Apple Wins: Samsung gets Patent Bill of $1 Billion

Steve Jobs was famously quoted in this biography by Walter Isaacson, that he was ready to go thermo-nuclear on Android for ripping of the iPhone. If not themo-nuclear, it has atleast won this first battle indirectly against Android by winning a patent case against Samsung. A But Android is a software and Apple probably did not have enough ammunition to really sue and win against Google. So they went after the Android phone manufacturers. Today, a U.S court has ordered Samsung to pay Apple $1.05 Billion in compensation for violating several patents. This will surely be a but dent into Samsung's reputation. Samsung has not yet revealed if it will challenge the court's ruling. Google will join the Patent Wars! Many observers and experts feel that the patent system in the US is flawed or broken. This has actually led to large companies like Apple, Microsoft and Google to aggressively acquire patent portfolios. For instance Google purchased Motorola last year and now Motorola has already sued Apple for patent violations. Motorola wants to restrict the import iPad and iPhone into the US. If Motorola succeeds it will pretty much shut down Apple from selling their products in the US. The patent system is supposed to protect innovation and not force companies to spend billions trying to abuse the system and end up suing and counter-suing each other. What are your views on patent wars between tech companies? Do drop in your comments. (via Gizmodo) -- This Post Apple Wins: Samsung gets Patent Bill of $1 Billion is Published on Devils Workshop .

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Compiling ghostscript 8.71 from sources

In a recent project, where we are working on converting PDF based newspapers to interactive image slideshows, we came across an issue with ghostscript version 9.05. This version was breaking rendering of some Marathi fonts present in PDF. When tested on ghostscript version 8.71, conversion was working properly. So we decided to downgrade ghostscript from version 9.05 to 8.71 on our server running Ubuntu 12.04 LS. Below are steps we followed. Compiling ghostscript 8.71 from sources Download sources from http://downloads.ghostscript.com/public/ wget http://downloads.ghostscript.com/public/ghostscript-8.71.tar.gz Uncompress downloaded source code & change to directory. tar xvf ghostscript-8.71.tar.gz cd ghostscript-8.71 Configure it (I used all defaults) ./configure Start compilation with make If you encounter following error: ./base/gp_unix.c:148:2: warning: implicit declaration of function 'gettimeofday' [-Wimplicit-function-declaration] make: *** [obj/gp_unix.o] Error 1 Compile using make XCFLAGS=-DHAVE_SYS_TIME_H=1 Finally install compiled binaries using make install At this point you will ghostscript will be installed at /usr/local/bin/gs There are other methods to install old versions also, but compilation is safer alternative IMHO. About the project: rtCamp is working on an exciting project to connect WordPress with conventional newspaper publishing. The project is in early stages and a sample can be seen at http://anandnagri.com/e-paper/22-aug-2012-3/ (Note: you may see some text in images broken if you visit this on Aug 24 or Aug 25 as all images are recreated using ghostscript 8.71 right now)   Related posts: Rapportive: Get details of your Gmail contacts from various sources -- This Post Compiling ghostscript 8.71 from sources is Published on Devils Workshop .

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Microsoft Reboots With a New Logo

Microsoft might have decided to dump the word "Metro" to describe the UI for Windows but they have remained loyal to the design philosophy in the new minimalist looking logo for Microsoft. The new logo is a lot more simpler and stylish from its previous iteration. The new logo for Microsoft was not surprising as it has rolled out new branding exercise for many of its products. The biggest being a new single coloured Windows logo. Here is a video below which shows how Microsoft has brought about the new logos which have similar style for Microsoft, Windows 8, Office and Xbox. What are your views on the the new Microsoft Logo? Do drop in your comments. (via Microsoft Blog) -- This Post Microsoft Reboots With a New Logo is Published on Devils Workshop .

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Facebook brings Two pane view and better search to Messages

Facebook has today revamped the UI of Messages, introducing a two-pane view, something you generally see in desktop E-mail clients. The've also brought minor updates to the search feature in it. One thing that's evident is, Facebook wants more people to use Facebook Messages for E-mail, which was then rumored as 'Gmail killer'. You can also see that they're trying to isolate Messages from default Facebook layout (see the screenshot, there's no sidebar on the left). I don't think this will in anyway help them in getting more users, honestly, I don't know anyone who uses Facebook for E-mail. Heck, I'm not sure if Outlook can actually convince considerable number of Gmail users, even with a good product. Regardless, the new UI looks good with the ability to add multiple photos. On the other hand, they've made search a little better, as you can now search by sender's name or keyword in conversation. For keyboard junkies, Facebook Messages will now support a full list of keyboard shortcuts – hit Alt (or Control if you're on a Mac) + Q key combo to get access to the shortcuts. Only if they had fixed those long persistent bugs, I'd use Messages more. The updates seem to be rolling out, I still don't have access to it. -- This Post Facebook brings Two pane view and better search to Messages is Published on Devils Workshop .

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Use Gmail’s Canned Response Feature on Your Android Phone

If you are using Gmail for managing your work like I do, then you might have heard about Gmail's canned response feature. It is a feature which allows users to send a pre-defined reply to similar emails. For example, if someone asks for my contact details via email, I usually reply with a canned message. It saves me time and does not require me to type the same email over and over again. Unfortunately, canned response feature is not available on my Android phone's Gmail app. Thankfully now there is an Android App which allows users to copy to clipboard the canned message and paste it in while replying on the Gmail app. How Gmail Canned Reponses works! Download Gmail Canned Responses on your Android phone from this link. The app will prompt you to use OAuth authentication to get connected with your Gmail account, where you have stored your Canned responses. Now a list of your canned responses will show up on the app. Select one from the list and the message is copied to the clipboard of your phone. Now go back to using your Gmail App and while replying, and paste the canned response. Unfortunately, canned response is still a feature in Labs section of Gmail preferences. This means it is still a beta product and that explains why it has not been yet included in the official Android app for Gmail. Try out Canned Responses and drop in your comments. Link: Canned Gmail Responses (Android) Related: Check out 10 Gmail Tips  -- This Post Use Gmail's Canned Response Feature on Your Android Phone is Published on Devils Workshop .

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Set specific websites to automatically open in Chrome’s Incognito Mode

Chrome users have a useful feature on the browser called Incognito Mode. It basically disallows information on the webpages you visit from being stored on the browser. It also deletes all new cookies after the incognito mode is closed. This is useful for looking up websites without the need to clear caches all the time. But usually we need incognito mode only for certain websites. Incognito This is a nice little Chrome extension that allows users to open a specified webpage directly in incognito mode. For instance whenever I type in 'google.com' in the address bar, I can set the page to open in incognito mode automatically How it works! Download the extension on your Chrome browser (the link is at the end of the post). Once the extension is installed on your browser a incognito mode icon appears next to the browser omni bar (address bar). Right-click on the icon and look up the options. In Options or the preferences of the extension, we can add a URL that is set to automatically open in incognito mode as seen in the image below. Additionally we can visit any webpage and click on the extension's icon and it opens the page in incognito mode. Try out incognito this and drop in your comments. Link: Incognito This -- This Post Set specific websites to automatically open in Chrome's Incognito Mode is Published on Devils Workshop .

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Narendra Modi on Google+ Hangout: Indian Politics Just Got More Social

Google+ might not be getting a lot of buzz but its Hangout feature is being increasingly adopted. So it is not very surprising, that Gujarat's Chief Minister, Narendra Modi will be on a Google+ Hangout session which will be available  on YouTube Live. Google+ Hangouts is not new to politicians using it for interactive sessions. One of the most famous examples has been of the US President Barack Obama, answering questions from people on a live Hangout session. Narendra Modi on Google+ Hangout A Hangout session will be held and shown live on Youtube with some participants, who will ask him questions on various topics. The questions have to be submitted in the comments section on this post. The best questions will be selected and the winners will be able to ask the politician their questions themselves. Last date to submit questions is 27th August midnight. The live Hangout session will take place on 31st August 2012, 20.00 hrs IST. You can view the Google+ event page for the Hangout session here. Politicians love/hate relationship with social media Social media has been lately, gathering a lot of adoption from politicians around the world. Most world leaders do have some sort of presence on some social media website or the other. Even some Indian politicians have been active on social networks, especially Twitter. But not all politicians are fond of social media, especially whenever there is a lot of criticism of politicians or their policies. Link: Narendra Modi on Google+ Hangouts -- This Post Narendra Modi on Google+ Hangout: Indian Politics Just Got More Social is Published on Devils Workshop .

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