: Japan's AMAZING recovery a year after tsunami

On March 11, Japan will observe the first anniversary of the devastating earthquake and tsunami that ravaged the country and left it in tatters.

As Japanese grit would have it, the nation has powered itself out of the grief and resurrected the affected areas.

We show you glimpses of the transformation of tsunami-hit Japan

Image: (Above) Streets flooded after the tsunami in Miyako, Iwate Prefecture. (Below) The area today

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NASA loses command codes to control space station

An unencrypted laptop computer stolen from NASA contains codes used to control the ISS - Agencies

The PC Magazine reported that the March 2011 theft of the computer containing the ISS command algorithms was just one of '5,408 computer security incidents (in 2010 and 2011) that resulted in the installation of malicious software on or unauthorized access to (NASA) systems', the agency's Inspector General Paul Martin informed the US House of Representatives in the letter dated Wednesday.An unencrypted laptop computer stolen from NASA last year contained command codes used to control the International Space Station (ISS), media reports said.

Other laptops stolen during the period in question contained data related to Orion, the Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) being built for NASA's future manned spaceflight missions. NASA reported 'the loss or theft of 48 Agency mobile computing devices' between April 2009 and April 2011, reported Xinhua.

Counter-terrorism: US special forces stationed in India, reveals Pentagon

US special forces teams are currently stationed in Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives, as well as India, a top Pentagon commander has disclosed.

WASHINGTON: US special forces teams are currently stationed in five South Asian countries including India as part of the counter-terrorism cooperation with these nations, a top Pentagoncommander has disclosed. 

These teams have been deployed by US Pacific Command as part of its effort to enhance their counter-terrorism capabilities, in particular in the maritime domain, Admiral Robert Willard, the PACOM Commander said on Thursday. 

"We have currently special forces assist teams - Pacific assist teams is the term - laid down inNepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives, as well as India," Willard told lawmakers at a Congressional hearing in response to a question on co-operation with India on counter-terrorism issues. 

Nokia No.1 in Indian mobile market: Study

Nokia retained its leadership position with 31 per cent share of the overall mobile phone segment.

NEW DELHI: Driven by strong uptake of smartphones, mobile phone shipments to India grew by 10 per cent to 183.4 million units in 2011 against 166.5 million units in 2010, says a study. 

According to a CyberMedia Research study, the smartphone segment grew 87 per cent to 11.2 million units in 2011 as against 6 million units in the previous year. On the other hand, feature phone shipments increased seven per cent to 172.2 million units in 2011 from 160.5 million units in 2010. 

Nokia retained its leadership position with 31 per cent share of the overall mobile phone segment, followed by Samsung at No 2 with 15 per cent and Micromax at No 3 with 5 per cent share in terms of sales (unit shipments) during 2011. 

The Finnish firm was also numero uno in the smartphones segment with a 38 per cent share, followed by Samsung with 28 per cent share in 2011. RIM dropped to third place with a 15 per cent share, the study said. In 2011, the India smartphones market witnessed the launch of 150 models by over 30 vendors. 

Microsoft offers free trial of Windows 8

LONDON: Microsoft gave reviewers and the public their first taste of its revolutionary new operating system Windows 8, the Daily Mail reported Thursday. 

Windows 8 will run on tablets as well as desktops and laptops - and is a sea-change for Windows that is seen as a make-or-break opportunity for Microsoft. The free trial was offered Wednesday. 

Tablets and cloud computing have made chairman Bill Gates' vision of "a computer on every desk and in every home" seem quaint - Windows 8 aims to adapt the iconic operating system for life in the mobile world of tablets.

Windows 8 will come in two variations - one that works on desktops and laptops, and a new version for the ARM microprocessors in tablets, smartphones and other portable devices.

There is no set release date, but it's widely expected to be available in autumn - offeringMicrosoft Office free on tablets, which could be a "killer app" that puts Windows 8 machines ahead of Apple devices, the newspaper added.

Microsoft's market capitalisation is now $267 billion.

Sending SMSs while driving can also land you in trouble

Under the proposed changes, not only talking on phone but also sending text messages or using hands-free mobile devices would be considered an offence while driving.

NEW DELHI: Clearing a steep increase in penalties for traffic violations, the Union Cabineton Thursday proposed a compensation of Rs 1 lakh for death and Rs 50,000 for grievous injuries in hit-and-run cases.

The move aims to end the different standards adopted to give compensation in such cases, which is paid by the government out of a fund. This was one of the several amendments in theMotor Vehicle Act which the Cabinet cleared.

TOI had on Wednesday reported that the government was likely to approve a slew of measures including a stiff increase in fines for traffic offences. Road transport and highways minister C P Joshi said the Cabinet had given its go-ahead to revise the compensation amount for hit-and-run cases every three years. 

Why Google+ Doesn’t Care If You Never Come Back

Ad targeting. Google+ is designed to power ad targeting, and for that it only needs you to sign up once. This lets it combine the biographical information you initially enter such as age, gender, education, employers, and places you’ve lived with your activity on Search, Gmail, Maps and all its other products to create an accurate identity profile. And this powers targeting of more relevant ads it can charge more for.

So despite comScore showing that the average Google+ user only spends 3 minutes per month on Google+, VP Bradley Horowitz wasn’t lying when he told the Wall Street Journal ”We’re growing by every metric we care about”.

Maybe when it first launched, Google+ had aspirations of stealing away some of your content feed reading time from Facebook and Twitter. While it needs a lot of work, the design and features Google+ have launched are solid, and I have the utmost respect for a team doing the best it can. The problem is that it doesn’t solve a problem. Facebook owns the social graph and the relevance-sorted news feed of your friends’ activity, and Twitter owns the interest graph and the firehose of news and real-time updates.

Sehwag rested, Tendulkar picked for Asia Cup

  

The Asia Cup will be Sachin Tendulkar's second ODI series since the World Cup © Getty Images

Virender Sehwag has been rested from India's one-day squad for next month's Asia Cup, with Virat Kohli taking over as vice-captain. Sachin Tendulkar has been picked for the tournament, while allrounder Yusuf Pathan and Bengal fast bowler Ashok Dinda make comebacks. Fast bowlers Zaheer Khan and Umesh Yadav have been rested.

Kohli's elevation to vice-captaincy comes after his sustained run of success in one-day cricket. He was the highest run-getter in the format in 2011, is the leading run-scorer in the ongoing Commonwealth Bank series and has been one of India's few bright spots on the dismal tour of Australia. "The selection committee and board feels that Virat Kohli could be good future captaincy material," Kris Srikkanth, the chairman of selectors, told reporters in Mumbai.

Over the past few days, there had been intense media speculation about whether Sehwag and Tendulkar would be selected for the Asia Cup. Sehwag has had a poor run in the ongoing CB series in Australia, averaging 13 in five one-day innings.

Tamil Nadu teenager inspires Google

Harine Ravichandiran, 16, a standard XII student from Alangudi village in Chidambaram, has created a record of sorts by inspiring organisers of Google Science Fair, touted the largest online fair for school students, to create a new award category this year.

The only Indian finalist in last year’s Google Science Fair, submitted a project to eliminate voltage fluctuations in her village using multi-level inverters.

Harine did not win the final prize, but the organisers and panelists were so inspired by her work they decided to institute a new award category, Scientific American Science in Action, from 2012 for projects benefitting communities.

“When they announced the new category after screening my project film, I was in tears. I may have missed winning $50,000 but I am happy somebody else will get it from this year,” said the IIT-aspirant studying in Narayana College, Hyderabad.

The Google credit won scholarships and gained her an easy entry into many global varsities.

“Stanford University has already confirmed her admission with 80 per cent scholarship. However, Harine is awaiting MIT results,” said mother V. Padmathilagam, a professor at Annamalai University.

Padmathilagam said she took two years leave to help Harine prepare for IIT exams.

Firm warns of hacker threat to mobile gadgets

Cyber experts will demonstrate types of attacks used against computers are now heading for smartphones - Agencies

Cyber security veterans behind startup CrowdStrike will demonstrate at the RSA conference on Wednesday that the types of attacks used against computers are heading for smartphones.

Former McAfee chief technical officer George Kurtz and Dmitri Alperovitch, who has researched major cyberespionage operations, have figured out how to take over smartphones using booby-trapped text messages.

"The reality is that those attacks are probably already in the wild and no one has discovered them," Alperovitch, the author of reports on cyberespionage operations Aurora, Night Dragon, and Shady Rat, told AFP.