Hello Gmailers

Its a new day for gmail users all over the world. I just woke up an hour ago and got back to office as my daily routine. I see this change in my gmail. Looks cool with new borders in the inbox. I hope gmail has better plans for its interface.

Just though about checking Odesk and its down for 45 mins.

oDesk down for maintenance

We expect our normal weekly maintenance window to be a little longer than normal to accommodate some additional database maintenance tasks. oDesk.com will be down from approximately 1:15AM GMT to 1:45AM GMT on Thursday, September 11th.

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If you do work through the maintenance window, please check your Work Diary after oDesk.com resumes service to make any necessary adjustments.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Google Inc. is releasing its own Web browser in a long-anticipated move aimed at countering the dominance of Microsoft Corp.’s Internet Explorer and ensuring easy access to its market-leading search engine.

The Mountain View-based company took the unusual step of announcing its latest product on the Labor Day holiday after it prematurely sent out a comic book drawn up to herald the new browser’s arrival.

The free browser, called “Chrome,” is supposed to be available for downloading Tuesday in more than 100 countries for computers running on Microsoft’s Windows operating system. Google said it’s still working on versions compatible with Apple Inc.’s Mac computer and the Linux operating system.

Google’s browser is expected to hit the market a week after Microsoft’s unveiling of a test version of its latest browser update, Internet Explorer 8. The tweaks include more tools for Web surfers to cloak their online preferences, creating a shield that could make it more difficult for Google and other marketing networks to figure out which ads are most likely to appeal to which individuals.

Although Google is using a cartoonish approach to promote Chrome, the new browser underscores the gravity of Google’s rivalry with Microsoft, whose Internet Explorer is used by about 75 percent of Web surfers.

Google’s lead in the lucrative Internet search market is nearly as commanding, with its engine processing nearly two-thirds of the Web’s queries.

For the past few years, Google has been trying to take advantage of its search engine’s popularity to loosen Microsoft’s grip on how most people interact with personal computers.

The assault so far has been focused on a bundle of computer programs, including word processing and spreadsheet applications, that Google offers as an alternative to one of Microsoft’s biggest money makers, its Office suite of products.

Google has tried to make its alternatives more appealing and accessible by hosting them for free over Internet connections instead of requiring users to pay a licensing fee to install them on individual computers, as Microsoft typically does.

Meanwhile, Microsoft has tried to thwart Google by investing billions in the development of its own search engine and making an unsuccessful attempt to buy Yahoo Inc. for $47.5 billion.

The tensions between Microsoft and Google now seem likely to escalate with Google’s foray into Web browsing.

Until now, Google had been trying to undermine Internet Explorer by supporting Firefox, a Web browser developed by the open-source Mozilla Foundation. Bolstered by an advertising partnership with Google’s search engine, Firefox ranks as the second most popular browser, with a market share of more than 10 percent. Google recently extended its advertising alliance with Firefox through 2011.

Bearing the stamp of Google’s renowned brand, Chrome could be an even more formidable rival to Explorer.

Still, Google’s name is no guarantee of success. For instance, Google’s instant messaging service hasn’t made come close to catching up to the market-leading products made by Yahoo, Microsoft and Time Warner Inc.’s AOL.

In a blog post Monday, Google touted Chrome as a more sophisticated Web browser better suited for displaying the dynamic and interactive content blossoming on the Web as people migrate from television, radio and newspapers.

“The Web gets better with more options and innovation,” Sundar Pichai, Google’s vice president of product management, and Linus Upson, Google’s engineering director, wrote in the posting. “Google Chrome is another option, and we hope it contributes to making the Web even better.”

Microsoft brushed aside the threat in a statement Monday from Dean Hachamovitch, Internet Explorer’s general manager.

“The browser landscape is highly competitive, but people will choose Internet Explorer 8 for the way it puts the services they want right at their fingertips … and, more than any other browsing technology, puts them in control of their personal data online,” Hachamovitch said.

Even as it has backed Firefox, Google has openly fretted about the possible ramifications of Microsoft’s huge lead in Web browsing.

Google is worried that Microsoft could abuse its power by manipulating Internet Explorer’s default settings in a way that might diminish traffic to Google’s search engine, which serves as the hub of the largest online ad network.

In 2006, Google contacted the Justice Department to raise alarms about changes to Internet Explorer that Google believed made it more difficult to install search toolbars made by Microsoft’s rivals. Although regulators decided not to intervene, Microsoft subsequently modified the way Explorer handled the selection of search toolbars.

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE

According to the news  resource, “The hosted blogging service, which has 14 million users worldwide, was purchased from San Francisco’s Six Apart.”

One-year-old Russian online media company SUP on Monday announced that it has acquired LiveJournal — a hosted blogging service that counts millions of users in the U.S. and around the world. SUP bought the service from Six Apart, a San Francisco-based startup that began offering LiveJournal in 2005 after acquiring its developer, Danga Interactive.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

SUP’s acquisition of LiveJournal stems from an existing partnership between the company and Six Apart. In October 2006, SUP struck a licensing agreement with Six Apart to offer LiveJournal in Russia. Since then, use of LiveJournal in the country has flourished. Russian bloggers account for 28% of the software’s 14 million users, according to Six Apart.

As part of the transaction, SUP plans to establish a new operating unit called LiveJournal. It said it would announce a management team in the coming weeks. SUP will also install a LiveJournal advisory board that will include Danga Interactive founder Brad Fitzpatrick, who now works forGoogle (NSDQ: GOOG).

Two seats on the advisory board will be reserved for members of the “LiveJournal community,” according to SUP. The seats will be awarded on the basis of open, online elections and will rotate, the company said.

SUP was founded in 2006 by American investor Andrew Paulson and Aleksandr Mamut, widely seen as one of Russia’s so-called “new oligarchs” and a Kremlin insider. SUP “set itself the goal of building a portfolio of high-traffic-generating projects based in Moscow from which to expand worldwide,” a company statement said.

Beyond LiveJournal, SUP operates Championat.ru, one of the top three sports and entertainment sites on Russia’s Internet, online advertising service provider SOL, and Victory SA — another online ad agency.