10 Greatest Gadget Ideas of the Year - New York Times

NYTimes.com is running an article about 10 best gadget ideas of 2005. Just to name a few are the Folding Memory Card, the Voice Mail VCR, and TV à LA CARTE.

Read more at www.nytimes.com/2005/12...

The Million Dollar Homepage - Own a piece of internet history!

Alex Tew, a 21-year old student from a small town in England, came up with an idea "how to make million dollars on the Internet". He started selling pixels on his home page " www.milliondollarhomepage.com ".

Read more at www.milliondollarhomepa...

La Vida Robot : Wired

This is a story about "How four underdogs from the mean streets of Phoenix took on the best from M.I.T. in the national underwater bot championship". This is a really long article but make sure you read every line of it because its worth it.

Read more at www.wired.com/wired/arc...

Mapping a revolution with 'mashups' | CNET News.com

This is an amazing article about Google Maps have revolutionized how we display location based information. Last time I wrote about a marriage between Craigslist and Google Maps (aka HousingMaps.com) but after reading this article, it seems like that was only tip of the iceberg.

Read more at news.com.com/Mapping+a+...

Pictures of 2005

Photo Credit to MSNBC.

MSNBC editors & readers pick the most compelling, beautiful & inspirational images of the past year.

Einstein's Strangest Theory

New York Times is running an article about how half dozen beryllium atoms behave into a "cat state." According to the acticle, "cat state" is the condition of being two diametrically opposed conditions at once, like black and white, up and down, or dead and alive.

2005 Foot-in-Mouth Awards

Wired News is running an article about Tech executives say stupid things. One of my favorite is

"I'm going to f***ing bury that guy, I have done it before, and I will do it again. I'm going to f***ing kill Google." -- Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.

Testing Drugs on India's Poor

Wired is running an article on how medical research firms are taking advantage of INDIA. According to the article, “Not only are research costs low, but there is a skilled work force to conduct the trials. Individuals who participate in Indian clinical trials usually won't be educated. Offering $100 may be undue enticement; they may not even realize that they are being coerced.”

ASIMO - New tricks

Photo Credit to Honda.

Asimo has learned a lots of new tricks. Check out this link.

The Math Behind Google AdWords

PBS is running an article about Google AdWords. This article explains little bit about Adwords algorithm. According to the article, “AdWords was Google's response to the paid search placement program from Overture Systems, now part of Yahoo. Overture allowed web sites to pay for higher placement in searches that used certain words. Someone could pay a lot of money for the word "Cringely," for example, and have their totally non-Cringely web site appear above this one in Overture's search results. This really wasn't as bad as is seems as long as advertisers paid for words that really described their sites and most words weren't purchased.

Google's AdWords took the process a couple steps further. First, it segregated paid and unpaid search results by placing the paid results in a separate location where those results were identified as advertisements. But Google also embraced fully the concept of an ad and allowed the payers to make their own two-line pitch. Overall, the AdWord system was more honest and up-front with users about what was happening. And honesty has worked well for Google, with AdWords becoming a goldmine for the company.”

Mile by Mile, India Paves a Smoother Road to Its Future

The New York Times is running an article (you need to create a login to view the article, its free) about Indian Government effort to make the countries highways better. According to the article, “The Indian government has begun a 15-year project to widen and pave some 40,000 miles of narrow, decrepit national highways, with the first leg, budgeted at $6.25 billion, to be largely complete by next year. It amounts to the most ambitious infrastructure project since independence in 1947 and the British building of the subcontinent's railway network the century before.”

Google Transit

Google has introduced Google Transit, a new Lab product where users (or, "people") can map trips around their city using public transit. According to Google Blog, "With it, commuters will be able to easily access public transit schedules, routes, and plan trips using their local public transportation options. This first release covers only the Portland, Oregon metro area, but we are working to expand our coverage very soon." The amount of data they give seems very comprehensive, including time you'll spend walking to the bus or subway, and the amount of money it would cost compared to driving.

Ten Golden rules of Google

MSNBC is running an article written by Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google, and Hal Varian, a Berkeley professor and consultant with Google, about Ten Golden Rules of Google. Following are the ten golden rules.

1. Hire by committee
2. Cater to their every need
3. Pack them in
4. Make coordination easy
5. Eat your own dog food
6. Encourage creativity
7. Strive to reach consensus
8. Don't be evil
9. Data drive decisions
10. Communicate effectively

What is beta?

Wall Street Journal takes a pick at defining the meaning of word "beta". According to the article, "Betas also have become a marketing device in a fiercely competitive industry, allowing software and Internet firms to release new products or services sooner and cultivate early buzz. Betas, which once had been quietly distributed, are trumpeted in press releases and at news conferences."

Real PacMan

All PacMan fans out there. This link is for you.

Someone's Horrible experience while online shopping

This is a warning for everyone while dealing with online dishonest retailers. This is the story of a man who had a horrible experience with an online camera retailer. In short he was lied to, yelled at, and threatened to be sued if he posted the experience on his blog. He was also persuaded to sign an agreement that would allow the retailer to charge him an extra $100 if he left bad feedback.