Pigeons were used extensively up to WWI to send messages. A pigeon is sitting on the antenna for our internet connection; history meets present!
History meets present
Category Archives: Technology
Technology including applications
No time like the present to protect the past
Today is March 31 and it’s World Backup Day.
There are two kinds of computer owners: those that backup their data, and those who will backup after they lose something irreplaceable. It’s that last group for whom World Backup Day exists, and the special occasion has returned for a third year to make sure we all wind up in that first, very responsible camp.
Thankfully, it’s easier than ever to have at least some kind of safety net. Along with ridiculously high-capacity external hard drives, both Mac and Windows users have simple built-in software to make backup a set-it-and-forget-it affair. No money or room for an extra drive on the desk?
No problem: cloud storage is ubiquitous, and even includes unlimited options. Mobile users have it a little easier with a myriad of Apple, Google and Microsoft cloud services, although there are third-party options in that space, too.
In short, you’ve got few excuses to skimp out when it comes to safeguards, and enough choices to seriously consider using two or more — which might be wise in this dangerous era of meteorite showers and brick-tossing robots.
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/31/world-backup-day-2013/
Earth Hour tonight
This evening, around 1.3 billion people will go without light at 8:30 pm and at 9:30 pm, and at 10:30 pm, and for the rest of the night, just like every other night of the year. Having no access to electricity, darkness after sunset is a constant reality for these people.
At the same time, another 1 billion people will participate in “Earth Hour” by turning off their lights and non-essential appliances from 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm in symbolic support for climate change mitigation.
Yes, anything to save the environment. But do we really have to wait for this each year to make a difference?
After so many years of announcing the scientific basis for climate change, is token symbolic support the way to move forward? Or should we instead be thinking of ways to actually cut carbon emissions?
There are a few of the things we may do like Carbon tax, Carbon costing, going for alternative green sources but the operative word here is action. Now, it’s a time to move ahead from one-hour high-profile symbolism to real, concrete actions, if we are to move forward towards climate change mitigation.
Also, we should not forget to reach electricity to the rest of the world, for whom observing “Earth Hour” is a luxury.
Social media etiquette
Just because we live in the digital age doesn’t mean manners have become obsolete. Rather, they have evolved. I reblogged this post from Lauren Conrad. Now that we communicate with one another (constantly!) through various social media channels, we need to exercise our best (online) etiquette now more than ever. I think that because we can easily hide behind a computer or phone, we often take chances online—behaving in ways we wouldn’t otherwise act in public. This can be great because it encourages us to take chances and be more forthcoming, however, it can also create a diffused sense of responsibility for our actions. In light of this, I will be going over the do’s and don’ts of social media etiquette today! Take note and don’t forget to share this post on your social media feeds, too.
The Do’s
- Do remember that your comments and postings will follow you (long, long after they have been shared). If you wouldn’t say it in front of your grandmother, it’s probably not a good idea to post it online.
- Do consider your tone. Are you a “Face-bragger” or complainer? If so, reconsider your posting strategy because no one likes a Debbie Downer or a pompous poster.
- Do think before you tag or upload. There’s nothing worse than someone tagging you in the most unflattering photo imaginable. When you do tag someone or upload a photo of them, put yourself in their shoes and reconsider if you’re unsure. Remember that your online actions can affect others.
- Do ignore. If someone is being mean to you online or says something you totally don’t agree with, just ignore them. It’s the graceful thing to do.
The Don’ts
- Don’t overshare. There is a line that is often crossed and it’s important to remember where to draw it. No, I don’t care to hear about your bodily functions or sad breakup rant. Sorry. Some things are meant to be personal, which takes me to my next point.
- Don’t get too personal. Arguments, feuds and the like are best kept offline. Personal attacks not only reflect poorly on the attacker, but let’s be honest here, no one wants to see it anyway. Also, don’t take things too personally either. If someone doesn’t friend you or tweet you back right away, it probably means they haven’t been checking their account as often as you. Give them time!
- Don’t constantly ask people to follow you or like your page. It’s not only demanding, but you should let people follow and like what they want.
- Don’t overload everyone’s feed. Nothing annoys me like someone tweeting 10 things in a row or pinning 100 images all at once. I’m sure more of you are probably not fans either.
The Golden Rule
Act the way you want to be treated online. And share this post—let’s spread the word! (You can use the social media icons at the bottom of this post to share it in a snap.)
First dawn of 2013 in Baghdad; Facebook is pushing back photo to 2012
I woke up at my regular time at 6.00am as I forgot to turn off the daily morning alarm, today being a holiday. Then I thought of seeing the first dawn on 2013. At around 7.00am, I went to the terrace to witness the first dawn and the first Sun of the New Year.
First dawn of 2013 in Baghdad
I posted the picture on my Facebook and changed the time to 7.00am. Later I found to my utter surprise that the photo is dated as 01 January 2012! I tried to edit the date to 2013. But that was not possible as the drop down list does not have 2013! So, my most recent picture is pushed back by one year. It seems that for Facebook, 2013 is yet to arrive. This I did not expect from Facebook.
I tweeted this failure and also put this as a status update on my Facebook. I checked Twitter and found that there were other people also who have tweeted on this failure of service. Now, I am waiting for Facebook to fix this so that I will then correct the date of the picture on the timeline.
2013 is the first year after 1987 to have all different numbers. We wish happy New Year to all the readers.
Are the protests signs of maturing Indian democracy?
As per Wikipedia, democracy is a form of government in which all eligible citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. It encompasses social, economic and cultural conditions that enable the free and equal practice of political self-determination. Can the public protests seen recently across the country be termed as beginning of maturity of Indian democracy?
2012 has seen Indian public coming out of their cozy drawing rooms to the streets to join protests, prepared to take on the might of the powerful state on issues affecting their daily life ranging from wide-spread corruptions in the state machinery, huge scams denting the Indian economy to a gang rape of a young woman in Delhi.
Politicians have failed to measure up to the expectations of people. They have been too busy playing self-serving power games and vote-bank based politics, in Parliament, in public and in every available space, without caring for the Indian population, who elected them for governing the country. The public governance has taken a back seat in the power-hungry games of the politicians.
These politicians are so much disconnected from the public and the realities that they not only failed to lead the people but reacted to these developments too late and with typical cynicism. Many of their comments, reactions were too mechanical and full of arrogance. Politics continued dirty, confused and listless.
Started in 2011 with Anna Hazare’s anti corruption movement, the public protests across the country have now manifested in a massive protest against the apathy of the government towards the sexual harassment of women. Politicians were scared of the public in 2011 also and they have failed to connect to the mass in 2012 too.
Undoubtedly, the technology has helped people to gather, consolidate and protest on social issues affecting their life. The explosion of information technology has reduced distances and made India a smaller place. The social media like Twitter, Facebook, and blogs has played a major role in uniting the people and gathering them for protests all over the country. The politicians and the government have failed to match up to the explosion of social media and its importance. They reacted with usual arrogance using police and para-military to stop the protests instead of listening to the people’s genuine demands. Groucho Marx once said:
“Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it, misdiagnosing it, and then misapplying the wrong remedies.”
It’s agreed that most of these street protests are spontaneous, primarily guided by emotions and lacking the matured guidance. Many street protests without a goal/direction generally fizzle out at the end without serving the purpose. The public display of anger, cynicism and unhappiness towards the state apathy is likely to continue in 2013 too. The awakening of youth cannot be ignored.
Hope, just public voices will be able to compel the society to break the shackles of medieval and feudal thoughts and transform it into a vibrant and truly participative democracy. We want to see India rising to become a global power in near future with the fruit of the developments reaching everybody and every corner of the country.
World’s oldest computer gets a reboot
The National Museum of Computing has got a new, two-ton computer to its collection — the world’s oldest. After a three-year restoration project at The National Museum of Computing, the Harwell Dekatron (aka The WITCH for Wolverhampton Instrument for Teaching Computation from Harwell) computer was rebooted on 20 November 2012 to become the world’s oldest original working digital computer. The supercomputer was used to aid scientists in the 1950s, who were crunching large numbers — though it took a while.
The Witch
The 2.5 tonne, 1951 computer from Harwell with its 828 flashing Dekatron valves, 480 relays and a bank of paper tape readers will clatter back into action in the presence of two of the original designers, one of its first users and many others who have admired it at different times during its remarkable history. By 1957, the computer had become redundant at Harwell. For every two digits, the computer took 10 seconds to calculate.
After 15 years being out of commission, the computer has been restored. ‘The Witch” is now back to the way it operated in its heyday.
Source: Mashable and The National Museum of Computing
basirhat.com
Dot com is generally associated with virtual sites. The domain names, inter alia, end with .com. During my recent visit to Basirhat in West Bengal, I came across a banner with “Basirhat Dot Com” displayed on it. It’s not a website, but a club of local boys displaying banner for their Kali puja (worship of the Goddess Kali) and it has got no connection with cyberspace.
The banner was displayed just across our house. I thought first that there is some cyber cafe there and they have named it like that. But, on my enquiry I found that there is nothing virtual or any connection to that. It’s a club of local boys and they have just named their club – basirhat.com.
The kids nowadays have become so much used to dot com that they named their club with dot com. If it goes like this, then we may find people keeping their surnames as dot com!
goibibo.com
I used to book air tickets for me and my family using the portals of MakeMyTrip.com or yatra.com. I saw the advertisement of goibibo.com that they are selling tickets at the cheapest rates. So, I tried this portal for last few travel bookings.
There is some change in the travel plan for Babai after his visit during Durga puja as we are planning to visit Barrackpore, Kolkata and Basirhat. We have not visited most of our relatives since long due to our preoccupations.
I therefore cancelled the return ticket for Babai booked from Kolkata to Bagdogra on the portal of goibibo.com on 20 September 2012. They said that it would take around 5 business days for me to get the refund credited to my account.
On 26 September, I received a call from their office for cancellation. The caller took all the details and then she confirmed that she noted the cancellation and would process it. As per her, I would have got the amount in 5 business days.
I cannot understand why they need a representative to call me again for cancellation after 6 days when I had already marked it for cancellation on their portal. Yesterday, evening I checked my account and still there was no credit to my account. I got fed up and sent email to them and also tweeted them about non-payment of the refund amount – failure of promised service.
The tweet activated them. They responded to look into it and get me update in 24 hours. They also replied to my email. In the morning, I got a call from their representative that my refund has been processed and I must get the amount credited to my account by today.
@indrajitroyc Hi Indarjit we had emailed you regarding your refund on your registered email id indrajitrc@gmail.com. Thanks
—
goibibo (@GoibiboDotCom) October 05, 2012It’s nice that I could find the credit of the refund amount in my account today. It’s nice to see their promptness in attending tweets and emails. The company should endeavour to reduce the refund processing time and avoid duplication of efforts causing unnecessary delays and stress to their customers.
Goibibo.com, I thought of not using your portal again. But, your promptness in attending my tweet & email has forced me to reconsider my decision and I may use your portal again.
NASA’s Curiosity rover successfully lands on Mars
The US space agency NASA’s Curiosity rover touched down on Mars at 5.14am (GMT) today after an apparently perfect entry and descent dubbed the “seven minutes of terror” by NASA staff. The period referred to the anxious moments during which the spacecraft punched into the Martian atmosphere at 13,000 mph, performed a series of exquisite manoeuvres, and came to a standstill on the ground, all without human intervention.
The first pictures, taken from a low-resolution camera aboard the rover, suggested the vehicle had touched down away from large rocks. The first picture sent was a small one. In one, one of the rover’s wheels was visible. In another, the rover cast a shadow over the floor of the Gale crater as tweeted by it.
Curiosity is the largest and most sophisticated rover NASA has ever sent to another planet. It ushers in a new era of exploration that could turn up evidence that Mars ever had the necessary ingredients for life — or might even still harbor life today.
I was quite interested to see it land successfully on the surface of the red planet and so I was following its twitter handle for latest, accurate and first hand information in the morning today. August 6, 2012 is definitely a great day for science and today’s achievement may sober down the dark, sad memories; we haven’t forgotten that Hiroshima was nuclear bombed on this day 67 years back and that’s also a gift of science.
Just for info, an Indian scientist Amitabh Ghosh, chair of the science operations working group at NASA Mars Exploration Rover Mission, was a member of the team that zeroed in on the Gale crater location where the car-sized rover successfully landed.
