Launchy is a file launcher for Windows XP. The developers claim it would help you forget about your start menu, the icons on your desktop, and even your file manager.

How Does it Work?

To begin with Launchy indexes your start menu programs, control panel applications and Firefox bookmarks. When not needed Launchy hides in the background utilizing very little system resources. Upon pressing Alt+Space a tiny window pops up. You can type the name of the application or bookmark you want to launch and Launchy would provide suggestions as you type. All this is so easy that you have to simply use it to believe.

It’s Not Just a File Launcher

Launchy is not just a file launcher. Here are some of the things you can do with Launchy.

Search The Web : Launchy allows you to search in Google, Msn, Yahoo, Live Search, Weather.com, Amazon, Wikipedia, Imdb, Msdn, Netflix and Dictionary.com.

Calculate : Launchy features a built in calculator that can add, subtract, multiply and divide.

Explore : You can even explore your computer using Launchy. Start by typing the root directory (example “c:\”). Then enter partial name for a directory or press down key to view the list of directories. Use Tab key to enter a directory.

Launch Bookmarks : Launchy v1.25 includes the Foxy plugin which allows you to launch Firefox bookmarks directly from Launchy. Opera users can use Opery plugin for similar functionality.
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Technorati.com - the popular blogsearch engine, received a major update today. In brief the major changes are -

Technorati.com is no longer restricted to blogs. Technorati search has been expanded to include videos, photos, music and events.
The Home Page has been revamped to accommodate videos and music.

The search feature has been made simpler. Multiple search mode (keyword search, tag search and blog directory search) has been replaced by a single unified search option.
A new barebones Technorati Search page has been added. It is available at search.technorati.com or s.technorati.com.

You can read about the changes in greater detail at Dave Sifry’s (CEO of Technorati.com) blog.

YouTube has struck a content sharing deal with Eros Entertainment that will enable it to offer content from Bollywood movies. The Eros Entertainment - Bollywood Channel will feature music videos, trailers and promotional videos. As of now 163 videos are available for viewing.

Content from several Bollywood movie is already available illegally on YouTube (many movies are available in their entirety). However, I believe that this is the first instance of YouTube tying up with an Indian media company. With the penetration of broadband increasing in India, companies are finally realising the benefits of leveraging the web. Rajshri Media already provides significant amount of video content on their portal for free.
I am sure this is only the beginning. The web offers an easy and cost efficient venue for promoting content. As broadband connection gets cheaper and faster, I expect Indian companiesto start taking advantage of the internet in a big way.

( Via Mashable and KrishWords )

[If you want invites for Me.dium read on]

Me.dium (medium) is a Social Networking startup which wants to make web browsing social. It connects you with users based on their websurfing habbits. Me.dium is a small add-on available for Firefox which operates through a sidebar. This sidebar connects you with people visiting similar websites via a visualization system somewhat similar to Digg Swarm. You can also see what websites your friends are visiting. Me.dium also has a simple instant messaging system built into it which allows you to shoutout to other Me.dium users or chat with your friends.

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Richard at theapp.net has created a blogroll for tech and entertainment related websites called - Techroll. Any technical/entertainment related blog can join. Rules for joining and more information is available here.

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Justice Peter Openshaw, a judge in an internal terrorism trial in United Kingdom admitted in front of stunned prosecutors that he had no idea what a website was. His exact words were:

The trouble is I don’t understand the language. I don’t really understand what a website is.

He was later coached by a computer expert on the World Wide Web through a PowerPoint presentation. The question is can someone like Justice Peter Openshaw be expected to deliver an informed and intelligent judgement in a case of cyber-terrorism?
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Earlier today Microsoft added the advertising network aQuantive to it’s kitty. Now, another big deal is possibly in the making. Vecosys is reporting that Google is all set to purchase the extremely popular RSS Feed Delivery service FeedBurner.

Feedburner is one of the fastest growing startups, and is extremely popular among bloggers. It would provide Google instant access to a large number of publishers in a fresh territory. With the inclusion of RSS Feed readers in all major browsers more and more people are waking up to the advantages of RSS Feeds. RSS Feed monetisation is already profitable, and this is a market Google can not afford to miss out on. Not only that, if they decide to integrate Feed Stats into Google Analytics that would make add more value to an already popular service.

But, again as this stage it’s just a rumour. None of the involved parties have confirmed or denied this report.

Update (24rth May) : This is no longer a rumour. TechCrunch is reporting that the deal has been sealed for $100 million.

According to data collected by Secunia Software Inspector from over 350,000 inspections, Opera users are most likely to be running old versions of the software. According to this report 5.19% of all Firefox v2 installations miss security updates, whereas 11.96% of all Opera v9 installations miss security updates, and the numbers for Internet Explorer v6 and Internet Explorer v7 are 9.61% and 5.4% respectively.

I am not surprised that Firefox users are most updated because Firefox has an excellent auto-update system which automatically notifies its users when an update is available and downloads only the updated files. Opera also notifies it’s users when an update is available but it’s users have to download the full installation file manually from it’s website.
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