Nokia Morph Concept

Wow ! Haven't seen anything like this before ! amazing !

Nokia has just rolled out its Morph concept. Morph is a concept demonstrating some of the possibilities nanotechnologies might enable in future communication devices. Morph can sense its environment, is energy harvesting and self cleaning. Morph is a flexible two-piece device that can adapt its shape to different use modes. Nanotechnology enables to have adaptive materials yet rigid forms on demand.

See this video of Morph for more !

A Hug is all we need !

Sometimes, a hug is all what we need. Free hugs is a real life controversial story of Juan Mann, A man whos sole mission was to reach out and hug a stranger to brighten up their lives. In this age of social disconnectivity and lack of human contact, the effects of the Free Hugs campaign became phenomenal.As this symbol of human hope spread accross the city, police and officials ordered the Free Hugs campaign BANNED. What we then witness is the true spirit of humanity come together in what can only be described as awe inspiring.In the Spirit of the free hugs campaign, PASS THIS TO A FRIEND and HUG A STRANGER! After all, If you can reach just one person...

Kimayagar...Hats off !

Our humans need to understand the world around us has inspired some of human kinds greatest discoveries - from unleashing the fearsome power of an atom, to uncovering the nature of light itself, to revealing the forces that hold our entire universe together. This journey of understanding has been astonishing and gives us an idea about what a human intellect can do. But many times we hardly seem to know much about the people who were the force behind these discoveries - the greatest minds ! Yes frankly, how many of you would know about 'Maxwell'? Well, had he not been there, we wouldn't have had all the Wireless communication, mobile, cell phones that we see everywhere these days; nothing ! If J.J. Thompson had not discovered electron, There wouldn't have been electronics ! Just imagine the world around us if those people had not discovered those things ! Yet, how much do we know about them?..

Well, this is what KIMAYAGAR, a book written in marathi by Mr Achyut Godbole, does. The way the author has narrated the greatest discoveries in science is really commendable. The stories of all those great minds - Galileo, Newton, Einstein, Bohr, Fynmann, Heisenberg, Planck and many more. This book is really a treasure! I loved reading it. It was like reading a story book. The science had never felt so easier to me.

I believe, if you want to learn about some discovery(say transistor), First follow the history behind the discovery. See how the people who discovered those things came to know about it. The things look a far lot easier if you do so.

In the process, i also searched on net for these greatest discoveries in physics and found two of the best videos i have seen. One, 100 greatest discoveries in physics, a TV show that was aired on Discovery Channel and second, BBC Atom. I wish i had seen these videos earlier - maybe during my school , or during my junior college! Better late than never !!

Just to add, KIMAYAGAR has inspired me to start a science series in my school. The series will be an attempt to create interest about science and maths in student's mind. I will be showing such videos to them - the basic purpose being Creating Interest! Though i was not able to know about these things when i was in school/college, i feel this should not happen with others! I am trying my best in that regard ! Long way to go before i sleep!

Thats it !

The 'Lenna' Story

The above picture needs no introduction for people who at some point of time in their life have come across Image Compression. Yes, the famous 'Lenna' image! Ever wondered to know the story behind this image? Read on !

The lady in the picture is Lena Soderberg. The picture's history was described in the May 2001 newsletter of the IEEE Professional Communication Society, in an article by Jamie Hutchinson:-

“Alexander Sawchuk estimates that it was in June or July of 1973 when he, then an assistant professor of electrical engineering at the University of Southern California Signal and Image Processing Institute (SIPI), along with a graduate student and the SIPI lab manager, was hurriedly searching the lab for a good image to scan for a colleague's conference paper. They got tired of their stock of usual test images, dull stuff dating back to television standards work in the early 1960s. They wanted something glossy to ensure good output dynamic range, and they wanted a human face. Just then, somebody happened to walk in with a recent issue of Playboy.

The engineers tore away the top third of the centerfold so they could wrap it around the drum of their Muirhead wirephoto scanner, which they had outfitted with analog-to-digital converters (one each for the red, green, and blue channels) and a Hewlett Packard 2100 minicomputer. The Muirhead had a fixed resolution of 100 lines per inch and the engineers wanted a 512 × 512 image, so they limited the scan to the top 5.12 inches of the picture, effectively cropping it at the subject's shoulders.”

If you want to see the ORIGINAL Lenna image that appeared on the Playboy magazine - Click Here. WARNING this picture contains nudity.

David C. Munson, editor-in-chief, January 1996 IEEE Transactions on Image Processing, cited two reasons for the popularity of the image in research:-

“First, the image contains a nice mixture of detail, flat regions, shading, and texture that do a good job of testing various image processing algorithms. It is a good test image! Second, the Lena image is a picture of an attractive woman. It is not surprising that the (mostly male) image processing research community gravitated toward an image that they found attractive."

Lenna attended the 50th Anniversary IS&T conference in Boston held in May 1997.

Inspirational

Open Source India Week

Hardly a week is left when India will once again witness the force of open source revolution in different cities. Rechristened as Open Source India Week, the LinuxAsia event is living up to its new name. A week-long event will span across three cities -- Bengaluru (11-12 February), Mumbai (13 February) and Delhi (14-15 February 2008). The feeling of being one large community with a common goal is the basis of the movement. Keeping up with the philosophy, organizers of the event have announced that they are releasing 500 entry tickets (worth Rs 1,000) to the week-long event for free.

The free tickets will entitle registrants to get some privileged benefits which include, the keynote and star-speaker sessions, the Tech Tracks which are for IT developers and IT administrators. You will also be entitled to get access to the Expo. One of the most attractive features will be the FOSS Solutions for the disabled.

This year, once again, you will get a chance to brush shoulders with some of the celebrities of the open source movement including Brian Behlendorf, Klaus Knopper (Knoppix), David Axmark (MySQL), Paul Kangro(Novell), Louis Sourez Potts (OpenOffice) and Michael Shiloh (OpenMoko). Besides, more than 15 international and 60 Indian high-quality speakers will share their knowledge and experience at OSIW 2008!

So, you need to be there. Click here to register!

Love means ...

This is really special -

Slow down for three minutes to read this.

A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to 8 year-olds, 'What does love mean?' The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined. See what you think:

'When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love.'
Rebecca- age 8

'When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth.'
Billy - age 4

'Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shavingcologne and they go out and smell each other.'
Karl - age 5

'Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs.'
Chrissy - age 6

'Love is what makes you smile when you're tired.'
Terri - age 4

'Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK.'
Danny - age 7

'Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more.
My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss'
Emily - age 8

'Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.'
Bobby - age 7 (Wow!)

'If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate,'
Nikka - age 6 (We need a few million more Nikka's on this planet)

'Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday.'
Noelle - age 7

'Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well.'
Tommy - age 6

'During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore.'
Cindy - age 8

'My mommy loves me more than anybody . You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night.'
Clare - age 6

'Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken.'
Elaine-age 5

'Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Brad Pitt.'
Chris - age 7

'Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day.'
Mary Ann - age 4

'I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones.'
Lauren - age 4

'When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you.' (what an image)
Karen - age 7

'You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget.'
Jessica - age 8

And the final one -- Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked about a contest he was asked to judge. The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child.
The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife.
Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there.
When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said,
'Nothing, I just helped him cry'

MBA in a Page...

A comprehensive list of management theories. Its 'MBA in a Page'. Check out guys ! Very Useful !

Happy Republic Day...

Success

The Ten Commandments of Success
1. Hard Work: Hard work is the best investment a man can make.
2. Study Hard: Knowledge enables a man to work more intelligently and effectively.
3. Have Initiative: Ruts often deepen into graves.
4. Love Your Work: Then you will find pleasure in mastering it.
5. Be Exact: Slipshod methods bring slipshod results.
6. Have the Spirit of Conquest: Thus you can successfully battle and overcome
difficulties.
7. Cultivate Personality: Personality is to a man what perfume is to the flower.
8. Help and Share with Others: The real test of business greatness lies in giving
opportunity to others.
9. Be Democratic: Unless you feel right toward your fellow men, you can never
be a successful leader of men.
10. In all Things Do Your Best: The man who has done his best has done everything.
The man who has done less than his best has done nothing.
—CHARLES M. SCHWAB

Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody.

There is a story about four men named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody. There was an important job to be done, and Everybody was asked to do it. Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it,but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that, because it was Everybody's job. Everybody thought that Anybody could do it, and Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn't do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody, when actually Nobody did what Anybody could have done.
-- Anonymous

Meri Maa ...

A very heart touching song from Taare Zamin Par...

Main Kabhi Batlata Nahin
Par Andhere Se Darta Hoon Main Maa
Yun To Main,Dikhlata Nahin
Teri Parwaah Karta Hoon Main Maa
Tujhe Sab Hain Pata, Hain Na Maa
Tujhe Sab Hain Pata,,Meri Maa

Bheed Mein Yun Na Chodo Mujhe
Ghar Laut Ke Bhi Aa Naa Paoon Maa
Bhej Na Itna Door Mujkko Tu
Yaad Bhi Tujhko Aa Naa Paoon Maa
Kya Itna Bura Hoon Main Maa
Kya Itna Bura Meri Maa

Jab Bhi Kabhi Papa Mujhe
Jo Zor Se Jhoola Jhulate Hain Maa
Meri Nazar Dhoondhe Tujhe
Sochu Yahi Tu Aa Ke Thaamegi Maa

Unse Main Yeh Kehta Nahin
Par Main Seham Jaata Hoon Maa
Chehre Pe Aana Deta Nahin
Dil Hi Dil Mein Ghabraata Hoon Maa
Tujhe Sab Hai Pata Hai Naa Maa
Tujhe Sab Hai Pata Meri Maa

Main Kabhi Batlata Nahin
Par Andhere Se Darta Hoon Main Maa
Yun To Main,Dikhlata Nahin
Teri Parwaah Karta Hoon Main Maa
Tujhe Sab Hain Pata, Hain Na Maa
Tujhe Sab Hain Pata,,Meri Maa

For all those who do not understand Hindi ..Dont worry! There is a translation too .. just feel those words ...

I've never told you
How scared I am of the dark
I've never told you
How much I care for you
But you know, dont you, Ma?
You know everything, my Ma.

Dont leave me alone in crowds
I'll lose my way back home
Dont send me to places far away
Where you wont even remember me
Am I so bad, Ma?
Am I so bad, my Ma?

When sometimes Papa swings me
Too high in the air,
My eyes search for you, hoping
You'll come and hold me safe

I dont tell him
But I get petrified
I dont let it show
But my heart sinks
you know everything, dont you Ma?
You know everything, my Ma.

I've never told you
How scared I am of the dark
I've never told you
How much I care for you
But you know, dont you, Ma?
You know everything, my Ma.

Happy PERTH Day

This has got to be India's greatest test victory till now. The Indians outplayed aussies in all departments. It was a complete team effort, everybody chipped in with their efforts. A great gift by the whole team to Jumbo. I think the spell from Ishant Sharma to Ponting was unbelievable. The boy bowled 9 overs on the trot, and nearly got him out half a dozen time ! Its the bowlers that are going to win India matches. Great comeback for both Irfaan and Sehwag. Viru was superve with his ideas in letting Ishant bowl the extra over that got the Ponting wicket and also chipped in with wickets of Gilchrist and Lee. The innings played by VVS to me was the defining moment in the match. his partnership with RP gave India that much lead. The last team to beat Australia in their own backyards was India when we won in Adelaide..Win at WACA will make Aussies shake when they come to play in the next match, thats for sure! Congrats once again to Indian team ! Chak De ... Chak De India !

Jumbo 600 not out ...

Anil Kumble became only the third bowler to take 600 wickets in test cricket when he got the prised scalp of Andrew Symonds on the second day of the third test at WACA, Perth, Australia. It makes me wonder who would have thought 2 years ago that this man would reach this height. Astonishing ! Well, well !

The last 3 years have really been one of the best years in his cricketing career. The last 200 wickets that he has taken have come in just 40 tests. A maiden century against england..Indian Test team captaincy, the innings that he played at Sydney in this series nearly saved India the match. To be honest, Kumble is not gifted with natural abilities like Warne or Murali has. Thats why i admire him a lot. A perfect team man. I still remember the test match in antigua when he had a injured jaw.. and he still came on to bowl..If any of you have seen that match .. u can recollect those images when Kumble had his head wrapped up with bandage.. And he still managed to get Lara trapped LBW...hats off !

I am very happy for him since he has toiled really hard to reach this place. He has shown that changes in length and pace can deceive the batsman as much as turn and flight. It would be more appropriate if India can win this test match. If they do, it was the 600th wicket(Symonds wicket) that was the turning point for this match ! Jumbo would be no more happier !

If he continues at the rate at which he is going, he would soon reach the 700 club to join warnie and murali..i wish him best luck and good health !

Just to add, I think the bowlers are not given the credit they deserve. Mostly the batsman oriented game, we often talk about the no of runs scored, centuries made..The bowling records are not given the due credit. I think taking 5 wickets is equivalent to scoring 100 runs .. So the 600 wickets would mean a equivalent of 12000 runs ! Yes 12000 runs ! Food for thought gentlemen !!

Side Effetcs of Tata's Nano Car

Recieved this through an e-mail from one friend... could not resist but to post it :).. Hilarious ! Enjoy !