Friday December 08, 2006

Got Netflix ?

While filling up your queue in Netflix, make sure to add this one as well. Hope we all do something about it, rather than just watching it for fun.

Tuesday August 15, 2006

Excellent graphics. This is so cool. Feel like getting myself an FJ Cruiser!

Tuesday June 06, 2006

Checking out YouTube.com

YouTube ia amazing! Got hooked onto it immediate.

Here is our Tanya (she is now two-and-a-half) when she was 5+ months old.

Sunday January 08, 2006

Too good to be free!

I have recently heard about Nexenta OS (GNU Solaris). So when I tried to install it on Galaxy systems, the installation went just flawlessly! With all the GNU apps for the userland combined with rich OpenSolaris kernel, I was so impressed and excited, I ended up doing something which I have never done before. I immediately opened an account with Paypal and donated some money to them (not too much though, $20.00 :-) Keep up the good work Nexenta!) Well, having done that, it made me feel guilty for not paying anything to the folks at "CentOS" in spite of using it for more than an year and haven't given them anything. So I ended up paying the same amount for them as well.

Incidently, I also happened to read this book - Linux Toys II by "Christopher Negus". It's an excellent book in my opinion and I would strongly recommend to anyone who is looking for fun projects on Linux. Gives you a lot of confidence that even YOU could do it :-)

By the way, if you have been thinking about setting up a small computer at home and running your own website with minimal/zero coding, but doesn't know where to start or how to go about doing it, here are my favourite picks.

Try downloading them and start playing around. As you go by, you'll start seeing things falling in place and your website getting into shape gradually. They are great especially for building a small community online.

I have tried them all and they all work great. Just too good to be free. Maybe I'll write a book someday explaining in detail how to put them all together in building a simple website. Hmmm....any publishers out there who could help me out with that ?! ;-)

Friday September 23, 2005

My brand new bicycle's cost is $0.89 cents

Finally our Galaxy systems are unleashed! Our division (NSG - Network Systems Group) has put it's heart and soul in getting these systems out. And now after it's release, we have a little time to breathe :-) Seriously, even if I close my eyes and think of my collegues/team members/managers, I can only picturize them either tweaking Galaxy systems or talking only about them!

Anyway, I had a sweet surprise in my inbox sometime back from my manager. There was an Amazon gift coupon as a token of appreciation for working extra hours and over the long weekend. After sitting on it for close to a month not knowing what to buy (?!!), I did some soul searching on Amazon's website and finally ended up buying myself a fancy foldable "Dahon" bicycle! (this model is specifically for a minimalist like me, comes to $199+taxes) Something I wouldn't have bought if it were from my own pocket :-) So, after all it's price tag, it's cover/carrying bag, delivery charges and taxes, all I need to shell out from my pocket was just $0.89 cents! Can't tell you what a wonderful feeling to get a brand new bicyble for $0.89 cents :-)

uno, dos, tres

So here is your chance for such surprises. Check out this link, enter "NSG" in Keyword search and apply for whichever suits your skillsets, interest/passion and career path.

Sure, I won't be eligible for a referral bonus for referring someone on my blog ;-) but I'll certainly be happy to see you onboard and possibly be working with you sometime.

so, wishing you all the best!
Ananda

Tuesday July 12, 2005

Crazy idea

It's hightime for a payback

Guess Iam not alone with the pain of dealing everyday with unwanted (postal) junk mails in the mailbox.

I had been thinking about how to deal with these and I was wondering what happens if we do this :

Most of the junk mails that we receive (preapproved credit cards, advts, etc) will have a return envelop with the return postage taken care of.

So instead of trashing those mails, spend a few more minutes in putting all their junk inside their own return envelop and send them back. Now let them deal with their own junk for a change!

Just think what happens if everybody does that :

Whichever Organization sends us, have to open/scan/process/deal with the envelops that we send back because some of them could actually bring them legitimate business. Right now their life is very easy because they send a million envelops out everyday and whatever they get back is, getting business.

If everyone does what I suggest, then I think they'll get the message what we are trying to say :-)

Thursday June 23, 2005

PEACE be with you.

Technocrats always seemed to be good at making machines talk to each other and make them work with each other better day-by-day, by designing all kinds of simple to complex protocols, software stacks, middlewares, applications , you name it. But at the sametime, it seems very less work has been done/invested in adapting the technology to solve the same kind of problems among people. (Well, Iam not talking about something on a larger/global scale where online communities and blogs are bringing people much closer and doing a wonderful job but, something on a very smaller scale where it involves just you and people around you, whom you may not really know personally. Technologies that will help bring unknown people together, for a good cause and in helping each other.

Bluetooth is a fascinating technology and I (still) sincerely believe that it will make a major difference in our lives someday, not just by replacing cables or by transfering our files to nearby printers, but something radically different and also simple to use in our day-to-day lives.

Here is something that I wrote down a few years back while I was working on J2ME technology. Thought I'll share my write up.

"PEACE" BE WITH YOU

I believe, all of us (atleast most of us) are willing to help others if they ask for any kind of help , no matter how well we know them or hardly know them or doesn't know them at all. If it's a very small genuine help, which is doable, we'll always try to do the best we can. I think it's a fair statement to say, helping instincts are always kind of built in everyone of us. Most of the time, we are always surrounded by people who are willing to help us and we are also one of that kind.

But situations in real life are quite different :

At a movie theatre

Say you went to a movie theatre, standing in line with your girl friend/wife (significant other, whoever) for buying the tickets. Then you came to know that the tickets were sold out. You really/desperately want to see that movie. you feel, it'll be nice if someone who has extra tickets comes to you and gives it to you. Or may be, you might go around looking for some one who might have extra tickets. But none of us are going to shout loudly and ask if anyone has extra tickets though it might actually work! We don't do it because we believe it is indecent and an inappropriate thing to do.

or

You may be the person who has extra tickets but, for some reason decided not to go to that movie. But you don't want to waste the tickets. You don't mind giving the tickets if someone asks for it. Or you might ask someone who looks decent and approach him and ask him if he needs any extra tickets. But you're more concerned about how others will look at you/judge you if keep going about and asking everyone if they needs any extra tickets. At the most you'll ask one or two persons, that all. And after that you'll walk away with tickets in your pocket (if you're like me)

In a Restaurant

You go to a restaurant, you see it's quite occupied. You feel it would be nice to know if someone is about to leave within a few minutes so that you can wait for some more time or decide in going to some other place. But the problem is whom to ask ? You obviously can't shout loudly ?! "Hello, is any body leaving within a few minutes or kind enough to leave the table if you're done with "...doesn't sound appropriate isn't it ? but theoretically it does work if you do it (ie, people do give their table if they are done with)

In the Parking lot

You would love to hear from some saying "Iam leaving the parking lot, you can take my slot so that you dont have to go in circles". wouldn't that be a bliss ?!! But also keep in mind that, you dont mind looking at the person who is driving besides and say "Iam gonna take my car. You can take that slot". You have done that many times to others and others have also done that to you. But this will happen only when both the parties make an eye contact. or elese, we're back into circling.

In an Airport

You get down in an International airport of a country where you have no clue about their language. Have no clue about where to start or whom to ask for help when you step out. You would love to see someone who speaks your language. But again the problem is how do we know who speaks our language ? Do we go about asking everyone ? that looks silly! So most of the time we try to look for the symbols / directions that take us where we wanted to go.

Just take a moment and think about all the situations that we run into our daily lives where we need some small amount of help here and there (no matter how small they are ) just to make our lives a little easy if someone offers it.

Now, remember what we agreed in the beginning :

Most of the time, we are always surrounded by people who are willing to help us and we are also one of that kind.

But the reality is - most of the time, we don't get that help because WE DON'T ASK FOR IT for whatever preconceived notions that we all carry in our minds. We are actually surrounded by the help we want except that we dont take it!

Ok...now that I have said all that, let me get to the point :

How can technology help us in easing out at the situations that I have mentioned above which is , knowing / understanding when people who are surrounding us are looking out for help and similarly vice versa. How to get some help from our own surrounding ?

Here is how we look these days. We carry cell phones, PDA's, laptops and all kind of mobile devices. Think about an application that we develop which runs on these mobile devices which can talk to each other for a given specific area of coverage.

Imagine an application (what I call it as "PEACE") that would be available for all platforms be it a J2ME or a BREW or a .Net Compact Framcwork or a Laptop of whatever OS. Any bluetooth enabled mobile device.

When someone invokes our application, it immediately senses its surrounding and builds up a network with whoever is running the same application. When you walk away from that place, it breaks away from that network, then senses the new place that you are currently in and then build/joins the new network. The people who download our application and run it on their device are the ones who believe in the ideology of helping others in need and also asking for help when they are in need.. It's kind of that "Peace Brother!" feeling.

Now think about the situations that I mentioned first :

At the theatre, you came to know that the tickets were sold out. You pickup your cell phone and bring up the PEACE application (that's running in the background) It immediately senses with it's bluetooth technology and builds up a peer-to-peer network on demand and either creates a small community dynamically or joins which is already built by your buddies who are running the same application. So where you can ask for any extra tickets, you'll hear it from your buddies (if they can provide you). So when you walk away from the theatre, our PEACE application detaches it self from that network and say you go to a restaurant, you join the network that was already built and you join that community. Now you can ask thru your PEACE application if someone can give up their table if they are done and people who are on that network would obviously give it if they intend to.

The PEACE application that is running in your mobile device constantly looks for other PEACE applications within your surrounding . They all work together in harmony, in building up the P2P network (for whatever range, your bluetooth device can provide). They all put the infrastructure in place for you to communicate with other people who are running the same application. So the next time when you run out of coins in using a vending machine in the airport, all you need to do is to bring up the PEACE application because by then, it has already spoken to a person whose sitting in one corner, using his laptop (who also runs PEACE application) and another person whose is using his PDA for whatever purpose - they all get the notice that someone around them is in need of some coins. A very simple help that anyone can provide if they (download) and believe in PEACE.

I wish my dream comes true someday where I can download such applications on my cellphone to reach the unknowns. Well, may be they already exists and it's just that Iam not aware of :-)

PEACE be with you,

Ananda

Wednesday June 15, 2005

My first blog post - after thoughts.

* It is really easy to blog

* It is going to be extremely hard to get comments/feedback unless, you have something interesting/different (stupid ?!) to say

* Receiving comments is like receiving an Oscar!

* Seeing the hit count go higher is such a wonderful, cheap thrill

* Doesn't feel good though when you blog post goes down the drain so quickly, because of too many postings :-)

* Posting/Publishing leisurely over the weekends is actually not a bad idea. Looks like it will have a relatively longer life span

* Seems to me that so many people have so much to say on blogs (but wonder why not that many even care to smile, when you seem them in the cafeteria or in fitness center ?!)

* Now others seem to know that I really do exist (well, for the good or bad, is left to their descretion)

* Wonder if I'll ever showup in hot blog's list ?

* Thanks Amjith, Anonymous, Kevin for your comments on my first blog post

* And, this one is left intentionally blank :-)

Sunday June 12, 2005

IMHO: Google's free email service.

Okay....first things first. Let me say it loud and clear that this is not about bashing Google in any way (so that I can save myself from trouble). I love them and respect them as much as you do. This is all about sincerely appreciating them in not only what they do, but how smart and suave they are in the way, they do things. Having said that, let me ask you this...

While we are all rushing with joy of getting a free/personal email id with 2GB space at Google, do we ever think why on earth would Google give us such a vast space, and that too for free? What does it actually give them in return ? What exactly are they getting back from us ? or let me put it this way..

What could be the worst damage that you could possibly do to Google by using their own free Google email service? And if I say, "deleting all your emails and folders, and keeping it empty or to a bare minimum", (thinking that you are being a good googolian's corporate citizen by helping them save money on purchasing/maintaining storage and servers) that, in fact will actually be hurting Google's strategy and will do more damage to them in the long run, in attaining its grand plans for its email service ?! Not sure about you but, I certainly believe so. And here are my thoughts.....

If you think where one could possibly find answers to most of the questions that were asked in this world, answers being in partial or full or state of being in close proximity to the right answers that we are looking for (in a very broad sense) It is most likely lying idle in somebody's Inbox or folders, at any given time. It could be our own inbox/folders sometimes except that, we dont know/remember/realize/care for it!

Just think for a second of how we all use our emails and email folders. We receive a piece of information as an email :

1. If we find it irrelevant or not being useful, we'll delete it right away.
2. If we find it useful or if we believe it will be useful to us someday, we'll religiously create folders and save it hoping, it will be handy someday.
3. If we're not clear about the information that we receive, we'll clarify/refine them, and again we'll save them safe.
4. Most of us (if not all) believe that we have deleted all the junk/unwanted emails and have saved only the important ones that we need.

Now think about what is Google's primary business btw ? What do they need to do their business going ? What is their basic raw material ? IT IS THE DATA. It is that heaps-and-heaps of, loads-and-loads of, volumes and-volumes of data/information out there on the web, which they search it, and then index it, sort it, slice it and dice it, and make anything meaningful and relevant out of it.

Simply put, any kind of data will be an useful raw material for Google's business. In Google's world, there is no such this called unwanted/junk data. They can still sort out all the so called unwanted data, club them together and serve it to someone who is looking out for it. In real world, at any given point of time, there is always a need for any kind of data. Data being useful or not, is totally relative to the context of what one is looking for.

Now coming back to Google's email service, by giving us a 2GB free space for us and for every individual person on this planet and by evangelizing that nobody needs to worry about deleting the emails anymore, GUESS WHAT ? they have just recruited us to work for them for free, to be their content (data) providers! We all are going to be their content providers by saving our emails to them in their hard drives so that, all their sophisticated API's and smart algorithms that they develop, will work on all our email contents, extracts only the relevant information that they need and serve it to someone else who is in need of it!

Remember when Google came up with the idea of Google email service first, said it will be different in someways and also something about sharing ? And all the buzz that happened when they announced it initially ? I think, this is what they were saying which is, "We will give you free email service/space. But in return, we'll be using your contents , we extract the information that we want, filter out the stuff that has your identities and then serve the rest to the ones who are in need of it, thereby potentially making a business out of it".

Somewhere we got mixed up as if Google in interested in running profiles on users and their personal identities. We got carried away with the stories that they might post our privacies and identifies out on public. I think we failed to understand what Google was trying to say. It is all THE DATA that they care about, and not by making money out of users profiles or identities.

The beauty of giving us a lot of space in their data centers as an email service is that, they dont have to worry that much in doing all the late/overnight crawling on the web to get relevant information as they go forward. All our email folders (probably in millions/billions now ?) themselves are a gold mine for them. Since the user community is growing like crazy for them, they can sit back, relax and keep digging all that contents we store in their servers.

So the next time when we look at Google for answers to our questions, we'll get 10 different/relevant/somewhat generic answers that will suit most of our needs except that, we ourselves don't know/remember that one of it is an abstract presentation of what has been lying idle in one of our own folders all this time! Something which we don't keep track of it anyway because we dont have to worry about what have in the first place and second, there is always Google for us in getting all the right answers that we're looking out for!

Though we all equate Yahoo, Hotmail and Google as more or less the same way to some extent because they all provide us free email accounts and tend to believe that they all are competing among themselves by increasing the disk space, I tend to believe that Google's strategy may be quite different from others. Yahoo and MSN primarily provide us free email services so that we'll get hooked onto their portals/accounts and thereby hopefully making them as our ISP's. But Google not only scares it's competitors by taking away their userbase to it's own free email services, but it could also plan on making some sense out of our own email contents and thereby making some business out of it! Something Yahoo and MSN may not be thinking about.

And...one more final guess. So next time when you run out of your 2GB space in your Google inbox, you don't have to worry that you'll get a notification saying that you need to clear up some space to accommodate new incoming emails (like how other ISP's do) but to the contrary, mostly you might get a notification saying that, they will be increasing your space from 2GB to maybe 3GB or so! Because your contents/data is more important to them more than what it is, for yourself!.....you see what Iam saying ?! Absolutely no doubts, they are brilliant! Hats off to them.

Having said all that, I have a few confessions to make. Whatever I have said so far, is all purely out of my own head with absolutely not empirical evidence/data to back up my story. Well it's only a story indeed because, my intentions are not to say something profound but, to say something interesting in getting me started on blogging (this is my very first blog post). I dont have a Google email account for myself, btw ;-)

more to follow.
Ananda ( Jun 12 2005, 11:10:00 AM PDT ) Permalink Comments [10]