web pruned by monkeys

California consumes more petrol than India or China!

Saket Rungta — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 12:06:20 +0000

“…a familiar line spouted by Americans these days is, ‘Why should the US curb energy consumption, when India and China are guzzling petrol and polluting the whole globe?’…” California consumes more petrol than India! Amazing Stat: California Uses More Gas than China

Stream files to share them

Saket Rungta — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 11:28:46 +0000

Streaming allows the upload and download at the same time, without the first person completely uploading the file. New startup brings streaming of files to web — innovative! Streamfile

VC activity in the US

Saket Rungta — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 15:25:28 +0000

VCs are collectively pumping about $7b per quarter on average in the US, with an average deal size of $7.5m, so approx 1000 new/renewed investments per quarter! The hot industries are usual suspects: software, energy and bio-tech. VC Deals In Charts @ TechCrunch

Al Gore’s energy challenge, we can solve it

Piyush Goel — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 22:08:04 +0000

Former Vice President of USA and an environmental activist, Al Gore, issued a challenge yesterday to all fellow Americans to achieve 100% energy from indigenously produced renewable sources within 10 years. This is not only a challenge for Americans, but a mission for all residents of the planet who ought to play their own part [...]

How to securely wipe your system before resale

Saket Rungta — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 13:09:38 +0000

Free, open-source boot disk utility Darik’s Boot and Nuke (DBAN) automatically and completely deletes the content of every hard disk it can find on your computer when you run it. Darik’s Boot and Nuke Securely Wipes Your System in an Emergency

A good night’s sleep best way to boost memory

Saket Rungta — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 09:49:40 +0000

The brain consolidates learned experiences and harden up weak memories which otherwise might fade in time. “People complain about sleep deprivation, but now with the 24/7 society and information overload we need our sleep more than ever.” Sleeping soundly ‘boosts memory’

How to log onto multiple Google Talk accounts on a computer

Saket Rungta — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 11:13:02 +0000

Scenario (for Windows): You’ve got multiple GMail accounts, say, one for work and another for personal use; and you would like to sign onto both Google Talk accounts on the same computer at the same time. By default, GTalk doesn’t permit multiple instances, but a simple hack can fix it. Right Click on the Google Talk [...]

The Next Step in our Open Search Ecosystem

Saket Rungta — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 15:58:15 +0000

Yahoo! is taking a bold step tonight: opening up its index and search engine to any outside developers who want to incorporate Yahoo! Search’s content and functionality into search engines on their own sites. Search War: Yahoo! Opens Its Search Engine to Attack Google With An Army of Verticals [...]

Ready-made open source software stacks as Virtual Appliances

Saket Rungta — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 13:36:14 +0000

JumpBox offers a neat array of read-made open source software stacks as Virtual Appliances, pre-configured with “best practices”. JumpBox

Browser fun: Sand in a browser window

Saket Rungta — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 10:20:53 +0000

A neat Flash application that simulates sand in a browser window! thisissand.com

Browser fun: Scalable Vector Graphics app

Saket Rungta — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 10:19:14 +0000

A neat SVG application that do not make use of Flash/Silverlight or Java for interactive user-interface, just vanilla SVG. Blobular

TrueCrypt 6.0 Released

Saket Rungta — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 18:58:11 +0000

The new version touts two major upgrades. ‘First, TrueCrypt now performs parallel encryption and decryption operations on multi-core systems, giving you a phenomenal speedup if you have more than one processor available. Second, it now has the ability to hide an entire operating system, so even if you’re forced to reveal your pre-boot password to [...]

“Vulnerability tax” on buggy software; Using economics to improve the industry!

Saket Rungta — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 18:33:58 +0000

The total economic cost of software security flaws has been estimated at about $180 billion a year. A former cryptographer for the National Security Agency and NASA suggests creating a tax on software based on the number and severity of security bugs, even if the cost gets passed on to consumers, in order to hold [...]

Google adds new privacy feature I was thinking of last week!

Saket Rungta — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 08:40:12 +0000

Gmail has introduced a new privacy feature that will let users see how many computers their account is open on, and also allows them to sign-out remotely. Google Lets You Monitor Access To Your Gmail Account

Google is fast becoming just another company

Saket Rungta — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 09:08:10 +0000

Google co-founder Sergey Brin said he had no sympathy for the parents, and that he was tired of “Googlers” who felt entitled to perks like “bottled water and M&Ms”. On Day Care, Google Makes a Rare Fumble

Tech giants team up for patents

Piyush Goel — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 20:55:42 +0000

“Information technology giants are teaming up in defense against potential patent-infringement lawsuits, the Wall Street Journal said on Sunday” - Reuters Companies Include Verizon, Google, CIsco, HP and Ericsson and the group is called Allied Security Trust. (via slashdot) Tech majors to join hands against patent suits

Bugs that eat waste and excrete petrol

Piyush Goel — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 11:33:32 +0000

Silicon Valley is experimenting with bacteria that have been genetically altered to provide ‘renewable petroleum’. Genetic alteration of very, very small bugs makes it possible for them to feed on agricultural waste such as woodchips or wheat straw and excrete crude oil. Scientists find bugs that eat waste and excrete petrol [...]

Good lifestyle can transform genes

Piyush Goel — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 11:28:12 +0000

Comprehensive lifestyle changes including a better diet and more exercise can lead not only to a better physique, but also to swift and dramatic changes at the genetic level, US researchers said. Good lifestyle can transform genes

Internet body approves domain name big bang

Saket Rungta — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 10:12:03 +0000

Come 2Q09 and you’ll find thousands of new top-level domain names (TLDs), from .paris to .pepsi, in one of the biggest shake-ups in Internet history. Internet body approves domain name big bang

Hackers Crack London Tube’s Ticketing System

Saket Rungta — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 08:14:06 +0000

Dutch security researchers rode the London Underground free for a day after easily using an ordinary laptop to clone the “smartcards” commuters use to pay fares, a hack that highlights a serious security flaw because similar cards provide access to thousands of government offices, hospitals and schools. Hackers Crack London Tube’s Ticketing System [...]

Shape shifting skyscrapers with dynamic architecture!

Saket Rungta — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 14:13:03 +0000

The Dynamic Tower design is made up of 80 pre-fabricated apartments which will spin independently of one another. According to the creators — this building never looks the same, not once in a lifetime; and would be energy self-sufficient and even feed extra power back into the grid! Dubai plans ‘moving’ skyscraper [...]

Switching languages can also switch personality

Saket Rungta — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 07:09:54 +0000

People who are bicultural and speak two languages may unconsciously change their personality when they switch languages, according to a U.S. study. Switching languages can also switch personality: study

Bill Gates and the Microsoft story, a BBC exclusive

Piyush Goel — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 19:00:03 +0000

Fiona Bruce of BBC presents the definitive profile of Bill Gates as he prepares to step down next week from full-time involvement with Microsoft. (Available to view online for 6 more days and dowloadable to view for 30 days). Note: BBC iPlayer downloads only works in the UK. Bill Gates: How a geek changed the world [...]

India inflation rate rises to 11%

Piyush Goel — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 17:29:34 +0000

“Indian inflation has risen to a new 13-year high, hitting shares and weakening the rupee. The wholesale price index rose to 11% in the 12 months to 7 June, up from the previous week’s 8.75%. The inflation rate is now at its highest since 1995.” - BBC India inflation rate rises to 11% [...]

File sharing may get banned in UK

Piyush Goel — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 22:48:49 +0000

“Internet would be a much better place if sharing of any kind would be stopped altogether - at least that’s what some people seem to think. Lord Triesman, the parliamentary Under Secretary for Innovation, Universities and Skills in the UK government, called on ISPs to voluntarily stop illegal file sharing in their networks, threatening to [...]