Google wants your IDEA!

Project 10¹⁰⁰

All ye web void fellas,
Bin 10 years since Google's bin foolin 'round with yer surrchs and clix,
Now, it wants your Ideas!
Yea you heard it damn rite
Callit Project 10 to the 100 or somethin,
They've kept $10 mill to cook it if it smells good,
Well beware, in case yer think it will make yer dollah rich or somethin,
It will make yer rich only in 'Karma' points.

Ye wanna make a better world? Watch this tube-shot of what its all about in googlespeak:


So, do you have an idea to gift baby google (the world) ? Submit your entry by 10th October.

As they say, 'May those who help the most win!' Seriously, if you have a great idea that would've anyway stayed in your closet, go ahead and give it a chance :)

In case you have no ideas and no way to kill a few minutes, try Google Genesis ;)

B2BC again. Hello, this is your phone speaking

Well, another news that reinforces my projection that the ultimate mobile interfaces will be neural in nature. Do check out my previous posts on what I think the future of communications will be. I call it B2BC.

Textually.org reports Brain Controlled Cell Phones. This time its a company called 'NeuroSky'.

Here's how it works (image courtesy: NeuroSky):

Whats really interesting about NeuroSky is the fact that they seem to offer Developer APIs and Kits. That's one helluva right move which could unleash unlimited creativity. I mean, if they had closed up the tech wishing to make all the applications by themselves, there would have been only as much as they could do (how many maverick employees can they have? A hundred odd perhaps? How many enthusiast mavericks are out there in the wild on the net? A couple a hundred thousand perhaps!) . Well, we should now be seeing more applications of this technology. I wish I had more time on my hands- I'd have definitely ordered one of those! If you are an electronics or software enthusiast/ student and are looking forward to a 'different' kinda project - you know what you need to do :). Do let me know how you get along, please.

VC with a Funny-bone

We have seen (/ at least heard of) VCs of different shapes and sizes - tall, short, dark, fair, frank, unfrank, angel, devil, good, bad and ugly. I hereby reveal a VC with a funny bone! Yup, finally, a Venture Capitalist with a good sense of humor :) - its called Tandem Entrepreneurs.
(Disclaimer: I only know them through their website)

Their website is peppered with Cartoons that get the point across to the reader without wasting words and time. Cute, to-the-point and well - very visual.
The following image, for instance hogs their front-page (courtesy: tandementrepreneurs):


Appearances could be deceptive! but I couldn't resist talking about them here. Full marks for 'engaging' a potential entrepreneur's attention, appearing friendly and approachable.

AllTop!

AllTop is a different way of looking at the way we interact with the internet. Simply put, its a directory of all the 'top' active (rss feed based) content on the web. 'Top' though has an entirely different perspective at AllTop. Do visit the about section of AllTop to know the story behind it.

Anyways, the badge above states what it means - kicks ass ;).

Btw...here's the more interesting bit - I got the confirmation email from none other than Guy Kawasaki himself!!! :) I wouldn't have been happier if Super-man himself had sent me a postcard when I was a kid ;-).

Wish you all a great week ahead. And before I forget, do checkout 'Tech News' and the 'India' section when you visit AllTop. Ciao!

Delhi blast

We had just finished watching the movie Aamir (a movie with a terrorist bombing story) and were on our way to Nehru Place when our friends and family phoned in to ask if we were alright. Thank God we were lucky not being in one of those places one of those times - a hundred other Delhiites, no different from us were unfortunately not. Pray that the families who lost their loved ones find peace and those injured recover soon.

Planting bombs that kill or maim innocents is a cowardly act that helps no cause, religious or otherwise. But yes, it spreads terror and I guess that's what the perpetrators want.

I wish India could form a well funded, really professional and technologically advanced team to gather intelligence and make investigations. The state of affairs as it appears to a lay person like me (and I could be wrong) is that given resources, anything is possible here and one can get away with it. It seems too huge and too populous for any agency to keep an eye on.

Delhi on Phone

What if you just stepped out on the road and wanted to find a good Punjabi restaurant at Delhi without spending a paise?
Google lab says (yes its google, again) :

Dial from any phone
1-800-41-999-999
(toll free)

And it will even SMS you back the info! So does that mean good-bye Just-Dial? - perhaps the only other 'known' but un-free option? - Would love hear someone opine more on this.

Now, what if just stepped out on the road and wanted to find the best road route (Delhi) from Nehru Place to the International Airport? (note: this is an un-free option) Thats where RouteGuru helps

SMS from your mobile
rg Source to Destination

eg: rg Nehru Place to International Airport
56767
(not toll free)

There's something more you get gratis with routeguru- the estimated auto fare. So, make sure the auto guys don't take you for a ride :).

Wish you a Happy Onam

Onam (Do click this wiki link to read the interesting mythology behind it) in essence is the harvest festival of Kerala -a beautiful coastal state on the southern tip of India.
This place is really green and is a good destination to 'reset' yourself, just in case you feel you need a break.

Me's proud to be a Keralite :)

Wish you a Happy Onam!

Genesis of the Google World

Google seems to be taking over the web in ways that I could not have imagined! so much so that I get a feeling it is almost playing 'God' on the web ;). The following verses have been penned in a fit of web-vine inspiration.

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From the book of Genesis, of the World Wide Web.

Chapter 1.

In the beginning, folks created the Computer and then the Internet. The Web was then formless and dark, but Google's thoughts were already moving fast over it. Google said, "Let there be a good search engine" and there was a good search engine. Folks saw that search was good and separated information from the junk. Folks called the search Google and everything else Crap. There were ripoffs and other vain attempts, but they passed, to bring about the second day.

Then Google thought, "Let all the emails be gathered in one place and let unlimited storage appear", and it was so. Google called the emails GMail and everything else Spam. Folks saw that it was good.

Then Google said, "Let Google sprout Advertisements, links yielding clicks and pages bearing targeted ads of their kind"; and it was so. The search and pages brought forth eyeballs, eyeballs clicks and clicks dollars and Google saw that it was good. There were ripoffs and other vain attempts, but they passed, to bring about the third day.

Then Google said, "Let there be docs that folks could freely share over the expanse of the Internet"; and it was so. Google made these apps for documents and for presentations. They made one for Spreadsheets also. And Folks (including those at MS and Y!) saw that it was good. There were ripoffs and other vain attempts, but they passed, to bring about the fourth day.

Then Google said, "Let swarms of folks download apps on their PCs to talk freely over the internet and let there be more of social networking stuff flying around on the internet". Google created the GTalk app and Orkut and put them up everywhere it could. The mission was to "Multiply users, multiply clicks and multiply ad dollars". There were ripoffs and other vain attempts, but they passed, to bring about the fifth day.

Then Google said, "Let there be a google app for everything on the web, each according to its kind". And there was google news for the news hungry, a google Android for the mobile, a google blogspot for the bloggers, google maps for the way-trackers, sketchup for the sketchers, Earth for the desktop-globetrotters and even google Moon for the moon gazers". And Google saw that all this was really good :).

Then Google said, "Let us make the Browser in our own likeness/ liking, in our own web-form, and let it rule over ALL that is on the web - email, pages, blogs, maps - ALL". Google created the Browser in its own image and called it Chrome, for Windows and Macs (in the labs). Google funded the project and said, "Be fruitful and multiply, fill the web and subdue it, rule the MS of the desktops, FF and Y! of the internet and every living app on the web".

Then Google said, "Behold, I have given Chrome every dollar yielding ad source that is on the ether of the world wide web, they shall be click generators for it. Every web-app, every line of code shall freely live on java-script and cookies". Google saw all that it had made, and behold, it was very good. There were ripoffs and other vain attempts, but they passed, to bring about the sixth morning.

Chapter 2.

Thus the Internet and the Desktop were completed, and all their hosts. By the seventh day Google completed all the work and folks at Googleplex took a break and a few took a rest in their private islands in the Bahamas.
...

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...(They perhaps don't have a clue what monsters they have created! Whew, watch on folks! Anupam is tired re-creating the story of creation of the web, and wishes to take rest...zzz)

Eko nominated at Tata NEN Hottest Startups

Eko has been nominated for the TATA NEN Hottest Startups awards. Brought to you by National Entrepreneurship Network and TATA Group, in association with Helion, Mint , Seedfund and Wadhwani Foundation, it is India’s only community-chosen awards for Indian start-ups.

Vote for Eko online by clicking the link below: or via sms.
SMS HOT[space]85 to 56767.

If you are a startup yourself and want to be nominated, go right ahead and nominate your venture. I guess the last date is mid October.

A big thank you to all! Let the voting begin.