Mouli's thoughts and musics over two decades
Some of us have been following the mud-slinging match that has been happening between Microsoft, Google, and Apple, in recent times. The scene is hot now, with the latest patent issue.
If you have not been followng this, MG Ziegler from techcrunch has a good piece on how it has panned out until now. Read it here.
According to the FT.com article that I just read, Google is phasing out any and all windows machines in its development environment. This is after the recent security issues that cropped from Chinese quarters. New joinees are given an option to either take a MAC OS machine or a linux box. Wow. Isnt that cool or what?
Employees wanting to stay on Windows required clearance from “quite senior levels”, one employee said. “Getting a new Windows machine now requires CIO approval,” said another employee.
Despite the ominous sounding complex title, what I am about to write, is something that almost everyone who owns a Nokia phone has encountered.
Try this:
1. Set your phone to lock key-pad after 10 seconds (or some small time)
2. Set your phone on vibrate mode.
3. Keep it on your desk, and walk away for 10 minutes.
4. Have your friend call you during this time.
In most Nokia phones, to lock or unlock your keypad, you need to press left key and *. But by habit, most people come back to their desk, click some arbitrary key, the screen glows, shows your wall paper, your time etc. But the phone will not show any symbol that you have missed calls! Now unlock your keypad, and bingo, you see that you have a missed call.
Should not the missed call be indicated, even when unlocked?? I have missed multiple missed calls this way. I do not think, that this is a limitation in the software, since, if you get a message, that shows up as an envelope, even when the keypad is locked. So I am pretty sure, the missed call can also be shown. I think it is just a design issue that has been overlooked.
Nokia / Symbian … Are you listening ?
Atlast our fav google apps are out of Beta !
But the best part is a new lab feature that these crazy geeks @ google have created.
Soothes the soul by putting the familiar beta sticker back on the Gmail logo. Very tongue in cheek 🙂
(via lifehacker)
Rumors of Google OS has been doing the rounds for quite some time. I just got this in my email – an NYTimes Flash News Report. And NO, it is not April 1st (April Fool).
Google Plans to Introduce a PC Operating System
In a direct challenge to Microsoft, Google is expected to
announce on Wednesday that it is developing an operating
system for a personal computer based on its Chrome browser,
according to two people briefed on Google’s plans.The move would sharpen the already intense competition
between Google and Microsoft, whose Windows operating system
controls the basic functions of the vast majority of personal
computers.
Wow. I am waiting for tomorrow.
NYTimes source.
Wow. Just saw the feature on the official gmail blog – and even tried if. Wow. It is BLAZING FAST. And the UI is also pretty slick. Do check it out.
Check out the official gmail blog post here.
Google has just announced that, it will be releasing a beta of a new open source browser named Chrome tomorrow. By the looks of it, Google has been developing this thing for quite some time. It seems pretty advanced and very cool. It is based on the Mozilla and the Webkit libraries. Some nice things that can be said from what I have read:
What is more, in true google style, Google has released this info in a very different way – in the way of a comic book ! Read the very cool comic here.
Read more about Chrome on Techcrunch and on the official google blog.
Update: If you have already downloaded chrome, go and type about:internets . LOL. It is an awesomely funny easter egg.
What happens when you put a team of physicists, biologists, AI (artificial intelligence) scientists, and software engineers in a room? Pretty incredible things actually. In the following video, where Torsten Reil unveils the kinds of beautiful mix of genetic algorithms, simulations of the human neural systems, and how they work with the motor sensors of our body. This could create some awesome things. Some applications he reveals are:
Look at the video for some breathtaking animations.
[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=ySRvKzZsDqw]
Pretty incredible eh? Brilliant, I should say. Torsten has realized that, this is has economic potential and has started his own company called Natural Motion. Go to his website here.
Update: While you are there at the naturalmotion.com website, check out both the euphoria demo and the backbreaker demo. You do not need to download the demo and see. Just click on the embedded videos.
Update2: I also see on the website, that this technology is already into some xbox and PS3 games. That is what gives these games a realistic edge.
For those who are using Firefox 3 (if you dont, and want to try, go here), the official gmail blog has a great how to on how to set your default email client to gmail. I think this is great for some of us, who use gmail more than any other email. I do not have my outlook or OE set up for any email service, and most times, I end up copying the email address into clipboard, and then opening up gmail and pasting into the To: address bar. I think this hack will save a lot of time.
Go ahead, and take a look. This might for you as well. [link]
Great article over at ibm developerworks. The six points are:
- Comment like a smart person
- Use #define a lot. No, a LOT.
- Dont use variables names that will mock you.
- Do error checking. You make errors. Yes, you.
- “Premature optimization is the root of all ill”. – Donald Knuth
- Dont be too clever by half.
I love the point 5, and agree wholly with it. Read the entire article here.