M(SFT) for Mobile

Firstly, with some of my posts being inclined to a certain company (I will NOT take its name in this post !), and people doubtful about the purpose [:)], its time to clarify. I actually spread my interests in technology mainly to the internet and allied services. Primarily, I am involved in techno-GAMY (dont search for definitions of this term..this is coined by me for my own convenience) - that is an eye for the big four - G_____, Apple, Microsoft, Yahoo. So hear goes another technology story for you...(though I regret the delay in bringing this story to you)

First, Microsoft spun off a mobile service as a separate venture, 10 days ago, called Zenzui, which, till then was a Research effort by it. Zenzui is a new way of surfing the web on the mobile phone. It involves a personalised grid of - what MS calls - 'tiles'. Each tile represents a thumbnail representation of a particular service or a website. Users can navigate through the tiles by using the thumb. Zoom in by simple tapping the tile. Though currently it offers a grid of 4 tiles (with feeds from predefined partners), I assume the grid size and content should be customisable in the future. What is even more interesting is its promotional video, which almost gives a feeling that the technology is meant for high-end phones or PDAs. It's just a matter of time to see whether people would accept this as an equivalent of the iPhone navigation.

Another technology that MS unveiled shortly after this is the Deepfish, (still in Live Labs), which is again a new mobile browsing experience. Deepfish will make browsing on the mobile phone, similar to the desktop, it says. That is possible because it would load the entire web page, but in a bandwidth-friendly low resolution version on the mobile phone. The user can navigate to the section he wants, through the use of joystick, and zoom in on the section. It would load a full version of that part only. This would mean, website developers would not have to create a separate low graphic version. All this is possible through the use of server-side technology and a light-weight client. More still, it provides features like standard link navigation, simple form submission, client caching and bookmarking. Though it is still not complete in terms of advanced features like AJAX, the later versions should probably support them.

Though both these services are very different in terms of their motives and the technology, it clearly shows how important the mobile app market has become for all the big players.

A personal touch to Google

Can you imagine getting the feel of a beach while you are searching? And obviously, when I say search, I mean Google(though I wished not to make this a 'Google' Blog, but for these innovations !). Google, had introduced the Personalized Google home page long back, on which you could have RSS feeds from hundreds of sites. And as days went by, a growing number of sites, dealing with varied topics, started being available for such feeds. So, this page has become a one-stop update for many people like me. My current homepage includes feeds ranging from the usual Times of India to word/quote of the day to my regular dose of technology news from multiple sites. Of course, a smart move by having tabbed page, thus helping us organizing it better.

On the 20th of this month, Google added one more interesting feature to it - themes! The banner of my home page can now contain images depending on various themes, which currently include only six - city, teahouse, winter scene, sky, beach and bus stop. And to add to this, the banner changes its appearance depending on the time of the day, so that you are in the mood, always! Here's my Google home page's technology tab, with beach as the current theme.


But then, there's always a Googley twist to it. According to tech observers, Google has put in some kind of tweaks in the code(e.g here's the Sweet Dreams xml), which results in the banner changing its appearance everyday at 3.14 AM (Remember pi !!). And that too, is different for each of the themes.

Here are the UFOs that appear in the City Scape and the Pi appearing in Sweet Dreams themes.
(Though I have tried setting my local time to 3.14 am, I have not yet encountered this hidden images :( )

And that's not all, Google is asking its users to suggest many more themes here, so that it can provide other themes in the future. And I assume in the near future, it will also allow users to upload their own images in their homepage. (I can't stop imagining my face beside the famous Google logo!). So now you know where to head, when you want a search engine that knows your mood..

Cats, Dogs & Microsoft !

While following the news about Microsoft's TechFest 2007, which focusses many of its innovations, I came across a peculiar service. Called Asirra (Animal Species Image Recognition for Restricting Access) , it basically plans to provide a service wherein humans would be distinguished from robots by asking the user to identify whether the image is that of a cat or a dog ! Surprising, isn't it? This challenge is often called the CAPTCHA (Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart). And is very important these days to make sure that automated programs are not filling up forms or posting stuff on your website.

Currently such a distinction is established using images, with garbled/corrupted letters that have to be typed in by the user. (Remember all those times when you have been asked to do so on creation of email IDs or when posting on some blogs?). These are being widely used in websites but as Microsoft says are "Unfortunately, such challenges can be difficult and frustrating for people, yet are often easily solved by computers".

So, the solution ,it says, lies in asking users to identify whether a photo (a 'real' photo courtesy PetFinder.com) is that of a cat or dog. According to Microsoft, "This task difficult for computers, but our user studies have shown that people can accomplish it quickly and accurately. Many even think it's fun!". And then, it will also show an 'Adopt Me!' link below each image, which will support PetFinder's mission of finding home for these animals. And Microsoft aims to provide this as a service to website owners for identification on their website. I just tried the test on Asirra's website, which had 12 images of cats/dogs and 2 out of four times it flashed 'You are a bot!', because I identified one photo wrongly. (This was because the pic was a long distance shot and it was very difficult to identify the hairy animal in that small pic!). Only time will tell how effective, fun (and less frustrating !!) this system is for the visitors. Lets hope we see many cute puppies & kitten everyday on websites !!

(Images courtesy : www.asirra.com)

Keeping me busy

Last week and days before that, I was a little (did I say little?) busy with my work. Just completed a task this week and felt a little satisfied (being the 'Employee of the month' in my project could also be a reason :)). But nowadays, I am far more busy at home with the online puzzles as part of Transcend (the fest at Symbiosis). And I am solving the 404 Not Found, just like that. For those who have been through Klueless 1 and Klueless 2 (part of IIM-I's Iris), its almost exactly similar to the Klueless. Equally challenging. Equally involving. And equally frustrating! Just try it out, if you find time that is. Because once you start it, you may never want to leave the PC until you finish the last level. And if you ever get stuck at some level, you may realize why I call it frustrating. Lotsa brain-scratching moments ahead.. And yes, don't blame me if you manage to sneak in just 5 hrs of sleep after hours at the computer (like me!!)

PS: You may also try out the 'original' Klueless. But, in both the cases, dont ever think of completing the puzzle without the game's blogs.

Dreams never die

After many days, I took some time off to listen to many songs that I used to cherish last year and earlier. And in my playlist was also the inspiring Aashayen (Iqbal). Those lines are really very inspiring and when Shaan says 'Ab mushkil nahin kuch bhi ..', it sets my mind into the thinking mode. "Can determination really drive a person towards his goals, inspite of the unsurmountable challenges?".

As if to answer my question, the Times of India carried an article today about how Dreams never die. It mentions the story of a paan-wallah Birbal Chaurasia, who fled away from his village 30 years ago with Rs.180 in his pocket and set up shop outside the Indian Express building in Delhi. Earning very little from his paan-shop, he used to prepare pickles and home-made drinks and ensured his daughters got Rs.10 for their bus fare. Last month, his elder daughter became a Chartered Accountant and his younger daughter is about to complete cost accountancy in a year. Surprising? Inspiring? It should be. We have seen many of our friends trying hard for completing the CA exams and cribbing about it being 'one-of-the-most-difficult' exams ever. GIven the fact that we have much of the resources and luxury to help us achieve our ambitions, many of us still falter in our path, and take pride in 'putting up an average show'. Think of all the cases where we hear of physically challenged people earning success in their fields. And still we talk about the many 'challenges', because of which we fail.

When I read of cases like Chaurasia's, I am reassured that determination is the most important thing (and in many cases, the only thing) that will help us out in reaching out to the stars. When you hear him say "I understood (on interacting with women journalists) that progress is linked to education. Which is why I decided to educate my teo daughters along with my son...Without education, women cannot be self-reliant and take independent decisions", you may never realise that this paan-wallah is a class VIII dropout.

Brin-ning with success

No.It's not a typo. Its just to associate success with the co-founder of Google, Sergey Brin, who has been featured by the Moment magazine.

All of you may probably be knowing how much I am fascinated by Google, not only for the variety of its product releases, but the speed at which it has grown and the huge risks that it is ready to take. And, not surprisingly, Fortune Magazine has rated it as 'The Best Company to Work for' in the United States for in this year's survey. As it mentions

"Our new No. 1 sets the standard for Silicon Valley: free meals, swimming spa, and free doctors onsite. Engineers can spend 20% of time on independent projects...."

Only time will tell how far this company will go in fulfilling its mission "To organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful. "

PS: The PC at my place is up and running (and the first thing I did was, obviously, visit www.google.com !!), so you can expect more frequent posts on my blog!!

A Tribute to KGB Sir..

Our beloved Prof.K.G.Balakrishnan (Head of Dept, IT, VESIT) passed away last month. It is a very big loss to all the students of VESIT and more importantly to the institution. When I came to know of the sad news, I was in a state of shock and could not digest the fact that the very professor whom we used to hold in high esteem is no more with us.

We had mixed experiences with Sir. Though there were some moments when we did not agree with his style of teaching; the truth is that everyone respected the vast knowledge that he had about diverse fields. I still remember the time when only the three of us, me, Smidth and Ruta attended one of his Computer Simulation & Modelling lectures in the lab. There are some very distinct incidents that I remember of him.

His style of teaching was totally different than what we student perceived of a regular teacher. His lecture was based more on the concepts and their usefulness in real-life rather than just text-book reading, I even had a one-to-one chat with him asking him why he used this approach and that one reason, the students were unwilling to pay attention was this. But the reply that he gave still echoes in my ears - "I am not here to just let you clear the Mumbai Univ exams. The problems are there in the text-book. I am here to help you formulate the real life problems into equations that you can solve further. I am here you let you understand what simulation actually is.". Though not totally convinced by this answer, I was impressed by his emphasis on concepts.

The other thing that every one of us would remember is the number of times he used to ask 'Why?' in the class. For every little topic, he would pose five different questions and ask 'Why? Think about it. Let me know the answer.' And all his questions used to roll over to the next day. He said "Simulation is all about questions. If you come up with more questions, you understand the problem better. Your job is just to identify which questions to ask." One of his questions used to be 'Why do you think auto rickshaws are not allowed to ply within Mumbai limits?'. For long we didn't understand the relevance of this question to the subject, but later he answered it himself. "The traffic will move at the pace of the slowest vehicle. This is similar to any queuing problem. A single bottleneck may slow down the entire queue. You identfy that and optimise it."

It's sad that the Almighty chose to deprive us of such a knowledgeable person, who, in a real sense, was a mentor for many. And when I ask the Almighty the question 'Why?', I haven't received an answer ....

Some Hindi musings..

I have got a very good team with me at my work and my dear colleague Muktesh is a very good poet. He converses (and pens,too) largely in pure Hindi which unknowigly makes me 'think' in hindi sometimes. These are some four-liners that originated in the same local train musings..

Sapne toh hazaaron dekhta hoon,
Unhe paane ka honsla rakhta hoon,
Par agar ek bhi toot jaaye,
Toh ujale mein dhund ki tarah,
Unhe sama mein kahi kho deta hoon.

One of my other colleagues remarked that, i always laugh, make fun of everything and am not serious about anything. (can't believe it, no?). This is what I have to say..

Kisi ki muskaan dekhkar hans deta hoon,
Sannaate mein aankhen nam kar leta hoon,
Meri bhavnayein nahin;yeh toh bas ek aaina hain,
Zindagi mein bas ek parchai banke rah jaata hoon.

And being entangled in code and deadlines (though I love it!!), I felt something like..

Yeh raat, raat nahin; andhere ka saaya lagti hain,
Subah,subah nahin; kiranon ka ghera lagti hain,
Kya jeena ise kehte hain,
Yeh zindagi toh ek toota khilona lagti hain.

I had some more, but will post them later. These are anyways in a very raw form and I feel may work against increasing the readership!!(:)).
PS: If you feel that this kind of poetry is worth spending a few minutes, do look over all of them (including many English poems) and comment.

The quest ...

I'm back again!! No loong reasaons..I was just veryyy busy with my work, and my PC too is still dead. Lotsa thoughts running through my mind these days..Just get very little time to 'document' it (software lingo :) ). My creative half takes over at 10pm on my way back in the local trains...This one (ya! I know it will seem very amateurish..), was the result of one such quick attempt.

I went on a quest that other day,
In search of that dear face.
Dying to see that beautiful smile,
To feel that glint in the eye.
To hear that heartening giggle,
To wipe that occasional tear.

I went far and wide,
Walked all the streets I know.
Met my dearest friends,
Scoured the oldest mails.
Recalled my sweetest memories,
Sung that melodious song.

Tired of my long quest,
When I rest my feet.
I realise how futile the journey is,
As I rest my mind in thoughtless state.
He's waiting for me with open arms,
At this very place all along.
And when I close my eyes and look within,
I find my priceless treasure - the real "me".

I don't know how you would have found it. But,anyways, I plan to return to my earlier mode this new year.(if time permits,that is ;))

My sweet memories ...

Somehow I wanted to sum up my whole Bhubaneswar experience in this poem at the end of my ILP. But even then I may have left out many incidents, which may find a mention in some posts later. Many of the phrases used here are typical of the ILP-ians (some are even specific to the AFG core committee!!) and others may not comprehend it..Sorry,but couldnt complete the poem without them.

I came here to this unknown place,
Leaving my home and friends behind.
I was sure of taking nothing back
Not even some sweet memories.

The first day I met so many friends,
With jokes and laughter all day long.
Our stories, fears, and targets we shared,
It seemed as if, it we had been friends all along,
But now I have nothing of these
Except the sweet memories.

Waiting for the D slots,
Presenting the finance/marketing sessions,
Enjoying the manchurians and custards at lunch,
Banging our heads at our laptops,
Now I do nothing of these,
All that is left is the sweet memories.

The bargains with the rickshaw-wallahs,
Our weekly 'trips' to Big Bazaar,
The orders for the Smokin' Joes pizzas,
And our live-with-nature mascots-insects,frogs & cows,
Now I miss all of these,
And am left with only sweet memories.

The superb carvings at the Konark temple,
The violent beach at Puri,
The famous(& hard to approach) Lord Jagannath-ji,
And the tan to top it all,
Where will I find all of these?
Except in my sweet memories.

The huge and scenic Chilika Lake,
The dolphins showing up now and then,
The sand blowing at me on the Seamouth,
The serene and superb (wallpaper) beach,
How short-lived were all of these,
They live only in my memories.

The reticent kids at the tribal school,
And the smart ones at the SOS village,
The white marble of Kalinga's Dhauli stupa,
And the numerous temples at Lingaraj,
Will I again get to see all of these?
Besides in my sweet memories.

The B9!,B9! shouts and the antaksharis,
The 1 Lakh plans seen everywhere,
The all-new (!!) experience at the dance party,
And the esteemed (& steamed) Aaltu Faltu Group-AFG,
I cant forget any of these,
I preserve these sweet memories.

Life moves on, as they say,
Not such a great loss this may be,
But then one phase of life, it surely was,
And forever with me are my sweet memories...