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I'll never forget the day I first went online. It was on a Friday morning, and I decided to start off my browsing with something I was familiar with, so I hopped off to the CNN website. A couple of minutes of click-on-every-link-you-see later, I stumbled on a website that seemed anxious to ship me a Ford truck that I had supposedly just won at an online lottery. Ah, childhood memories.
   Of course, all those special offers and prizes still come as mean as ever. But you could still try out your luck without a credit card - in finding the exact website while you can't recall the address. Google (www.google.com) is a wealth of resources, and this feature happens to be just one of them. Just enter the name or relevant keywords of the website/topic you wish to look up in Google's search field, and instead of clicking on Google Search or hitting Enter/Return, click on the I'm Feeling Lucky button. If the site you're looking for is something really obvious, it will start loading instead of the regular search results page. Pretty useful if you specifically know what you're looking for (I tried it for 'prince of persia' and instantly the homepage of the popular game started loading. Correct!). Else, you'll hit the wrong site.
   You can also enable the I'm Feeling Lucky feature through the Google toolbar (from the drop-down list). And whether you're a senior netizen or a newbie, you might also want to customize your Google homepage (if you have a Gmail account) at www.google.com/ig - pretty cool and clean with daily weather projections, a quote of the day section, etc. If you have neither the Google toolbar (http:// toolbar. google.com), nor a Gmail account (www.gmail.com) - well, I just provided you with the links, didn't I?
   If you have tried the Google toolbar in the past, version 3.0 is out now and vastly improved. If you liked the toolbar, you might also want to try out the Googlebar (http:// googlebar.mozdev.org) for Mozilla/Firefox from the Mozilla Foundation. As for Gmail (which has enjoyed the lion's share of best webmail awards from last year) yes, it's good, and the spam filtering is excellent. The only thing I have against it is that it still doesn't support user-defined folders like Yahoo! Mail. But hey, it's the most generous inbox provider on the globe (my Gmail account currently boasts over 2.6 GB and is incremented every second). If you have so much space to spare, why not put it to some good use? Hop off to http:// www.viksoe.dk/ code/gmail.htm to download Gmail Drive, a tiny application that utilizes your Gmail account storage as a remote hard drive. Just back up your work at office to your Gmail account using the tool, and comfortably download them on your PC when you get home.
   But it's been enough Google for a day, right? Trust me, Google has tonnes of goodies (mapping, research, news, Java APIs, blogging …). I've only touched the surface here (if not less). It's up to you to dig up the future.
   — Tashfeen Mahmud

Now, wasn’t Hotmail sweet when Sabir Bhatia and Jack Smith sold it to Microsoft for $400 million. Of course, it didn't use to have that many users, or so many features back then. And it didn't have MSN Messenger either. But I still like the old Hotmail for at least one thing: it used to be free for everybody the same way when it said it was.
   If you haven't noticed, in the age of 2 GB mailboxes your Hotmail inbox is still limping behind with a measly 2 MB. Microsoft has focused its webmail market largely to America, and as a result Hotmail users only from the 50 US states (and a select few international territories) are eligible to a free 25 MB account that is consequently upgraded to 250 MB. I can’t promise you the 250 MB part, but here’s how I got rid of the digital divide:
   l First, log in to your Hotmail account as usual.
   l Then click on ‘Options’ (on the top-right corner with ‘Help’).
   l Click on ‘Personal’, then on the following page, 'My Profile'.
   l You need to change your country of residence to United States and the state to Florida with zip code 33332 (of course, the other states should work too, provided you enter the correct zip code).
   l Save your updated account information. Now, sign out.
   l Now go to http:// memberservices.passport.net/ memberservice. srf?lc%2043. You may need to sign in with your Hotmail ID and password.
   l Click on 'Customer support', and then, 'Close your account'.
   l Now close your browser, and open a new instance of it. Go to Hotmail and sign in with your regular Hotmail e-mail address and password.
   l Reactivate your account.
   You’ll notice straightaway that your mailbox has been upgraded to 25 MB! Some folks have done the trick the same way, but with closing their account directly through http:// by17fd.bay17. hotmail.msn.com/cgi-bin/ AccountClose. The method I described has worked fine for me, and I checked to find the other version working okay as well. Now you can boost your Hotmail inbox too - and who knows, if you’re lucky you might just have 250 MB coming your way!
   — TM

Whether it's a giant flat-panel TV screen, cell phone with enormous storage capacity, or tiny PC with full laptop functions, visitors to the CeBIT tech fair are hit with the message that bigger is better - even though it may come in a smaller package.
   The show's opening-day buzz Thursday was clearly owned by Microsoft Corp., which unveiled its Project Origami to be an ultracompact personal computer. It claims to pack full-PC capabilities into a machine about the size of a large paperback book.
   With three working models built by Microsoft partners Samsung, Founder and Asus, the four companies drew big crowds - and even German Chancellor Angela Merkel - to see the device in action.
   Elsewhere at the show, exhibits ranged from the futuristic displays by mobile phone makers Nokia and Sony Ericsson to an entertainment-oriented setup by Samsung.
   South Korea's Samsung brought a host of new or improved devices, including a mobile phone featuring a built-in 10-megapixel camera - 2 megapixels more than its top offering last year.
   Then there was its cell phone that features an 8-gigabyte hard drive for storing tons of photos or music.
   In debuting the SCBH-600 camera phone, Lee Ki-tae, the head of Samsung's telecommunications business, said it would go far in helping the company snare more market share.
   'Increasing our market share in Europe will be decisive in determining the survival of our mobile phone business,' he said Thursday, vowing to push its slice up to 15 percent from the 13 percent it currently has. That is still half of the 30 percent of Finland's Nokia.
   The phone is set to go on sale in South Korea by June with a rollout in other markets later this year. To store photos, it features MMC micro memory cards of varying sizes.
   It also will record MPEG4 videos and can play MP3, AAC and AAC+ files. Additionally, it has a jack for connecting it to a TV for bigger-screen viewing.
   Taiwan's BenQ Siemens brought a massive display of its phones.
   Many visitors were drawn to the company's EF51, a small square box that looked more like an MP3 player than a cell phone. A flip of the lower half of the case revealed the key pad. The device plays music, too.
   One interesting feature allows the user to speak the name of a song into the phone, and it will search for the tune and start playing it. The phone also doubles as a karaoke machine, with lyrics displayed on its color screen.
   The phone is expected to be out between April and March, but the price has not been set.
   For fans of home theater, several companies showed off the latest in big-screen TVs. Really big.
   Samsung showed off its 102-inch flat screen television, but just a few steps down Panasonic went even bigger - 103 inches. It displayed a lifelike video from the East Village Opera set in New York City with scenes of the Staten Island ferry.
   On a smaller scale, the ubiquitous popularity of Apple Computer Inc.'s iPod was evident.
   One accessory, from Vanguard, looked like a simple aluminum stand on which to prop an iPod while its
   battery is charging. But unlike
   other chargers, a plastic magnifying screen could be flipped down, making the display appear larger than it actually is.
   'It makes the screen larger and easier to watch,' said Francois Niederlender, a company spokesman, adding it was expected to be available by the middle of the second quarter.
   CeBIT has more than 6,200 exhibitors and is expected to draw as many as 500,000 visitors by the time it ends Wednesday.
   — AP

Developed by Terminal Reality (of BloodRayne, Nocturne and Blair Witch fame), BloodRayne 2 is a third-person horror-action sequel starring Rayne - a half-human, half-vampire. The game's story takes place a full 50 years after the first game's Nazi-themed plotline. It seems that Rayne, the heroine of the first game, is on the hunt for her vampire father and his numerous offspring who are plotting to unleash a vampire apocalypse of sorts on the world using a substance called 'the Shroud.'
   Much of the first BloodRayne centered heavily on combat, and the sequel is no different - you shoot, hack, feed, and slash your way through enemies to get to the next level. To start off, BloodRayne carries two blades with her wherever she goes. Rayne can, in addition to her blades, wield a few different types of guns, but simply running around and shooting isn't really the way to get the full benefit of your armament.
   There's a whole load of new acrobatic movies, allowing her to climb up poles and similar types of objects, and when doing so, she can lean back or out and let loose a barrage of gunfire from a position where it is nearly impossible for her to be taken out. Basically, you have around 30 combos that consist of high, mid, and low slashes (wow!). Plus, you'll have the full range of her vampiric vision modes and special abilities, which will let you slow down time and perform devastating attacks. There are also has 12 new fatality moves that help vary her feeding and offer you a means to 'finish' a front or back feed in unique and gruesome ways.
   Despite some graphical and game play improvements, I think the game has taken a few steps backwards in terms of atmosphere. Damn guys, where did the atmosphere go? It doesn't feel like a horror game at all, and the atmosphere is nowhere near what it was in the original. My other major problem with the game is the camera control (the camera settings can be changed in the game options, but I haven't found a balance). Although you can spin the camera freely in any direction, it seems to move really fast, too fast. Not only do you lose a sense of where you're at, but I actually get a little sick playing this game. Maybe I'm getting old, but BloodRayne 2 makes me dizzy!
   Overall, it's pretty hard to recommend this game. The combat is greatly improved but it's hard to call BloodRayne 2 innovative in terms of overall game play. Try the demo first and decide for yourself.
   — Moinuddin Sifty
   
   Ratings
   snd: 5/6 - gunfire and explosion effects are loud and believable, voice acting is generally good, music is nothing special
   gfx: 4/6 - dated, bland and uninspiring character models, lots of blood, highly destructible environment, clumsy camera, clipping errors
   game play: 3/6 - pretty linear, level design is often unimaginative, combat is too easy, acrobatics feel incongruous and misguided, stupid AI, no quick save (only checkpoints)
   System requirements
   1 GHz CPU (Pentium 4 2.0 GHz or AMD equivalent recommended), 256MB RAM (512MB recommended), 200MB virtual memory, 100% DirectX 8.1 compatible video card or higher (GeForce FX (any), Radeon 9600, 9700, 9800 or better recommended)*, 4x CDROM
   Supported Video Cards: Radeon 8500 LE, 8500 DV, Radeon 9550se (Diamond version), Radeon 8500, Radeon 9600, Radeon 9800 Pro, Radeon X series, GeForce 3 Ti 200, GeForce 4 Ti 4200, GeForce 4 5200, GeForce 4 5500, GeForce 4 5700, GeForce 4 5900 SE, GeForce FX series, GeForce 6 series
   Non-supported Video Cards: ATI Rage (all), Radeon VE and Radeon 7000, 7500, 9000, ATI Mobility Radeon (original, laptop), NVidia GeForce 4 MX 420 or 440 PCI, Nvidia Quadro NVS, Nvidia GeForce 2 series, Nvidia Geforce4 440 Go 64M (laptop users), Kyro 3D Prophet, Matrox, 3D Labs, Intel Onboard (all versions)

Bangla Computing, the present: It has been a long time since we use Bangla in computers. Primitive ASCII technology evolved to modern Unicode and relieved us from obstacles. New researches and inventions are taking place throughout the world to find even better solutions. Nowadays Bangla computing doesn't mean only Bangla typing, composing or printing; along with these we got full Bangla Language support in modern operating systems, creating full Bangla interface is now possible for software development, Bangla database systems are no more a dream and at the end user level we can make proper use of Bangla even in file/folder names, email, web sites or even in instant messaging. All these have become possible as we start following Unicode - an internationally recognized and technically reliable standard for all languages present in the world. Bangla computing is no longer a nightmare, now it can even dare to technically compete with English or any widely used language!
   An input system: To use the written form of a language, computers need a proper input system. It may be keyboard, mouse, voice commands or OCR (optical character recognition). Since advanced methods are not yet implemented completely for Bangla, keyboard input is still a popular, reliable and most commonly used solution. So, to follow Unicode standard, we need a Unicode compliant keyboard interface.
   Avro Keyboard as a solution: Avro Keyboard is the first Bangla keyboard interface for Windows operating system which begins to follow Unicode standard fully, and it may be a matter of pride that this wonderful work was developed in our country, Bangladesh. The first version was released in 26th March, 2003, and then there were 9 updated releases till this February, 2006. The latest version, Avro Keyboard 3.0.0 has become full featured Bangla software as it supports all popular methods for Bangla typing, including English to Bangla phonetic typing method, traditional keyboard layout based Bangla typing method with support for multiple keyboard layouts and even more mouse based click 'n type Bangla input method for extremely novice users. Of course, each of these methods strictly follow latest Unicode 4.1 standard for Bangla typing. In this sense it is the most updated Unicode compliant Bangla input solution, too.
   Additional Features: Additionally, Avro Keyboard supports Bangla (Bangladesh), Bangla (India), Assamese as "Input Language"/"Input Locale" even if they are not supported by operating system. It has a really flexible and customizable user interface, and supports single-key or combined-key based keyboard mode switching. Its handy Keyboard Layout Viewer can be used anytime to view the current keyboard layout on the screen. Actually there are a lot inside, which in detail can be viewed from publisher's website.
   International Reorganizations and popularity: Day by day Avro Keyboard is becoming a popular solution for Bangla typing in Windows. Even Microsoft has added this project in their
   online solution directory
   for Indic language input (www.bhashaindia.com/community/ solutiondirectory/description/solution108). Unicode Consortium verified this project and added it in their "Useful Resources" list (http: //www. unicode.org/ onlinedat/resources.html). From the first version there were more than fifty thousands downloads monitored and the number of users are increasing each moment.
   Limitation: As Windows 95, 98, Me doesn't support Unicode, Avro Keyboard cannot run on these OS. It is designed to run in Windows 2000 or later versions of Windows (Xp, 2003, Vista…).
   Free For All: The most impressive fact is Avro Keyboard is licensed as Freeware. Anyone can download and use it freely for personal or commercial purposes. There are no hidden fees, annoying advertisement or anything else; Avro Keyboard is just a neat freeware Bangla typing software. To download, visit the following website- OmicronLab - www.OmicronLab.com.
   — Mehedi Hasan