Love Google's Doodle on Indian Election Results Day

Cast your vote at Project 10^100

[Its been a case of blogger's block. The good news is, I seem to be on my way out of it.]

Last September, I had written about Google's 10 to the power 100 initiative.

Well, it seems the good folks inside googleplexes have had their super-fill of ideas which they've whittled down to 16 and now they want your vote on it. Do click the link below to cast your vote.
http://www.project10tothe100.com/vote.html

Interesting to note: "Build better banking tools for everyone" figures in as one among the top 16 needs. Folks have suggested using the reach of mobile telephony to do this. Hmm... sounds familiar! we've been trying to do that all along- glad to hear the world echo the thought :).

[Now you know why we're called EKO]

Now you can track your lost mobile phone! - Google Latitude

In May 2008, I had posted about how great it would be if Google Maps (Mobile) would add the capability for users to 'Sign In' to the service since that would automatically add the capability to track one's mobile phone, if lost; without even needing to have a GPS capable handset.

Well, finally - its here! As an update to existing Google Maps Mobile, it is not primarily intended to help you when you're 'lost' but to share your location with your family and friends, in real time!

Its called Google Latitude. Check it out! As usual, here's the YouTube video intro:

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 ;)

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 :).

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.

---

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.
...

---

...(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)

6+ Essential Software Tools for a startup that cost zero

If you're a startup starting up or planning to be one, here's a handy list of stuff that could help you bootstrap - the bare essentials. Trust me, its just another one of those lists - but one that I can vouch for. So if you have a better one, you're welcome, just add a link to your list in the comments section. My advice - don't use pirated software, either buy original stuff or search the web for a free alternative (there always is)

1. The Ubuntu way.
If you have a decent PC and zilch account balance, just close your eyes and take an Ubuntu leap of faith. Ubuntu is a great Linux distro that more-or-less works straight out of the box. Just check out how you could get it for free! The best part is that if you go the Ubuntu way - you might as well stop reading right here cause it packs in quite a lot of the 'good' stuff you'd need.

2. The WindowsXP way.
I'm no fan of Windows Vista to put it mildly, if you intend to go the Windows way, better take the simpler and well trodden path of Windows XP. This option of course comes with a price tag.


a. Mozilla Firefox
The best free browser - period. Trusted by millions others, one of the best outcomes of the open-source world. Get Firefox here. Its an excellent replacement for the slightly rusty Internet Explorer (which has been desperately trying to play catchup).

b. Mozilla Thunderbird
A real lightweight email client for your desktop, of course, sans the bells and whistles of the Outlook Express clan. But, it works and it works real fast and real good. Get Thunderbird here.


c. OpenOffice
Of course it lacks the bells and whistles of Microsoft Office! But, come on, you're a startup and don't have a boatload of cash to spend on purchasing licenses. With a document editor, a presentation maker, spreadsheet util and other few other tools thrown in - OpenOffice is a real bargain for the price you pay for it (ZERO). Whats really good about it is you can always read documents that had been saved in MS formats and you can Save As MS .doc, .xls, .ppt. Also, you can seamlessly export any document as .pdf with a single click!

d. Google Apps

Welcome to the connected world. To get your startup off its feet and into the mindshares of potential employees, investors, partners, clients and customers, you need a communication and collaboration tools. Thats what a set of apps - Google Apps does.
The best thing about google apps - gmail for your company. Its a really reliable mail server which gives your team a fully functional, online, yourname@yourcompany.com kindof email suite (which you can use with Mozilla Thunderbird as well). Goodbye tinkering with boxes trying to set up your own mail server and wondering why your email never reached its recipient.

e. Tortoise, Subversion
Now, this one is for those who might be slightly tech oriented, but trust me, this is one tool that can save you bucket-loads of tears when things go wrong with your PCs or you do things like SHIFT+DEL with that critical source code file or you accidentally delete your most famous quote from the document that you had put in a day before (these things, let me assure you - they will! - amen, says Murphy)

So, viola! we have a free version control system. What this means is that you can now track all changes you made to any file or folder, have multiple people modifying the same file but in different geo-locations and still maintain perfect sanity.

It essentially consists of two parts:
- Subversion, - the server, which you can install either on your own computer (that means it will only function as a limited tracker - sorry folks, no collaborations this way- to each his own) or on a server that could be accessed by all folks in your team.

- TortoiseSVN. A Windows client shell that makes all your subversion tasks as easy as a right click on any file you might want to be 'subversioned'.


Integrated Development Environment
This ones for all ye developers out there. If you're already a developer, I'd bet you already have your fav toolbox with you. But in case you're still undecided or want to choose a uniform one for your organization; pls make a pick else, as google reader often tells me - you'd better land here.

f.1 Netbeans
It says its the "The only IDE you need! Runs on Windows, Linux, Mac OS X and Solaris.... Supports: Ajax | C/C++ | Databases | Debugger |Java EE | JavaFX | Java ME | Java SE | JavaScript | Mobile | PHP | REST | Rich Client Platform | Ruby | SOA | SOAP | UML | Web | WSDL | XML". We'd used it extensively for mobile app development and apart from the fact that it needs a good amount of RAM, Netbeans rocks!

f.2 Eclipse
Eclipse is considered a more mature IDE of two and has its loyal base of users with many companies coming up with their own custom Eclipse IDE to do different things.

Well, that brings me to the end of my list though there are a couple of tools that only a pure techie would need and would rather try n figure out on his/ her own. I think with this you have just about everything essential to get started. So - get started!

'Encyclopaedia Britannica' as a measurement unit

You might have come across descriptions such as this-
"such and such thing....can store the equivalent of 10000 Encyclopedia Britannicas in one square millimeter ..."
Amazing :) - I regularly come across such expressions in almost every memory related electronic/ software description. In this google-wikipedia-(and knol - is already called a unit of knowledge) age, the good ol' encyclopedia has been reduced to a measurement unit ;). I'd propose- the International Standards Organization come up with an official unit named 'EB' which could either be a unit of Mass (those books are pretty bulky) or Memory (enough of KiloBytes!) :)

Tracking a lost mobile phone - google map mobile?

I love the google maps mobile app and its 'My Location' feature - hats off to the innovators at google!

I have an interesting idea . Here are the factors:

1. I known MANY people who have lost their expensive Blackberrys etc

2. On a Blackberry and many new handhelds, where google map is installed; it can run in the background.

3. My Location feature can track my phone down to the nearest 1000m radius, even if the phone does not have GPS capability!!! ('... takes information broadcast from mobile towers near you to approximate your current location on the map to find your location' - whoa!)

4. Most people already have a google account - so they could sign-in to 'their' google maps.

Put all these ingredients together and viola! you have a lost phone tracker!

In case someone who uses google maps on the phone (signed in using google sign-on) and accepts their 'My Location' to be archived; he could be log in to google maps from any computer and that would tell him (and law enforcement, if required) a good approximation to catch the culprit (or simply find the phone - that you might have forgotten at a restaurant).

I really wish Google can get this running (I had made this post on their forum quite some time back) and I can ensure they'll have thousands of happy customers.

Gphone , Android and the Open Handset Alliance

I hereby 'relay' announce 'the' Mobile Revolution - The quiet November Storm - as I hope this initiative will be known down the lane by future generations (and I thought iPhone was the coolest thing for the year)

What is really unnerving is the false sense of calm (say, viz. the Apple Way) that seems to accompany the announcement. This IS the most understated product announcement I have come across. Well, Google being Google does not really have to try hard ;-). Here's the link to the official google blog:
Official Google Blog: Where's my Gphone?

And if you've got time, you might as well check out this cute video on the Open Handset Alliance:


Here's a gist of what has/is to happen:

• The 'Gphone' that the enthusiasts had speculated has arrived! albeit as quoted from their intro video "as a cool moniker for 'Android' ".
• Android heralds the Open Handset Alliance. A consortium of the top stars in the mobile manufacturing ecosystem.
• What this means to developers - An absolutely OPEN, FLEXIBLE and POWERFUL mobile software platform. WOW!
• So if I now want to make a mobile phone exclusively for my dog which uses barks as dial commands and special barks as ringtones and runs a dating service for dogs in the locality - I should be able to.
• There will be no such thing as a lowly limited third party app! Every app will be as good as a native app and anyone can add/remove modules to one's satisfaction.
• So - move over Symbian, MS, iPhone and what not, make way for the Android. (Hmm..., sorry guys hold on a while longer - even the OHA SDK is slated to be released only by November 12 - the devices themselves... - we'll figure out along the way :-) )

And here's one introducing Android (which had been acquired by Google)



Three Cheers!