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Attack Of The Orkut Clones (And How To Remove Them)
2007-04-04 05:22:00
(Image Credit: Collectoybles)Story: So you are surfing Orkut one day and your friend contacts you and asks why you are scraping disgusting remarks about their girlfriend. You laugh at the your friends accusation, saying you would never do that until he points you to a profile that has your image on it.Worse, it has your contact info, as well as a list of all your friends. It's a fake profile. So now, what do you do?______________Many people have been scraping, commenting (on older posts) or emailing questions on how to remove a fake profile. Although some may consider this trivial, it has resulted in some embarrassing situations for certain people, and believe it or not I've heard of worse examples bordering on criminal.So for those of you who are harassed by these fake profiles, here are some recommended steps that you can take to successfully remove these profiles from Orkut, as well as suggestions of what NOT to do when you discover one.Flag the profile: This is the first step ...
More About: How To , Clone , Them , Move

Who Are These Faces On Orkut's Homepage?
2007-04-04 04:57:00
I have just recently noticed that Google changed the homepage image. The previous included some Googlers, although I wonder if these are random individuals fairly active on Orkut or mysterious Googlers we have yet to encounter.Any guesses?Content Copyright 2005-2007 of Inside Orkut. All Rights Reserved. Violators (and hosts) can be prosecuted under national and international laws.
More About: Home , Faces , Page , Homepage , Face

Enlarge Thy Image?
2007-04-04 04:21:00
Rahul, over at the Welcome to the Devil's Workshop has created a GreaseMonkey hack (Firefox required) that allows users to enlarge the images on their scrapbook.Here is a before and after screen shot comparing the two:For those of you who are already Firefox (and GreaseMonkey) fans, you can install this hack by clicking here.Although a cosmetic hack, this does improve the overall appearance of my scrapbook (at least in my opinion).Note: I am going to list this hack underneath Orkut User Tools on the sidebar.Double Note: Congrats Rahul for reaching 100,000 plus hits!Content Copyright 2005-2007 of Inside Orkut. All Rights Reserved. Violators (and hosts) can be prosecuted under national and international laws.
More About: Image , Large

Orkut Buyukkokten Visits Brazil?
2007-03-30 03:03:00
Post Updated! Scroll down for the goodies!This is not too surprising since over half of Orkut 's 50 million users are from Brazil , with the US and India coming in second and third place respectively.Marcelo Sant'Iago gives us the details:(Multilingual Search) Orkut Buyukkokten, the engineer behind Google’s social network website, is visiting Brazil for the first time.He is in Rio de Janeiro this week, and will visit Sao Paulo (including a breakfast at GooglePlex with a select group of clients) next week and after that Belo Horizonte, where Google has a research&development facility. I am not exactly sure if this really is Orkut's first time in Brazil (didn't he visit Brazil before with Eric Schmidt?) although I could be wrong. Anyways, Marcelo has a photo of the founder on his personal blog, (English translation over here).I wonder what "wild and crazy" things Orkut will do in a land where his "pet project" outshines the mighty Google?Update (4/1): It appears that Orkut surpris...
More About: Visi , Visit , Razi

Google Launches Polls In Orkut
2007-03-27 17:10:00
(Hat Tip: Danny Piccirillo)The boys and girls at Orkut have done it again! Orkut users now have the ability to create polls within their forums, allowing users to rate everything from whose the cutest couple, where is the best place to travel to even politics (which will probably get very ugly in the next couple of weeks).Here is more from the Google plex:(Official Google Blog) Now all you orkut users can create and post polls in any community that you are a member of. Just click a button in your favorite community, type in your question, and add pictures (if you like), and voila!—community members canvote and leave comments on your question of choice. ...Login to orkut and see what your orkut friends think! You might not see this right away in your favorite communities, but the feature will be rolling out to everyone soon.Although unexpected, I am not too surprised that Google has launched this feature, as it may help to resolve the "vote by scrap" option, which will definitely ...
More About: Poll , Polls , Launch

Software: Agent Orkut Anyone?
2007-03-22 04:42:00
Update: Hat tip to Ashwani for letting me know about this. Also, Naveen is the creator of this program (thanks Ashwani for the correction!)Despite the fact that there are many of scrap programs out there, users may find this software to be one of the easiest and most fun ones to use while scraping your friends.Simply called Agent Orkut , this program was designed by Naveen and is designed to make sending messages to your friends (or foes) as care free as possible.Although this program is very similar to Scrapboy (which I covered previously) what sets this program apart is the ability to not only scrap all of your friends at once, but also random strangers through Orkut's profile search.Another cool feature is that upon clicking on a friend's profile, users will be able to choose which area of the "orkuter" to explore, making it easier to navigate throughout a friends profile (i.e. album, video's, etc.).This scrap chat program also includes an online status indicator, and alerts yo...
More About: Software , War , Ware

Hack: Adding Google Talk Inside Orkut
2007-03-19 21:13:00
Some of you may have remembered hearing the news about the search engine king integrating Google Talk within Orkut .Unfortunately it was a bit limited, (at least to me) and I was wondering whether or not Google would consider adding a full blown version inside Orkut.Well, it seems that a user who goes by the name of ErickXavier has used a GreaseMonkey hack (Firefox only) in order to turn this wish into a reality.(Tech Buzz) Recently Google introduced a new Google Talk Gadget which could be embedded onto any blog or webpage. Making use of this gadget, ErickXavier has coded a Greasemonkey script which adds a nifty Google Talk gadget within Orkut Sidebar, which allows you to stay intouch with your buddies without installing Google Talk. ...Click here to install the script from our mirror (Alternatively, you can get it from Userscripts)In my honest opinion Gtalk seems to have a nicer fit inside Orkut than within Gmail. Although it is nice to talk to your friends while checking messages...
More About: Hack

Personalized Forum Link Addresses On Orkut?
2007-03-14 04:49:00
Some of you may have noticed this, but then again some of you may have not.Over at the Google Blog, I noticed that the Orkut team had enabled one forum (out of hundreds of thousands on their server) to have a personalized link address instead of the usual eight digit number that is dealt to all community owners.Here is the original paragraph:(Official Google Blog) Cricket discussions that started in the elevator can spill over to the Orkut network. Especially this season, in association with us, cricket expert and former Indian cricket captain Krish Srikkanth has created his own community on Orkut to interact with cricket lovers, debate the latest happenings and just share cricket views.It seems as if Google is playing favorites by creating a personalized link to Krish Srikkanth's forum (http://www.orkut.com/worldcupwithkrish) which not only redirects to the forum within Orkut (which can be viewed over here) but also is viewable to the public without the need of logging into Orkut....
More About: Personal , Dresses , Dress , Link , Forum

John Edwards Campains Via Orkut
2007-03-12 22:23:00
It looks like John Edwards is using Google's Orkut in order to reach out to potential voters which you can see from the screen shot below.For those of you who do not know, John Edwards is one of the (too) many political candidates running for President in 2008. Their are a host of others on both sides, although he is the first that I've seen using Orkut as a way to reach out to potential voters.The profile is currently being maintained by the One America Committee (whatever that means) whose site redirects back to John Edwards homepage.I can honesty say I am not exactly a fan of John boy (or any candidate for that matter) but its good to see a politician using Orkut to their advantage.Note: And it looks as if he even has a twin on Orkut. His political group may want to have that profile removed as he has already suffered enough controversy online.Content Copyright 2005-2007 of Inside Orkut. All Rights Reserved. Violators (and hosts) can be prosecuted under national and internatio...
More About: Pain , War , Campa

If You Were An Orkut Engineer For A Day...
2007-03-04 06:12:00
(Warning: Another very long post, but there is a cool video at the end which every human, geek and Googler should enjoy)Thanks to Death Eater I was able to partake of an Orkut survey (not to be confused with the user feedback survey) asking users to rate Orkut overall, suggest new features, rate Orkut against competitors (MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.) and talk about what you enjoyed most about using Orkut.Although I listed a bunch of features where Google could improve on (as well as highlighting some of their major strengths) I was wondering what three major features would I add to Orkut (aside from RSS feeds and Picasa Albums) if I was a Google engineer for a day?_____________________________________ ________Google Calendar: After my palm died (which is another story for another time) I suddenly found my life to be slightly chaotic without a way to quickly organize those ever important details (like meetings, reminders, etc.).Although my cell phone has been keeping me on time ...
More About: Engine , Engineer , Were

Raging Against The Power Companies?
2007-03-04 06:01:00
Although I have my sympathies for the people affected, I am not too sure on what they can do to resolve this unfortunate situation.This made headlines awhile back, but I thought it was interesting enough to post here.(Hindustan Times) What does a 21-year-old software student do when he is forced to live without electricity for four hours everyday? He waits for power to return, logs on to the Internet and gives a cyber call to everybody else in equal despair.Now Girish Chhabria hopes that those joining his 'Anti Power Cut-Off' community on the popular networking website, Orkut, will be able to mobilise public opinion against load-shedding across the state.Usually when something like this happens in America, the power company receives a lot of angry phone calls since our telephone lines are powered separately from our electricity (not to mention that everyone has a cell phone nowadays).After a brief search on Orkut, I was unable to locate the forum exactly to verify whether or not i...
More About: Companies , Comp , Ragi , Again

Another Confirmation Of Orkut SMS
2007-03-04 05:37:00
For those wondering when Orkut SMS will hit their accounts, Bernardo has provided a visual as to what this looks like upon logging in.Sigh. I guess I'll have to wait until this feature hits the states. It must be great being Brazilian! :-)Note: For those wondering what this looks like on your scrapbook, Micael has provided a visual for us all.Content Copyright 2005-2007 of Inside Orkut. All Rights Reserved. Violators (and hosts) can be prosecuted under national and international laws.
More About: Other , Another , Confirmation , Irma

Orkut Rumors That Must Die!
2007-02-19 18:07:00
Warning: This is a very long post, which may require a few donuts to get through)There are many types of rumors in the world. Some of them are good (potentially at least). Some of them are bad (as in really bad). But there are some rumors that seem to be taken as the truth, despite the fact that they contradict all reasonable explanations.This post is dedicated towards these Orkut myths, which have (in my opinion) lasted far too long on the world wide web. And since most humans love the number ten (probably because that's how many fingers we have) here are ten Orkut rumors that really must die (as in today).Orkut Buyukkokten is the world's richest man: This rumor comes from the assumption that Orkut gets $12 every time someone registers on Orkut, $10 every time you add a friend, $200 every time you upload a photo and a crisp $1 every time you logout of Orkut. There are more details about this rumor over here.Now with Orkut having at least 40 million users he would have to be paid ...
More About: Rumor , Rumors , Hat , That

An Orkut Novel In The Making?
2007-02-19 17:50:00
(Hat Tip: Gautam Ghosh)Abhijit, author of the book Mediocre But Arrogant, is asking users for help writing his next novel based on his previous book.(Mediocre But Arrogant forum) I want to build the sequel to "Mediocre But Arrogant" with this community. So if you have friends who want to participate in this live experiment, feel free to invite them to the community. If the idea fits in to the story in part or fully you will see it in print in the sequel and I will acknowledge your contribution in the preface.What do you say? I think Gautam always has great ideas. Let's write the sequel together. You may have your own experience or know of stuff that has happened to others that you feel is unique. Just write it out here. I have not read the book although you can see a quick review on Gautam's blog. I have seen several forums dedicated towards writing stories, (where authors can exchange ideas) but this is the first attempt that I've seen where users can submit feedback that will d...
More About: Novel , Orkut , King , Maki , Makin

A Blogger Widget For Orkut?
2007-02-15 19:49:00
No, it's not officially from Google, but it's probably something the Orkut team should consider in the future (that is if Google integrates Blog ger , Picasa, etc. within Orkut).Prashanth has developed a blogger widget that you can add to your blog*spot blog displaying your Orkut profile, scrapbook, teaser, etc., image links, which is similar to what I have on my site.Since we all love visual explanations, here is a quick way to install this on your site.Note: This will only work on the new blogger (if you are still using the old or FTP, I would highly recommend switching)1) You'll need to visit the Tech Banaglore blog and click on the Add Orkut Profile to Your Blog! button.2) A new page should open up allowing you to select which blog to highlight your Orkut profile on (choose wisely ;-))3) You may want to consider adding a title to the widget (which will appear on your blog).4) For non-geeks, this is where things get slightly technical. You are going to have to discover what your...
More About: Widget , Logger

Happy (Belated) Valentines Day!
2007-02-15 19:13:00
It seems of all the places to mention this, I ironically forgot this here!Even Orkut remembered, to my shame.Thanks for everyone who scrapped, emailed, called, etc. wishing me a happy valentines day. I (unfortunately) was not able to reply in kind electronically (as there are way too many forms of communication on this planet) here is something I did pull up while surfing Orkut today in the Vale nti ne s Day forum.(AVIJIT) Shortcut to find your valentine from ORKUTTo love is good, too: love being difficult.For this reason young people, who are beginners in everything, cannot yet know love: they have to learn it.But learning-time is always a long, secluded time, and so loving, for a long while ahead and far on into life, is--solitude, intensified and deepened loneness for him who loves.Are you engaged? Or not?if you have a lover then post N-GAGE [:D] or if you don't have then post BLANK [;] I'm not too sure if I'll post my status here (as "digital love" sounds kinda spooky to me) but...
More About: Valentines Day , Happy

Is Picasa Advertising On Orkut?
2007-02-13 20:30:00
Ironically, this seems very familiar to what Joga did last year. The only difference is that the Picasa team seems to be placing the ad in a much more convenient place inside of the Orkut Albums. Dreamchaser gives the details...(Dreamchaser's Blog) [W]hile I was checking out one of my friends profile page I wanted to check her album and when I navigated to the album page right beneath the display picture next to options I could see a new ad pop in which read "Find, Edit and share your photos - Google's photo organizer" which when clicked would re-direct to Picasa's Home Page. ...The integration of such ads at Album Page is a really good marketting [sic] way to push Google's product that specilizes in Photo organizing and editing. Way to go google!You can see a larger screen shot over here.I have not seen the ad yet, although to be honest I do not frequently scroll through Orkut albums, unless of course people are hosting some recent drawings they have done (yeah, I'm an art...
More About: Advertising , Casa , Sing

Another Orkut Engineer Spotted?
2007-02-13 19:48:00
Update: Alas, a beautiful post gone south. Thanks for the tip "Anonymous." Marissa is not an Orkut engineer, but a VP of Search Products & User Experience. Thanks for correcting my sloppy research!Okay, I am not sure if she specifically works on Orkut, but it seems that she did help out the Google team enough to make a significant impact.(BlogHer.com) Marissa leads the product management efforts on Google's search products – web search, images, groups, news, Froogle, the Google Toolbar, Google Desktop, Google Labs, and more. ...Her efforts have included designing and developing Google's search interface, internationalizing the site to more than 100 languages, defining Google News, Gmail, and Orkut, and launching more than 100 features and products on Google.com.Marissa Mayer (who looks surprisingly younger than her age) will be at the speaking at the 2007 Blogher Business event this summer in Chicago. You may have also noticed her face whenever you log into Orkut, as it can be...
More About: Other , Spot , Engine , Another

President Abdul Kalam Campaigning On Orkut?
2007-02-12 19:11:00
It looks like India's President is using Orkut in order to rally voters to re-elect him for a second term.(Hindustan Times) "I think this is a mass movement by the citizens for the citizens of India," Sujeet Shilamkar, president of PNM and IT professional, wrote in an email to HT. According to Shilamkar, Kalam is a "ray of hope". "In recent years, none of those who held this post have been able to devise constructive programmes of national and people welfare interests...He is the only man who deserves to the first citizen of our country," Shilamkar, 25, stated.Online petitions and networking sites have been mobilising public opinion on various issues from the Jessica Lall case to reservations in educational institutions. With Kalam's tenure expiring in July 2007, the online petition aims to mobilise public support for an extension of his term. The idea is to the scientists and other fans of the President and put pressure on political parties to ensure Kalam continues as President....
More About: Campaign , Campa , Camp

Orkut Reunites Family After Kidnapping
2007-02-12 18:28:00
(Hat Tip: Os Humanos Do Orkut and UnderGoogle) For Brazilian readers, this info is probably old news, but with all of the negative press about losers creating fake Orkut profiles to humiliate others, it may sometimes be hard to notice the some of the good that happens as a result of Google's forums.(INFO Online via Google Translation) The Orkut will have a special participation in the decorative clasp of anniversary of Cacilda Mire this year. It was for the site that the family found it, 72 years after having been kidnapped.The destination of Cacilda moved when its mother, Carmen, suffered an accident and had to be some days hospitalized, Sonia counts to the niece Rossi. Solícitos, the baptism godfathers - a couple without children - had asked for to take account of the girl of two years. But when Carmen left the hospital, them if they had refused to return the goddaughter and they had changed themselves without leaving track. ...The years had been transferred until, in passed N...
More About: Family , After , Kidnapping , Ping

Image Of Orkut SMS On Your Scrapbook
2007-02-03 22:37:00
A huge thank you goes to Micael, who was gracious enough to provide me with a screen shot of what an Orkut SMS scrap looks like online.According to Micael, Google is attaching the word "cellphone" (or celular in Portugese) in order to inform you that your friend scrapped you via mobile phone.Speaking of mobile phones, when is Google going to allow us to surf Orkut on our cellphones?Content Copyright 2005-2007 of Inside Orkut. All Rights Reserved. Violators (and hosts) can be prosecuted under national and international laws.
More About: Book , Your , Crap , Scrap

Google Adds Video Playlist To Orkut
2007-02-02 03:23:00
Google has recently added a new feature inside Orkut allowing users to highlight their favorite video's on YouTube and Google Video , a request IMHO has been long overdue.(Official Google Blog) From now on, when you see that crazy video you feel is a must see for all your friends, now you can create your own video playlist on orkut to share with anyone who visits your profile. Just copy the video URL from your favorite YouTube or Google Video hosted videos, and your friends can enjoy watching your top videos through orkut. And because we know your friends will love your videos as much as you do, we've added an "Add to my favorites" button that lets you easily make your friend's favorite videos appear on your list. To simply add a video to your playlist, simply click on "videos" link in your profile (as seen above) and then find the video you want to insert and paste it into the open field.Click the "add" button and soon your video should appear.Unfortunately you can not add any ot...
More About: Google , Play , Playlist , List

Orkut Helper (Making Orkut Life Easier)
2006-12-31 04:50:00
(Hat Tip: Firefox Pro)With all of the Firefox hacks (plus software programs) coming out for Orkut , it's very hard for a developer to come out with a new feature without overlapping previous ones mentioned in the past.Although Orkut Helper allows users to watch video's, see images, and place a link to your scrapbook on the Orkut menu bar at the top, the three features that I find useful are: 1) The ability to right click on a profile and visit their scrapbook, album or (in the case of spammers) mark them as bogus (something that is very helpful indeed).2) Animated smileys (an item that will make us Sanguines happy)3) But the best feature about Orkut Helper is that it eliminates the need to login to Orkut if one has already signed into their Google Account (something I felt was a bit redundant).This hack is for Firefox users and you can install the hack by clicking here (if the file is not working, you can also download it from Anish's Google page) visiting Anish's Firefox page.I ...
More About: Life , King , Maki , Makin