Thursday, February 28, 2013

~ Next Gen Devices ~

The future of technology is heading towards integrating computing with regular consumer oriented devices, to make the daily chores easy. 

We have been hearing a lot about Smarter Homes & Cities. Smarter Home, is more or a networked world of Refrigerator, Washing machine, Climate control, Lighting control, et al, being controlled the way one wants through a pre-configured settings or via a Smartphone application.

There are many companies who already offer these lifestyle solutions. However, these solutions are still not affordable for most of us. There are companies who are making affordable Next Generation products, some of them have been adopted many people. While some of the products, like Google Glass, is still trying to find the middle ground of how to remain unobtrusive.

Following are some of the products which are interesting, by their own. We could build interesting mashups via integration.


 







Let me know if you are aware of other smart devices out there.


Sunday, February 24, 2013

~ Survival ~


Now that all the fervor over the Maha Kumbh Mela has stopped in the media & social media, a strange thought occurred, what do the Sadhus do in their daily lives. What do they do for survival? How do they earn their food?

I wonder what the sadhus do everyday for daily survival to show up in such large numbers every 12 years. Guess the daily needs for a Naga sadhus are minimal - food, water & weed - when compared to others on the planet.

I would like to read what they do for living to source their food. Assuming that they can get Water & Weed without any cost :)

Photo: Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images

Thursday, February 21, 2013

~ Wrecked once again ~

We are bombed at will. No hope w/ politicians nor the police. State vs Centre. Intelligence vs Police. In Incredible India we the people suffer.


Monday, February 18, 2013

~ Midway: A butterfly effect ~

As the name suggests, Midway is a an island which is equidistant between Americas & Asia. According to wikipedia,

"Midway Atoll is a critical habitat in the central Pacific Ocean. A number of native species rely on the island which is now home to 67–70% of the world's Laysan Albatross population, and 34–39% of the global Black-footed Albatross." More here.

You must be thinking as to what ticked me to write about Midway & Butterfly effect. The current state of Midway should be an eye opener for all the Humans. We are should be ashamed for the tragedy we have caused for those beautiful birds out there.

Watch the video to know what am referring to. This would be an ideal case for explaining Butterfly effect to anyone.



As citizens of the planet, I hope we have to live responsibly. More so because we RANK higher up the food chain & have come command over every other species known to us. If the above video doesn't suffice, I suggest you to watch the documentary titled Home. I bet you will be shattered to know what we HUMANS have done to our Earth.


{ Click the above image to watch }




Saturday, February 16, 2013

~ IIPM strikes back ~


IIPM like the founder, Mr Chaudhuri, needs lime-light to stay in the business. Never come across any educational institution in India which has been in the news for all the wrong reasons for about 8 years & counting.

IIPM was the hot topic back in 2005 from the blogosphere for the way they operate and take the students for a spin. If you google you will find a lot of them talking about it & few students have even taken them to courts. Back in 2005 we never had the mainstream media cover the topic. Things have changed over the last couple of years. The Caravan & Career 360 have been reporting about the same and are entangled in a legal battle with IIPM at various states of India.

Here is an extract from Live Mint article

The Caravan editor Anant Nath said, “Our biggest concern is that DoT has taken this action by itself. We haven’t been informed about this notice. In the conventional course, we expect it to inform the said media houses. So, at the first instance, we will take this matter up with DoT itself, and if further needed, we will take legal action also.” 

Maheshwar Peri, publisher of Careers360 magazine, said, “It is outrageous. We will reply to the notice and may explore a contempt case.”


IIPM have got the gag order from the court to block 78 URLs which speaks truth (oops! negatively) about their institution. Looks the think tank @ IIPM don't seem to get it right. Unlike 2005, people have exploded from Blogosphere to Social Media {read twitter, facebook, g+, etc}. In the age of technology you cannot restrict access to information from people. 

As Gaurav puts it "Remember, truth never hurts those who are right."

Updates:

1. Mr Chaudhuri has responded officially on the defamatory links being blocked or removed here.
2. Shehla Rashid has a good post DoT blocked URLs- Analysis and History
3. Vivek Kaul has a good take Arindam Chaudhuri is the Subrata Roy of the MBA business

Source: LiveMint | MediaNama | FirstPost | My Old Post | Gaurav Sabnis | Faking News | IIPM's Rs500-Million Lawsuit Against The Caravan
Image Source: FakingNews

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

~ Manufacturing in the US is a mirage ~



I had few glimpses of #SOTU {State of the Union} address by Obama from my Twitter TL {Time Line}. Of the many things being said, one particular statement caught my attention 



There might be intent and zeal to get more manufacturing jobs back from China into the US. Absolutely nothing wrong with the idea. Financially, I do not think Apple will take this road to reduce its profits nor the sales.

Why this would remain a distant dream:
  1. Apple products do not come cheap even in the US. They are priced commodities compared to the competitive products in the market. 
  2. The current pricing model cannot be sustained if manufactured in the US.
  3. If the prices go up, will consumers still buy Apple or look at other options? 
  4. A company like Apple would never like to loose out revenue. Mr Jobs himself had made a statement that it would be nearly impossible to get the manufacturing of their products back to the US.


Google, Apple's asymmetric competitor, took the audience at annual Android event by surprise when they announced the Nexus Q, a streaming device which would be "Made in USA". 8 months after the hyped launch Google has already lost the plot with Nexus Q. They has killed it. What could be the reason?

Cost. Cost. Cost. 

Which consumer would like to pay $300 when you have options starting at $99 & above. That speaks a lot about what consumers really think. They are concerned about economy than "Made in USA". China has the grip over manufacturing sector. Even India has begun sourcing many consumer products from China these days. 

When Obama asked Jobs how to bring all the iPhone manufacturing jobs back to the United States. {via NYT}

“Those jobs are gone,” Jobs is said to have snapped back, like a professor to a student who hadn’t done his homework, “And they’re not coming back.” according to Forbes.

Unless Apple has a decent Wages-Cost ratio strategy up it's sleeve for their products that are manufactured in the US; till then it would remain a mirage for Obama & Apple.

I would like someone from the media to pose this question to Tim Cook at some point of time to know how Apples plans achieve this. Thought Obama was a thinker & who did his ground work before addressing. However, this time around makes me think that he is no better than any other politician who is seen making grand promises.

Charles Fishman has an article 'The Insourcing Boom' in the December issue of The Atlantic, which I would like to read. #Longread

Update:
The Atlantic has a good summary of reaction from various people here.

Image source: MrBrill

Monday, February 11, 2013

~ iWatch you ~



The rumor is that Apple is gonna bring another consumer product. This time around they have plans of making your watch smarter. Am sure you guessed it right with the name they have iWatch.

Am sure the device would be a reality very soon from the coverage it is getting from various media houses, NYT & WSJ being more prominent.


The idea of a smart watch would be a childhood dream come true for many. Personally, I think this device is an overkill in a market where we already have too many smart devices - Phones, Music Players, TVs, Tablets, Notebooks, etc. I wouldn't have the need to buy it as I already have a Smartphone. 


What do you think about the following 
  1. Aren't there too many smart devices already out there
  2. Would you buy one
  3. Is there a need for one
Here is the coverage on the device - GigaOM | NYT | WSJ | DataMotion | Mike Elgan has covered much more here

Concept illustration courtesy of ADR Studio

Sunday, February 10, 2013

~ Aero India 2013 ~

Am happy for having made to another edition of Aero India held at Bangalore. Off the 9 editions so far, I have missed one edition. This time though made it to the 2nd day of the event. 

The 9th edition was more of achieving self-reliance in the defence sector focused. LCH, Tejas MK I, Rustom UAV, Rudra showcased the indigenous capabilities of various Indian defence industries. However, the engine of Tejas MK I isn't indigenous. Time NAL does something about it to call it Indigenous.

There were performances from Dassault Rafale {which is still in pursuit for the huge deal from Indian Airforce}, USAF F16 {read that they flew from the Japan airbase}, Red Bull Racing {Radka Machova was the limelight of the press}, Rostum, Embraer, Sarang Team, Rudra, LCH, IAF's Sukhoi, Russian Knights {only on 4th & 5th days of the show}. Last but not least, Tiger Moth, Indian AirForce's first fighter has been maintained in mint condition.

My clicks from the 2nd Day of the Air Show. Hope you like them.























The only disappointment was I couldn't witness Russian Knights formations. They arrived only on the 3rd day of Aero India. They did put up a performance yesterday & today. Enjoy the performance of Russian Knights here.