For those who know me, they would also know that I have been having tea from roadside vendors for over 2 decades now and I simply enjoy these moments when strange and various types and tastes of tea are served with equal amount of enthusiasm, every single time.

Plastic Tea Cup on a dilapidated push cart

Pulse – Alphonso Labs.

Another interesting product and more importantly a very urgently needed one. Tiring and boring are various other RSS readers which simply allow you to read, this probably allows you to do the same in style and with colors.

The product does have a hint of Sweeetcron in it though and the UXCron Interface, but I like it. I am a fan of that as well.

Pulse Interface

Not very often that we see an intercity bus parked with its rear engine bay open to view, probably from overheating. But this was on a rainy day. Found this Volvo B7R city bus with it’s intestines in full view, snapped it up. Regret the cell phones lack of quality but the sprockets and belts do offer a very nice view for the complicated mind.

Volvo B7R Engine Bay. Parked on NH7 south of bangalore just outside Attibele crossing.

An amazing product, well actually a simple product but in a very sensible shape. In almost all cars the cup holder is right next to the power socket and what best place to have a USB and AC converter than the cup holder itself.

The gadget that looks like a coffee cup

Images from Amazon.com

Amazon.com: Power Line 0900-66 200-Watt Coffee Cup Inverter with USB Charging Port and Two Outlets

Elevating Communication (Long Version, Original) on Vimeo on Vimeo

via Elevating Communication (Long Version, Original) on Vimeo.

Its a long, almost black and white, painting in motion. And there are others as well in the creator’s playlist on Vimeo

Houseparty.

Microsoft’s got a phone out there now and it does look good. Comes in two versions of Kin One and Kin two, and both look rounded and fresh, much like a Samsung Corby, young and happy. It’s a welcome break from the numerous iPhone lookalike crowding the market.

KIN One and Two (The bigger one is Two) - Screen Grab from website. They should give some links to download photos.

From what can be seen in their videos and website, the phone has a very intuitive touch interface complemented by a hidden keyboard which many of us do like to have.

Time will tell weather they have cracked it with this one or not.

KIN ONE Specs

1. Slide-out QWERTY keyboard
2. Solid camera
3. Compact size

KIN TWO Specs

1. Wider screen
2. Bolder camera
3. More memory

KIN ONE Tech Specs:

1. Form Factor: Vertical slide, QWERTY size: 57cc
2. Display: 2.6″ TFT, QVGA (320 x 240), capacitive touch screen
3. Camera: 5.0MP CMOS anti-shake, autofocus, dual LED flash
4. Speakers: Mono
5. Memory: 256MB DDR RAM, 4GB storage
6. Battery: 1240 mAh
7. Connectivity: EV-DO Rev A, Bluetooth 2.1 w/A2DP, Hi-speed USB, 802.11b/g
8. Other: Assisted GPS, FM radio, accelerometer

KIN TWO Tech Specs:

1. Form Factor: Vertical slide, QWERTY size: 65cc
2. Display: 3.4″ TFT, QVGA (480 x 320), capacitive touch screen
3. Camera: 8.0MP HDR CMOS from Omnivision with anti-shake, autofocus, Lumi LED flash
4. Speakers: Mono
5. Memory: 256MB DDR RAM, 8GB storage
6. Battery: 1390 mAh
7. Connectivity: EV-DO Rev A, Bluetooth 2.1 w/A2DP, Hi-speed USB, 802.11b/g
8. Other:Assisted GPS, FM radio, accelerometer

Part # F5C412au140W from Belkin - Another thing for those long drives.

Belkin : AC Anywhere DC – AC Inverter.

Running out of power is a thing of the past with the AC Anywhere. Simply plug the unit into any 12-volt DC vehicle cigarette lighter socket and the AC Anywhere converts your vehicle’s battery power to 230 volts AC (common household current.) The AC Anywhere is perfect for charging batteries for your mobile phone, portable computer, electric shaver, TV/VCR, or virtually any device while travelling. The AC Anywhere inverter features a convenient On/Off switch and fuse protection along with an audible alarm that sounds if the vehicle battery voltage drops to 10.6 volts DC.

Features

• Low battery alarm at 10.4V DC
• Low battery shut-off at 9.8V DC
• Automatic overheat shut-off at 66° Celsius
• DC cord and cigarette lighter plug
• Replaceable fuse
• Overload protection
• 2 Year Warranty
• Recharges portable devices
• Power your mobile and laptop battery chargers
• Power up laptop computers, TVs, VCRs, cameras, and other AC equipment
• Convenient On/Off switch and overload fuse protection
• Low battery alarm and automatic shut-off

This sure would be a great product to have on long roadtrips where your camera keeps running out of battery. Also excellent to charge that old laptop with annoying battery performance. This also opens up a lot of possibilities such as running electronic mosquito repellants among other things.

Imagine this.

You have a server room in your multi-million dollar corporation that is generating so much heat that you have to use 5 tonnes of air-conditioning to just keep it stable, and probably another 1 tonne more to make it perform well. You do have the other option to put it up in Alaska but that might not be such a great idea for the admin guy.

And then you have a few hundred employees drinking coffee, tea and other hot beverages in another room and heating that up using microwave, heating coil, cooking gas and various other things.

It’s probably time that the heat from these machines can be tapped and sent to heat up the food that’s being eaten by people who drive these machines.

The Server Equation

Just a thought.

Today, in the fast developing craze over ipad and earlier over iPhone, we have somehow forgotten Apple‘s first try at building a hand held computing device that did not do so well in the market. It did have a host of features including a fully functional hand writing recognition which was fairly good by existing standards in 1998 when it’s development officially was shelved.

The Newton Handheld platform was only followed by the modified OS X platform for the iPhone 10 years later.

Newton (platform) – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Just a tribute to a pioneer. Not to forget what came first and where the “Pad” of ipad actually comes from. Probably just sentimental for Apple.

MessagePad 2000

YouTube – The Chemical Brothers – Star Guitar (2003 Digital Remaster).

Chemical Brothers - Star Guitar

That’s just an image, embed is disabled for this video

One of my favorite videos of all time by one of my favorite bands of all time. A perfect video which best describes the rhythm that we intend to connect to while traveling by a train, bus or car. Almost everything outside the window has a rhythm to it, and this probably is it’s best depiction.

That apart, the visual effects part of it is amazing as well. Layers and layers of elements in matched perspective with parallax created and put together to the beat of the music. Each 3D element representing an instrument. Simply beautiful.

Who says creativity is scarce these days. Here is a software that really uses available data to the public to it’s limits to generate something that we probably would not want others to know.

This is what it looks like, simple and clear.

This little widget by Amit Agarwal captures what’s there on many minds with a simple tool to average out sleep cycles of Twitter users. And why just Twitter, I am sure it would make a very good Facebook tool as well to see what percentage or your friends are awake and asleep, even if it’s just a mathematical guess.

My Sleeping Schedule Generated by the widget.

Flash CS5

animation software, multimedia software | Adobe Flash Professional CS5.

Somehow Adobe has been putting one Axe after another on their foot.

1. The order form for Adobe CS5 is in Flash. Why?
2. To prove that things really aren’t that smooth in Flash, they have a share on Facebook button on the page which did not work. Please test before you put such links.
3. The link that I could copy to share it took me to some other domain. Not good so far. (wildfire.gigya.com/Facebook/preview….)

Ahem.. what’s wrong guys? And is HTML so outdated or beyond you that everything needs to be Flash. Keep it simple, make them work, effects can happen later.

BTW: Good old copy and paste URL in Facebook or using Facebook Share Bookmark worked just fine.

(Via @dhh on Twitter)

Drivelapse on Vimeo on Vimeo

via Drivelapse on Vimeo.

Have to do this sometime. I like the way no one every jumps the light or changes to opposite lanes in the video, having this done in India would be completely chaotic and would definitely show the difference.

PIXELS by Patrick Jean on Vimeo on Vimeo

via PIXELS by Patrick Jean on Vimeo.

Saw it first posted on Twitter as a link.

Loved the idea of rogue Pixels that revolt and destroy or take over the city / world. More than that it reminded me of Pacman, so much so, that I downloaded a free version today and have been trying to get re-addicted ever since. Looking for a version or Tetris as well.

Oxygen on Vimeo on Vimeo via Oxygen on Vimeo.

Excellent video, not in terms of just animation, which is fairly good but also the idea itself. I would have benefitted a lot in my school days if chemistry was this fun. Instead we had boring Ping Pong Ball models stuck with wooden matchsticks.

The Animator should probably take it up as a project with the millions of E-Learning companies that are spawning these days but are no good at EduTainment, instead putting the same old boring books in digital format.

Berlin Block Tetris on Vimeo on Vimeo

via Berlin Block Tetris on Vimeo.

Although the Video describes housing complexes built in the Soviet Era of Berlin, it is still apt for housing complexes being built today in Bangalore, India. With the rapid growth and sky rocketing real estate prices, Tetris is probably the best way to describe this game.

Step 1: Gather your required tools.

1. You will need a good set of screwdrivers with the required sizes of Allen Keys. It’s probably the smallest available with any set. Check the back of the keyboard to confirm the size.
2. You will need a household glass and equipment cleaner.
3. A soft cotton cloth, preferably white. Colored cloth can leak color onto the keyboard and do more damage in the process.
4. A used towel to dry off the keys.
5. Some tissue paper to soak the excess liquid that fall off.

Note: The usability of the keyboard depends on how carefully one cleans it. The plastic is very fragile, more so if the keyboard has been used for last 5 years in a hot and dry climate. Things may be brittle and prone to breakage.

Warning:

1. Don’t try this if the product is under any kind of warranty.
2. Do not attempt if you don’t have a backup keyboard in place.
3. There is a possibility that the keyboard may permanently get ruined in the process.
4. Use your own judgement and evaluate your own risk.

Step 2: Do a complete cleaning of the surface of the keyboard with any available household cleaner.

Step 3: Start taking out the keys one by one using a regular key or a screw driver.

A close up of how to remove each key

Step 4: While taking out the keys, align and keep them in order so that you do not mess up the sequence. Note that all keys on this keyboard has the 'legend' on the bottom-left corner.

Step 4: Keep all keys organized

Step 5: Clean the keyboard with its keys removed with a used toothbrush or similar brush.

A closeup of the keyboard with the keys removed. Note: Do not use excess cleaner as they take time to dry and that could render the keyboard useless for a while even after putting back together.

Step 6: Remove the Allen Bolts at the back to access the insides of the keyboard.

Step 7: Use a soft brush to clean the dust from insides. Do not force anything as the wires are very fragile.

Step 8: Reverse the process and put back the keyboard in shape. Give the cleaning fluids a few minutes or hours to dry before firing it up.

Bricks on Vimeo on Vimeo

via Bricks on Vimeo.

Not easy to find samples and help to work on Blender. And somehow I landed on this one. Probably the most unique concept I have come across in the last 10 years, a pursuit of sorts depicted solely by the coverage of area of two characters. The animator has actually managed to show spaces, alleys, trees, roads and even complete devastation left in their path.

Those of you in Design related education, this is a must for Space Form and Structure

Sony Walkman, the original “Personal Media Player” is probably outdated today and the brand re-targeted and populated with MP3 players and phones, but it was this machine, a small mechanical wonder that was one of the first to allow users to carry their music almost everywhere. And tapes had their advantages too over MP3 files.

1. First and foremost they needed to be legal, and were easy to acquire.
2. They were rugged unlike the CD that followed them with great quality but their reliability depended on their usage.
3. An album on a tape was a sequence of songs intended to follow each other in a predefined sequence, a function that lost it’s meaning with the fast paced Skip and Shuffle world of MP3.

And they had their share of disadvantages as well:

1. They often got chewed up until better motors and technology came in. Direct Drive from Sony was one such technology that sort of achieved this almost flawlessly.
2. The quality deteriorated with time and age of the tape and the player. The player also needed regular maintenance to run smoothly.
3. The battery life was appalling, with so many motors and moving parts the most advanced Direct Drives would just about manage a few hours of playback.

Remembering the walkman, a few images gathered from the web, surprisingly there are very few of them around.

The complete set as available in the 90's

Click on the small thumbnails above to check out other images.

Pity they are no longer there. Somehow they were mode dedicated to music than an iPod or Zune. The clunky physicality of using one is missing from the polished convenience of today.

Note: Images used are not taken by me, neither do they belong to me. They have been copied and uploaded back on the server simply because only few of them are available to view and enjoy these days.

Is this your limb? 30 second short film. on Vimeo on Vimeo

There was a time back during 2001 – 2004 we were all bitten by the short film bug, tried many and eventually landed up making not so short complicated ideas which did not hold ground. This is exactly Opposite of that.

A SHORT LOVE STORY IN STOP MOTION on Vimeo on Vimeo

via A SHORT LOVE STORY IN STOP MOTION on Vimeo.

Once in a while I come across some animation work which makes me pick up the drawing board. This was it. Today I am going to start actual production of two such projects that have been gyrating in my brain for the last few months.

Will post it right here when they are done, making will be online as well.

Top 10 Funny Videos on YouTube.

The guy in the video is a what Youtube probably needed. Viewed more than 30 million times Numa Numa was a hit. I must have watched it a million times and it never fails to cheer me up on a good, bad or worse day.

Ah, there’s something about Gary Brolsma’s break-out web cam performance lip syncing and dancing to Moldovan pop music that one just can’t turn away from. Numa Numa was an instant viral hit when it was released and it has been viewed over 30 million times on YouTube alone (not counting duplicates).

Many would want to know what the song is, you can either go to the Youtube page and scroll through the comments or get this - Dragostea Din Tei by O-Zone available on Now That’s what I call Music – 58 – Disc – 2

History of the Internet on Vimeo on Vimeo

via History of the Internet on Vimeo.

Probably the most simplest and best way this boring history has been illustrated, and that too in a manner which makes it actually interesting to a lay man.

parkour motion reel on Vimeo on Vimeo

via parkour motion reel on Vimeo.

Another sunday morning discovery. The style is extremely nice, Flipbook style with a little bit of “Pen Story” happening in it as well.

Slagsmålsklubben – Sponsored by destiny on Vimeo on Vimeo

via Slagsmålsklubben – Sponsored by destiny on Vimeo.

This is definitely a very fresh and modern look at “Little Red Riding Hood”. Not to mention, thought blurbs like the “nutrition facts” what the Wolf gets is funny. Must Watch.

Reasons Why People Who Work With Computers Seem To Have a Lot of Spare Time [PIC].

Sketch

Very true.

The Sandpit on Vimeo on Vimeo

via The Sandpit on Vimeo.

Probably one of the best miniature style real like shooting I have seen. For all those around me who are trying to do the same.

YouMint Horoscope Page

I get these regular email from Youmint.com and I have no clue for why or what is their purpose. But today it was different, for once their mail looked a tad more inviting that the rest of them that piled up before this one.

I opened it and landed on a page. As expected it was some page with some advertisement about some holiday which I am never going to take. So I click on the Horoscope part on top left and get this. (I am reducing the amount of Junk that was written, just note the last line)

Libra (26 Feb, 2010)

“Good fences make good neighbours”, said Frost. It’s a good thing that you rubbish …   … brighter than usual for you, foresees Ganesha.

This Week

Heightened activity is on the cards, this week. All sorts of activities …   …move forward from your home and hearth mentality as you start focusing on the glow and glamor of both money and honey.

This Month

This will be a busy yet good month for you. …   … you will head for a foreign country. Your work will progress without any obstacles and you will find contentment in your line of action. And, this comfort may easily reverberate in your financial front too.

This Year

Sorry Due to Some internal error could not load the Data

Old mailer - Little boring and does not stand out

New mailer - Little bit more interesting than the old one, enough to make me click and check.

So Ahem.. What does that mean.. like there was so much data that could not be loaded. I like to be optimistic and think that all of it was good.

Anyway, for some sever error, my future is definitely unknown at the moment (also a 1/12th of human population)

Enjoy!

The Indian Memory Project

A few years back I got a couple of old photographs from home with the intention to restore them and get them printed. Somehow I never managed the time to get all of them done, but this was the first one. (More info is on the photograph itself and will try and upload a larger resolution version as well)

Parts of the photo were moth eaten. Out of the 14 legs of the brothers, about 9 were left when I started out. After touching and fixing most parts, the colors were done, mostly out of imagination and generalization.

A long long time ago

Belkin In Desk iPod Grommet

iPod dock built right into a table

Now that makes perfect sense. I have one that dangles around everywhere all the time. Not to mention the battalion of wires that march out from it and into the PC / Stereo etc.

Here’s what the manufacturers say.

What’s special about this iPod® Dock?

1. Provides a safe docking station for your iPod® while you charge or sync it
2. Eliminates the need for additional USB cord for your iPod
3. Saves valuable desk space
4. Mounting grommet ring allows space for your cables under your desk to pass through
5. Works with USB 1.1 and 2.0 for high and full speed data transfers

Fliqlo screenshot. From 9031.com

9031: Free Downloads: Screensavers.

Came across this today. It was a short search from Apartment Therapy and then over to finding a screenshot of the desired screensaver and then to 9031′s downloads page. Fliqlo is a lovely screensaver, simple and shows the time in a classic style flip clock.

And the downloads page is even better. Using an old style floppy casing to denote each downloadable item is brilliant, and does  justify the small apps that they give away free.

Fliqlo is available for Mac and Windows.

9031's downloads page

Pumaphone

Somebody had to do this. And the fact that it’s this sporty and has a bright interface (and not a geeky droidy thing) is a plus. There are website talking about how viable is the solar option and when do I leave it out to dry.. errr.. charge. Well, the fact that this comes with a sports kit suggests that you get charged while your phone gets charged. Spend time.. outside.

Definitely not for the regular office fellow who basks in fluorescent glow.

Check that drool worthy UI

Also check out the review on Gizmodo and more images on their website.

Interesting comparison

Warning, Your Cell Phone May Be Hazardous To Your Health: Gear + Gadgets: GQ.

The original post talks about the effects of cell phone radiation and how much research has been done and how harmful etc. What I was interested in was the image (attached) and originally posted on the GQ website. Follow either the image link or the Link on top to get to the article.

Innovative Imagery still Rules

Midday website has spanning ads that do not go away!!

Off late I am coming across pages of different news websites and others that have more advertising per page than actual content. Now we all know that everyone has to make a buck or two but at what cost? Attached is a screenshot from http://www.mid-day.com/. I understand the fact that ads need to be there to support their infrastructure, but things that span over actual content blocking it is a bog no no. Could not get a screenshot without the spanning advertisement in the center, as it wont go away.

But thats not all. Then there are ads that are purely unworked on. Specially through Google‘s adsense. These are ads that look like no one has spent anytime on them. C’mon guys, you would not do that to television, then why the web? Probably because Google has little or no quality check in place to control that, after all they are making money and care very little.

This screen grab is from NDTV.com, a popular news portal. See the horizontal banner ad running in a box on the right side column.

It’s been a decade to full fledged internet advertising and banners, and I think it’s time that people actually spent time and money on them rather than copying and pasting a poor quality image and adding text from powerpoint.

Now some may argue that if you do put ads, things are bound to get cluttered. Not necessarily, just see Exhibit A: Wired.com

Wired.com homepage, smart balance and placement of ads work towards building the look of the page. Quality of ads matter as well.

It’s a no-brainer that when you want to play Football, or have to play Football, you carry a Football. But then you Gym bag is needed to carry the ball and a few other things like the Spike Boots, well you cant really drive with those on and so on.

But what if you want to play football and your Gym bag was big and already carried a Basketball, a Hockey Stick, a Baseball Bat, a Cricket Bat, a Tennis Racquet etc. Would you still carry all of them to the Football field? My guess is not, you would locate a smaller bag.

At this point, some may argue that softwares are like tools and not balls, but even then, I rarely see someone putting the Soldering Iron with their Wrench in the same box.

And that’s exactly the problem with too many internet based services getting clubbed and combined together. When I want to mail, I just want to mail. When I want to edit my documents, I just want to do that. When I want to speak to someone, I just would like to do that. These are options that should be separate, not because it’s easier to have them like that, but it’s human to have them like that.

However, there are many internet based services that are trying to combine all this on to a single webpage and calling it a dashboard. It’s good, but as long as that shows only the highlights and details are well segregated. What they need to list down are the services that Need to be separate and The services that are auxiliary like chat, tweet, global positioning etc. If it’s not done that way, your user may soon find his Football and Wall Street buddies on the same dining table. Sure there can be overlaps, but not a complete one, and it can be a disaster.

What would work?

1. Segregate the Work and Play software (Linkedin and Facebook)
2. Segregate Productive and Communication software (Google Docs and Gmail)
3. Segregate services like Photos and Videos (Like Youtube and Flickr)
4. Bind all these with Social and Professional Networking software (Google chat riding within Gmail)