Samsung Galaxy S4 the most searched phone on Google in 2013

 As the year comes to a close, Google has released the data as part of its 13th annual Google Zeitgeist report. According to the data published by Google, the Samsung Galaxy S4 tops the list of the most-searched phones on Google in the year 2013, with the Nokia Lumia 520 and the Micromax Canvas 2 taking the second and third spot, respectively. (We have embedded below the list of top 10 most-searched phones on Google.)

The top 10 most-searched queries are based on the volume of searches while trending queries are based on the highest amount of traffic over a sustained period in 2013 compared with 2012.

The top 10 most-searched terms in 2013 worldwide beside Walker, Mandela, and Monteith are iPhone 5s, Harlem Shake, Boston Marathon, Royal Baby, Samsung Galaxy s4, PlayStation 4 and North Korea.

Samsung Galaxy S4 tops the list of the most-searched phones on Google in the year 2013, with the Nokia Lumia 520 and the Micromax Canvas 2 taking the second and third spot, respectively.

Miley Cyrus is the most-searched person on Google this past year in the US, followed by Kim Kardashian, Drake, Beyonce Knowles, Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez, Katy Perry, Kanye West, Rihanna, and Taylor Swift. Cyrus' controversial stage act also led "What is twerking?" to top the most searched phrase beginning with "What is...".

(With inputs from PTI)

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All Things Appy: 5 Best Chrome Apps for Book Lovers

Google's Chrome browser can be a nice way to enjoy your favorite books, and there are numerous apps out there offering extra features to enhance the experience. Our favorites: Kindle Cloud Reader, MeeGenius Children's Books, Google Play Books, English Audio Books - Librivox, and 100% Free eBooks & Audiobooks. Take one of these for a spin and you may not go back to paper or classic audiobooks

Books in a multimedia environment bring certain advantages not available on paper alone or via classic audiobooks. Among those advantages are audio accompaniment for text and cloud syncing of notes and highlights.

 

Add to that the lower distribution costs of multimedia over paper and the browser becomes a good tool for books. You don't need an e-reader or a tablet.

In this week's All Things Appy we take a look at the best free Chrome browser apps for books -- not only free apps but free books too.

About the Ecosystem: Google's Chrome apps and extensions for its browser are obtained in the Chrome Web Store. Open Chrome on a PC and select a new tab; then choose the new-look Chrome Web Store tile on the page and use the on-page Search box to find the app you'd like to use.
Installed apps are now available in the Chrome bookmarks bar.


No. 1: Kindle Cloud Reade



Kindle Cloud Reader has 4 1/2 stars out of a possible 5 from 1,497 reviewers in the Chrome Web Store. The app has 1,261,255 users.

Scroll through your Amazon Kindle book collection and read them from within the Chrome browser.

Cloud-like features include the ability to see and edit bookmarks, notes and highlights that you've made on other Kindle-enabled devices. Last pages read are synced, and your current book can be read offline, too.

No. 2: MeeGenius Children's Books


MeeGenius has 4 stars out of a possible 5 from 385 reviewers in the Chrome Web Store. The app has 107,971 users.

This app reads beautifully illustrated children's books. One in-store reviewer comments that this app saves a lot of work at bedtime. Maybe, but MeeGenius also highlights the words on-screen in sync with audio, and kids can read the books themselves too, without the audio playback. A pause button helps with recapping.
Free titles include fables "Jack and the Beanstalk" and "The Field Mouse and the Town Mouse," among others.

No. 3: Google Play Books


Google Play Books has 4 stars out of a possible 5 from 2,210 reviewers in the Chrome Web Store. The app has 1,869,956 users.


Four million books are available for browsing along with numerous preview pages. The app boasts that it has millions of books available instantly for free too, which it may well do, but they're embedded with the paid books and so difficult to find without a title.
You have some work to do, in other words, and the app has a runner-up position in our list as a result.

No. 4: English Audio Books - Librivox

English Audio Books - Librivox has 5 stars out of a possible 5 from one reviewer in the Chrome Web Store. The app has 1,104 users.

Public domain audio source LibriVox provides access to more than 3,000 audiobooks including novels, biographies and so on, all recorded by volunteers.
One of the advantages of audiobook via Web browser is that you can read along with the text if it's provided, and it is here. So, this app is highly suitable for learning English too.

No. 5: 100% Free eBooks & Audiobooks

Freebooksites.com's 100% Free eBooks & Audiobooks has 3 1/2 stars out of a possible 5 from 31 reviewers in the Chrome Web Store. The app has 21,765 users.

This app isn't really an app, it's more of a compendium of resources to find free and very cheap books, but we're including it because it is a good source.
There's a bit of work to do, because you need to scroll through endless links to get anywhere, but it does have a massive list of free book resources.


Bloggers comment
" Take a wonderful feel of theis book reader app on your mobile ,computer & tablets "

 

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saket.gupta13@gmail.com

Want to make money with Google AdSense for content? Here's a list of what not to do, unless you want to get banned. Google doesn't play around when it comes to click fraud. Click fraud loses Google money, and it loses AdWords customers money.

If you don't play by the rules, you may get a warning, you may get suspended, or you may just get banned.

1. Commit Google Don'ts

The first thing to avoid is any of the Google Don'ts. Cloaking, keyword stuffing, and title stacking are all ways to get banned from Google searches. They're also ways to get banned from AdSense.

When you place AdSense ads on your site, your site is far more visible to Google and it's much more likely that your rule breaking will be caught.

2. Click on Your Own Ads

No matter how tempting, never ever click on your own ads. This is probably the easiest way to get your site suspended or banned. It's a form of click fraud, and Google is very good at catching this, even if you think you're hiding your tracks.

Don't let anyone who uses any computer in your home click on your ads, either. Make sure your significant others and children are aware of the rules, or you could jeopardize your standing with Google.

3. Hide Your Ads

It might be tempting to hide your ads by making them the same color as your background or camouflaging them on areas with busy background images. You do still get paid for pageviews, so invisible ads would still pay, right? Don't even try it. This violates Google's Terms of Service, and it's easy to get caught.

Don't stuff your ads far below the rest of the content, either. Clicks pay better than pageviews, so it's to your advantage to have your ads prominent. Try to make the ads look like they belong on your page.

4. Beg for Clicks

Don't hold ad-click contests, beg, or even give big hints that people should click on your ads. They can ban you if they catch you begging for clicks anywhere on the Web, including pages that are totally unrelated to your AdSense pages.

Google also forbids labeling your ads with language stronger than "sponsored links." This is really for everyone's benefit. Pages that beg for clicks are usually not great reads, and pity clicks don't help the advertisers.

Note: It's fine to have contests on your Web site that aren't related to ad clicking or other rule breaking, such as "best photo" contests.

5. Alter the Code

AdSense generates javascript code that you can copy-and-paste directly into the HTML of your Web page. If you need to change the color or size of your ads, generate new code from AdSense. Don't make changes to the code from your Web page editing program or tweak it by hand.

If you put AdSense in Blogger, Google will generate the code for you from within Blogger.

6. Use Robots to Click on Your Site

Never use any sort of automated tool to inflate your page views or click on your ads. This is click fraud of the highest order, and Google is very sophisticated at catching this. This is a trick that can easily get you banned.

Likewise, don't use human-powered schemes to pay for clicks, either. No trading clicks with other AdSense users, and no pay-for-clicking schemes. If advertisers wanted to pay people for clicking, they would have signed up for it themselves.

7. Tell People How Much You Earn Per Click

Google is very picky about how much you disclose about how AdSense works. They don't let you tell people how much you were paid per keyword, because this could jeopardize revenue from AdWords advertisers. Beware of anyone who offers to sell you this information.

8. Make Pages Specifically to Display Ads

Google says you can't make pages simply to hang ads, "whether or not the page content is relevant." Many Web sites, including About.com, make money from ads. Google itself makes most of its money from advertising. What makes the difference between ad sponsored content and content for the sake of ads?

When you develop your site, your first thought should be about creating content, not ads. Avoid writing empty sentences for the sake of generating keywords, and avoid lengthy copy-and-pastes just to make more pages. Every page you publish should have a content-driven purpose.

9. Make Content About Taboo Topics

Google has a strict list of content standards, and they don't accept AdSense on pages that are violating them. These include, among other things, sites that promote or sell:

• alcohol
• certain weapons
• firearms
• tobacco
• drugs
• designer knock-offs

This is a silly rule to violate, because AdSense is keyword generated, so it's amazingly easy for you to get caught. If you do have content that violates these rules, such as a beer-making supply store, they may be legitimate sites, but AdSense is not for you.

10. Cheat in Any Other Way

This isn't by any means a comprehensive list.

I'm sure there are many ways to game the system that Google hasn't found out about... yet. There always are. AdSense is constantly changing to find new ways to detect click fraud, and eventually you will be caught.

The best way to generate income through AdSense is to create good content that is well optimized for search engines and to promote your site through legitimate channels.

That sounds like a lot of work, because it is a lot of work. However, it's a strategy that won't get you banned.

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Google, Apple offer crore-plus salaries to IIT students

Salary packages exceeding a crore have made an appearance at an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) after a gap of three years.

MUMBAI/KOLKATA: Salary packages exceeding a crore have made an appearance at an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) after a gap of three years.

On the first day of final placements at IIT-Madras, two computer science students received offers of $210,000 (Rs 1.31 crore) each for international roles. While the institute declined to confirm the name of the company, sources associated with the placement process said Oracle, the American information technology company, has made the crore-plus compensation offers, which include a joining bonus.

The highest offer for a domestic role (within India) at IIT-Madras increased to Rs 48.68 lakh, compared with Rs 28.82 lakh last year. Recruiters have been more generous this year at IIT Kharagpur and IIT-Guwahati as well for jobs outside the country.

Indian startups also in list of employers

At IIT-Kharagpur, according to people involved in the placement process, the highest salary till Sunday evening had touched $150,000 (Rs 93 lakh) for an international role, compared with $125,000 last year.

At IIT-Guwahati, the highest package is $120,000 (Rs 74.8 lakh), compared with $119,000 last year. At IIT-Bombay, Korea's Samsung Electronics, which offered $135,000 (Rs 84 lakh) last year, will make offers in the same ballpark, said a placement team member at the institute.

Microsoft and Google are likely to unveil compensation packages of around $110,000 (Rs 68 lakh) to shortlisted candidates at IIT-Bombay. Google has offered $120,000 (Rs 74.8 lakh) at IIT Guwahati. (In this report, a dollar figure is mentioned for all offers for jobs outside India while for domestic roles only the rupee figure is mentioned.)

Across IITs, the top offers have come in from the likes of Schlumberger, Mitsubishi, Apple and Oracle, and Indian startups such as Zomato.

At IIT-Delhi, Zomato has come up with a pay packet of Rs 26 lakh while the highest domestic package is Rs 33 lakh from Schlumberger, which provides services to the oil industry, for the position of field engineer in Mumbai. Last year, the same company paid around . 30 lakh, according to sources. The company recruits students for positions in Mumbai and the Gulf, and will in all likelihood select 6-10 students this year from IIT-Delhi, said the sources.

The package for the international profile could go up to Rs 58 lakh. US-based software company Epic Systems is likely to offer $104,000 (Rs 64.8 lakh), which is the highest international pay package for the position of software engineer at IIT-Delhi. Last year, it offered $90,000 and recruited around 16 people.

The company is expected to recruit similar numbers this year as well. Global private equity player Blackstone is recruiting students from IITs with pay packets of around . 35 lakh, an increase of Rs 10 lakh over last year.

Firms such as investment management company WorldQuant are expected to hire for a similar sum as well. At IIT-Guwahati, the highest domestic salary offered by a firm is Rs 30 lakh, compared with Rs 28 lakh last year, said Natesan Srinivasan, faculty-in-charge (training & placements) at the institute.

The institute refused to divulge the names of the companies. At IIT-Kharagpur, the highest domestic pay is expected to be around Rs 32 lakh, similar to last year. The institute has at least 2,000 students to place compared with 1,750 last year and 74 PPOs already in the bag, said SK Barai, professor-in-charge (training & placement).

IIT-Bombay had 30-odd companies on its campus on Sunday. This placement season, 280 recruiters will come to the institute compared with 240 last year. Overall, the increase in salaries has been marginal.

"There is a marginal increase of 3-5 % in salaries and that too because of the rupee's depreciation," said Vimal Kumar, placement head at IITKanpur, who refused to disclose offers by individual companies.

However, all the popular recruiters, along with some new names, are coming to IIT-Kanpur where they have 1,200 students to choose from. These include Mitsubishi, Google, Apple, Microsoft India, Deutsche Bank, ITC, Walmart, Credit Suisse, Oracle and Yahoo. Final placements at IITs start from December 1 and are completed in two phases.
A majority of the recruiters come in the first few weeks of December while the subsequent phase starts in January. In the past year, industry players have preferred to hire students via pre-placement offers rather than wait for the final placement season. For instance, Facebook is not hiring from IITs during the final placements on campus but has made pre-placement offers to some students.

IIT-Madras will have Samsung Electronics, Epic, Oracle India, The Boston Consulting Group, McKinsey & Co, Microsoft and HUL among the recruiters. About 1,300 students have signed up for placements and 265 companies have registered so far. "We were nervous in the beginning with at least 200 more students to place than last year, but now are slightly more confident.

However, the real picture will unfold after first two weeks of placements," said a placement team member of IIT-Roorkee. He added that there has been a 5-10 % increase in salary packages this year. At least 175 companies will visit the Roorkee campus compared with 150 last year. The college has 1,600 students to place compared with 1,400 last year.

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