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Windows 7 and the crashing Google Talk

The first problem I have discovered after  upgrading to Windows 7 (32 bit Ultimate ) is with the simplest of software’s – Google Talk. Google Talk has crashed 4-5 times in last few days and I have reinstalled it three times, finally dumping the stable version of Google Talk and installing the Google Talk Labs Edition.Ever since I upgraded to Windows 7, I found the typing in Google Talk was very slow, ie the program was not responding as slick as it should.

When I tried to Google for any possible solutions, I found more complaints than answers many users have mentioned Google Talk either slowing down or crashing. Some users have tried running the program in compatibility mode of Windows XP SP3 or Windows VISTA SP2, I tried both options but unsuccessful in both attempts.

One more problem I noticed is whenever the Google Talk was opened in Gmail window, it would crash the Adobe Shockwave player (11.5.1.601). I believe Google is responsible for both these problems.

So expect a newer version of Google Talk for Windows 7 and for time being try the Google Talk Labs Edition.

Read the initial review on Windows 7 here

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IBM facing Anti-Trust case for its Monopoly over Mainframes

IBM is facing an investigation from Depatment of Justice (US) for its competition killing practices in Mainframe space. Earlier IBM used to license its Mainframe software to be run on Non IBM hardware, but sometime back IBM withdrew such offers and now completely dominates the hardware segment of Mainframes.

Also one more claim is that since many Major clients have written complex business code on Mainframes and IBM has made it very difficult to port these applications to another vendor say Oracle or Microsoft.

T3T a smaller company is pursuing a case against IBM in this regard but was rejected by the court recently. But now Justice department has taken the matter. Earlier Platform Solutions sued IBM but later was purchased by IBM and hence ending any chance of legal battle.

Now the Computer & Communication Industry Association (CCIA) which includes Oracle,Microsoft,Google ,Redhat among others has been asked to provide inputs on the investigation by Dept of Justice.

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Optimizing a website : Minimizing your Bounce Rate

What is the bounce rate for a website?
If you are one who goes through your website, you would have noticed the Column Bounce Rate. Bounce Rate is the percentage of your visitors leaving your site after a single page visit. And most likely these visitors would have come from a search engine, looking for a specific piece of information. And if they are leaving either they could be disappointed in the content or they found the answer. Typically a  Bounce Rate  of less than 50% is good. And for new sites with very few visitors bounce rate could be upto 75%.

How to minimize your bounce rate?
If you are using Google Analytics, you would be able to see the site’s entire bounce rate and individual pages Bounce Rate. If a individual page is getting higher percentage of visitors and also having higher bounce rate then you need to fix those pages in particular, before going for a entire site overhaul.

Typically a higher bounce rate would indicate the following :
1. Content is poor.
2. Misleading title/SEO optimization.
3. Poor Navigations like Similar posts/Recent Posts etc.

If the content is poor then you might need to get more in depth content for the page without removing existing article completely. If you believe your content is not related to the title, then you might want to add relevant information as it help you in earning the trust of your visitors. Google eventually will reduce your rank in the search index if the bounce rate is higher, as a high bounce rate shows less relevant information.

And if the link structure or Related Posts/Recent Posts organisation is not correct then you might as well go for a complete site overhaul to place these links in highly visible areas of your site.

Also adding a page navigation, Collapsible archives in your site could help. Adding other page links just below or near your content/main entrance of your sites will help in leaving your visitors.