MS OFFICE ALTERNATIVES!

Don't like Microsoft Office or can't afford?
There are many alternatives present in market which are available free of cost or at minimal cost having almost all features MS OFFICE boast of...







Google Docs
Developed by Internet search giant Google, Web-based Google Docs offers word processor, spreadsheet, presentation, and form application. Documents can be shared, opened, and edited by multiple users at the same time. Google Docs also allows users to create and edit documents online while collaborating real-time with other users.

As for the size limits, each doc can have a maximum size of 500K, plus up to 2MB per embedded image. Each Spreadsheet can be up to 256 columns, 200,000 cells, or 100 sheets. Presentations Files in .ppt and .pps formats can have a maximum size of 10MB or 200 slides; files uploaded from the Web can be up to 2MB; emailed files can be up to 500K.

Google Docs can also be accessed offline with Gears, an open source browser extension that enables web applications to run offline. When a user is not connected to the Internet, Google Docs uses information stored on his computer's hard drive, rather than relying on information sent across the network.

COREL

WordPerfect is a word processing application developed by Corel. The office software helps create documents, spreadsheets and presentations, manages email, and share work seamlessly with Microsoft Office compatibility and built-in PDF tools.

It offers support for more than 60 formats, including Microsoft Office 2007 and open standards such as Open Document Format (ODF) and Office Open XML (OOXML).

It lets users create letters, reports, newsletters, budgets, invoices, receipts, slide shows, proposals and interactive reports. It can also turn complex spreadsheets into charts and graphs.

The software packs Pocket Oxford English Dictionary, drawing application, 175 digital photos, 8,000 clipart images, 900 TrueType fonts, WordPerfect XML Project Designer and conversion utility.

What differentiates Word Perfect from other word processors is its streaming code architecture, its Reveal Codes feature, and its user-friendly macro/scripting language, PerfectScript.

ZOHO

Zoho Office is an online office suite which includes tools for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, databases, note-taking, wikis, CRM, project management and invoicing. Like Google Docs, Zoho applications are web-based and operating system independent. Its online word processor, Zoho Writer, quite closely apes Microsoft Word features and functionalities. It supports common formats, including Microsoft Word (DOC), Office Open XML (DOCX), OpenDocument text (ODT), OpenOffice text (SXW), HTML, RTF, JPG, GIF & PNG files. Zoho also lets users edit a document when page breaks are displayed. Writer works even when one is offline, thanks to open source technology. Offline document edits get synchronised when user goes online. Zoho Writer also provides a choice of footnotes or endnotes, with note numbers in superscript, placed in the text. Zoho is a division of AdventNet, which provides online software services to corporate IT departments and is based in California. thinkfree

Another Microsoft Office rival that closely resembles its functionality and features is ThinkFree Office by Haansoft ThinkFree Co Ltd. ThinkFree Office supports Microsoft Word, Excel and Powerpoint file formats. It provides identical features for Windows, Mac, or Linux. ThinkFree Office includes a word processor (Write), spreadsheet (Calc), presentation programme (Show), and a WYSIWYG html and blog editor (Note). It also has a web-based edition that runs Write, Calc, Show and Note in a browser using a mix of Java applet and Ajax technologies. User gets 1GB of online storage space for saving their documents. Recently, the company updated its online version, ThinkFree Office Live, introducing a new unified online document viewer called Uni Paper and allows the use of its service without any registration. Key features of the web version include: No need to attach documents to emails if they need to be shared with business partners or colleagues, support for group document editing and reviewing, Document tagging and creation of Adobe PDF documents for free. OpenOffice.org

My personal favourite.
OpenOffice is a free open-source office application suite offering support for standard OpenDocument Format (ODF) for data interchange as well as Microsoft Office formats. As of March 2009, OpenOffice supports over 80 languages.

OpenOffice was originally derived from StarOffice, and later acquired by Sun Microsystems in August 1999. The suite offers word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics and databases.

Its word processor, called Writer, offers features like AutoCorrect, AutoComplete, AutoFormat, Styles and Formatting, Text Frames and Linking, Tables of Contents, Indexing, Bibliographical References, Illustrations, Tables and other objects.

Adobe Buzzword


Here's a free online word processor from Adobe called Buzzword. It lets users write reports, proposals and share it with others.

Buzzword has two views, Document Organiser and Editor. The Editor provides six sliding toolbars at the top of the window which lets users choose fonts, text styles and format paragraphs. It also lets users add lists, images, tables, and comments to a document.

The Document Organiser shows all Buzzword documents, the one's that are shared and created by the user. There is also a Sort feature to organise how documents are grouped: by author, by date modified, by size, or other options.

Other key features include: users can assign user roles; add comments that include text, tables, and images; maintain history of document versions; and a Collaborator bar showing who is invited to collaborate on a document.

IBM Lotus Symphony

IBM Lotus Symphony Document lets users create documents with predefined document templates, formatting with predefined styles for paragraphs, characters, and headings, contextual toolbars and editing menus. It also offers inline spell checking and correction feature, graphics for creating tables, charts, diagrams, automatic creation of a table of contents, footnotes, indexes and footers and headers.

It also extends support for a variety of file types, including Microsoft Office and Lotus SmartSuite Export documents and Adobe PDF for easy sharing.

Jarte

Jarte, a light-weight, portable word processor based on the WordPad engine. The standard version is available for free.

Features include the ability to edit Microsoft Word documents, OLE support (the ability to insert pictures and sounds), tabbed document access, spell checker, page breaks, print previewing, visual header and footer designer, clip history, a reference bar, multilevel undo and redo functionality, and single-click bookmarking.

Jarte uses the Windows built-in word processing engine at its core.

DEAD SEA is really dead!

Yes Dead Sea is really Dead.
The Dead Sea is 67 kilometres (42 mi) long and 18 kilometres (11 mi) wide at its widest point.Unlike it's name, its a salt lake stretching between Israel and West Bank in the west and Jordan in the east.It's 422m below the sea level which is the lowest point on the dry land.'s the saltiest water body of the world with 33.7% salinity.In other words it's water is 8.6 times more saltier then ocean water!
Due to its salinity no life is possible in the water and hence its called 'DEAD SEA'.
Its a major tourist destination with spas,beautiful beaches and pilgrimage spots around it.Millions of people visit this amazing place every year.
A city has come up at its shore called 'living dead sea'!!

Don't know swimming? Don't worry just jump in the water...u will float!!!!

Still looking for a destination for coming vacations? better stop thinking and get ur tickets!

For more information check http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Sea

Beautiful Earth at Night

ASIA LOOKS COOL!
ANTARCTICANORTH AMERICA

EUROPE
AFRICAN SUBCONTINENT

Kansai Airport-Sinking Airport!

Kansai Airport is an extra-ordinary feast of an engineering marvel.This man made island is situated 50 km from the center of Osaka city,Japan.This man-made island is 4 km long and 2.5 km wide.This airport is sinking at the rate of 9cm per annum.It's construction is equally amazing!
For full details plz visit the link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kansai_International_Airport

Temple of the Rats- Karni Mata

Located in north-western India, the small city of Deshnoke,has a place of worship unlike any other, Rajastan’s famous Karni Mata Temple. The temple is home to over 20,000 worshipped rats, referred to as Kabbas. Many people travel great distances to pay their respects.

For many Westerners this would seem bizarre and strange to have a place of worship over run by an animal that is commonly associated with pestilence and disease. Since the temple was constructed there has never been an outbreak of disease associated with the vermin.

‘This ornate, isolated Hindu temple was constructed by Maharaja Ganga Singh in the early 1900s as a tribute to the rat goddess, Karni Mata. Intricate marble panels line the entrance and the floors, and silver and gold decorations are found throughout.

“The legend goes that Karni Mata, a mystic matriarch from the 14th century, was an incarnation of Durga, the goddess of power and victory. At some point during her life, the child of one of her clansmen died. She attempted to bring the child back to life, only to be told by Yama, the god of death, that he had already been reincarnated.

Karni Mata cut a deal with Yama: From that point forward, all of her tribespeople would be reborn as rats until they could be born back into the clan.

In Hinduism, death marks the end of one chapter and the beginning of a new one on the path to a soul’s eventual oneness with the universe. This cycle of transmigration is known as samsara and is precisely why Karni Mata’s rats are treated like royalty.”

“Unlike the rest of the world, where rats are commonly killed for inhabiting the same space as humans, in this temple the rat residents are treated with sincere devotion. The veneration is so complete that if someone accidentally steps on a rat and kills it, they are expected to buy a gold or silver rat and place it in the temple as atonement.”

Underground World!

The Kish Qanat in Kariz, Iran is more than 2,500 years old and currently has been converted into an underground town at a depth of 16 meters below the surface, with an area of more than 10,000 sq m. The Qanat is an ancient system found in arid regions that brings groundwater from the mountains, following a water-bearing formation (aquifer), and emerge at an oasis, through a series of tunnels. The tunnels perhaps several kilometers long, are roughly horizontal, with a slope. This allows water to drain out to the surface by gravity to lower and flatter agricultural land. Considered to be the oldest feat of human engineering, this system can be found still working in Iran.

The ancient water provision technology can be described as the greatest contribution made by Iranians to hydraulics. This system must have been started at least 5000 years ago in Iran. The water from the qanat flowed in a natural underground stream between a layer of corals on the surface of the island. The drinking water flowed from northeast of the Island to the sea and after 10 centuries it continues to flow.
There is an entrance fee of Dh. 5 per head. A guide takes you around and explains the salient features of the qanat. The History of Kariz can be found in depth through the Kish Trade Promotion website. Situated in Horasan, Iran, its geographical coordinates are 31° 9′ 5″ North, 60° 23′ 30″ East.

Massive Man Made Holes

One of the world’s biggest holes is located in Russia.
The gaint hole is actually a diamond mine in Eastern Siberia near the town Mirna/?????? . It is 525 meters deep and 1.25 km in the diameter. Mirna’s open pit diamond mine closed operations in 2004 after nearly 50 years. According to bizarre reports air traffic has been suspended due to the “suction above the hole” reporting of extreme downdrafts over the pit.

Which some have claimed have resulted in several helicopter crashes.

Kennecott Mine. is actually the world’s largest man-made excavation. “Kennecott mine looks more like a huge canyon than it does a hole, as compared to the nearly-symmetrical pit in Siberia….Started over a hundred years ago, it pioneered open-pit mining operations. It is located 28 miles southwest of Salt Lake City. It’s 2.5 miles across and 3 quarters of a mile deep. The mine is so big that it can be easily seen from space shuttles in outer space with the naked eye. By comparison, the Mirna diamond mine is only about one-third of a mile deep and less than a mile across.” source

Kennecott Copper Mine, the world’s largest man-made excavation and first open-pit, is located 28 miles southwest of Salt Lake City. 2 ½-miles across, and ¾-mile deep, the mine is so big, it can be seen from space shuttles in outer space!!