Tragedy strikes Asia and Africa

Tragedy strikes Asia and Africa

In the wake of Santa's sleighs came the massive earthquake and tsunamis that killed over 25000 people (current count) and left countless others homeless. A tragic end to the year. It is heartening to find numerous people coming together to help the affected masses. The Governments of these countries cannot by themselves help the affected. Please reach out and do your best to contribute/help those that are left stranded.

Update (Dec 30): Everyone is pitching in to help as best as they can. The count is over 116,000 now! :( Entire populations are missing or wiped off the face of the earth and maps altered. And bloggers make a big difference too.

• Volunteers and Organizations involved in the rescue operations


• Latest updates


• An explanation of what happened.

Enhancing image searches - with public help

Enhancing image searches - with public help

A project at the Carnegie Mellon University is enlisting public help to tag images on the web to improve image findability. Tools such as Flickr made the idea of tagging images popular. When an image is searched, the search criteria is matched with the attributes associated with the image, and results displayed to the user. While Google uses automated means with some degree of success, the ESP Project allows the public to tag images via a game. People have fun playing the game, while tagging the images. The prototype search on their site does an incredible job of finding images that are a very good match of the search criteria. Play the game here. Search images here.

PowerSnap, the product I mentioned earlier on the blog, allows the user to tag images and then generates web-sites/slideshows by applying rules defined by the user on these tags.

About Belief, Passion and Determination

About Belief, Passion and Determination
(via Antrix)

Ron Avitzur was part of a project at Apple that was shelved. And like so many others who have been part of cancelled projects, Ron was frustrated with the decision. He intensely believed that the product he was working on stood a fair chance. So, inspite of not being on the official rolls anymore (read as "unemployed and unpaid by Apple"), he continued to work on the product on the sly till it saw the light of day. This is a must-read story.

Here is a teaser:
We were saved by the layoffs that began that month. Twenty percent of Apple's fifteen thousand workers lost their jobs, but Greg and I were safe because we weren't on the books in the first place and didn't officially exist. Afterwards, there were plenty of empty offices. We found two and started sneaking into the building every day, waiting out in front for real employees to arrive and casually tailgating them through the door. Lots of people knew us and no one asked questions, since we wore our old badges as decoys.

Story on Slashdot. I hope someone makes a movie out of this one (Light shades of "Catch me if you can").

Odd twist to mail delivery tale

Odd twist to mail delivery tale

This is from Monday's news: A UPS driver headed to a hospital to deliver some machine parts was involved in an accident. He was rushed to the same hospital to be treated for his head injuries. But the machine that was to be used to do the necessary tests on him was down and the parts required to fix the machine was in his delivery truck! Eventually, someone was sent back to the accident site to retrieve the parts from the truck. The fate of the driver is still unknown. Heres the news article.

Giant robot back in action

Giant robot back in action

As a kid I would never miss the "Giant Robot" show on TV. I even remember being close to tears one evening when there was an unscheduled power cut and I missed most of the week's episode. Well, Carlos Owens has now resuscitated Giant Robot - in his backyard in Alaska! A very inspiring story this! The common man can achieve a lot more when his mind is set on it. Oh, and can also expose the unnecessary amounts organizations spend on their projects. Carlos has spent $15,000 so far while DARPA has spent about $50 million on a "somewhat" more advanced project!!

When teachers cheat...

When teachers cheat...

Sad, but true. One of the most respected professions is now coming under scrutiny for alleged cheating. Guess they were doing their best to fulfil their Chief Executive's "No child left behind" policy. Anything goes I guess, when W's lies have to be pushed under the carpet.

Apple gets more help than it needs

Apple gets more help than it needs

As though their marketing department was not effective, Apple has consumers creating ads for them. The one I liked best is available on the lower right of this related article. And heres another. Add to that creative ideas such as this one. Guess that explains why Apple is not able to meet the demand for iPod and its other products.

To begin with, iPod was not even born in Apple's labs. Here is the story that walks you thru the genesis of the iPod.

Personally, I think iRiver's H140 beats the iPod; but for now am happy with my 40GB Creative Nomad Zen Xtra.

And while you are here, check out how you may be judged based on your playlists.

Lost data? Here are some smart ways to get it back!

Lost data? Here are some smart ways to get it back!

Often times we do something stupid and feel like kicking ourselves and think no one else would have done anything dumber. Well, next time, don't be so hard on yourself. There are folks out there who do their best to make sure you feel better about your "maybe-not-so-stupid" mistakes; that is, as long as you don't top them on the list. Some even go as far as making the ultimate sacrifice!

Order to your chaotic visuals - with PowerSnap

Order to your chaotic visuals - with PowerSnap

In the last 2 years, one of my friends, Ayush, has been working on a photo organization utility that he named PowerSnap. While he did the heavy lifting, I helped with some of the design and usability issues and also QA whenever time permitted. The product was finally launched today. Its a wonderful feeling to see the garage project hit the market. And believe me, it has gone thru significant evolution from what we first saw to what it is now. Late nights, long brainstorming sessions...in the end, a satisfying product. It still needs a few add-ons, but Ayush figured it has spent too much time in the labs and it is about time to showcase it. End-user feedback is the means to a better product! Ayush has done a terrific job in pulling it all together.

A trial version is available for download. Comprehensive support is available on the site itself thru user guides, FAQ, etc. There is also a support forum where you can post your questions and suggestions. Sometimes you may get a response from yours truly since I am a moderator on the forum! :) Try it out when you can. And, please send in your feedback.

I came across an article on Wired a couple days ago on the need for better organization of images. PowerSnap meets a lot of the needs mentioned in the article and future releases will have much extended capabilities.

IBM (PC) bought by Lenovo...China flexes its muscle

IBM (PC) Take Over...China flexes its muscle

Finally! Turns out the rumors from the last couple weeks are indeed true. Lenovo, a Chinese company bought IBM's PC business for $1.25 Billion. When I first heard about the possibility, I was little surprised, given the current consolidation efforts by large companies. But the price tag of just $1.2 Billion for IBM shocked me. Compare that with Cingular's purchase of ATT Wireless for 40 odd billion dollars. Agreed, its the manufacturng vs services; but its still a very small figure for a company of IBM's stature.

But I guess this is China's not-so-subtle indicator to the world of its capabilities. A lot of people will likely sit up and take notice now. Watch out Dell! You may find China's less expensive overheads and costs a big challenge.

Cell Phone to Sun Flower

Cell Phone to Sun Flower"

Now here is a smart product. Very creative and intelligent; with the right tones of marketing it will do awesome - I am sure. Keep Earth GREEN folks!

The abuse continues...

The abuse continues...

You would think after all the publicity, the abuse in Iraq would have stopped. Well, think again and again.

MSN Spaces (Beta) launched

MSN Spaces (Beta) launched

(Initially posted on MSN Spaces. Duplicated here.)

Microsoft has launched the beta version of its blogging utility. This time around they are trying to get into the mainstream earlier on in the life of a concept thats caught on very well among the masses. I have been on blogger for over 1.5 years and am most likely going to stick around there. But my curiosity got the better of me and I thought I would spend some time exploring Microsoft's offering. And hence this post - more of a lab work than a serious blog - at least for now. I may have to rethink that in the not so distant future given Microsoft's limitless resources to churn out cool features more rapidly.

I already like the way I can manage my blog layout in Spaces. Microsoft has essentially carried into the tool the features from Sharepoint. And the ability to seamlessly integrate various Microsoft offerings puts Microsoft in a strong position. I can see MSN Chat, Hotmail, Sharepoint, One Note etc come together to give the end user a one-stop shop for "all" communications.

Maybe I should start duplicating my blogger posts here too - will give me an opportunity to play around with this more. Will see. It should'nt be a big effort since both blogger and spaces allows blog posts via email. And Scott Isaacs, the man who built the Rich Text Editor that folks are used to in Hotmail, MSN Groups, etc, has provided some nice tips on the BlogIt tool that should help me move posts easily between blogger and spaces.

Bush's Illegitimate War

Bush's Illegitimate War

Here are a few images from Fallujah. And here is a site that apologizes to the world for voting Bush to power. There is a lot I want to say about the Americans approving Bush's war; but sometimes some thoughts are best left unsaid!

Homeland Security Bill passed

Homeland Security Bill passed
(via Jeff Richter)

The new Homeland Security Bill has passed. Things will be different now and Internet surfing will be tracked by what the FBI calls a "non-intrusive method." The FBI says you will not notice anything different. For a demonstration, click here. The FBI's message to the public - "We are watching you!"

Watch what you drink - you may end up poorer by $10,000!

Watch what you drink - you may end up poorer by $10,000!

A hotel in New York has a $10,000 Martini on its menu. After a week on the menu, the Martini that includes a diamond at the bottom, is yet to be ordered. Dorothy Parker used to be a frequent guest at the hotel, the Algonquin Hotel, and her ode to martinis adorns the hotel napkins:
I love a martini - but two at the most. Three I'm under the table; Four, I'm under the host. :)

On Bush's IQ

On Bush's IQ
(via Vasti)

Here is a fun ad in Chennai, India.