Check out latest computer news and downloads at the Computer Society International (Orkut) blog at http://computersocietyinternational.blogspot.com .

Sony and Google has launched a series of online games to promote the launch of The Da Vinci Code next month. The games which began on Monday, lead to a final game on May 19, (the film`s release date) where one U.S. winner will receive first-class vacations to New York, Paris, London and Rome, as well as a package of electronics from Sony.
Da Vince Code Quest
There are quite attractive prizes on offer but only if you are from the US, UK or Australia.
The winner will receive first-class vacations to New York, Paris, London and Rome, as well as a package of electronics from Sony.
Read more about the contest here.
Doing this Google adds some entertainment vlue to its search engine. This will also translate into revenue for the company. And for Columbia Pictures this will add to the enthusiasm among the core fans who are the target audience in this effort.

Yesterday I was bit bored. With nothing new to do I was just surfing idly. Thats when I came across a website on Bill Gates' home. Google Earth takes you the nearest you can. Click here.

Sergey Brin,co-founder of Google along with three other persons have been granted a US patent for a voice interface for search engines. That is great news for Google. I think they are working on these lines for quite some time now.
So when Google comes out with this product users will be able to say aloud their search requests instead of typing them or maybe phone in their search requests.
But skeptics have already voiced their concerns over individual privacy. But that will surely not stop Google from carrying on research to bring out something as revolutionary as 'voice enabled search.'

And you can read the reviews on the latest Windows Vista build here.
Meanwhile Intel and Baidu, top search engine from China has joined hands to work together to develop search apllications for the Chinese market.Never heard of Baidu but read in afew articles that the MP3 search offered by them is the speciality of their popular search engine.

Moving on to something off the subject in this blog for the first time.
Amir Khan made a remarkable gesture by joining the protesters of the ongoing Narmada Bachao Andolon led by Medha Patkar giving the movement a much needed momentum after Medha was hospitalised. Hats off to Amir Khan. You can do your bit signing an online petition at http://petitions.aidindia.org/narmada/
I have created a quiz contest (without prizes) for my Orkut community Computer Solutions India at http://csiorkut.blogspot.com

Google finally launched its long rumoured Google Calendar tool which allows users to create and track appointments through a Web-based interface accessible from any computer connected to the Internet. I checked in but yet to use it. But it has a neat and clean interface and I am sure there must be some cool features to make it special.
Calendaring is one of those problems where we felt like it hadn't been done right before, and we felt we could add some value to it," says Carl Sjogreen, Google's product manager for the calendar project.
Google Calendar promisses to be simpler than desktop tools available. But in this effort Google will also face competition from existing web based calendar services like Kiko and 30 Boxes, and it joins a raft of other free tools for personal organization and time management, such as Upcoming, Gootodo and GTDTiddlyWiki.

Computer Solutions India, the Orkut community I created and am still moderating has crossed the 400 members mark! At present it has 423 members and the growth rate is amazing.
The community was earlier called Computer Solutions Kolkata, but as we grew larger I changed the name to the present one. The community is now a wealth of information and is one of the most active computer related communitites inside Orkut.
We at CSI exchange ideas, debate on the latest technologies, clear our doubts and help others solve theirs.
We had a refreshing debate on IE or Firefox. Subratam Biswas, a cool guy from Kolkata who has now made it to Microsoft Corp. participated in it. That added an unexpected zing. Subratam gave us a few valid reasonings and I personally enjoyed reading the posts. Sure the others also loved it.
To read the entire debate click here.
Its a fun place to be.

Moving on to some news that made me stop and read...
India says no to Google Earth`s peering
The Indian government has decided to mask some of the satellite images made available by Google Earth.
Minister of State Prithviraj Chauhan said the prime minister`s office on Thursday instructed the country`s defense and science and technology ministries to evaluate images of sensitive Indian locations and proceed with measures for masking them.
To read more click here.

Sattellite image of Rashtrapati Bhavan complex, New Delhi - Google Earth

An interesting point to note is that A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, President of India, himself has vocally criticized the availability of satellite images of sensitive areas in India being available through Google Earth.
There is surely reason to be concerned because the software porovides high resolution images and it is also possible to make calculations to get approximate distances. India is not alone as South Korea, Russia, Thailand and Australia has also voiced similar concerns.

Google India Code Jam lures 14,000 developers
Google India Code Jam 2006, a coding contest for developers, had more than 14,000 participants, Google Inc. announced Friday. It also named the contest's winners.
This is the second year that Mountain View, Calif.-based Google has organized this contest in India. A spin-off benefit from the contest is that it can help to identify top programmers who could be hired for the company's research and development organization.
The contest was open to programmers from South East Asia. Both last year and this year, the top prize went to Ardian Kristanto Poernomo from Nanyang Technology University in Singapore.
To read the full story click here.
Conrats Ardian! What do these guys eat for breakfast? Codes?

Google has snapped up new search technology Orion
"Google has purchased the assets of Orion and Ori Allon is now an employee," said Barry Schnitt, a Google spokesperson. "We're thrilled to have him here."
Orion, according to many is set to revolutionize the way people search.
Ori Allon, who developed the algorithm, is a 26-year-old PhD student at University of New South Wales. The deal was struck between Google and the University but the sum was not disclosed.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported that the university retains the intellectual property rights to Orion, "and that could mean a steady flow of royalty payments if the process is eventually integrated into Google's search engine."
To read more click here.


Cyberbabe Lara Croft has made it into the coveted Guinness Book of World Record as the "most successful human video game heroine," according to Eidos Interactive, publisher of the blockbuster "Tomb Raider" games that made the digital hottie famous.
Lara Croft has sold more than 28 million copies over the last 10 years! Being in the reckoning for a decade is a huge achievement in the constantly evolving gaming scenario!