The Ultra-cool Technology headed our way…

 

Welcome 2009!!!

Most people hate to see years pass by. I, on the contrary, love it… because of the new heights that technology touches every time this happens.

Here’s a small look at the really cool things that we will see in the new year and the years to come…

 

1) The PICO Projector (http://www.microvision.com/pico_projector_displays/index.html)

One of the older presentations of this stuff. Hoping this reaches the market soon, and within the reach of pocket.

 

 

2) Powermat (http://www.pwrmat.com/)

We've known about Powermat for some time, one of those mythical, upcoming bits of kit that garners great interest even though very few actually appear to have seen one.

The powermat uses magnetic induction to charge your gadgets without the need to plug them into anything. You just place them on the mat. Obviously, your gadgets need to be compatible – but this is the future of charging.

 

 

Powermat (the company) is actually launching 15 separate charging products including travel mats and even one to go on your bedside table. The largest mat will charge up to six devices. They'll be in stores this year.

3. Wrist Phones

There are a number of them in market now, and China is leading the business.

Sexy Wrist CellPhone

Not only is this wrist phone a fully-functional communications device, it’s disposable to keep costs down. Only the uncovered necessities are included: LED display, keypad, headset jack.

Sexy Wrist Mobile Phones

Another point in the favor of this lovely phone is the portability factor, you can simply wrap it around your wrist. Leaving the connectivity issues aside, the phone has the potential to make its mark.

I saw another one here… this you might want to check out for buying as well. I don’t take any responsibility for the seller on the link, I found it while googling this kind of stuff.

http://www.chinavasion.com/product_info.php/pName/super-cool-mobile-phone-wrist-watch/

4) Po Go (Polaroid - http://www.polaroid.com/pogo/us/)

This is awesome for those who love showing off. A polaroid printer that fits your pockets, prints with ZINK (Zero Ink Technology) and works miracles by printing stuff that you need to (you send the stuff that you want to print to it using a bluetooth connection).

The elder brother (Digital Polaroid Camera is also worth a mention here.)

5) Modbook Pro (http://www.axiotron.com/index.php?id=modbookpro)

I couldn’t say more than what they did…

“The 15.4-inch Modbook® Pro is the ultimate tablet computer. Constructed from a unibody Apple® MacBook® Pro base system, Axiotron’s Modbook Pro combines blazing speed and power with new cutting-edge hardware and software features. From its sleek aluminum enclosure to its innovative tablet tools, the Modbook Pro reimagines the tablet computing experience.”

And you wondered when will Apple come out with a Tablet.

6) Vega (http://www.raondigital.com/fnt_english/ve01.asp)

We just can’t be satisfied with 12 and 9 inch systems. We had to go smaller.

Vega is the world's smallest PC, with an incredibly clear 4.3 inch LCD screen and a battery life of up to 6hours with the standard battery. Connect to an external monitor and keyboard in your office for maximum productivity and then after the work is done, take it with you! For movies, games and productivity on the go, you just can't beat Vega!.

7) Eye-Fi (http://www.eye.fi/)

I dream of a world – a world with no crime, no hatred, and no cables… WHAT???? NO CABLES????

Yes, that’s where this new one takes you… a world with no cables…

Yes, there really is Wi-Fi inside that tiny little card. We think it’s going to change the way you take, save and share photos.

All Eye-Fi Cards come with everything needed to make it simple to set up and connect to your home Wi-Fi network. After that, pop the card into your digital camera and start capturing memories. It stores pictures like a regular SD card no matter where you are, and uploads automatically as soon as you return to your wireless network. All you have to do is turn the camera on.

Check it out for yourself…

 

8) Sony and their OLED FLEX

I really don’t have words for this. At the recent CES 2009, they displayed their concept for flexible displays, 1/2 inch think TVs (27 inch), and this…

Contrast - A Sony OLED VAIO Laptop Concept from Sony Insider on Vimeo.

 

If you liked it… Digg It… and let me know your feedback in the comments section.

Also, feel free to discuss more cool stuff in comments.

The hidden meaning of Nursery Rhymes

 

I bet you didn’t know this one!!!

There are hidden meanings to nursery rhymes, and I ran into one of these while I was watching an episode of “CSI: NY”, and would you believe the first one that I found out about – it was a beautiful little rhyme about “Ring-a-ring-o roses”.

Consider this to be a citation from the great Wikipedia:

Ring a Ring o' Roses

Many have associated the poem with the Great Plague of London in 1665, or with earlier outbreaks of bubonic plague in England. Interpreters of the rhyme before World War II make no mention of this; by 1951, however, it seems to have become well established as an explanation for the form of the rhyme that had become standard in Britain. Peter and Iona Opie remark: ‘The invariable sneezing and falling down in modern English versions have given would-be origin finders the opportunity to say that the rhyme dates back to the Great Plague. A rosy rash, they allege, was a symptom of the plague, posies of herbs were carried as protection, sneezing was a final fatal symptom , and "all fall down" was exactly what happened.’ Variations of the same theory allow it to be applied to the American version of the rhyme and to medieval plagues. In its various forms, the interpretation has entered into popular culture and has been used elsewhere to make oblique reference to the plague

Humpty Dumpty

According to an insert taken from the East Anglia Tourist Board in England, Humpty Dumpty was a powerful cannon used in the Siege of Colchester during the English Civil War. It was mounted on top of the St Mary's at the Wall Church in Colchester defending the city against siege in the summer of 1648. Although Colchester was a royalist stronghold, it was besieged by the Roundheads for 11 weeks before finally falling. The church tower was hit by enemy cannon fire and the top of the tower was blown off, sending "Humpty" tumbling to the ground. Naturally all the king's horses and all the king's men (royalist cavalry and infantry, respectively) tried to mend "him" but in vain. Other reports suggest Humpty Dumpty refers to a sniper nicknamed One-Eyed Thompson, who occupied the same church tower.
Visitors to Colchester can see the reconstructed Church tower as they reach the top of Balkerne Hill on the left hand side of the road. An extended version of the rhyme gives additional verses, including the following:
In Sixteen Hundred and Forty-Eight
When England suffered the pains of state
The Roundheads lay siege to Colchester town
Where the king's men still fought for the crown
There One-Eyed Thompson stood on the wall
A gunner of deadliest aim of all
From St. Mary's Tower his cannon he fired
Humpty-Dumpty was its name
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall...

 

Jack Be Nimble is a nursery rhyme. Suggestions about its origins are: it is related to a marriage ceremony; it celebrates the escapes of a pirate; or it is about a religious choice which could have led to burning at the stake.
Another tradition holds that the Jack be Nimble nursery rhyme refers to the Yellow Fever (also called the yellow jack fever), which was believed to be kept at bay by flames. Candles would be put at the bedsides of children to keep the fever away.
It is also suggested that "jumping over a candlestick" was a way of foretelling the future. If the candle stayed lit, good luck should follow, whereas if it went out, bad luck would follow.

 

Who killed Cock Robin?
I, said the Sparrow,
with my bow and arrow,
I killed Cock Robin.

The story has been connected with Robin Hood:
"The Death of Cock Robin is frequently taken as a Robin Hood analogue and the ready offers of help following this event, as described in the lyrics, reflect the high esteem that the legendary figure of Robin Hood was, and is, still held."
There is, however, no direct indication in the text of the rhyme to support this claim beyond the simple similarity of name. Also, in the later Robin Hood tales, Robin Hood is killed by a nun who betrays the outlaw and drains his blood.

 

Jack and Jill went up the hill
To fetch a pail of water.
Jack fell down and broke his crown,
And Jill came tumbling after.
In the 17th century,King Charles I tried to reform the taxes on liquid measures. He was blocked by Parliament, so subsequently ordered that the volume of a Jack (1/2 pint) be reduced, but the tax remained the same. This meant that he still received more tax, despite Parliament's veto. Hence "Jack fell down and broke his crown" (many pint glasses in the UK still have a line marking the 1/2 pint level with a crown above it) "and Jill came tumbling after". The reference to "Jill", (actually a "gill", or 1/4 pint) is an indication that the gill dropped in volume as a consequence. A variant of this is that liquids (specifically alcoholic beverages) were watered down, hence, "fetch a pail of water."

 

And this one link has a great audio piece that you should listen to:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4933345

 

If you like this blog,

Living it again….

 

So I pulled out my old playlists… and kicked off the song that inspired the title for this section of my website – “This is the story of my life…” and now I plan to write it everyday.

So what’s new… I’m in business school, looking for an internship. At the same time I am working towards my ITIL v3 foundation examination. We have a KatzIS Showcase planned next month, which I am organizing along with a couple more classmates. I have the regular 18 credits filled up and as usual it wasn’t enough for me so I pulled up a few more credits on my head – sitting in on a Project Management class (MIS coursework) and Prof. Russell Robbins agreed to exempt me from the course (it’s mandatory for me… MIS dual degree), and he will help me in getting a PMP certification at the end of the program.

The interesting part is the course in Global Research Practicum – I make a trip to Munich (Germany) and Prague (Czech Republic)… and I get to research a comparative business aspect between the three geographies. Sounds interesting… right… But it’s not that easy… I have to find something to compare between the two countries… Any suggestions… Post them in the comments section if you come across any…

What else is new???

Oh yeah…, I have a new phone (well, it’s not that new, been more than a month…) – the AT&T HTC Fuze – check it out here - http://www.wireless.att.com/cell-phone-service/cell-phone-details/?device=HTC+FUZE(TM)&q_sku=sku3090226

What I don’t like about these branded pieces – is that they remove some of the original parts to make it suit their requirement… The original HTC Touch Pro is here - http://www.htc.com/www/product/touchpro/overview.html

See the difference… well not many, but significant…

In any case, in the right hands (like mine) this phone is brilliant. I am running it on the default ROM, didn’t upload a new cooked one (like I know many people do). Runs every app that I want – Pandora, Orb, NFL Live, Google Maps, Resco Pocket Radio, Tom Tom Navigator, frind, Skype (2.5 works beautifully), Barcorama, installed the FM radio (AT&T had removed it), Skyfire, and even QIK.

QIK – if you don’t know, this is an application that can stream whatever you are recording on your phone directly online on your webpage. So, this is a simple way to get your mobile videos to youtube. Currently, it streams directly to QIK website. But then you can always download and then send it to YouTube.

OK… Gotta go now, hear me out later…

Cheers!!!

HAVE a NICE DAY…

Music Mood: Small Town Girl (Bachna Ae Haseeno) – Shankar Mahadevan

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Latest in Life...

Replacing Old Blog....

Date: 30th August 2007

I am kinda irritated these days. Sometimes you make a mistake and hence screw up, but what happens when you don't make any mistakes and yet get screwed. This is what happened to me. I was participting in Voice of Bangalore, a prestigious music competition in Bangalore. I was one of the top contenders in the first weekly finals. I made a critical (though minimal) mistake and I couldn't qualify for the semi-finals. However, I performed good enough to be called for the wild card entry round. Here, I chose a great song, sang it well, and got accolades from the judges as well, yet I didn't qualify. So, it's kinda irritating to try and yet not win despite showing good caliber. But then again, as they say - that's life. Check out my songs in the video and music sections of the website.

Stay tuned for more update on me...