Flock

I installed Flock today - a social browser. It allows, apart from browsing, social bookmarking and integration with del.icio.us, integration with Flickr and a blogging tool. I wanted to test out the blogging tool and so, thought let me post a small post from the Flock blog editor.

Still, in its very beta, downloadable as developer preview - will keep all posted on what my opinions on Flock are. If you wanna check it out, http://www.flock.com.

Narayan Murthy on the rise of India

Mercury News recently talked to Narayan Murthy, Chairman of Infosys, on the rise of India. A few things I took away from the article are outlined below. On being asked if this boom was sustainable, Mr. Murthy affirmed, as long as, "... we deliver value to our customers, as long as we attract the best and the brightest professionals, as long as we use speed, imagination and excellent execution -- and improve that. The day we stop doing that, we will disappear like dew on a sunny morning."

Mr. Murthy also made a very important point - the established corporations can make a fortune by focussing at the bottom of the pyramid, which constitutes a 5 billion+ population. I have always wanted to read C K Prahalad's vision in his book, The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid. Talking about the bottom of the pyramid, Mr. Murthy brings a very crucial mention of big companies the likes of Microsoft, SAP and Oracle introducing pricing models for countries like India, China and Brazil. Depending upon how they price their offerings for these economies, they stand the opportunity of making them major markets and at the same time reducing piracy rate.

Mr. Murthy's advise on the pricing models for developing countries reminded me of something interesting that I had come across. In the very recent past, HCL introduced sub-10k Rs. low-cost PCs in India. They were finally able to hit a price point which can facilitate wide-spread adoption. With Microsoft not giving them much room on the price, HCL finally went with Linux to maintain their pricing goal. A few weeks back, we heard MIT working on releasing a $100 laptop for the kids of developing countries. Needless to say, Linux once again. On the same subject, the people's PC project in Thailand has most of its PCs running Linux. Microsoft, in an effort to compete for its slipping share reduced the pricing way down to $37. By then, most populace of Thailand, who hadn't even seen a PC before had gotten way too comfortable using Linux.

On the cell-phone side, with companies like Motorola and Philips working diligently on introducing low-cost handsets, the pricing model for developing countries shall dictate who makes the best of these growing economies.

Wi-Fi, WiMax and Mesh

With the recent wave of cities in US looking at blanketing themselves in Wi-Fi, the surge of expectations for WiMax and the doubts surrounding it, the future of Wi-Fi and WiMax, I have been trying to follow-up at my best and understand what all of these mean.

Wi-Fi has established itself pretty strongly in terms of residential wireless networks, hotspots at cafes, airports, hotels and now, the Munis. WiMax, with all its promises is being looked upon as the next DSL/Cable alternative. It is important to note that WiMax has two parts to it - fixed and mobile. While, all the activity is around the fixed wireless alternative aka 802.11d-2004, what folks are glued on is the mobile WiMax - 802.11e. While mobile WiMax is slated to hit the markets "sometime" in 2007, there has been a lot of activity with companies installing and trying out pre-WiMax (fixed wireless) equipment. WiMax touts an ideal speed of 75 Mbps and a range of 30 miles. Whether this comes to pass is yet to be seen.

Next, Mesh networking has lately been gaining a lot of ground in wireless networking technology. Very broadly and loosely explained, a Mesh networking device is a wireless device that carries out two functions. One of them is what actually all wireless devices do - connected to their backbone (be it a DSL modem or cell base station), they send and receive their data. Second is where the Mesh topology comes in. A Mesh device also acts as a routing node for other Mesh devices. Elements of Mesh networks engage in a symbiotic relationship. While single point of failures are eliminated, Mesh devices communicate with each other to route their data to the final destination or the backbone. Two interesting developments proving the practicality and benefits of Mesh networking I came across - first, Motorola Mesh networked Buffalo, MN - a small town. And second, a fine article on how Mesh helped revive the WLAN solution in Athens, Georgia that was setup by its University students.

The Wi-Fi cloud located in rural Oregon exemplifies a lot of these. Spanning 700 square miles, it harnesses the convergence of Wi-Fi and WiMax (albeit, pre-), and uses Mesh networking to route data between different wireless Access Points (AP). As it substantiates the value of WiMax, especially in rural/remote areas as an alternative to DSL, the story here also talks about the limiting political factors in the easy adoption of these technologies.

Biometric payment solutions

I recently read a story (turned out that it was from last year) about Columbian banks launching Biometric ATMs. It appears that biometrics has been steadily gaining ground, especially in countries where identity thefts are soaring. I have had an opportunity to see biometric authentication at a company that expects fingerprints to log you onto the system. However, US, out of privacy concerns mainly, has been lagging behind in the introduction and adoption of biometrics in mainstream usage. That, seems to be in for a change.

October saw the annoucement of Pay By Touch, a company rolling out biometric payment solutions as a novel way of paying for groceries, good and other services. As this article in The Mercury News (free registration) notes, the company has already rolled out their Biometric payment solution in a couple of hundred stores on the East coast. From the same piece, here is how the Pay By Touch payment solution works:

Customers sign up once, by registering a checking account or a credit card, and showing government identification such as a driver's license. The Pay by Touch technology records the lines and ridges of their fingerprints, and translates the data into a numerical algorithm that is stored in a secure database. The customers thereafter never have to carry a wallet or purse back to the store, and can use their finger to pay for goods across the Pay By Touch network, which now includes stores in 10 states.

Keeping fingers crossed!

New Songdo - ubiquity in action

Its been a while since I wanted to post this. New Songdo is South Korea's dream of the future. Planned 40 miles outside of Seoul this city is all about ubiquity. Blanketed with RFID, smartcards, video-conferencing and unified systems, this city dreams of being the test base for future technology, the centre of trade between US/Europe and Asia and as its site boasts, a self-sufficient city. The city is a $25 billion project, touted as the most expensive private real-estate stuff ever. Check out New Songdo's impressive website for what's to come. However, with the excitement, a word of caution. The timeline is 2014.

Some references below:

* techdirt.com

* Engadget

* nytimes.com

Google, Comcast and AOL

Interesting what one learns from these news. Today, the story making headlines is about Google and Comcast joining their hands to get a stake in AOL. This comes on the lines of Microsoft eyeing AOL. I was wondering what guided this deal.

To give a little backgrounder, 99% of Google's revenue comes from advertising. Its those Google ad columns that people include on their website as non-intrusive listings. Whenever someone visiting a site, clicks on Google's Ads, its a source of revenue for Google. Having said that, I was surprised to find that a good part of Google's business came from AOL. Google powers AOL's search. Here is what a Yahoo News article states:

Any deal between AOL and MSN could threaten Google, since AOL is major contributor to Google's thriving Internet ad business, accounting for 11 percent of Google's $2.6 billion in revenue during the first half of this year.

AOL leads the IM subscriber pack with 51.5 million AOL IM users in the US. Microsoft IM trails behind with around 24 million users and Yahoo with around 21 million. Thats where MS and Yahoo joined hands to make their combined presence of Yahoo and MSN cater to 49.5 million of their joint users.

I also found while referring to the news on this deal is - Yahoo is the no. 1 Internet website. AOL comes at second. Refer to this article for more.

AOL is the Internet's No. 2 Web site network with 112 million U.S. visitors last month, trailing Yahoo (YHOO.O: Quote, Profile, Research) with 123 million.

Dark Fiber and DWDM

Speculation of Google's national network owing to its buying of Dark Fiber and recent news about Google seeking vendors for DWDM implementations had raised my curiousity on what these terms mean.

Dark Fiber is essentially, optical fiber laid out by huge network companies in anticipation of a surging bandwidth demand during the 90s, but was never used or "lighted up". Hence the term, Dark Fiber.

Today optical fiber alongwith DWDM has become much cheaper and is hence eyed by enterprises to build their own networks. As this article from lightreading enlightens, now with optical fiber and DWDM technology becoming inexpensive, combined with the surge in anticipation of VoIP and IP-based applications, enterprises are seriously considering the option of their own networks.

For me, this explains a lot on the feasibility of Google's move. Stated below is an excerpt from the article which explains the contribution for the toning down of the cost of optical fiber. It now makes the picture clear to me.

Which brings us to fiber: It’s now substantially cheaper than it was in
1999. In the shadow of the bubble, huge global networks like Global Crossing Inc. (Nasdaq: GLBC - message board) and Group Telecom/360Networks went bankrupt. Through the process of reorganization, they were able to shed billions of dollars of debt and clean up their balance sheets. With that debt wiped clear, we were left with global fiber networks that now were available for pennies on the dollar.

For those curious about DWDM, here are some pointers:

1. A Webopedia definition
2. A tutorial from IEC
3. Detailed article on DWDM, applications and advantages from Cisco

Nintendo DS and USB Wireless router

So Nintendo DS owners who do not own a wireless router can now plug in Nintendo's USB dongle which is actually a wireless router. Attach the Wi-Fi dongle to the USB port of your DS, navigate through the screens to connect to your PC and Internet connection, and you are on your way using the DS online.

More from engadget below:
http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000913061983/

Sharp's dual angled display

Sharp has come up with a dual angled display. For now, it has found its utility in car navigation systems, where the driver sees the GPS, while the accompanying rider could be watching a movie - both on one single display. Its the angle doing the trick. Dont know if and how well this may take off, nevertheless, surely some technology here.

More on engadget.

Why blog?

Why do we blog. We blog to express. But just like me, there are many who like anonymity. We like anonymity because we do not like to be judged. For each one of us, it always takes time to open up. And then, while blogging, its about the challenge to open to a vast audience. We want the kudos from the audience, but we don’t want to be judged. We have always learned to express ourselves with those we confide in. Its because we know them. There is a level of trust built in. We communicate at different levels with different people. We decide to open up, partially, fully, circumstantially or not at all depending upon the trust relationship we establish with people.

I don’t think one should be blogging because everyone does. Blogging is a medium of expression. But then, so is Notepad. I don’t have to blog if I just want to write notes to myself. I can do that very well in my Notepad. Blog, as I have learnt, is a publishing medium. I have realized this after a very long time and after a lot of internal strife. I don’t want to be blogging just because everyone is doing it. I have to be realistic about the fact that, as soon as I start "publishing", it gives rise sooner than later to an inquisitiveness to find out if anyone is reading it. And unless I am not really sure what I am blogging for, I may just be doing it to keep the page updated and please the audience. While publishing mediums may have different motives and aims, blogging as such has an unwritten classification of it being a medium of self-expression. People may then get interested in your views or they may not. Given that, you may have a following or you may not. It is important to remind myself from time to time about this. That blogging is a publishing medium aimed at self-expression. However it is also a stage where you are performing. And that there cannot be a performance without an audience. The challenge is to be resolute about expressing yourself without getting biased by the audience. At the same time, be open enough to recognize if you have one. That sure is walking a tight-rope.

Google, Sun and utility computing?

Its been all over. Google and Sun shaking hands on more than what meets the eye. My feelings are that all the talk about Sun hardware and the Google toolbar being packaged with JRE is all crap. Google and StarOffice/OpenOffice.org tie-up makes sense given the speculations that Google may be soon coming up with a webified suite of applications. Seeing the types of Zimbra, that boasts a online collaboration suite, its only a matter of time as Google brings OpenOffice to a web-based reality.

Adding to all the speculations, it just occured to me that the tie-up between Google and Sun may well be a long-term step to bring the WebOS ideas to reality. If Google is fighting MS to look at Web as the OS, it may well be looking at Sun's utility computing initiative to provide the computational power needed for its applications (more than just calendar, word-processing etc.) hosted on its web. Given the spread of Google in areas ranging from VoIP, GoogleTV, Google Wi-Fi, it sure is dreaming big. And Web is the turf that Google can out-play MS on.

After all, Google and Sun share the vision of making the Web your computer.

Google's dark plans

This thing really stunned me. I have been hearing speculations on Google's plans for a national network. Its now been a few months since I have heard about Google buying dark fiber. But this article I came across today on ZDNet left me awed. As is pointed out in the article, talking to Joe Kraus, founder of Excite.com, Google has been buying dark fiber for a good five years. Now that, is something to me! They sure have the whole game charted out.

Fuel cells

Interesting. Toshiba has prototyped what is called Direct Methanol Fuel Cells (DMFC - damn, one more acronym) and initiated tests with their mobile audio players.

An excerpt from the story by NE Asia:

The 100mW unit, similar in shape and size to a pack of gum at a 23 (W) x 75 (L)
x 10mm (D), can power the Flash-based player for approximately 35 hours on a
single 3.5ml charge of highly concentrated methanol, the fuel that drives the
electricity-producing chemical reaction in the fuel cell. The 300mW unit is 60 x
75 x 10mm and delivers enough power to keep an HDD-based audio player running
for approximately 60 hours on a single 10ml charge.

Pioneer's technology for 3D drawing

Now thats what I call "technology". Damn, its such an over-used term today.

Pioneer has announced a technology which makes use of a 3D camera and spatial sensors to allow a designer to draw in our 3 dimensional space and then have it displayed back to screen. With every day passing, isnt one-time fiction starting to shape into reality?

Via Engadget