First Face Transplant

BBC is reporting that surgeons in France have performed the first ever face transplant. The medical team, led by Jean-Michel Dubernard, transplanted live tissue to a 36-year old woman whose face had been destroyed by a dog. From the article: "It has been technically possible to carry out such a transplant for some years, with teams in the US, the UK and France researching the procedure. But the ethical concerns of a face transplant, and the psychological impact to the patient of looking different has held teams back."

AMD helping INDIA to enter chip market

According to the article, "Sunnyvale, Calif.-based AMD has signed a memorandum of understanding to allow SemIndia to license, process, manufacture and test AMD technologies for a fabrication facility it intends to build."

TiVo and Yahoo joining hands

Look at these exclusive photos of TiVo. More photos available at this link.

Microsoft's version of Google Base + Craigslist

Microsoft is steeping on Craigslist.org's turf. "Fremont" or fremont.live.com (currently only for internal testing) is a code name of Microsoft's free online service that will allow people to list items for sale, events and other classifieds type of information that can be shared either with select groups of friends or anyone over the Internet.

Firefox 1.5 is out

Firefox 1.5 is out. According to Chris Beard, vice president of products at Mozilla, "1.5 version has more sophisticated security and performance features. In addition to a more effective pop-up blocker, the updated browser is designed to ease security updates. The program checks daily for patches, downloads them automatically and then prompts users to install them".

Andy Rooney's Tips for telemarketers

(1) Three Little Words That Work !! The three little words are: "Hold On, Please..."
Saying this, while putting down your phone and walking off (instead of hanging-up immediately) would make each telemarketing call so much more time-consuming that boiler room sales would grind to a halt.

Then when you eventually hear the phone company's "beep-beep-beep" tone, you know it's time to go back and hang up your handset, which has efficiently completed its task.

These three little words will help eliminate telephone soliciting.

(2) Do you ever get those annoying phone calls with no one on the other end?
This is a telemarketing technique where a machine makes phone calls and records the time of day when a person answers the phone.

This technique is used to determine the best time of day for a "real" sales person to call! back and get someone at home.

What you can do after answering, if you notice there is no one there, is to immediately start hitting your # button on the phone, 6 or 7 times, as quickly as possible. This confuses the machine that dialed the call and it kicks your number out of their system. Gosh, what a shame not to have your name in their system any longer !!!

(3) Junk Mail Help:
When you get "ads" enclosed with your phone or utility bill, return these "ads" with your payment. Let the sending companies throw their own junk mail away.

When you get those "pre-approved" letters in the mail for everything from credit cards to 2nd mortgages and similar type junk, do not throw away the return envelope.

Most of these come with postage-paid return envelopes, right? It costs them more than the regular 37 cents postage "IF" and when they receive them back.

It costs them nothing if you throw them away! The postage was around 50 cents before! the last increase and it is according to the weight. In that case, why not get rid of some of your other junk mail and put it in these cool little, postage-paid return envelopes.

One of Andy Rooney's (60 minutes) ideas. Send an ad for your local chimney cleaner to American Express. Send a pizza coupon to Citibank. If you didn't get anything else that day, then just send them their blank application back!

If you want to remain anonymous, just make sure your name isn't on anything you send them.

You can even send the envelope back empty if you want to just to keep them guessing! It still costs them 37 cents.

The banks and credit card companies are currently getting a lot of their own junk back in the mail, but folks, we need to OVERWHELM them. Let's let them know what it's like to get lots of junk mail, and best of all they're paying for it...Twice!

Let's help keep our postal service busy since they are saying that e-mail is cutting into their business profits, and that's why they need to increase postage costs again. You get the idea !

If enough people follow these tips, it will work----
I have been doing this for years, and I get very little junk mail anymore.

New Pricing Model for iTunes

According to this article at Forbes, Apple wants to charge more than 99 cents for popular songs and less than 99 cents for less popular songs. The question is who will decide the popularity of songs? May be they will start with 99 cents and if everyone is buying it then it become popular and Apple will increase the price. On the other hand if a song is doing badly in sales, they will drop the price. Any thoughts?

AJAX Applications

Following is list of best AJAX applications. The decisive factors are based on combination of simplicity and rich functionality, how interactive the application is, and the most important one – free.

1. Gmail : I think everyone knows about it.

2. Writely : It allows you to edit documents online with whomever you choose, and then publish and blog them online.
You can:
•Upload Word documents, HTML or text (or create documents from scratch).
•Use our simple WSIWYG editor to format your documents, spell-check them, etc.
•Invite others to share your documents (by e-mail address).
•Edit documents online with whomever you choose.
•View your documents' complete revision history and roll back to any version.
•Publish documents online to the world, or to just who you choose.
•Download documents to your desktop as Word, HTML or zip.
•Post your documents to your blog.

3. gOffice: gOFFICE.com, by Silveroffice, Inc., provides an online office suite which allows customers to quickly create documents via a web browser. The customer types in their browser, chooses a letterhead design and receives a professionally formatted PDF file in moments. Customers do not require Adobe Acrobat full version, as the PDF files are created on Silveroffice's servers. It is a collection of browser based Word Processor, Desktop Publishing tools, Spreadsheets, and Presentations.

4. Numsum: It's short for Number Summation. Numsum, created by TrimPath, brings you online, simple, sharable web spreadsheets.
You can use Num Sum for...
• Home Budgeting
• Tracking Search Keywords
• Online Stock Portfolio
• Fantasy Sports
• Anything You Want!

5. Thinkfree: ThinkFree Office Online delivers a complete set of office applications. The application suite features integrated, Internet-based file sharing and storage with end-to-end security. Its powerful, easy-to-use applications can seamlessly open, edit, and save directly to the corresponding Microsoft Office file formats like .doc, .xls, and .ppt. Other features include a full featured drawing module, chart module, HTML export, and XML (WordML and SpreadsheetML) support.
With ThinkFree Office Online you can :
• Create Microsoft Office-compatible documents from the Web
• Open and edit your Office documents anywhere and anytime
• Post documents directly to your blog without any conversion
• Create powerful Web presentations using a familiar interface
• Convert your existing documents to PDF format

6. Kiko: It is a cool new web calendar that delivers all the functionality of desktop calendar software, and all the convenience of online access.

Ontario mom faces $2M libel suit for website about problems in neighborhood

Is this where over society is heading? The companies who break the law should be punished but they are not only getting away with it but suing the mom. What happened to the free speech? Nobody gives a damn about it anymore. I can understand its not our country so we shouldn't say anything. Laws are different in Canada but think about it, if this happens in India...

Salesforce reply to Gates' memo

Here is an interesting memo sent out by Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce, to his emplyees in response to Gates' memo. According to the memo, " A new range of start-ups are showing how this is just the beginning of the business Web--that there are new technologies coming to replace traditional word processing, spreadsheets, and other staples of business with Internet services. Companies like Writely, Numsum, Zimbra, and Goffice are breaking Microsoft's hypnotic trance that the Microsoft Office, and its myriad of clients and servers we are installing today, it is simply a dinosaur."

Open Document gains momentum

The OpenDocument standard uses XML data-tagging to format and store documents. The format, known in full as the OASIS Open Document Format for Office Applications, covers applications such as word processors, spreadsheets and charts. As a standard, OpenDocument is an "open" format that can be used in any software, whether closed source or open source.

According to the article, "The move toward adoption suggest that the time is right for Microsoft's rivals to take on the software giant and its dominance in desktop products. The ODF Summit's technical and marketing initiatives could make OpenDocument-based products more viable replacements."

History's Worst Software Bugs

• July 28, 1962 -- Mariner I space probe
• 1982 -- Soviet gas pipeline
• 1985-1987 -- Therac-25 medical accelerator
• 1988 -- Buffer overflow in Berkeley Unix finger daemon
• 1988-1996 -- Kerberos Random Number Generator
• January 15, 1990 -- AT&T Network Outage
• 1993 -- Intel Pentium floating point divide
• 1995/1996 -- The Ping of Death
• June 4, 1996 -- Ariane 5 Flight 501
• November 2000 -- National Cancer Institute, Panama City

Online Ameature Movies

According to the website, "Veoh software, installed on PCs or Macs, creates a virtual television network, that is able to distribute TV-Quality, Full-Screen broadcast video to hundreds of millions of users with broadband internet connections. Motion picture studios, television networks, companies, organizations, and individuals are able to publish unlimited amounts of broadcast video content to the network, providing consumers with unparalleled choice in television programming, and control over their viewing experience.

Because Veoh delivers television programming over the Internet, it is unencumbered by restrictions imposed on traditional broadcasters by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and the traditional costs of broadcasting. This allows broadcasters to produce innovative new content that has never been seen on television, and distribute that content throughout the world."

RISK The Game On Google Maps

ZenChi has created a Google Maps API project based on the popular board game RISK on Google Maps. While Zen is developing a multi-player version, you can play a game right now with others huddled around your computer."

Trouble for Indian IT Capital

It looks like Bangalore has seen its good days. Investors have started to look in other cities beyond Bangalore. The city has its own problems like Monsoon, infrastructure, local politicians, and much more.

According to Ajit Isaac, head of Adecco PeopleOne, "It is a showpiece. Once you let it go down, the magnet of attracting investment could become weaker".

A true picture of Globalization

News.com is running a NY Times article about how India and China are expanding their markets. According to the article, "China is an industrial powerhouse in the making, while India has placed its bets more heavily on services." Companies in India and China are looking beyond their own markets and expanding in each others markets.

Privacy for Sale

Slate magazine is running an article about availability of our private and personal information on the Internet. According to the article, "When you surf the Internet, you leave footprints everywhere you go. Google conceivably knows every term you've searched for and every e-mail you've sent and received. Cookies greet you when you return to a site and track your movements when you stay within its pages or visit affiliated sites. Your ISP knows who you are and where you live or work whenever you get online."

Looking for Comedy In The Muslim World

The hilarious story of what happens when the U.S. Government sends comedian Albert Brooks to India and Pakistan to find out what makes the over 300 million Muslims in the region laugh. Brooks, accompanied by two state department handlers and his trusted assistant, goes on a journey that takes him from a concert stage in New Delhi, to the Taj Mahal, to a secret location in the mountains of Pakistan.

Eight Year Old Physics Student Admitted to College

The Korea Herald is running a story about Song Yoo-guen, the youngest university student that Korea has ever seen. He completed his elementary, junior-high, and high school curricula in just nine months, something that usually takes 12 years, and has been admitted as a freshman to the physics department of Inha University. Song Yoo-guen wants to build flying cars and defying Newton's law of gravity.

India kicks Ass again - Beat Sri Lanka in 4th ODI

India beat Sri Lanka in 4th ODI and leading the series by 4-0.

Quota Increase for H1B Visas

Senate has approved H1B visas from 65,000 to 95,000. This is a good step in proper direction.

New Yahoo Maps

This is refreshing to see some progress in AJAX community. Now Yahoo Maps is using AJAX and trying to compete with Google Maps. Yahoo interface is different than Google and gives you more choices than Google Maps. Its still in beta state and works very slowly on Firefox.

Marriage of Craigslist and Google Maps

This is an amazing example of what you can do with Google Maps. HousingMaps.com combines Craigslist’s real estate listing with Google Maps.

India kicks some Ass

Dhoni helped India beat Sri Lanka by 6 wickets when India was chasing a target of 299.

New Microsoft Live

Microsoft is following Google's footsteps and changing its model from PC based to online services. Live.com is just a start for Redmond based software giant. This new service is primarily targeted to small businesses with fewer than 10 employees.

Potential of Video Downloads

According to this article, iTunes is able to sell more than a million videos. That shows the real potential of video downloads. Currently you can buy shows like Lost, Desperate Housewives, Night Stalker from ABC, some small animation clips from Pixar, and some music videos.

Personalization to a new level

Robot Co-op, a Seattle-based start-up, promised to change the way you maintain your goals. You can write upto 43 goals, get inspired with others, and share your progress. This is an amazing concept from a team of six members that were on the core team that developed Amazon.com's recommendation and personalization engine, which suggests books or music a user might enjoy based on the user's previous purchases.

Current Projects:
43Things.com: A Web site launched last year that enables people to share their life desires with other online users. Think of it as a personal recommendation engine for life.

43Places.com: Where users can list destinations they'd like to visit or have already visited.

Moto SLVR L7 with iTunes