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Tuesday, June 19, 2007
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Imagination at Work
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Recently, a team from MIT invented something called "WiTricity". I'm sure most of you have read about it by now. Visit MIT's official page on this here.
WiTricity
Did you observe the picture? A group of people sitting in between two big coils with smiling faces? Assuming this technology is going to be successful and evolves to a great extent in the coming decades, try to imagine how this picture would be perceived, say, 100 years from now.
To throw some more light onto what I'm trying to get at, check out
Telephone in 1876
Funny right? Look at the evolution of the telephone from the time of Graham bell to today's iPhone.
Can you think of some more like these? Let us see how good your imagination is!Labels: alexander, comparison, evolution, graham bell, imagination, inventions, mit, telephone, timeline, wireless electricity, witricity |
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posted by bachi
16:25
 
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Monday, June 18, 2007
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Angels or Assholes
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You meet a person for the first time ever in your life and there is no way you can tell if that person is good or bad in five minutes. I know the terms 'good' and 'bad' are quite complex and sometimes can be very personal. So let us make things simple for now and say the person is either an angel or an asshole. You know what I mean.
Coming to the point, I went to a temple last night. As I took off my shoes and was about to go in, this guy stops me and here is the conversation between us...
Guy: Hi, do you go to NYIT?
Me: No. I don't
Guy: Columbia?
Me: No. I don't go to any school
Guy: I go to "whatever" (I forgot the name) school and I'm a transfer student here
Me: ok........
Guy: Are you usually busy?
Me: What do you mean? Why?
Guy: I want to be your friend. Can I have your phone number? I will call you and we will meet sometime during the weekend
Me: What? I don't even know who you are. I'm quite busy all the time. I can't do that
This ridiculous conversation went between us for sometime and then I forced myself out of it. Initially I felt sort of annoyed by this guy. But then pity creeped into me. He was almost begging to meet up sometime. I was not sure if he is a whacko or doesn't really have any friends.
In any case, I didn't really want to give my number. How do I know what this person is up to? You can not judge someone in such a short time unless he is a complete asshole, in which case it will be written right on his face.Labels: assholes, idiots, strangers, temple, unknown person, weird conversation |
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posted by bachi
21:08
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Maybe the sole issue is not just if the person is good or bad, but also dependent or independent. A person can be good but dependent on others. Where at points the dependency is suffocating. The scenario you describe seems to paint this person that way. Yes a person can be lonely, desiring company. But coming on strong in the beginning will scare people away. We all need some private space. As two persons become more acquainted that private space gets either bigger or smaller. I can definitely understand your reaction.
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Friday, June 1, 2007
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Solar Power - Use or Abuse?
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A dialog between a boyfriend and a girlfriend.
5 years ago:
Girl - Hey... wanna go to this new movie? I heard it is full of crap
Guy - Why not. Sounds cool!
Today:
Girl - Al Gore is gonna talk about global warming. Wanna watch him on TV with me?
Guy - Absolutely!
I'm not sure how much this global warming is heating up the earth's atmosphere but it is sure enough barbecuing everyone's brain. While people fight, politicians argue and all of us through a million tons of shit into the air everyday, let us add some flavor to it here.
Based on my earlier blog "We don't, but birds do!" our good friend anonymous suggested he prefers solar panels to windmills. So let us see how this Sun dude is going to be of any help to us.
Here is a list of ways in which we can use Sun's energy
1. We can throw in some solar panels onto the laptops. Say, the top cover and the keyboard. This way it charges itself whether it is open or closed.
2. Make solar-cell skins for cellphones
3. solar panel rooftops (I think people are already working on this)
Do you have anything to add? Don't worry about practicality. Many great ideas are thought to be impractical initially because people lack that "vision" ;-)Labels: atmosphere, fossil fuel, global warming, green house gases, pollution, solar, solar cells, solar energy, windmills |
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posted by bachi
15:24
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I have no idea what this Brazilian (right?) dude wants me to do. I just got a gist of it. Thanks to the online translation websites. Anyway, thanks bro!
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Anonymous Dude here:
1st: So Same guy/girl five years later?
It's interesting to note how many people either don't care about global warming or still feel "it is full of crap".
I don't have a preference for source of energy: e.g. wind vs solar panel. But I do feel what ever source is used should be "green" and cost effective.
Seems wind energy is in favor now,
see http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070606/ap_on_go_co/wind_energy;_ylt=AinC_V9sa3Vhl__gmWTMkExp24cA
When politicians are involved so is money.
The U.S. auto industry is complaining about making cars more fuel efficient, see http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070606/ap_on_go_co/fuel_economy;_ylt=AmbwQ.FRtZbaNNqXyBWEETNp24cA
Detroit has had over 15 years to catch up on this. Instead what they pushed was SUVs, Hummers, and less efficiency.
If you are on the railroad tracks and see the train coming logic dictates to move or you are going to get smacked.
Many ideas that are impractical today need not be impractical tomorrow. In the early 1900's travelling from the US to Europe by plane was impractical.
Solar panels / wind energy did not have much of a return value in the 1970s.
I don't know if the same could be said today.
We all share the Earth's resources.
This issue cannot be accomplished by a few. Yes the economy and jobs are impacted. Unfortunately for our leaders to lead they need to think long term. (And the election period is short.)
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Hey anonymous... Answer to your question:
Q. So Same guy/girl five years later?
A. They will be history. Did not survive global warming ;)
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I think we'll have to have a little talk about global warming, Bachi. Until that time, think about this: If it be true that earth's climate is not chnging, which would you prefer--warming or cooling?
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Hi Flipowitz - I'm not sure I understand your question. In case you want to know if I prefer the earth to cool down or warm up due to climate change, I really don't have a preference because neither is going to help me.
On a side note, a lot of people think I don't care about "global warming". That is not true. I believe it is happening and I'm equally concerned. Only thing is that I say - man may have a part to play in it but he is not responsible for all of it. There may be a million other factors we have no clue about.
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Microsoft's Coffee Table
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MS does not seem to give up. No, I'm not talking about giving up copying other's ideas. This time, for a change, it might be in the competition with the right spirit.
After struggling to compete with the iPod, Zune, even with a bunch of additional features (basically crap) could not survive and had to commit suicide. Vista's release was delayed a million and one times. Why? Because the nincompoops sitting in the Redmond, WA R&D (Rip and Decode) center had a hard time hacking Mac OS X Tiger. Well... let us pay our condolences to "I so wanna be an iPod" Zune and "I really suck! allow or cancel" Vista and move on.
Now desperate to do something "new" (this term itself is new to Microsoft), the company created the new Coffee Table. Whola! Invention of the millennium. But on a more serious note, this actually looks pretty interesting. Check out
http://www.microsoft.com/surface/
It may seem far-fetched and not really practical right now. But somehow I found it impressive. It is not really useless. It is not even way into the future. As a matter of fact, it is going to be commercially deployed in the "near" future (at least according to them).
I'm not at all a Microsoft guy. If people who know me hear the word 'Microsoft' come out of my mouth, they more or less accurately predict that the rest to follow is nothing but bashing. My laptop is Mac. I had a desktop with Windows but crashed recently and does not even boot now (not a surprise) and I have no intentions of putting back Windows on it whatsoever. But let me tell you, I’m a genuine admirer of talent. It always proves difficult for me to put my ego in front of true appreciation for innovation and Microsoft is no exception.
One practical advantage of this coffee table - When the underlying Windows Vista crashes, at least you can use it for your coffee while waiting for it to reboot :-)Labels: apple, coffee table, copying, creativity, innovation, iPhone, ipod, ipod touch, mac, macintosh, microsoft, originality, os x, software, surface, vista, windows, windows vista, windows xp, zune |
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posted by bachi
10:15
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Every company has its ups and downs if indeed MS was so bad then why would so many still be using it...?
I dont think i am quite impressed with the coffee table but Ipod is only popular because of its cool factor and not because of its technical feasures or ease of use.
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Good marketing can sell a crappy product but even a great product can not be sold if marketing sucks. MS and Apple are the best examples for this.
MS is a marketing genius. That's why Windows sells though it is pathetic. Apple is a legend in innovation. That's why Jobs is the most popular CEO.
You are absolutely right regarding iPod. Surprisingly Apple did a marketing wonder this time. Of course you can not deny that iPod is indeed a very attractive piece of $^@!
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Maybe the sole issue is not just if the person is good or bad, but also dependent or independent. A person can be good but dependent on others. Where at points the dependency is suffocating. The scenario you describe seems to paint this person that way. Yes a person can be lonely, desiring company. But coming on strong in the beginning will scare people away. We all need some private space. As two persons become more acquainted that private space gets either bigger or smaller. I can definitely understand your reaction.