vkontakte.ru, Russia
Click on image to visit site. Site looks like below as of right now, July 11, 2008.

hainei.com, China
Click on image to visit site. Site looks like below as of right now, July 11, 2008.

Kootali, India
Click on image to visit demo site. This company sells software to create Facebook clones! Demo Site looks like below as of right now, July 11, 2008.

Read More

Here are some pictures

The Linux version has over 40 applications pre installed. The Windows version has fewer pre-installed applications. Comes with Star Office, as can be seen above.

The Windows version of the Asus Eee PC 900 also eats up a lot more space as compared to the Linux version. The Windows version leaves less than 12 GB of usable space. The Linux version gives about 20 GB.

All in all its cute! And handy, but it gets quite heated up after using it for a few minutes. The trackpad is a bit hard to use, but then again maybe that maybe because of my thick fingers

Other alternatives could have been the 8GB version, but the screen was smaller (7 inches). The one I got has a screen almost 9 inches wide.

More at www.centennialbulb.org.
Also check out the live “Bulb cam” there.

Over a million people have viewed the lecture online.

The Wall Street Journal calls it “the lecture of a lifetime“,
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB119024238402033039.html

For those who don’t know (or haven’t yet gone through the links above), Professor Randy Pausch’s was until recently a Computer Science Professor at the Carnegie Mellon University. Last month, on Sept 18, he gave his “last lecture”. He has pancreatic cancer and expects to live for just a few more months.

I have been watching (and re-watching certain sections) the video for the last 3 hours. I couldn’t help but take notes of a few “take home points” I gathered from his lecture.

Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted

I particularly like this one.

Brick walls are there for a reason. They let us prove how badly we want things.

Brick walls are there to stop the “other” people, those that don’t want it badly enough.

Brick walls let us show our dedication.

He talked about his childhood dreams. And they were just not dreams, he actually achieved most of them. From being able to float in zero gravity, to designing rides for DisneyLand, to writing an entry in an encyclopedia, to being a part of a professional (Amercian) footbal team. And in so many of those dreams, he faced the “brick walls“, not just once, but many times. Its this thing about “brick walls let us prove how badly we want things” which really inspires me.

Another “never giveup“-style quote,

Dont bail; the best gold is at the bottom of barrels of crap.

In relation to his ever worsening medical condition,

In the face of adversity, don’t complain, just work harder. Your patience, will eventually be rewarded.

He is undergoing chemotherapy, but is still able to ride his bike an hour a day. As of last week, his cancer update page said his chemotherapy helped him gain an extra 2-4 months of good health.

About people, (in context of when we are really angry or annoyed at someone

Wait long enough and people will surprise and impress you.

Get a feedback loop; and listen to it.

So inspirational are his efforts in bridging computer science with the arts, that the Carnegie Mellon University (in recognition) is (at the cost of US$ 100 million) building two new buildings, one for the arts and one for computer science and actually connecting the two buildings with a footbridge, the Randy Pausch Memorial Footbridge.

My descriptions of how inspiring his lecture is, are mere words. Watch the video.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5700431505846055184

The only economy class seats on the upper deck are way at the back, rows 71-83. That’s just a tad over only 80 economy class seats on the upper deck of the SQ A380.

I can’t see the excitement in the experience of flying this new aircraft if I was crammed into a economy class seat in the lower deck. The experience would be no different from flying the goold old beauty, the Boeing 747.

But then again, I can’t possibly afford (or atleast not yet) those neat business class (J Class) seats taking up two thirds of the upper deck

The first commercial flight of the SQ A380 takes off with a lot of happy people on board (471 from what i gather) in about 10 minutes from now, not more than 5 kilometres from where I am right now. The cheapest ticket for this flight sold on eBay for US$560.00!

The concept of advertisements being “pushed” (sent) to the mobile phone is nothing new. By now, surely we have all have received atleast a few unsolicited advertisement/promotional SMS being sent to our mobile phones.

So far such type of “push” advertisements have been mostly SMS/MMS-based. I know of a “free SMS” provider in South Africa, called ‘Yo!SMS‘, which makes money by giving out “free SMS” but appending every message with an Ad (not sure if it is contextual, but it would be fair to guess it is).

So, it would be interesting to see how Google’s version of mobile phone-based advertising turns out.

More..

There once was a very good old barber in New York.

One day a florist goes to him for a haircut. After the cut, he goes to pay the barber and the barber replies: “I am sorry. I cannot accept money from you. I am doing community service.”

The Florist is happy and leaves the shop. The next morning when the barber goes to open his shop, there is a thank you card and a dozen roses waiting at his door.

A policeman goes for a haircut and he also goes to pay the barber after the cut. But the barber replies: “I am sorry. I cannot accept money from you. I am doing community service.”

The cop is happy and leaves the shop. The next morning the barber goes to open his shop, there is a thank you card and a dozen donuts waiting at his door.

A Singaporean software engineer goes for a haircut and he also goes to pay the barber after the cut. But the barber replies: “I am sorry. I cannot accept money from you. I am doing community service.”

The Singaporean software engineer is happy and leaves.

The next morning when the barber goes to open his shop, guess what he finds there…………

Can you guess?

Come on, think like a Singaporean….

have you got the answer ………..

come on ………….

guess………………………………………….

…

a dozen Singaporeans waiting for a free haircut!