Wednesday, April 30, 2008

AdSense for mobile content now integrated with DoubleClick Mobile



Last week we launched our new mobile image ads, which give mobile web publishers the flexibility to display image ads in addition to text ads on their sites. As of today, AdSense for mobile content publishers who have configured their sites to display mobile image ads can now have ads served to their sites from DoubleClick Mobile. This means more advertisers for AdSense for mobile content publishers, more inventory for DoubleClick Mobile advertisers, and more ad relevance for browsers of the mobile web.

Read our press release to find out more.

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Tables in MySQL

I want to know how many tables a mysql database can hold ?
When using MyISAM table, the limit will be determined by your operating system, ie. the number of files you can have in one directory.

Using InnoDB tables removes that limitation by allowing multiple tables within a single datafile (tablespace).

The maximum tablespace size is 4 billion database pages. By default, a 'page' is 16K, but it is possible to recompile with 64K pages. This will allow a single tablespace size of ... 'BIG'.

A table will obviously take up at least one database page, meaning you can theoretically have a maximum of 4 billion tables per tablespace.



The number of tablespaces will again be limited by your operating system. Using NTFS on NT, the limit is 4,294,967,295. I imagine UNIX will be limited by the number of inodes. However, before reaching the physical limit of files you wil probably run into an issue with the maximum number of 'open' files allowed.

The first limit you hit will undoubtedly be that of your wallet while buying disk drives. ;)

Thursday, April 24, 2008

New mobile image ads



The mobile ads team is happy to announce the launch of mobile image ads. These look like standard image ads for desktop web pages but they are smaller to fit on mobile screens and they run on the mobile content network. Take a look at the mobile image ads example page to see samples. Also, watch the video below to see my interview with Sanjay Agarwal, a mobile ads engineer, and his demo. Note that all mobile image ads are keyword-targeted, are priced on a cost-per-click basis, and must link to a mobile web page.

For advertisers, mobile image ads serve as a branding tool and have shown to have good clickthrough rates. Advertisers using mobile image ads will also benefit because we only show one image ad per mobile page. For publishers, mobile image ads provide added flexibility. They can now choose to show text ads, image ads, or a mix of both and Google will dynamically return the ad that we expect will perform best at the time the ad is shown. Publishers who are already using AdSense for mobile content just need to update their AdSense code to start displaying mobile ads on their site.

For those of you who are mobile web surfers, mobile image ads provide a new way to interact with mobile content. Contextual targeting keeps ads relevant, and with only one mobile image ad shown per page, you can uninhibitedly browse mobile websites while clicking only on the ads that interest you.

Mobile image ads are currently available in Australia, China, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Russia, Spain, the UK, and the US. As always, leave questions and comments below or on our YouTube channel.

Friday, April 18, 2008

Better Know Your Mobile: Using Shortcut Keys and BlackBerry Convenience Keys for Google Maps











Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Now available: orkut on your mobile phone



Have you ever wanted to check if your buddy responded to your scrap about this evening's plans, but not been close to a computer? Do you wish you could pass the time on your long commute home by browsing through your friends' profiles?

Fret no more -- if you have a web-enabled phone and a data plan, just point your mobile web browser to m.orkut.com, and stay connected to your friends anytime, anywhere.

We understand that often your phone's data network isn't as fast as your computer's, so in designing orkut for mobile we focused on offering the features that are most useful when you're on the move, instead of replicating all the desktop features. For example, we've made it easy to send, receive, and respond to scraps on our mobile interface so that you can step away from your computer and have conversations on the go. From your phone, simply click the new "Reply" link to respond directly to a scrap from your friend. You can also read recent updates from your friends, view upcoming birthdays, look up and add friends, and accept friend requests.

After you try out orkut for mobile, we'd love to hear what you think. From the m.orkut.com homepage, click on the "help" link at the bottom of the screen to send us your feedback.

Happy mobile orkuting!

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Can Women use a weapon to protect herself

Question: Does a woman have to defend herself if someone wants to rape her, and is she allowed to use a weapon for that purpose?

Answer:
Praise be to Allaah.

A woman who is being forced to commit zinaa [unlawful sexual activity] is obliged to defend herself and should not give in even if she kills the one who wants to do that to her. This self-defence is waajib (obligatory), and she is not at fault if she kills the one who wants to force her into zinaa. Imaam Ahmad and Ibn Hibbaan reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever is killed defending his property is a shaheed (martyr), whoever is killed defending himself is a shaheed, whoever is killed defending his religion is a shaheed, and whoever is killed defending his family is a shaheed.” In the commentary on this hadeeth it says: “whoever is killed defending his family is a shaheed” refers to the one who defends the honour of his wife and female relatives.


If a man is obliged to defend his wife and fight off the one who wants to rape her – even if this leads to his own death – then this obligation applies even more to the woman herself, who must defend herself and not give in to the aggressor who wants to violate her honour, even if she is killed, because if she is killed she will also be a shaheedah, just as her husband will be a shaheed if he was killed defending her honour. Shahaadah (martyrdom, the status of shaheed) is a high status which is only achieved by the one who dies in the way of obedience to Allaah and that which He loves, which indicates that Allaah loves this kind of defence, a man’s fighting to defend his wife’s honour and a woman’s fighting to defend herself. But if she is unable to defend herself, and the evil aggressor overpowers her and rapes her by force, then she should not be subjected to any punishment (hadd or ta’zeer); rather, the punishment should be carried out on the evil aggressor.

It says in al-Mughni by Ibn Qudaamah al-Hanbali: “Concerning a woman who was pursued by a man, and she killed him to protect herself, Ahmad said: ‘If she knew that he wanted [to rape] her, and she killed him to protect herself, then she is not at fault.’ Ahmad mentioned the hadeeth which al-Zuhri reported from al-Qaasim ibn Muhammad, from ‘Ubayd ibn ‘Umayr, in which it said that a man had visitors from [the tribe of] Hudhayl, and he wanted [to rape] a woman, so she threw a rock at him and killed him. ‘Umar said, ‘By Allaah, there is no diyah for him ever’ i.e., she did not have to pay the ‘blood money’ for him. If it is permissible to defend one's money, which one can give away, then a woman defending and protecting herself and her honour which cannot be given away, is clearly more permissible than a man defending his money. If this is clear, then she is obliged to defend herself if she can, because letting someone overpower her [rape her] is haraam, and by not defending herself, she lets him overpower her.” [al-Mughni, 8/331]

And Allaah knows best. Al-Mufassal fi Ahkaam al-Mar’ah, 5/42-43.

Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allaah have mercy on him) said in al-Turuq al-Hukmiyyah, 18: “(Section) … A woman who had committed zinaa was brought to ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab (may Allaah be pleased with him), and he asked her about it and she admitted it, so he commanded that she should be stoned. ‘Ali said: ‘Maybe she had a reason.’ So he said to her, ‘What made you do that?’ She said, ‘I had a partner who shared livestock with me; his camels had water and milk, and mine had none. I got thirsty, so I asked him to give me something to drink, but he refused unless I let him have his way with me. I refused three times, but I was so thirsty that I thought I was going to die, so I gave him what he wanted, and he gave me something to drink.’ ‘Ali said: ‘Allaahu akbar! “… But if one is forced by necessity without wilful disobedience nor transgressing due limits, then there is no sin on him. Truly Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” [al-Baqarah 2:173 – interpretation of the meaning].’”

In Sunan al-Bayhaqi it says: “From Abu ‘Abd al-Rahmaan al-Sulami, who said: ‘A woman was brought to ‘Umar who had been extremely thirsty, and had passed by a shepherd and asked him to give her something to drink; he had refused to give her something to drink unless she let him have his way with her. [‘Umar] consulted with the people as to whether he should have her stoned. ‘Ali said, ‘She was forced to do it. I think you should let her go.’ So he did so. I say: this is what should be done. If a woman is in desperate need of food and drink from a man, which he will not give her unless she lets him have his way with her, and she is scared that she will die without them, so she lets him have his way with her, then she is not to be punished. If it were asked, is it permissible for her in this situation to let him have his way with her, or does she have to suffer [her hunger and thirst] with patience, even if she dies? The answer is that her case is like that of a woman who is forced to commit zinaa, to whom it is said, ‘Either you let me have my way with you, or I will kill you.’ The woman who is forced to do this should not be punished; she can save herself from being killed in this manner, but if she bears it (i.e., being killed) with sabr (patience), this is better for her. (But she does not have to put up with with being killed). And Allaah knows best.”

Islam Q&A
Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid

What are the limitation for a boy & girl during Engagement

Question:
i searched through all the relevent sections but i could not find the answer for my question.so i am asking it here. i was engaged to my present wife. and during the engagement period (before Nikah) we used to meet and touch and kiss and fondle with each other.. etc . but we never committed an intercourse. and later on we married. now i came accross the ayat of sura Noor for which some scholars say that a couple who had committed Zinna with each other, then they can not marry each other. another related question is that in some parts of pakistan people use to renew their marraige contract (Nikah) without any sharee requirement. Is it permissible to renew ones Nikah if the earlier nikah is still valid.

Answer:



Praise be to Allaah.

The marriage contract is valid and it is no need from an Islamic point of view to renew it simply because of a doubt. But what is mentioned in the first part of the question, about kissing the woman during the engagement period – if this was before the marriage contract (‘aqd or nikaah), then it is haraam. The same applies to being stimulated manually by the woman. But if it was after the marriage contract then there is nothing wrong with kissing. With regard to adulterers marrying one another, there is nothing wrong with that, after waiting out an ‘iddah period and after both parties have repented. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): “Women impure are for men impure… and women of purity are for men of purity…” [al-Noor 24:26 - Yoosuf ‘Ali’ translation of the meaning]. Repentance is essential on the part of both, but it is not permissible to conclude the marriage contract until after the waiting-period and making sure that the woman is not pregnant as a result of zinaa. Once that has been established, there is no reason why they should not marry one another.

In your case, as you describe it in the question, there is no need to repeat the marriage contract, but you must both repent to Allaah for the forbidden relationship which you engaged in before you were married. And Allaah knows best.

Islam Q&A
Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid

Kissing your Children according to Islam

Question:
Is it true that a father should not kiss his daughter on the mouth and that a mother should not kiss her son on the lips?

Answer:
Praise be to Allaah.

This is true. A man should not kiss his mother or daughter on the mouth. Similarly, a brother should not kiss his sister on the mouth, or his paternal aunt or his maternal aunt, or any of his mahrams. Kissing on the mouth is only for husband and wife. And Allaah knows best.




Islam Q&A
Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid

How to create a toolbar for your portal - Like google and Yahoo tool bar

Its very easy to create a custom toolbar for you website or blog. Just follow the link below, create an account for free, customize your toolbar and give your users a new reason to visit your Website or Blog!!! :-D


http://www.conduit.com/Publishers/WebsiteSyndication.aspx

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Do you have nomophobia?



A recent article in the Evening Standard introduced a "new, peculiarly 21st century affliction" called nomophobia or "no mobile phobia," which is exactly what it sounds like - the fear of being out of mobile phone contact. Besides citing research that claims up to 53% of mobile phone users feel great anxiety when their phones run out of battery life or have no network coverage, the article also suggests ways to avoid nomophobia, such as carrying a charger at all times or remembering your most important phone numbers.

So are you a nomophobe? If you are, you're not alone. I suspect that many of us on the Google mobile team are nomophobes too!

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

How to Check OsCommerce Version

he question of what version a shop is has been getting asked a lot lately. This is meant to give a quick way to check it.

- First look in includes/application_top.php and find this line
// define the project version
Under that will be a line that starts with define('PROJECT_VERSION'. These are the main choices:



define('PROJECT_VERSION', 'osCommerce 2.2-MS1'); //released prior to July/2003
define('PROJECT_VERSION', 'osCommerce 2.2-CVS'); //released between the above/below dates
define('PROJECT_VERSION', 'osCommerce 2.2-MS2'); //released after July/2003
define('PROJECT_VERSION', 'osCommerce Online Merchant v2.2 RC1'); //released March/2007
define('PROJECT_VERSION', 'osCommerce 3.xxx'); //not released for general use

The versions before MS2 are not compatible with MS2, which is the main version is use. Between MS2 and RC1, there were two patch updates. There isn't a version number for those patches (in the files) so you have to compare file content to see if they are installed. First, download the patches from here. Extract the contents and compare a few of the files with those in your shop. If your shop has them installed, then you probably have the latest MS2 version.

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Better Know Your Mobile: Using My Location and Traffic features on Google Maps



We've found that a lot of you that use our services like Google Maps for mobile haven't yet tried some of the great features that are available. Well, those days are hopefully coming to an end. Today we're launching a new video series to help you Better Know Your Mobile by showing you some cool tips and tricks for getting information on the go.

If you've ever wondered how to get the most out of Maps for mobile, then this post is for you. These first two videos highlight the My Location and Traffic view features of Maps for mobile. Stuck in terra incognita? Check out the My Location video to learn how you can quickly find yourself on the map. Once you know your approximate location, you can also figure out whether there's traffic nearby using the Traffic feature. We'll even show you exactly what the different traffic colors actually mean.

If there are any features you'd like to learn more about, give us a shout on the blog or video comments - we'll be rolling out more videos in the near future. To browse all of our videos, hop over to the Google mobile help channel. While you're at it, bookmark that channel to catch new videos about using Google mobile.

Friday, April 4, 2008

Android's First Five Months



As some of you may have heard, Wireless Week has chosen the Open Handset Alliance and Android for its Emerging Technology Award, noting that "Android's potential promises openness and innovation, perhaps changing not only the mobile Internet but the Internet itself."

We at Google would like to congratulate all the members of the Open Handset Alliance and the fantastic Android developer community for this well-deserved recognition. Android's growing momentum is the result of an amazing effort and collaboration among many different people.

Coincidentally, this week marks five months since the Open Handset Alliance and Android first went public. A lot has happened in this short period of time. Among the things of note:
  • We released an early look at the Android software development kit (SDK), allowing anyone to learn and start creating apps for the platform.
  • Feedback from developers has contributed to numerous fixes, improvements, new tools, and major updates to the SDK, the latest version of which you can find here.
  • Google announced the Android Developer Challenge, which will provide $10 million in total awards for the best Android apps -- and the first phase has nearly wrapped up. (Be sure to get your submissions in by April 14!)
  • Several companies gave the first working demonstrations of Android in February.
These have been an exciting first five months, and we look forward to making the coming months even better.

Thursday, April 3, 2008

Picasa Web Albums for Windows Mobile


When Joe Walnes showed off the shiny AJAX interface on the iPhone version of Picasa Web Albums I started thinking - can we make an AJAX interface work on new Windows Mobile devices? After all, Internet Explorer Mobile supports many of the advanced browser features that we used to build the iPhone version. Joe and I wanted to give it a try so we got to work. Today we're pleased to tell owners of Windows Mobile 6 touchscreen devices that you can now enjoy a much faster and slicker way of browsing Picasa Web Albums on your phone.



Working with Windows Mobile also meant that we could add some cool features using the newly announced Google Gears for mobile, which gives web applications the ability to work even when there is no internet connection available. This means that you can view albums of your choice offline. Gears also lets you add a Picasa icon to your Program Files folder so you can have faster access to your favorite photos. If you'd like to learn more about how we leveraged Google Gears for mobile, watch Dion Almaer's interview with Joe.

To try out Picasa Web Albums on your WinMo 6 touchscreen phone, just go to picasaweb.google.com on your Internet Explorer Mobile browser. Let us know what you think!