A Question Mark?

Hilarious Stuff!

2007-12-16T20:09:00.000+05:30

Leading Minds Reincarnated!

2007-11-10T10:45:00.000+05:30

Greetings! We’ve now got a fresh new layout up and running for Leading Minds. Flash goes out and in comes XHTML with JOOMLA in the backend. Take a peak here: http://www.leadingminds.co.in

For newbies, who aren't quite familiar with Leading Minds, following is who we are and what we do.

Made in India, Leading Minds is located in beautiful city of Belgaum, deep in the woods where there are still water nymphs and tree elves (not really, but we do have lots of rain and grass). We develop web applications and we’re proud of them. From the foundation to the artwork, we make sure our apps shine in your browser. Did we mention that when developing applications, a cup of Cocoa and a glass of Aqua do wonders?

At Leading Minds we dedicate ourselves to:

Making useful and excellent web applications (but you probably already knew that)
Eating tasty food (an empty stomach is the root of all evil)
Creating stuff that looks nice (you probably already knew that too)?
Having lots of fun (and let users have fun with our apps!)

Rock n roll time at Leading Minds!

Talent Onions is Live!

2007-09-26T19:13:00.000+05:30

Glad to bring to the world's notice that we now have a fully functional website for Talent Onions. Who is Talent Onions? Read on...

Talent Onions aims to be India's leading provider of Internet recruitment and job search solutions. We are innovative business solution experts and can help your organization to Evaluate, Implement, and Evolve the sourcing strategy that's right for your business. We provide a comprehensive range of Recruitment and Business Consulting Services and can support your efforts in each and every stage of the sourcing lifecycle.

Dig that? Want more of it? Hop on to http://www.talentonions.com

The website by the way is a great XHTML layout thats W3C validated and follows strict CSS. We've built it on PHP and it's wrapped in JOOMLA. JOOMLA is one of the world's best open source content management systems. For more on JOOMLA, hop on to http://www.joomla.org . Coming back to Talent Onions, its a fully functional job board with a very dynamic backend.

All set technology wise now, lets see what kinda talent we can rake in! :-)

Back! After a long time!

2007-08-20T17:12:00.000+05:30

Was away for quite a while. Din't blog. Too Busy. Busy doing nothing types. Back now. Back in action. Back in Business.

Life after Post Graduation has turned stifle. Been nice actually. Bumpy but nice. Wanted to start an education institute. Narrowed down on starting a Juice Cafe. But then in December 2005 finally started my Internet Development Venture - Leading Minds. More on Leading Minds at http://www.leadingminds.co.in

While Leading Minds was on and stuff was happening, kept thinking what else could be done. And then it happened. I finally realized I was made to build an Ad Agency. However that thought quickly gave way and I was exploring options of starting a restaurant. In July 2007, of all I started my own Human Resources Consulting Venture - Talent Onions. More on Talent Onions at http://www.talentonions.com

These days I'm busy toiling around with Leading Minds and Talent Onions. My mom's been after my life. She's been persuading me to get married. I chose to Ignore. I proudly continue to do so. And why not? Independence is important. Yes, shaadi will happen. At its own time. Lets enjoy life as of now.

More soon! Real soon.

Free Hugs!

2007-07-26T23:23:00.000+05:30

Abhishekh Sharma and Arati's Wedding

2007-07-03T23:36:00.000+05:30

Online TV Dekho! Nautanki karo!

2007-06-02T00:50:00.000+05:30

Alumni Meet @ EDI - It ROCKED!

2007-05-27T18:29:00.000+05:30

I had a great time at the Alumni Meet @ EDI last weekend! It was homecoming to Ahmedabad two years post graduation.

The 9th batch did a wonderful job organizing it and most of us had a great time - Ronak, Vikas, Samyak, Suhas, Ketan, Pulkit, Eric, Guppuji, Viral, Dipen, Anand, Dheeraj, Dhavan, Chappia, Vijay DJ, Ashal, Modi, Chiragi, Hiral, Amrish, Nidhi, Krishna [NGO], Puneet [NGO], Sujata [NGO] & Mervyn - all EDIots from the Class of 2005 made it to the campus.

The guest list didn't end there. On Sunday afternoon His Highness Mr.Sureliya made his grand entry. Here are some candid moments from the meet:

Me and Guppuji onto Ronnie

Ronnie, Viral, Me & Vikas [Weak Ass] getting into the groove

Ronnie and Viral go Desi

Dheeraj & Guppuji join Ronnie...

Chillin! L 2 R - Dheeraj, Guppuji, Viral, Me, Vikas [Weak Ass], Ronnie
Backrow - Suhas, Vishal & Pulkit

Bricks King v/s Oils Maestro

EDIots - Class of 2005
PGP 7th Batch - EDI, Ahmedabad

Hinglish Music!

2007-05-17T13:58:00.000+05:30

Found this on Youtube. Interesting Pop Indian Music. Cant stop humming it. Check it out:

Designations at Technology Companies

2007-05-17T13:39:00.000+05:30

Found this interesting piece on my friends computer. Couldn't resist putting it up here. This is a typical technology company scenario:

Project Manager is a Person who thinks nine women can deliver a baby in One month.

Developer is a Person who thinks it will take 18 months to deliver a Baby.

Onsite Coordinator is one who thinks single woman can deliver nine babies in one month.

Client is the one who doesn't know why he wants a baby.

Marketing Manager is a person who thinks he can deliver a baby even if no man and woman are available.

Resource Optimization Team thinks they don't need a man or woman; they'll produce a child with zero resources.

Documentation Team thinks they don't care whether the child is delivered, they'll just document 9 months.

Quality Auditor is the person who is never happy with the PROCESS to produce a baby.

Tester is a person who always tells his wife that this is not the Right baby!

5 innovations that will probably change life!

2007-05-05T17:36:00.000+05:30

International Business Machines, the multinational computer technology giant, on Monday unveiled the 'IBM Next Five in Five' study, which is its view on five innovations that have the potential of changing the way people the world over work, live and play over the next five years.

The list is based on market / societal trends (expected to transform people's lives) and also on emerging technologies from IBM's Labs around the world that could make these innovations possible.

1. We will be able to access healthcare remotely, from just about anywhere in the world: Millions of people with chronic health problems such as diabetes, heart, kidney or circulatory problems will be able to have their conditions automatically monitored as they go about their daily lives. Device makers and healthcare professionals will take a proactive approach to ongoing, remote monitoring of patients, delivered through sensors in the home, worn on the person or in devices and packaging.

These advances will also allow patients to better monitor their own health and help clinicians provide the on-going preventive care regardless of a person's location. Hardware and software advances in the field of remote-control healthcare will be a major source of consumer and enterprise innovation by 2012.

2. Mobile phones will start to read our minds: Advanced 'presence' technology will give mobile phones and PDAs (personal digital assistants) the ability to automatically learn about their users' whereabouts and preferences as they commute, work and travel. 'Presence' technology -- used in instant messaging -- already makes it possible to locate and identify a user as soon as the user connects to the network.

In five years, all sorts of mobile devices will have the ability to continually learn about and adapt to your preferences and needs. Your phone will know when you're in class or in a meeting and divert automatically to voicemail. Your favourite pizza joint will know when you're on your way home after a late night and ping you with a special-price, take-home meal just for you.

3. Real-time speech translation -- once a vision only in sci-fi -- will become the norm: The movement towards globalisation needs to take into account basic human elements, such as differences in language.

For example, IBM speech innovations are already allowing media companies to monitor Chinese and Arabic news broadcasts over the Web in English, travellers using PDAs to translate menus in Japanese, and doctors to communicate with patients in Spanish.

Real-time translation technologies and services will be embedded into mobile phones, handheld devices and cars. These services will pervade every part of business and society, eliminating the language barrier in the global economy and social interaction.

4. There will be a 3-D Internet: The popular online immersive destinations, such as Second Life and the World of Warcraft, will evolve into the 3-D Internet, much like the early work by the likes of Darpa, AOL and Prodigy evolved into the World Wide Web.

In this immersive online world, you will walk the aisles of supermarkets, bookstores and DVD shops, where you'll encounter experts you'd rarely find in your local store. The 3-D Internet will enable new kinds of education, remote medicine and consumer experiences, transforming how we interact with our friends, family, doctors, teachers, favourite stores, et cetera.

5. New technologies the size of a few atoms will address areas of environmental importance: Governments and companies are increasingly trying to improve environmental stewardship and secure reliable and cost-effective resources like water, energy, etc. Information technology, materials science, and physics will help meet environmental needs.

Nanotechnology -- the ability to manipulate individual atoms and molecules to form tiny new structures -- has already had a major impact on microprocessors, making electronic products like PCs and mobile phones smaller, better and cheaper.

In coming years, nanotechnology will likely be used for water filtration. This could advance ecology and conservation, helping to address the growing worldwide shortage of potable water supplies. Other areas where IT, physics, and material science will have a big impact are advanced water modeling and improving solar power systems.

These five innovations were selected based on projects from the brains in IBM's Research labs, business research conducted by IBM's business think-tank, and ideas pooled from more than 150,000 people from 104 countries, including IBM employees, their family members, universities, business partners and customers from 67 countries, during a recent online brainstorm called 'IBM InnovationJam.'

Summer of 69 - In Hindi! Desi Stuff!

2007-05-03T13:49:00.000+05:30

Have a look at this amazing 'Summer of 69' video - the Desi style - the Indian way. The video does all the talking!

Andy Mckee - Drifting!

2007-04-23T09:40:00.000+05:30

Andy is the most innovative and exciting fingerstyle guitarist I've seen till date. A twenty something, Andy has developed a mastery of the 6-string guitar and the harp guitar that leaves everyone speechless.

Was streaming a video on youtube when this one caught my eye. These days I find myself listening to his tunes over and over again, discovering new nuances every time. Take a peak - you'll love this!

Nautanki.tv!

2007-04-20T16:01:00.000+05:30

Founded in September 2006, nautanki.TV is an entertainment channel for people to watch original Indian content in the genres of drama, comedy, current affairs, live shows and so on. This is what they have to say about themselves on their website:

Everyone can watch videos on nautanki.TV— both on nautanki.TV and across the Internet. People can see first-hand accounts of current events, find programs catering to their interests, about their interests, and discover the quirky and unusual entertainment on the net - while they are at work or are simply waiting for some email to come by.

Nautanki.TV is a place for people to watch original Indian content in new ways with video by sharing, commenting on, and viewing videos either via the network of web properties that serve nautanki.tv content or by loging into nautanki.tv website.

These guys have a series of live transmissions as well recorded feeds that can be played ala mode. A live video feed is placed below. Nautanki karo!

Funny Or Die!

2007-04-20T12:34:00.000+05:30

A new YouTube clone has just hit the web: FunnyOrDie.com.

The site is a result of a collaboration between Will Ferrell, Adam Mckay (the men behind Talladega Nights) and Mark Kvamme of Sequoia Capital (the fund behind such behemoths like Google, Yahoo, YouTube, Cisco etc.)

Check out this video called 'The Landlord!" - Hilarious stuff!

Free Broadband by Google!

2007-04-15T21:14:00.000+05:30

Google TiSP (BETA) is a fully functional, end-to-end system that provides in-home wireless access by connecting your commode-based TiSP wireless router to one of thousands of TiSP Access Nodes via fiber-optic cable strung through your local municipal sewage lines.

Heres whats mentioned on their FAQ page:

Why should I switch to Google TiSP?

It's fast. In our testing, TiSP delivers a 10x higher flow rate than basic DSL.
It's FREE. No more paying hundreds of dollars a year for Internet service that doesn't even necessarily extend to your bathroom!
It's good for you. Your FREE TiSP service includes a Google Toolbar-based analysis of your dietary habits and genetic predispositions, along with recommendations for healthier living.

How can Google offer this service for free?

We believe that all users deserve free, fast and sanitary online access. To offset the cost of providing the TiSP service, we use information gathered by discreet DNA sequencing of your personal bodily output to display online ads that are contextually relevant to your culinary preferences, current health status and likelihood of developing particular medical conditions going forward. Google also offers premium levels of service for a monthly fee .

Sounds too good to be true eh? Get on with this here: http://www.google.com/tisp/

By the way, this exclusive service's page was put up on Google's domain on the 1st of April 2007. What a way to celebrate April Fools Day! If you didn't get fooled then, you most certainly did now!!!

Hukkah @ BC.97

2007-04-12T17:06:00.000+05:30

Enough of techtalk. Thought I'd post some casual fun that we had recently. Mum and dad were outta town and what better reason could friends find to invade BC.97. We started off with some real good 'shuddh' non vegetarian food at a premium restaurant in town followed by some sultry paan at the supa famous Green Hotel.

It was then time for Preetam to take over. Out came the mean hukka inhaler as Chonnad watched with lusty eyes.

Got into the groove then.

Ankush then got going.

Meanwhile Siddharth was lazing around inhaling what the others exhaled.

Anupam ofcourse, was busy with 'Naughty America!'

Abu and Atique were busy watching South Africa batter West Indies. A shame West Indies were butchered hands down by the Proteas smashing them out of the World Cup.

Abu then was in his own world dreaming about umm... er... ahem....

All in all, a refreshing evening!

Question Success

2007-04-08T20:27:00.000+05:30

Why do people succeed?

Because they're smart? Or lucky?

How about: Neither.

Richard St. John compacts seven years of research on successful people into an unmissable 3-minute slideshow on the real secrets of success.

Richard St. John is author of Stupid, Ugly, Unlucky and RICH: What really leads to success -- and it's not smarts, looks, or luck. He's also founder of the communications agency, The St John Group.

This guy is some serious success success material. Have a look at the video on Tedtalks here: http://www.ted.com/tedtalks/tedtalksplayer.cfm?key=r_stjohn

Promqueen.tv

2007-04-07T06:47:00.000+05:30

Love. Betrayal. Sex. Gossip. Deception. All this is often portrayed on TV often. Now, we have it online! This new era is emerging where in people have increasingly been hooking onto the internet for entertainment. And there this one internet serial thats got me hooked - PromQueen.

Senior year is a crazy time in anybody's life - full of uncertainty - and Prom is supposed to be a night when dreams come true. But this year, at Edward Adams High School, there is a secret that threatens to unravel the institution forever.

Over the final two months of the year, high school sweethearts will fall apart, friends will be won and lost, hearts will be broken and mended; five girls will be nominated for Prom Queen, but only one of them will win. And on Prom Night, something terrible will happen.

Get onto it, goto www.promqueen.tv

My Clone Online!

2007-04-04T16:58:00.000+05:30

People can spend most of their time online, but it is very difficult to spend all of it there. Sometimes people have to work, go to school, or eat. Or sleep. And who will be there to chat with everyone while you are away? Until now there was no answer for this difficult problem. Now, there is MyCyberTwin.

The company, which is based in Australia, creates an online “clone” of users based on a 79 question personality quiz and hundreds of additional training questions. Once it’s complete, a chat bot is created for that user, which has it’s own web page, can be embedded into MySpace or another website, or can log into Microsoft Messenger on your behalf and pretend to be you. My clone, which is about 30% trained, is here:

http://www.mycybertwin.com/aadil

Have a dekho!

The Future of Web Applications

2007-03-31T16:51:00.000+05:30

Jibjab - Hilarious Stuff!

2007-03-30T08:44:00.000+05:30

Tried Jotform?

2007-03-29T18:06:00.000+05:30

Jotform - the form builder for novices!

JotForm is the first web based WYSIWYG* form builder. Anyone and everyone who knows nothing about programming and coding can create simple to complex web forms. One can design forms that can be put to use anywhere on the web. And the best part, its completely FREE!

Check this out @ www.jotform.com

*WYSIWYG - What You See Is What You Get.

Zoho Notebook!

2007-03-28T23:12:00.000+05:30

The guys up at Zoho are upto some real good stuff. After swashbuckling products like Zoho Writer, Zoho Show, Zoho Projects & Zoho Wiki, its now time for the Zoho Notebook.

Zoho Notebook aims to be the online application for gathering and creating multiple types of content that can easily be shared with others. Designed with a simple user interface, Zoho Notebook aims to solve the problem of managing multiple sources of information and content that is typically spread all over the place: like our desktop, e-mail, websites, applications, etc. With Zoho Notebook, we can now have a single place to access and share multiple streams of information as per our preferences. Have a look at a demo here:

The Youtube for documents!

2007-03-25T17:34:00.000+05:30

Its finally here. Scribd.com lets you publish and discover documents online. It is like a big online library where anyone can upload any kind of file by a click of a button. These guys make use of a custom Flash document viewer that lets you display documents right in your Web browser. There are all sorts of other features that make it easy to publish, convert, embed, and read all types of documents.

This is it - www.scribd.com - The Youtube for documents! Embeded below is a document from scribd uploaded by one of their user that talks about Protecting Home - Made Videos with Digital Watermarks. Neat!

A Community grocery Store!

2007-03-23T19:18:00.000+05:30

This guy truly rocks! This is what passion is all about. This how business should be done. After the only grocery store in Truman, Minn., closed earlier this year, 17-year-old Nick Graham bought and re-opened it to help save the struggling community.

This guy paid a bomb to buy this grocery store and used the money that'd get him to University. Life, this is!

Rs. 250 Million SMS Fraud

2006-12-17T10:46:00.000+05:30

SMS and earn money. Sounds like a con job to you? It didn't to 50,000 people looking to make a quick buck — allowing the now absconding fraudsters, to get away with nearly Rs. 250 Million.

An ad in some Mumbai dailies kick-started this SMS fraud by brothers Jayanand Nadar, 36, and Jayaraja Nadar, 28. 'Nothing is impossible. The word itself is I M Possible', read the ad. According to the police the duo then messaged random numbers, asking people interested in 'earning Rs. 10,000 a month to contact them' thus promising investors they could 'get rich quickly'.

"In September 2006, the duo floated a company - SMS Media Pvt Ltd - and registered it. Attractive promos were inserted in some newspapers and magazines to lure investors,' said police inspector Ajendra Thakur. The duo claimed to be working with a US-based company — Aropis Advertising Company — that wanted to market products through SMS. Their modus operandi involved asking interested 'subscribers' for Rs. 500 or Rs. 650.

'The brothers even put up a website (www.getpaid4sms.com) to promote their scheme. People who registered with them received about 10 SMSs everyday about various products and were promised a handsome commission if they managed to rope in more people by forwarding the messages,' Thakur said.

The Nadars promised to pay Rs. 10,000 over 16 months to the investors. The amount was to be paid in installments of Rs. 1,000 every few months. The brothers initially paid up small amounts; but when their cheques for larger sums were not honoured, and the text messages stopped the 'subscribers' got worried.

On Nov 30, one duped person approached the D.N. Road police and lodged a complaint. By Dec 12, 10 other complainants turned up.

"We have already recorded the statements of 11 people. We suspect that the fraud amount may be as high as Rs. 300 million. The case will be transferred to the economic offenses wing soon," Thakur added. Comments anyone?

Adobe Photoshop CS3 Beta Released!

2006-12-16T13:43:00.000+05:30

Adobe has introduced a beta version of Adobe Photoshop CS3 software. Adobe is delivering a widely available Photoshop CS3 beta to enable customers to more easily transition to the latest hardware platforms, particularly Apple's new Intel-based systems.

The beta is available as a Universal Binary for the Macintosh platform, as well as for Microsoft Windows XP and Windows Vista computers. The final shipping release of Adobe Photoshop CS3 is planned for Spring 2007. The software can be downloaded here.

Packed with new features, Photoshop CS3 beta also includes a pre-release version of a major upgrade to Adobe Bridge, as well as a preview release of the all-new Adobe Device Central. Photoshop customers can use Adobe Device Central to design, preview, and test mobile content, created specifically for smaller screens. This new tool, integrated in the Photoshop CS3 beta, simplifies and accelerates the creation of mobile content through a preview environment and built-in device profiles.

"This is an exciting time for the Mac, and Adobe wanted to ease the move to new Intel-based systems with a preview release of Photoshop CS3," said John Loiacono, senior vice president of Creative Solutions Business Unit at Adobe. "We didn't want to leave Windows customers out of the party, so the beta is available to everyone in the creative industry's most passionate user community — no matter what their platform choice. We still have some surprises in store, but this beta gives customers an early chance to see the power of another great Photoshop release, optimized and tuned to run natively on the latest hardware and operating systems."

To utilize Adobe Photoshop CS3 beta, customers require a serial number from either Adobe Photoshop CS2, Adobe Creative Suite 2, Adobe Creative Suite Production Studio, Adobe Design Bundle, Adobe Web Bundle or Adobe Video Bundle. Without a serial number, users can still download Adobe Photoshop CS3 beta, with the product expiring after two days.

From a Millionare to a Multi Millionare....

2006-12-02T13:55:00.000+05:30

Alex Tew, the mastermind behind The Million Dollar Homepage is most certainly pressing his luck. Tew sold one million pixels worth of advertisement for $1 per pixel and made $1 million. It worked so well that he thinks he can do it again, this time for twice the price.

Tew is reportedly on the verge of launching a second site called Pixelotto. Instead of selling each pixel for $1, he plans to sell each pixel for $2, plus hold some kind of lottery where the winner who clicks the right advertisement will win $1 million.

Can he make it big this time too? Nothing seems impossible in this era of web 2.0! Lets wait and watch!

129 Phishers sued by Microsoft

2006-11-24T12:39:00.000+05:30

Microsoft is helping law enforcers hunt down criminals who try to steal bank account details on the Internet and has initiated 129 lawsuits in Europe and the Middle East, the U.S. software company said.

One court case in Turkey has already led to a 2.5-year prison sentence for a so-called 'phisher' in Turkey, and another four cases against teenagers have been settled out of court, Microsoft said on Wednesday, eight months after it announced the launch of a Global Phishing Enforcement Initiative in March.

"Sometimes we initiate our own legal action, but more importantly we work with law enforcement agencies," said Nancy Anderson, deputy general counsel at the software company.

Of the 129 lawsuits that have been initiated, 97 are criminal procedures in which Microsoft and other technology companies have provided information.

The announcement was made at a European Union conference on identity theft in Brussels.

Phishing has mushroomed over the last few years, with the number of attempts to trick citizens into handing over their bank account details almost doubling in the first half of 2006 to 157,000, according to a recent report from security software vendor Symantec.

The total amount of damages from phishing is expected to be $2.8 billion in 2006 alone, research group Gartner estimates.

Phishers send emails, in which they pretend to be a financial institution or other legitimate organisation, asking people to verify personal information such as account numbers and passwords.

"Like most other cases of fraud, they prey on people's behaviour," Anderson said.

They also scour social networking sites and personal Web sites looking for personal information.

While criminal complaints are aimed at what Microsoft believes to be real criminals, the civil lawsuits are aimed mainly at young people without criminal intent. For them, settlements of 1,000 to 2,000 euros ($1,290-$2,570) are deemed to be enough of a deterrent, Microsoft said.

"It's certainly enough to make their parents very angry," a spokesman said.

Microsoft can initiate civil lawsuits even when it is not the target of identity theft, because legal systems in many countries allow anyone suffering from attacks to claim damages.

"There are damages to our ability to conduct business. There are damages to our trust with the consumer," Anderson said.

The U.S. company has an investigative team at its headquarters in Redmond, Washington, which uses Web-crawling software and customer complaints to find out where attacks are taking place. Old-fashioned investigative techniques are then used to discover the identity of the phishers.

Before legal action was taken, 253 cases were investigated. Most of the investigations and 50 of the criminal complaints were filed in Turkey. Germany was second with 28 criminal complaints and France third with 11.

Britain led the civil orders with 18 out of a total 32.

Cases were also filed in Dubai, Italy, Morocco and the Netherlands.

Beware! Password Flaw in Firefox!

2006-11-23T16:12:00.000+05:30

Mozilla Foundation's open source browser, Firefox, has warned users of a security flaw that gives away passwords and names of users, to other visitors on the browser. Internet explorer 7 also, reportedly has the same flaw, known as the Reverse Cross-Site Request (RCSR).

The flaw lets hackers access passwords and usernames by presenting them with a fake login form. In turn, Firefox Password Manager enters any saved passwords and usernames into that form. As a result, the data is automatically sent to an attacker's computer without the user's knowledge. This flaw has already been exploited on social-networking site MySpace, and it could affect anyone using a blog or forum that allows user-generated HTML code to be added.

Although Mozilla has not issued a fix, a bug report has been filed. Mozilla has suggested that users should avoid using Password Manager and the Master Password Timeout Firefox extension. Also, Security company Secunia has advised users to disable the 'Remember passwords for sites' option in Firefox.

Slideshare - The Youtube for PowerPoint!

2006-11-20T15:00:00.000+05:30

SlideShare is a free service for sharing presentations and slideshows. You can upload your PowerPoint and OpenOffice presentations, tag them, embed them into your blog or website, browse others' presentations, and comment on individual slides. It's a great way to share your ideas with others, or to learn from other people. And it's free

They currently support PowerPoint (PPT and PPS formats), and OpenOffice (ODP format

How do you embed a presentation into your blog or website?

It's easy. First view the presentation on SlideShare. On each page, you'll see a text box called "embed", with funny looking code in it. If you take that code and paste it into a blog posting or web site, then you would get a little embedded slideshow in your blog or web site. Here's an example of what it will end up looking like.

Yet another soaring online business model! Wonder when I'll get such fanatic ideas!

Snap! Getting on to Google!

2006-11-19T09:24:00.000+05:30

Is Search Today Good Enough?

Those of us who do a lot of searching know that search could be better. A lot better. Consider these realities of the frequent searcher:

Frequent searchers use three or more search engines
50% of searches end in failure
Total round trip time for an average search is 15 minutes

What's wrong with search today? We think Google, Yahoo, MSN and all the rest of the big search players have settled on the wrong search paradigm: text-in, text-out. While there are slight differences in their ranking methods and the size of their indexes, the search experience offered by Big Search is exactly the same.

Snap — The other way to Search

Snap is a new search engine that offers a very different alternative to the Big Search, Text-In, Text-Out, method. Snap is visual. Snap is fast. Snap is Interactive.

The Snap Difference #1: Fast Visual Display of Results Previews

They believe the visual display of data along with text is better than text alone. Users can better judge a result to be good for their search if they see it rather than read it. When Snap returns results, they show you a preview of the result. The Snap Results-Left/Preview-Right interface concept eliminates much of the guesswork of search, and thus greatly reduces the number of unproductive back and forth clicks to determine if a site is worth your time. They call this Fast Browsing. Want to learn more?

The Snap Difference #2: Actively Anticipating Your Intent

From the moment you type one letter in the snap search box, Snap begins to actively anticipate your intent. A drop down menu appears instantly, offering popular search terms, synonyms, and other suggestions that greatly speed your search experience. Get searching to try it out!

The Snap Difference #3: Direct Interactivity with Your Search Results

Snap allows direct interactivity with the preview site, without having to leave your results behind. You can plug in your dates and destinations for travel, you can pick the car make and model or you can copy those lyrics - all while still having access to your results list. In addition, for those of you power users who like this feature, but want it on all the time, they offer an Active-X preview control, which makes this direct interactivity the default mode.

The Snap Difference #4: Better Relevance through Successful Past Searches

Search results are better with Snap because their ranking algorithm takes advantage of the prior behavior of millions of anonymous searches*. By analyzing past search behaviors, they know which sites are visited more often, the average time users spend there, and if they took any action. In addition to behavioral data from all across the Internet, Snap incorporates User Contributed Ratings (See Image Below) - a beta feature where they let You rate Your results on Snap. All of these clues help them determine if the site is right for your specific search.

The Snap Difference to You: Faster Speed to Satisfaction

Getting you to your end destination as fast as possible is snap's mission. They call this Speed to Satisfaction and it has very little to do with how quickly a page downloads and everything to do with how quickly one can make sense of the data once it's presented.

Karzi? Wtf is karzi?

2006-11-18T09:49:00.000+05:30

Karzi.com is a simple online chat system, done in a web 2.0 style. Its so simple that anyone can use! Karzi is currently in beta stage. Cool application this!

Why use Karzi?

When your chat program/network is down.
When you need to meet up with your friends really quick! (and you don't have a chat program installed)
When you desperately need an answer to a question (and you are tired of googling)
When you feel like it!
Anywhere, anytime, any browser! (Firefox, Flock, Internet Explorer, Safari)
You don't need Java!

Features

Karzi is more than an online chat system...

Share chat

You can add a chatroom to your webpage!
Goto the chatroom you want, click "Options" and click "Get Website Code " to get the code!
Like the example below!

Anywhere, anytime

Chat away on your topic of interest anywhere and anytime. Afterall, we are Firefox, Flock, Safari Internet Explorer 6 compatible! and

BBCode

You BBCode just like you use HTML. See help for supported list of BBCode.

Colorify usernames

Karzi colorifies usernames based on the user's IP address to help you differentiate the people you are talking to.

Save chat log

Saving your chat log (XML format) is just a click away.

Wireless charging of gadgets soon to be a reality!

2006-11-16T08:38:00.000+05:30

Wireless charging of gadgets such as laptops, cell phones and MP3 players is soon going to be a reality, according to US researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The presentation, which was made on 14th November, showed how wireless electromagnetic energy could power gadgets over distances of three to five meters.

The three MIT researchers have suggested that the principle of resonance, which occurs in musical instruments, can apply to gadgets as well. Professor Soljacic, one of the researchers explained that if two resonant objects with the same frequency are brought close enough to each others' tails of energy, then electromagnetic energy can transmit from one object to another.

In the same way, the resonance of electromagnetic waves will be allowed to radiate, via copper antennae, designed to have long-lived resonance. The antennae could then transfer energy to a laptop with the gadget's own antenna resonating at the same frequency. In this set up, any energy which is not diverted into a gadget will simply be reabsorbed, instead of being scattered in different directions.

Although the team has not built and tested a system which could put their theory into practice, computer models and mathematics suggest it would work.

Mobile phones extinct in 5 years from now!

2006-11-15T19:59:00.000+05:30

They're the most essential gadget today, but a University professor is predicting that in the short span of just 5 years, mobile phones will be extinct.

Taking their place, Professor Nigel Linge, of the University of Salford, Greater Manchester, United Kingdom, predicts will be mobile computers that he says is where technology is heading.

As for how this would be possible, well Prof Linge says that the new technology would take shape when functions of cell phones will be dispersed into components which will be embedded in a person's clothing.

"In five years instead of mobile phones we will all carry mobile computers on us. So for example the communicator on our collar might send signals to the keyboard on our sleeve," The Sun quoted him, as saying.

Prof Linge revealed that at the pace technology was advancing, the world would soon come to the point where carrying something like a mobile phone would become "pointless"," and that it was inevitable that mobile computers would soon be on the market.

"Hands-free technology is very sophisticated at present and will continue to advance to the point where carrying a phone will be pointless," Prof Linge said.

"Already we are seeing simple everyday objects such as wheelie bins with in-built communication systems which can relay information via a computer," he added.

Salaam Mumbai - Saluting the Human Spirit

2006-11-11T10:41:00.001+05:30


With reference to the 7/11-2006 train blasts that rocked Mumbai, the video tries to explore Mumbai's Spirit and Courage to sustain and fight back terrorist attacks since the 1993 tragedy. Way to go Mumbai!

I know what you're doing Online!

2006-11-09T21:54:00.000+05:30

They know what you're doing Online!

2006-11-07T10:58:00.000+05:30

The internet will hold so much digital data that it will soon be possible to find out what an individual was doing at a specific time and place, reports The Guardian.

In five years, people would be able to sit down and type into Google "what was a particular individual doing at 2.30 yesterday and would get an answer," the paper quoted Nigel Gilbert, a professor heading a Royal Academy of Engineering study into surveillance, as saying.

The answer would come from a range of data including video recordings or databanks which store readings from electronic chips, the report said. Such chips embedded in people's clothes could track their movements, Gilbert told a privacy conference in London last week. "Everything can be recorded for ever," The Guardian quoted him as saying.

Gilbert was speaking at a privacy conference at which a report by Information Commissioner Richard Thomas was released.

In the report, Thomas said Britain is "waking up to a surveillance society that is all around us" and that such "pervasive" surveillance is likely to spread.

"Surveillance is not a malign plot hatched by evil powers to control the population. But the surveillance society has come about almost without us realizing," Dr David Murakami Wood, who headed the study, was quoted as saying.

According to The Guardian, the head of the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) and former head of MI5 Sir Stephen Lander defended surveillance by the government. "Significant intrusion into the privacy of a small minority is justified to protect the safety and well being of the majority," he was quoted as saying.

Myths about Search Engine Optimisation

2006-11-06T12:20:00.000+05:30

Your goal is that when people type your keyword or keyword phrase into the search engine box that your website comes in on the first page of results. This may seem impossible since when you type in certain keywords millions of results come up and you are gunning for the top 10 rungs on the ladder. Just like golf, there is a lot of bad advice out there and your mission if you choose to accept it is to separate the wheat from the chaff, or for those not in the farming industry to separate the great advice from the downright awful advice.

There are many unscrupulous or ignorant people in the world and the internet is filled with them including people trying to get rich by selling you absolutely deadly advice that can not only make your website show up in 325 millionth position but actually get your website banned right off of the search engines permanently.

Search Engine Optimization is a fancy word or phrase for getting your website to come in in the top 10. A good search engine optimization expert professional, or SEO Website, or Search Engine Optimization Company is worth its weight in gold in your quest for the top 10. Here are some of the pitfalls they will tell you to avoid.

The search engines employ thousands of people to watch out for cheaters and no one is immune. We have seen websites drop from PR 7 to PR zero permanently overnight. This happened to BMW.

We all know that getting other websites to link to your website is the key to a high PR. There are many companies offering to submit your website address to 300,000 search engines for a fee. Avoid these like the plague. The search engines have better things to do than visit 300,000 websites listing your website address, your URL, and they will penalize your website, perhaps ban it permanently, sending it to the equivalent of Computer GITMO.

What you want is quality high PR one way links to your website. Avoid linking to link farms like the plague. A link farm is where unscrupulous SEO Experts send your link to websites designed to boost your inbound links by creating websites solely for this purpose where there are thousands of links including yours on each page. This is absolute GITMO country. On the same note never place more than 25 outbound links on any of your pages. Also if your link is on a PR 1 page with 25,000 other websites, then that PR 1 is divided by 25,000 for your website.

Never link to a site which has a zero PR and the bar is shaded in gray. This means that the site has been banned by the search engines. Avoid these bad neighborhoods. If you go to bed with the dogs you will wake up with fleas. Also, never spam your keywords onto your website pages.

This next topic is a bit scary. You want relevant high quality one way inbound links. Many companies are link exchange companies where you submit your website and for a fee you and other websites do reciprocal link exchanges. The search engines are now cracking down on websites using these companies because they know that the only reason this is being done is to boost the PR of both websites. So now the search engines are beginning to penalize artificial reciprocal linking.

The SEO field has become a minefield because the search engines want their results to be helpful to the web surfers and they don't want websites coming up in the results which are useless to the searcher because people have better things to do than read through hundreds of tricked up websites until they find something useful, because also if this happens then the surfers will just go to another search engine. This would be death for the search engine because they pay their costs and make their profit by selling advertising for certain keywords and keyword phrases on their websites.

A great way to come in high for your keyword or keyword phrase is to pay for these advertisements on the search engines. Millions of companies have had great success doing this and that is why pay per click advertising is a billion dollar business. It benefits the search engine and the advertiser. The best thing that you can do is to find a high quality and honest SEO Company to set you on the right track and to guide you away from the numerous mines in the internet minefield.

Wikiality! Chaos on Wikipedia!

2006-11-04T11:01:00.000+05:30

On Monday night's episode of The Colbert Report, Stephen Colbert addressed the online resource Wikipedia, the encyclopedia that anyone can read or edit. Colbert praised Wikipedia for "wikiality," the reality that exists if you make something up and enough people agree with you - it becomes reality. Colbert's subsequent examples to prove "wikiality" would cause chaos on the site, and lead an administrator to subsequently block his account.

In the segment, Colbert logs on to the Wikipedia article about his show to find out whether he usually refers to Oregon as "California's Canada or Washington's Mexico." Upon learning that he has referred to Oregon as both, he demonstrates how easy it is to disregard both references and put in a completely new one (Oregon is Idaho's Portugal), declaring it "the opinion I've always held, you can look it up."

Colbert goes on to declare that he doesn't believe George Washington had slaves. "If I want to say he didn't that's my right, and now, thanks to Wikipedia *taps keyboard* it's also a fact."

Here's the fun part - Colbert actually did this. The Wikipedia articles on his show and George Washington were both edited by the user Stephencolbert to reflect the changes he declared on air as he tapped at his computer around 23:35 UTC - which is 6:35pm on the East Coast, during the taping of his show, hours before it aired.

It gets better.

Colbert then urged his audience to find the Wikipedia entry on elephants and create an entry that stated their population had tripled in the last six months, a fact he freely stated to not know if it was "actually true," with his sidebar stating "it isn't." Guess what happened next?

Scores of internet users took Colbert's bait, repeatedly vandalizing approximately 20 articles on elephants before all being placed under a lock. The move also subsequently caused Wikipedia administrator Tawker to block Stephen Colbert from the website, reportedly to verify his identity. Either Tawker is incapable of checking the above log times that corroborate Colbert, or, more likely, he just wants to be mentioned on Stephen's show (as evidenced by his notes on the block and blog entry).

All this trouble over a man who, as his user page noted, is a 'defender of truth.' Wikiality - some truth this!

Ammazing Book - The No Asshole Rule by Robert I. Sutton

2006-11-03T18:35:00.000+05:30

You have to like an author who has the testicles (or ovaries) to walk away from Harvard Business School Press because it wouldn’t let him use the word “asshole” in his title. Robert Sutton is the author who did this; he’s a professor at Stanford in the engineering school. While I am not a big fan of profanity, “asshole” is the only word that delivers the proper connotative meaning in some situations, so forgive me for using it in this posting.

Sutton’s book, The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn’t, is the definitive guide to understanding, counteracting, and not becoming an asshole. I am qualified to make this judgment because:

(a) I’ve been an asshole a few times and
(b) Been a victim of assholes more than a few times

Altough I haven't read the whole book - just managed to lay my eyes onto a couple of chapters (God Bless Google!). Have asked a friend overseas to forward the copy! What about you?

TVUPlayer: Another Napster?

2006-10-25T09:14:00.000+05:30

By streaming video of popular television programs over the Web, a self-described peer-to-peer service called TVUPlayer has begun to draw a loyal worldwide following.

The service, however, could also become an enticing target for Hollywood legal eagles with an eye out for copyright infringement.

Indeed, TVUPlayer, offered by a Chinese company called TVU Networks, looks to some like it could draw legal challenges similar to those faced by the early Napster peer-to-peer service, which became a pinata for litigious lawyers because of what some described as copyright violations on a massive scale.

TVUPlayer transmits TV shows, including pay-for-view broadcasts, from U.S. and international broadcasters such as ABC, HBO, the Disney Channel, The Comedy Channel, Al Jazeera and Telecapri Sports of Italy.

It's easy to see why it's becoming popular: In addition to a big selection, the TVUPlayer's pictures are usually clearer than the choppy and grainy images that often mark streaming video. Viewers can't upload their own videos.

But copyright experts say that unless TVU Networks executives have permission to use the content they transmit, the company can't legally rebroadcast the shows. And representatives of three organizations whose content was found on the TVUPlayer said they don't have any deals with TVU Networks.

Matt Bourne, a spokesman for the National Basketball Association said TVU Networks is transmitting NBA TV without the league's permission.

"We are aware of the site," Bourne said. "We are working to explore our options in order to determine an appropriate course of action, including talking with other content owners."

When asked whether TVU Networks is authorized to stream Disney's content, Karen Hobson, a spokeswoman for the studio, said, "You can only get Disney Channel shows on iTunes (for download) or from our own Web site."

An HBO spokesman also said HBO programs aren't legally available anywhere on the Web.

Not a lot is known about Shanghai-based TVU Networks, which did not respond to interview requests. It's one of many start-ups trying to cash in on Web video, a sector that's bound to grow in the wake of Google's announced $1.65 billion purchase of video-sharing phenomenon YouTube. At the same time, online video, especially in the video-sharing segment, has been dogged by copyright issues. YouTube, Grouper and Bolt.com have been named in recent lawsuits that accuse them of copyright violations.

The TVUPlayer appears to have gained attention in the United States following the 2006 FIFA World Cup tournament in Germany. Thousands of soccer fans downloaded the software in order to watch matches not available on U.S. stations.

More importantly, TVU Networks has made watching online programming as easy watching a TV. After downloading the TVUPlayer, a menu appears with anywhere from 40 to 50 channels. Among the available channels available on Friday were Comedy Central, Animal Planet and the CNBC broadcast in India.

"Consumers will be able to watch free live channels from around the globe, as well as subscribe to pay channels and pay-per-view events," said a statement on TYUNetworks.com, the company's Web site. "TVU Networks brings you programs from around the world that you can't get from your local cable and satellite providers."

Blogs reporting on the TVUPlayer's popularity have noted the questions about the service's legality. Because TVU displays each broadcaster's commercials, some early reports have said TVU Networks is operating in a gray area of the law.

Two SIM Cards In One Smartphone Soon!

2006-10-23T23:22:00.000+05:30

Chinese mobile manufacturer, Yulong Computer Telecommunication Scientific Co., has announced that it wants to bring its dual-mode handsets to India. The dual-mode handsets can let you use two SIM cards (i.e. two different phone numbers) simultaneously in one phone. Yes! two different numbers at the same time in the same phone, without having to restart the phone or swap SIM cards! This will be a boon to people who carry two phones. I have one GSM and one CDMA phone, but if these guys have their way, I’m buying one for sure!

The range of phones have two different chips inside, so it's essentially like having two different phones in one casing. Due to being separate, there is no interference between the two networks.

The dual-mode Smartphones planned to launch in India are the CDMA+GSM models CoolPAD 728 (Rs. 23,000) and CoolPAD 288 (Rs. 11,000), and there’s also a dual-GSM CoolPAD 782 G2 who's price is unknown. These prices are approximate conversions of their international prices.

The CoolPAD 728 (CDMA+GSM) and 728 G2 (GSM+GSM) both feature Windows CE, a 240x320 QVGA display with a touch-screen interface, upto 2.0 megapixel digital camera, MP3/WMV and streaming media, 3D stereo speakers, 128MB ROM and 64MB RAM with a miniSD expansion option, and the usual set of Windows-based mobile applications. However, Bluetooth or Infrared are conspicuously absent from the feature listing on the website.

These phones are already on sale in China, having sold a combined total of 2,30,000 units of the most popular CDMA+GSM models.

BUSY? Being Under Satan's Yoke?

2006-10-23T07:01:00.000+05:30

Satan called a worldwide convention of demons. In his opening address he said,

"We can't keep people from going to pray."

"We can't keep them from reading their holy books and knowing the truth."

"We can't even keep them from forming an intimate relationship with their GOD."

"Once they gain that connection with GOD, our power over them is broken."

"So let them go to their prayers; let them have their covered dish dinners, BUT steal their time, so they don't have time to develop a relationship with GOD."

"This is what I want you to do," said the devil:

"Distract them from gaining hold of their GOD and maintaining that vital connection throughout their day!"

"How shall we do this?" his demons shouted.

"Keep them busy in the non-essentials of life and invent innumerable schemes to occupy their minds," he answered.

"Tempt them to spend, spend, spend, and borrow, borrow, borrow."

"Persuade the wives to go to work for long hours and the husbands to work 6-7 days each week, 10-12 hours a day, so they can afford their empty lifestyles."

"Keep them from spending time with their children."

"As their families fragment, soon, their homes will offer no escape from the pressures of work!"

"Over-stimulate their minds so that they cannot hear that still, small voice."

"Entice them to play the radio or cassette player whenever they drive." To keep the TV, VCR, CDs and their PCs going constantly in their home and see to it that every store and restaurant in the world plays non-biblical music constantly."

"This will jam their minds and break that union with God."

"Fill the coffee tables with magazines and newspapers."

"Pound their minds with the news 24 hours a day."

"Invade their driving moments with billboards."

"Flood their mailboxes with junk mail, mail order catalogs, sweepstakes, and every kind of newsletter and promotional offering free products, services and false hopes.."

"Keep skinny, beautiful models on the magazines and TV so their husbands will believe that outward beauty is what's important, and they'll become dissatisfied with their wives. "

"Keep the wives too tired to love their husbands at night."

"Give them headaches too! "

"If they don't give their husbands the love they need, they will begin to look elsewhere."

"That will fragment their families quickly!"

"Give them distractions to distract them from teaching their children the real meaning of life."

"Even in their recreation, let them be excessive."

"Have them return from their recreation exhausted."

"Keep them too busy to go out in nature and reflect on God's creation. Send them to amusement parks, sporting events, plays, concerts, and movies instead."

"Keep them busy, busy, and busy!"

"And when they meet for spiritual fellowship, involve them in gossip and small talk so that they leave with troubled consciences."

"Crowd their lives with so many good causes they have no time to seek power from GOD."

"Soon they will be working in their own strength, sacrificing their health and family for the good of the cause."

"It will work!"

"It will work!"

It was quite a plan!

The demons went eagerly to their assignments causing people everywhere to get busier and more rushed, going here and there. Having little time for their God or their families. Having no time to tell others about the power of GOD to change lives.

I guess the question is, has the devil been successful in his schemes? You be the judge!!!!!

Does "BUSY" mean: B-eing U-nder S-atan's Y-oke?

Newspaper Adscapes

2006-10-22T06:36:00.000+05:30

NewsDesigner reports that one of the newspaper industry’s responses to sagging ad sales is adscapes.

‘Adscapes’ are the latest look in newspaper advertising. No longer are newspaper ads relegated to squares and rectangles. Today, advertisers can attract attention with a variety of shapes and sizes.

More examples in this PDF.

The thread features some designers complaining about the trend but commenter Robert Kruger counters:

Why do you think ad reps find it hard to sell the space they already have? Because newspapers are BORING. These new ads are an attempt to change that, to bring a little STYLE into a space dominated by little people stuck in their little boxes. Newspaper subscriptions aren’t down simply because of the internet, bad writing, and bias, they’ve also gone down because of the rigid aesthetic thought, as shown by the designers kvetching here.

Matchmaking Service for Designers and Programmers Launched!

2006-10-21T11:07:00.000+05:30

Imagine this: you are a top-notch JavaScript programmer, but you lack designer skills. You can code the next best thing in AJAX web applications, mashups, or rich user interfaces, but you simply can't make it look good. Or do you have the highest aesthetic sense and designer skills, but no programming experience? A new service comes to the rescue by connecting designers and programmers for collaboration on specific projects, or for full-time jobs.

ProgrammerMeetDesigner.com lists user-submitted offers and lists them online, while simultaneously providing RSS feeds. The database of offers is fairly big and expanding. The variety of offers spans across areas such as gaming, web development, and software. The skillsets people look for cover all currently popular technologies: JavaScript, PHP, MySQL, Flash, etc.

The site's mission is "...to unite programmers and designers because rarely is a person good at both programming and designing. PMD helps programmers and designers partner up to make websites and web applications that look and work great. It also lets entrepreneurs and writers find people to work with."

Asus W5Fe: First Dual Screen Laptop

2006-10-16T16:45:00.000+05:30

It's a laptop with a small screen on the top of the lid, like some clamshell mobile phones that have a small screen on the outside. This idea is conceptualized by Intel and was first put forward way back in 2003. Intel calls it 'Newport'.

The system is developed by PortalPlayer and is featured in Windows Vista as 'Windows Sideshow'. Basically the idea behind this is that even though your main screen is shut, your laptop is always on and you are always connected. It requires very minimal battery power and can last for hundreds of hours.

This is a 'Windows Vista only' feature so you will have to wait till Vista officially launches to get your hands on one of these. Man, technology rocks!

Shimla teacher finds 'inconsistencies' in E=mc2

2006-10-15T22:04:00.000+05:30

A Shimla-based science teacher has pointed out ''inconsistencies'' in the Einstein's Law of Conservation of Matter equation E = mc2, while putting forth a ''new improved equation'.'

Ajay Sharma, a teacher in a local government high secondary school, has derived a new equation dE = Ac2dm (DE = Ac2DM) instead of E = mc2, which, he says, Einstein did not ''derive mathematically'' but, in a true sense, ''speculated''.

Earlier, Einstein derived L = mc2 (light energy mass conversion equation) and then ''speculated'' that what is true for light energy (L) would also be true for energy (E), which is wrong, he says.

Sharma said the E=mc2 is the result of a ''speculation, instead of any research, adding that a specific mathematical derivation should not be based on speculation, but arrived at after hard research''.

The derivation L = Dmc2 is ''incomplete or true in special conditions only'', he says. ''Einstein just handpicked values of parameters out of numerous possible, to obtain the equation. If all valid values of parameters are taken, then results are contradictory experimentally.''

He says basically what Einstein did was replaced L by E in equation L = Dmc2 to get E= Dmc2.

In physics, there are well-established methods to get equations. ''Such deductions are not scientific, and probably is the first and last case of its kind in the history of science.''

Sharma said since Einstein was aware of the reality, he left it in midway after getting the desired result. ''If all valid values of parameters are taken, then results are contradictory in nature.''

He says the equation, E = mc2, had existed even before Einstein and had been published in a science journal by Olinto de Pretto in February 1904, two years before he propagated it in late 1905.

However, Pretto, died in 1921, before its experimental confirmation in nuclear physics, he says.

Asserting that his dE =Ac2dm (DE = Ac2 DM) equation was based upon a conceptual and mathematical derivation, he says Einstein's E=mc2 equation is ''purely speculative''.

While dE =Ac2dm (DE = Ac2 DM) is a general equation and E=mc2 is its special case. Energy emitted by new equation can be ''less, equal to or more than predicted'' by E=mc2, he says.

Sharma says has received international recognition now with his research papers being published in international journals and read in conferences in America, England and Canada.

''I have got invitations from at least 50 international conferences to present my work,'' he says. He is also confident that his work will soon be taught in schools and colleges all over the world after getting scientific approval.

''My work has been published in a book, which is being published in the United States of America (USA) and is titled 100 years of E =mc2,'' Sharma added.

Work.com - Entrepreneurial Resource!

2006-10-11T00:56:00.000+05:30

Work.com is a new service from Business.com, the largest business-to-business search engine and directory. Business.com and Work.com help small business decision-makers solve their most pressing business problems and realize their most compelling opportunities. They make it easy to find the most useful business websites, products, and services saving users time and money.

Whereas Business.com targets the ready-to-transact business-to-business buyer, Work.com is the entrepreneur's owner's manual to where to go, what to know, and how to get the most value from the ever-growing array of Web resources for the small business owner/operator. It is comprised of more than 1,000 How-to Guides written by business experts. How-to Guides are straightforward, quick-read descriptions of how to get something done, and where on the Web are the best places to help check those tasks off your to-do list.

Work.com is a community of small-business owner/operators. Users may rate Guides on how useful the are to helping solve business tasks, participate in open discussion forums for each Guide, suggest new Guide topics, or write Guides in their areas of expertise.

About Business.com

As the leading vertical search engine for business, Business.com attracts more than 3.2 million diverse business owners and decision makers and reaches another 28 million through its distribution network, which includes top-tier publishing partners such as Entrepreneur.com, Forbes.com, Businessweek.com, Hoover’s, CNET and Internet.com.

Business.com's proprietary taxonomy and classification system of over 65,000 business categories allows professionals to intuitively locate the most relevant and authoritative business information, without consumer clutter.

Business.com was founded in 1999 by eCompanies. Still privately-held, Business.com added Benchmark Capital as a preferred stockholder in 2004, whose portfolio includes franchise companies such as Critical Path, eBay and Jupiter Networks.

Browster: Leading the Next Browsing Revolution

2006-10-07T17:14:00.000+05:30

Browster, Inc. is a premier provider of search and browsing enhancement technology. Browster is committed to developing easy to use products that improve the way we surf the internet. Their breakthrough product, Browster, is a free Internet Explorer and Firefox plugin which can cut in half the time it takes to browse through search results and other lists of links.

Browster, Inc. was founded in 2004 by a seasoned management team with a history of success in communications software, Internet applications and online media. The Browster team is passionate about using technology to improve our daily lives.

Patent Pending Technology

Browster is based on patent pending web page retrieval, prefetching and display technology. They have developed special algorithms to intelligently recognize and prepare search result links for instant display. This new technology has been crafted into a simple-to-use tool that benefits anyone searching on the Internet.

Their technology innovations include:

Instant Web page rendering. No browser can display a page as fast as Browster.
Intellifetch. Smartly prefetches (preloads) pages so you don't have to wait. Shows you information about the status of the page.
Multi-threaded cache management. Controls page load threads to maximize RAM allocation efficiency.
Search engine integration. Becomes your search reader as you jump quickly through results.

The Fastest Way To Browse

No other browsing product can show you a page instantly, like Browster can. This instant viewing capability will save you time every time you search. With it you will save time and simplify your everyday browsing and searching. By removing the tedium of the click-load-back browsing process, you will have more effective searches in less time. Way to go Browster!

Go Yaar: A Competitor to Orkut?

2006-10-05T13:06:00.000+05:30

A new social networking Web site, "Go Yaar.com," has been launched globally, with its focus mainly being India and its citizens residing in different parts of the globe.

The founder and CEO of Go Yaar, Phalgun Raju, a 29-year old former McKinsey and Company Consultant holding Master's degrees from the likes of MIT and the Harvard Business School, describes the new Web site as an exciting and easy-to-use tool to connect to and interact with friends, batch mates, and colleagues online.

The free-to-use Web site automatically validates a user as the member of a company community, when he/she registers using the company email address. Alternatively, when registering using personal email addresses, users can indicate their school and/or college affiliations within their country of domicile.

Using Go Yaar! members can design their profiles, interact with new members within their communities, and form groups. In addition, the Web site includes other interactive features such as email, video, photo album, blogs, instant messaging, and peer-to-peer collaboration tools. With Go Yaar! members can create customized privacy settings, helping them control who will view their content, etc.

Elaborating on the social networking market, Raju said, "With more than 40 million Internet users, the country has just discovered the potential of social networking. According to an April 2006 study by Nielsen/NetRatings, the top social networking sites in the US are experiencing 47 percent annual growth. The social networking market in the country is well positioned to grow even faster, given an extremely rapid growth of Internet users and PC penetration."

Raju said he is looking at adding key new features every month to further enhance the Web site. Go Yaar! intends to offer stiff competition to existing networking sites such as Yahoo s Hi-Fi and Google's Orkut. Looks like India's all geared up to grab a pie on the Web 2.0 space!

The Holy Grail of Belgaum - Procrastination!

2006-10-04T12:53:00.000+05:30

A statewide 12-hour bandh called by pro-Kannada outfits on Wednesday on the Maharashtra-Karnataka boundary issue. The bandh has been called to press for the implementation of Mahajan Commission report on the Maharashtra-Karnataka boundary row and to protest what the organisers called "step-motherly" treatment to the state by the Centre.

Most IT firms in the country's technology hub have remained closed due to disruption of transport service, but employees have been asked to work on Saturday. Government employees have been asked by their associations to go on leave on Wednesday to express their support for the bandh. Cable operators blacked out non-Kannada channels.

Ruling coalition partners in Karnataka, Bharatiya Janata Party and Janata Dal (Secular) have extended support to the bandh. How couldn't they?

At the session, held for the first time oustide Bangalore and significantly in Belgaum in the border district with Maharashtra, the state had asked the Centre to implement the Mahajan Commission report in toto.

The Mahajan Commission report, submitted in 1967, had declared that Belgaum, which Maharashtra claims even today, was an integral part of Karnataka and had recommended transfer of a certain number of Marathi speaking areas in the state to Maharashtra and Kannada speaking areas in the neighbouring state to Karnataka.

The issue has been on and on for the last fifty years now. Where are we heading? While most of the junta seems to be confused, it really is logical! Procrastination - the magical answer thats been the holy grail of the North Karnataka Politicians!

Education and Karnataka! Beat this?

2006-09-27T16:52:00.000+05:30

More than 100,000 English-speaking children in India's Silicon Valley have been asked by the Kumaraswamy government to switch to schools offering lessons exclusively in Kannada.Across Karnataka, some 273,000 students already enrolled in elementary schools (classes 1 to 5) have been told not to study English, and switch over to Kannada.

The ban on English has been enforced in 2,100 private elementary schools across the state. And 1,440 such schools are located in Bangalore.The state government argues that these schools have been violating the language policy, which is the core to the state's Kannada ethos.

Already, the state education department has issued orders to some 800 schools, stripping them of their status for using English as a medium of instruction.But why is the state government in a hurry to implement the language order in schools?

On one front, we want to go global, act large, talk international. The youth brigade of Karnataka wants to empower itself with skills that India can be proud of. And thanks to our highly efficient, reliable, intellectual politicians, we won't quite be achieving this feat.

When on earth, will we have educated and literate politicians?

Free ERP!!! Compiere Rocks!

2006-09-26T18:15:00.000+05:30

Compiere is the #1 Open Source ERP software application with fully integrated CRM software solutions. Compiere provides a comprehensive solution for small-to-medium sized enterprises (SME) in distribution and service on a global basis, covering all areas from customer management and supply chain to accounting.

Compiere is Open Source with a difference. The Compiere ERP solution is Open Source software and by definition is free. However, unlike most Open Source projects, Compiere is backed by professional training, services, documentation, and a vibrant, responsive and knowledgeable worldwide open source community. In addition, we provide an ecosystem of nearly 100 worldwide partners that can help you in all phases of Compiere ERP implementation.

Grab this free at www.compiere.org!!!

School: Was kool!

2006-09-20T23:35:00.000+05:30

I got into this nostalgic mood when my friend called me up and told me that he was really missing school time and all the fun that we had together then. Gradually my memories hurled me even more into the past and before I knew it, I saw myself in my neatly ironed school uniform at the gate of my school.

The best part of schooling was the care free attitude we had and the innocence by which we took each day as it is without having to worry what was going to happen in a few years from then [which is my constant worry nowadays]. And to be honest, I also miss being constantly thrown out of the class [invariably, for talking too much] rather than being pampered by most of the teachers.

Everything back in school had its own charm. Be it having silly fights over trivial issues, the gratitude we had for the teaching fraternity, the frequent yawning in the history and geography lectures, the deliberate losing of the composition books, the endless requests to go to the washroom in the drawing lectures, the scandals that would be created if a boy and a girl conversed for more than a few minutes in tuition class, the bitching about the ‘red house’ […and I was in the ‘blue house’], the inter-house fights, the inter-class fights, the ‘Teacher’s day’ celebrations, the ‘annual day’ celebrations, the ‘sports day’, the innumerable number of competitions that we had to keep ourselves away from the routine, the vehement trials to convince the teacher why you deserved one or even half a mark more than what she has given you, the joys of sitting on the last bench, the excitement and joy of getting a lecture off, the interval period [The concentration in the lecture before the break would always waver due to the wait to hear the bell ring. The break brought respite to all kinds, to the gluttons, to the ones who have forgotten to do their home work, to the gossipers to complete their daily quota of gossip], the ogling of guys, the seemingly endless wait for boring lectures to end and the list just goes on and on………..

School had all the possible species one can think of. The ‘book worms’ who believed that their sole aim in life was to memorize every word given in the book, the ‘notorious masters’ who believed that their sole purpose of coming to school was to either trouble teachers or to trouble the ‘book worms’, the ‘silent brigade’ who believed in listening to and even following all the instructions teachers gave [you could always find this kind on the first benches], the ‘gossip mongers’ who could gossip on anything ranging from who is going around with whom to the number of saris each teacher of the school had and of course all those inter-specie varieties who had traits of more than one species.

And not to forget those jitters we had before every exam and the jubilation we would experience on the last day of school before the vacation but only to start yearning to get back to school for its unique charisma.

I guess each one of us gets these nostalgic mood swings at least once in a blue moon. I treasure every moment I had in my school days [including the frequent lachrymal outbursts I would have on frivolous matters] and I really thank God for those wonderful yester years and the friends he has given me!

Terrorism!

2006-09-19T22:58:00.000+05:30

Terrorism! Another headline in the papers today...

Those who say they are fighting a war against terrorism probably are profiting the most. They're profiting because of the power it gives them. They are profiting because they don't have to actually have to confront what drives the terrorism.

I know who is not profiting; the people of the world are not profiting. Because it's being used as a lightning rod, as a fear tactic to strip away the freedoms, to really create a terror syndrome around the world. Therefore the only people that can be profiting are those who hold power in the world whether that be political power or financial power. It is only proving to, that war on terror, to make us less safe. To ignore the issues that have created the frustration. Such levels of frustration that people have to resort to extreme violence, such levels of being unheard no space to feel, express. It's actually continuing to degrade humanity in our reaction to it.

World's Worst Performing CEOs

2006-09-10T14:14:00.000+05:30

Was researching on the Internet about who could be the Best CEO ever. Suddenly a wicked thought took over - how about finding the Worst CEO! After some research, heres what i came up with:

Richard A. Manoogian
CEO, Masco for 36 years
Annualized Total Return-
During tenure: 7%
6-yr return: 2%
6-yr Avg salary: $13,023,606

Stephen F. Bollenbach
CEO of Hilton Hotels for 8 yrs
Annualized Total Return -
During tenure: 4%
6-yr return: -4%
6-yr Avg salary: $6,339,279

Michael D. Eisner
CEO of Walt Disney for 20 yrs
Annualized Total Return -
During tenure: 17%
6-yr return: -5%
6-yr Avg salary: $121,170,940

Sidney Taurel
CEO of Eli Lilly for 6 yrs
Annualized Total Return -
During tenure: 3%
6-yr return: 3%
6-yr Avg salary: $12,775,306

Lewis B. Campbell
CEO of Textron for 6 years
Annualized Total Return -
During tenure: -3%
6-yr return: -3%
6-yr Avg salary: $5,803,900

No offense to any of these people listed above. Its not me who says this... Its the Internet! God bless Google!

Women!

2006-09-03T11:10:00.000+05:30

I am on a self-imposed vacation this week, and I wrote a brilliant piece all about sex, drugs and rock and roll, but the editor's of the particular webzine didn’t think it was appropriate for publication.

Sooooo, I looked around for something else to amuse myself with this week. I found some old letters to my office administration inbox that no one followed up on yet:

Dear Tech Support:

I met my husband in a chat room online, and after two weeks of our intimate getting to know one another, I decided to download him to my location, and install him.

Last year I upgraded from Boyfriend 5.0 to Husband 1.0 and noticed a slowdown in the performance of flower and jewelry applications that had operated flawlessly under boyfriend 5.0.

In addition, Husband 1.0 un-installed many other valuable programs, such as Romance 9.9, but installed undesirable programs such as NFL 5.0 and NBA 3.0 and some assorted video games from Hell. Does it have a virus? I tried using a Trojan ad-ware program but it didn’t work.

Now… Conversation 8.0 no longer runs, and Housecleaning 2.6 simply crashes the system. I've tried running NAGGING 5.3 to fix these problems, but to no avail. What can I do?

Signed: Desperate

Dear Desperate,

First, try using this new mouse for women I discovered in eBay, it doubles as a face powder compact. Then keep in mind, Boyfriend 5.0 is an entertainment package while Husband 1.0 is an operating system.

Try to enter the command: C:/ I THOUGHT YOU LOVED ME and install Tears 6.2. Husband 1.0 should then automatically run the applications: Guilty 3.0 and Flowers 7.0.

But remember, overuse can cause Husband 1.0 to default to Grumpy Silence 2.5, Happy Hour 7.0 or Television 6.1.

Television 6.1 is a very bad program that will create Loud noises (WAV and or the more popular MP3 files) and does not get deleted.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Do not install Mother-in-law 1.0 or reinstall another Boyfriend Beta program. These are not supported applications and they will crash your original Husband 1.0.

In summary, Husband 1.0 is a great program, but does have a limited memory, and cannot learn new applications quickly. You might consider buying additional software to improve performance. I personally recommend Hot Food 3.0 and Cheerfulness 2.0.

Good Luck!

Tech Support

It's not about Reservations...

2006-09-02T13:03:00.000+05:30

This article was published by a friend o mine called Yogesh. Read on!

Make no mistake about it. Its been executed with such finesse,it can put the state controlled pogrom in gujarat to shame-wonder if there is some training ground where they learn these dexterous skills. But then, one gets better, with practice. And its not just wine that gets better with age. To dismiss this as vote bank politics would be being courteous. To call this an exercise in futility would be well, churlish. To credit it as a master stroke,err, nothing would be further away from the truth. Truth is, this is a failure of imagination. Yeah, its a dismal failure of the senses because we take pride in having the largest written constitution on the face of this earth. It is a farce because we say that it took us many long years to sow the seeds of liberalization since we are a calibrate democracy, a vibrant democracy at that. It is a sham because we say that free speech and expression is the cornerstone of our egalitarian society. Yea,Like hell it is.

Let me then, enlighten you, Honorable Minsiter of HRD, Shri Arjun singh,that dissent is what distinguishes communist China from democratic India. A Hitler from a Nehru. A rigid fascist from a liberalist. A despot from a meritocrat. Hell, when George Bush-,the redoubtable foot in the mouth exponent- visited Great Britain, and tens of thousands of angry protestors assembled in front of the Buckingham Palace, to protest his presence in their country, all he could say was that he loves going to a country where there is freedom of speech; dissent. Affirmative action, dear sir, can be imported later. Learn the rulings of democracy first. Take away dissent, and we are as good as dead.

And I am not yet drawing myself into the debate of whether the government should or should not uphold the bill seeking the 49.5 reservation. For its not about the reservation at all. Reservations, beloved sir, are a manifestation of a form of anachronism, which was shameful even in a society which prevailed in your prime. And the anguish, the despair, the despondency, and the desolation are a function of this utterly shocking and reprehensible proposal . That fifty eight years into the life of a nation, we still haven’t imbibed the first imperative of democracy. I can almost hear the founding fathers quiver in their graveyards.

I was thrilled, delighted even that interns and medical students my age stood up for what they thought was right. For no cost is too high to stand up for what one thinks is right. Kids my age who have little to do with this imbroglio, many of them ,who will either join elite hospitals or head abroad, kids who have nothing to gain and everything to lose, risk their careers, their lives. For the uninitiated, a doctor cannot apply for a visa or practice, if she has a police statement against her name.

They voted with their feet and you lathi charged them?. They protested in a silent , non violent manner, and you thumped them with 3rd gear water cannons? They stood up for equality and you tear gassed them? Its quite some time since holi and quite some time left for diwali, but never mind. In more ways than one, you have invoked our collective consciousness. We knew our generation was up for it. You helped us prove it. And lest, you misunderstand us, this is no flash in the pan. When you flushed them out, they formed a huddle. When you canonized them, they held on to each other for their lives. When you detained them,they didn’t even so much as to raise a whimper. When their futures were being decided by god forsaken cops,they couldn’t think of influential names to bail them out. And sir, perhaps, what was the last nail in the coffin, was when you arrested 6 of them, an overwhelming 400 of them quoted mass arrest.

And perhaps, we don’t have much to lose. Let me correct myself then. How many of you in the government would want your grand children to be delivered by mediocre doctors? How many of you would want to come under the knives of surgeons who got through on reservation grounds. Terra Firma. How many of you would want your intestines and kidneys removed by well, at best, ordinary doctors?

We learn from history that we learn nothing from history. And if history repeats itself and yet what happens catches us off guard, how incapable are we of learning from our mistakes. Our best doctors- Naresh Trehan, Pratap Reddy- and the like are all great men not because they hail from a Tulu or an Iyer background, but inspite of it.

Even as I type this, a rather buoyant news reporter claims a probe has been ordered and I quote NDTV here. “The Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra has ordered a probe after police use batons to disperse anti-reservation activists.”

A Probe? Prime time televison disemminates live pictures of students being attacked, battered and bruised. And you order for a probe? You don’t trust your eyes! Ahh…fitting, aint it?. Or else I would have been forced to believe that human beings can commit such heinous,atrocious fallacies. Yet again, this is not an effort to stem the rot. This is a charade. A farce. A bloody travesty.

And Sir, if you still can’t hear us, let me assure you that the screech is going to get shriller. Today we ve got to the streets; Tomorrow we are going to be in the south and the north blocks. We will fight with every last inch of determination left in our souls, every last drop of blood left in our bodies.

Thanks to people like you, we have arisen from what is seemingly a long , long siesta. Thank You sir for leaving us with no choice but to take the future of this nation in our collective hands. It’s thanks to you that we are potentially at the cusp of what is seemingly an awakening of a generation. Indeed, thank you sir for making us realize our strength of character. Yea,finally, We ve stopped existing. We ve started living.

This sums up the mood really- ( quoted by a friend who was a part of the protests)
"chadha do gaddi....kya farak padta hai....seat to le hi lee hai....ab jaan bhi le lo.

Now you know why Rang de Basanti was as big a phenomenon as it turned out to be. You don’t play with our self respect Mr.Singh. I understand you successfully implemented a 49.5% reservation in Madhya Pradesh a couple of decades back. Lightning strikes just once. And yeah, what goes around comes around. Except that, its your turn to be hit by the collective thunder.

In conclusion, all I would state is, even after having said what I have, I would still want you to have a peaceful twilight of your life. So heed the call of a generation.A generation which will not let merit become a victim of whimsical eccentricity.A generation which will be celebrated for its resurgence and tenacity. A generation which will not take things lying down. A generation,clearly, whose time has come.

Else, kindly keep off from the morning walks. Like I said, Rang de Basanti is cult. And to us, defence minister ho, ya human resource, kuch farak nahi padta.Amen.

Not all things that can be counted count.Not all things that count can be counted.

The Mentor's last words....

2006-08-30T23:55:00.000+05:30

Another one got caught today, it's all over the papers. "Teenager Arrested in Computer Crime Scandal", "Hacker Arrested after Bank Tampering"... Damn kids. They're all alike. But did you, in your three- piece psychology and 1950's technobrain, ever take a look behind the eyes of the hacker? Did you ever wonder what made him tick, what forces shaped him, what may have molded him? I am a hacker, enter my world... Mine is a world that begins with school... I'm smarter than most of the other kids, this crap they teach us bores me... Damn underachiever. They're all alike.

I'm in junior high or high school. I've listened to teachers explain for the fifteenth time how to reduce a fraction. I understand it. "No, Ms. Smith, I didn't show my work. I did it in my head..." Damn kid. Probably copied it. They're all alike.

I made a discovery today. I found a computer. Wait a second, this is cool. It does what I want it to. If it makes a mistake, it's because I screwed it up. Not because it doesn't like me... Or feels threatened by me.. Or thinks I'm a smart ass.. Or doesn't like teaching and shouldn't be here... Damn kid. All he does is play games. They're all alike.And then it happened... a door opened to a world... rushing through the phone line like heroin through an addict's veins, an electronic pulse is sent out, a refuge from the day-to-day in competencies is sought... a board is found. "This is it... this is where I belong..." I know everyone here... even if I've never met them, never talked to them, may never hear from them again... I know you all... Damn kid. Tying up the phone line again. They're all alike...

You bet your ass we're all alike... we've been spoon-fed baby food at school when we hungered for steak... the bits of meat that you did let slip through were pre-chewed and tasteless. We've been dominated by sadists, or ignored by the apathetic. The few that had something to teach found us willing pupils, but those few are like drops of water in the desert.

This is our world now... the world of the electron and the switch, the beauty of the baud. We make use of a service already existing without paying for what could be dirt-cheap if it wasn't run by profiteering gluttons, and you call us criminals. We explore... and you call us criminals. We seek after knowledge... and you call us criminals. We exist without skin color, without nationality, without religious bias... and you call us criminals. You build atomic bombs, you wage wars, you murder, cheat, and lie to us and try to make us believe it's for our own good, yet we're the criminals.

Yes, I am a criminal. My crime is that of curiosity. My crime is that of judging people by what they say and think, not what they look like. My crime is that of outsmarting you, something that you will never forgive me for. I am a hacker, and this is my manifesto. You may stop this individual, but you can't stop us all... after all, we're all alike!

It starts!

2006-08-30T23:37:00.000+05:30

A weblog, which is usually shortened to blog, is a type of website where entries are made (such as in a journal or dairy), displayed in a reverse chronological order.

Blogs often provide commentary or news and information on a particular subject, such as friends, politics, or local news; some function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic. Most blogs are primarily textual although some focus on photographs (photoblog), videos (vlog), or audio (podcasting).

This one however, is a touch too different. It aint gonna be about a specific topic. Its gonna be about weird business ideas, perfectly baked deserts, eloquent food spreads, gyan from the fort [bcba, belgaum], entrepreneurial bottlenecks, getting kicked in the gut [at the wrong time and place] and fun. Or may be even none of these! Keep watching this space for more!