do watch the movie "Catch A Fire"

The quote which popped in to my head was "One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter"

When you look at any current world conflict remember this quote. It will put the conflict in a new light.

application [delivery] platform

Internet is maturing and moving to the next phase.

Technologies such as AJAX (AJAX is not really a technology, rather a technique), Adobe Flash, Flex and OpenLaszlo are transforming the Internet from platform to carry information (WWW) and deliver services such as email and file transfer to a full fledged application delivery platform. Internet is becoming a platform delivering applications (Rich Internet Applications) and the browser is becoming the platform for the user interface.

This concept has redefined the traditional view of application and their delivery. It also has redefined the development and maintenance of applications. Applications are not just a piece of software you buy as a CD and install and use it in your PC any more. The concepts of software as a service and Internet as an application platform both have powered each other and has turned the the concept of application on it' head.

Classic examples are the new Yahoo mail [which looks and function like a desktop based email client] and Google services such as online spreadsheet and word processing. There are plenty of other Rich Internet application examples. But these two clearly demonstrate the transition of traditional desktop application based functionality to online functionality.

There are several browser-based "operating systems" or "online desktops" are also starting to appear. But these have to mature a little bit more.

Contrary to popular belief, Internet as an application platform is NOT as same as Web 2.0. Internet as an application platform enabled the delivery of Web-based applications and desktops and Rich Internet applications which are part of Web 2.0.

IE 7 should come with a warning...

IE 7 should come with a warning "To be used only in a super computer". Ok, that statement was bit of an exaggeration. But this is what I went through while installing IE 7 on a decently speced Toshiba Laptop.

• While I was downloading IE in the background, I just couldn't do any work in the foreground. The system just slowed down.
• The download was so big. It's strange, Microsoft's own IE is so big compared to the third-party browser Firefox.
• It took ages to load up for the first time
• It crashed while I was going through the initial configuration (once I loaded IE for the first time).
• When I am running IE it seems to bog the system down. Again, Firefox runs faster than native IE.

I haven't used it long enough to do a thorough review. But, I do like the slick new interface and the way it allow previews of the open tabs. I am not so sure about the ClearType (font smoothing). Some sites don't look good with font smoothing.

The oh-so-simple interface and the vast array of add-ons makes picking Firefox over IE a no brainer.

Another strange little reason why I prefer Firefox:
Long time ago someone thought me a very simple trick to beat the annoying and band-width hogging Flash ads embedded in the web pages. Find out the host name of the ad-server and add them to the host file and map it to the IP 127.0.0.1. This is a very simple way to block out the ads and hosts which drop tracker cookies.
This trick has a side effect in IE, if a page with embedded (blocked) ads is loaded in a browser, a DNS error will replace the ad space. This is expected as the adserver hosts are now being remapped to localhost [and I don't have a web server running on localhost]. But in IE, if I click back button it doesn't go back to the previous page. If the page has 5 blocked ads, I have to click the back button 5 times before I can go beck to previous page.
This issue doesn't exist in Firefox. Just one click will take me to the previous page regardless of number of ads blocked. Hmm.....

(at last) consumers get what they want...

It's another nail in the coffin for the album and may spell the end of the music "megastore". Victorians are now able to walk into a store, cherry-pick individual songs from albums using an ATM-like "digital kiosk" and make their own compilation CD. Video clips are also available. Read the full article...

I think this is a great idea. The reason I hardly bought any CDs is, to get couple of tracks I really want I had to pay for the whole album and buy a whole load of tracks I never wanted in the first place. It' quite amazing in a consumer oriented economy -where consumer was the king-, record companies got away with forcing consumers to buy something they really wanted.

With the digital music downlaods, the consumer finally gained control of what he/she is buying and paying for. This new service will address the consumer segment who can't/don't want buy music online.

It's quite ironic considering illegal music downlading is what twisted record companies' arms to allow music downloads and paved way to legal music downloads and the whole shift in how we consume media.

In my opinion, next big step is widespread adaptation of movie downloads. In few years time CDs and DVDs will be obsolete.

ads targeting children should be banned

The fast food giant McDonalds has won the unenviable "Pester Power" gong for the second year running at The Parents Jury TV Food Advertising Awards. Full article...

I found McDonalds' comment "The food at McDonald's can be part of a balanced diet" hillarious.

Fast food companies are notorious for targeting children. Every time a movie comes out, they start giving small action figures with thier food. In my opinion, companies should not be allowed to target children.

is Google evil?

I ask this question after I came across following incidents recently

• Spotters poring over satellite images housed on the popular Google Earth service have spied what appears to be two topless sunbathers in the Dutch city of The Hague soaking up the rays. Full article...
• AOL published the details of 23 million searches made by 650,000 of its customers over three months this year. The searches were carried out by Google, from which AOL buys in its search functions. Full article

The second incident is not entirely Google's fault. But, collectively it made me think how much of a person's privacy is being infringed/invaded by Google. It makes me wonder if Google is not paying enough attention to the privacy issues or are they ignoring them in their pursuit to dominate the industry?

It's unfair to single out Google. All search engines are collecting information. But Google's sheer popularity and their raft of services makes them more vulnerable and of course their famous corporate motto "Don't be evil" attracts more scrutiny.

Earth from Above

A wonderful free open-air exhibition called Earth from Above is on at River Terrace, Federation Square from 14th September. Some amazing aerial photographs of Yann Arthus-Bertrand are displayed with very interesting facts about Sustainability.

Do check it out if you have time during the lunch hour.
http://www.federationsquare.com.au/index.cfm?pageID=16&viewDate=2006-9-1&eventID=467

For those who are not in Melbourne (I pitty the poor souls :o)) have a look at the website
http://www.yannarthusbertrand.com/index_new.htm (Flash intensive site)
http://www.yannarthusbertrand.com/yann2/affichage.php (HTML version)

mulit-touch screens

This is not only cool, IMO it will revolutionise the way we interact with the PC. It will change the whole concept of computer being a screen, keyboard and a mouse. This will take us one step closer to the natural human-computer interaction.

I hope this will become commercially available soon and all the OS vendors support this device. Can you imagine the possibilities?

Instead of orgnising the files and folder in your HDD, you will stack them on like you do on your desk. In my case, that's not entirely a good thing, considering my desk is always covered in junk. If I lay the screen on the desktop, I can take a piece of virtual paper, write on it using my finger, open a folder and file it in, as I do in real life. Photo albums can be handled as you handle a real album. The possibilities are limitless...

Playing Star Craft on screen will be so much easier compared to clicking the mouse.

it's not a painting....

.... it's a flooded forest west of Bucharest, Romania.

It's ironic nature can be so beautiful and destructive at the same time.

Picture © Associated Press

What's the big deal?

What is the big deal about Microsoft delaying the release of Vista? XP is still a stable and reliable platform-albeit with few security holes- and I am quite happy to continue using it. I am not sure what the fuss all about is. All the PCs are not going to grind to a halt if the Vista is not released on the announced date.

Everyone complains about MS not paying too much attention to security. But when they delay the product to improve the security they complain even more. Isn't it better to release a more secure OS than just try to meet a deadline? What going to be funny (for me, but certainly not for MS) is, even after the release, few will still complain Vista is unnecessarily loaded with features most of us are never going to use and it is a collusion between MS and Intel to force people in to buying more powerful hardware. In my opinion Microsoft has 2 main goals for Vista (Home User Version)

1. Turn the humble PC in to the entertainment hub and the centre of your household.
   Move the most expensive electronic device in your house from the study in the corner to the living room in the middle of your house. Make people look at a PC as the integral part of their life (this will have many worried about our increasing dependency in technology), rather than looking at a stand-alone device you switch on only when you need to send an email, type a letter or do your budget. This opens up a whole new revenue stream for MS (this will worry even more people). They can offer subscriptions services such as digital downloads (movies, music) and "software as service"


2. Challenge Apple in GUI area.
   Apple has always be known for their exceptional GUI. MS is borrowing many concepts from OS X (as usual) for Vista.

In both cases MS doesn't have much to worry about. Except for few projects like MythTV there are no other players in the Home Entertainment PC area. Apple is still expensive and doesn't have whole load of software available for it to attract mainstream PC users.

What MS have to worry about is, their sloppy track record when it comes to security and Linux becoming more and more popular (also due to Linux is becoming more and more user friendly). So, I think MS has done the right things by focusing on the quality rather than the due date.

Said that, MS has to lift it's game in the future. As, more nimble (at least for the moment) organisations such as Google are entering the domain dominated by MS, MS can't afford to lag behind anymore. Specially with Google's concept of "software as service" they can always release a service first and continually improve it. So, Google is going to have small mile stones, rather than one dead line. MS is going to find it difficult to compete if they still plan to sell software as "products". I suppose that's why MS has started Office Live.

The concept of software and the way we consume it and the way we use the computers is going to go through some dramatic changes in the future. It's going to be interesting times.

Happiness 101. Actually 1504

"At Harvard University this semester, students are flocking to a new class that
might give them some insight into the secret to happiness" ....

Thanks to Lolly for the link.

Did I say "bloody"?

Ooops... did I say bloody in my last post? That's it. UK is going ban my blog. My world conquering blog is going to bite the dust even before it had its first visitor.

If you are wondering what I am ranting about have a look at the new travel campaign by Australian Tourist Board, UK banning it.

For the uninitiated, some of the mild swear words are in fact part of the Aussie lingo and are not considered rude at all. It’s quite normal for a person to greet a long lost friend with a “Where the bloody hell have you been?” After all, we are talking about a country where one of the popular and award winning ad is….. a dog saying “bugger”. On my way home from work I just saw an ad on the back of a bus screaming “Bugger the gym in Broome” Just wondering what that ad was about.

So, we all were sitting here wondering “what the bloody hell is all this fuss about?” but after pondering on it for a while (maybe 5 seconds) we decided “Bugger them!!!” and went and grabbed a beer and turned the tele on to watch the cricket.

Mad man finally decides to join the rest of the world....

.... and enlighten the unsuspecting netizens with his rantings & ravings. Watchout!!! it's going to be messy.

About bloody time!!! I have been thinking about coding my own blogging system for ages. Why? because, I was once a software engineer and loves to write my own programs & watch them work and I am little bit nuts and always wants things to work the way I want. Not to mention I have an affinity to stay up late, which means I don't get up till the sun is really shining on my backside, which always gets me trouble with my employer. Once, I walked in to the office at noon :). Ahhhh.... the good old days. Can't do that anymore :( For a while, I actually had a rudimentary blogging system working and was hosting it in my own server. This was waaaaay before blogging became cool and Google and everyone else had a blogging tool. Due to a series of unfortunate events -I am being bit dramatic here, it was just due to me moving and changing the servers and just getting very busy- I lost this website and can't find it anymore.

Finally, I realised I am never going to write my own blogging system (or atleast not as good as this ones) and can think of million different ways to better spend my time. So here I am ranting an raving, most of the time taking detours from the main topic.

Don't you like detours? I always loves to take the scenic route.