Hypocrisy by Rediff.com

Rediff.com had an article/poll for the worst TV commercial of 2009, running on their portal today.

When I try and think of the worst ads of 2009, this sleazy ad from Rediff.com comes to my mind first. It makes me wonder, if they "rewarded" their "Employee of the Year" with such a goldduck golden chance of working in a TV commercial ;-)

Heights of hypocrisy by NOT including their own ad for the poll!

Orkut Applications - Facebook Beware!!

Orkut just recently launched a suite of Applications which the members can add to their profiles and interact with others - just like Facebook. There were always news (rumors?) about Google developing an application platform for its social networking site - Orkut. They are already up with about 18 desi and non-desi applications. Here they are:

You can add applications links on the left navigation page of your Orkut Profile (again, just like Facebook) which will take your visitors to the respective application.

There are quite good numbers of applications already and within days I see the Application Directory being swarmed by various new apps built by developers worldwide. The ones that I have already explored (and added!) are Music iLike and myHangman.

Music iLike, it seems, has various free MP3 directories and Video libraries from which you can search and handpick your favourite videos and songs. Not just this, if you think of yourself as a Music Buff, you can take the Music Challenge and boast off your scores to friends.

There is one game that I like a lot - Hangman and Orkut's version is called myHangman. This is a flash based app and you can guess Movie Names, Cities, etc.

I shall try out some more of them. Will keep you all posted...

What if Google Sky was launched a Century later

Google recently launched another mind-boggling yet completely-useless-to-common-man tool called Google Sky. Here's a snapshot:


What if this product was launched a century later? There would have been just one minute change in the UI which would have made it really useful in that age:

Free Mobile Calls/Chat from your mobile - My First Step to Unplug myself !

Ever since I got hold of my new Nokia E61, I have been busy figuring out all the wonderful features it possess. The sole feature that helps this phone stands out against so many other phones, is Wi-fi. After trying out a bunch of third party softwares for chatting / internet (VOIP) calls, I freezed upon one really cool software - Fring.

Fring is a simple, effective and free to use software. Using Fring, you can go mobile with Skype, MSN Messenger, ICQ, Google Talk, SIP & Twitter! And if you have a free office Wifi network as luxury, then its absolutely free!! Alternatively you can even use your mobile phone service provider's internet data plan and connect via GPRS.

Here are the 10 steps to freedom (Click on pictures to magnify) :

Get a Wifi-enabled handset and an active Wifi vicinity. I use a Nokia E61 (there's a newer Nokia E61i with a camera available as well) and a Reliance Broadnet Wi-max connection on a Netgear Wireless router. Other good Wifi handsets are the Blackberry Phones and the all new Apple iPhone.

Go to your mobile phone's browser and open www.Fring.com Once you select your handset from the given list and download the software, it will ask you to install it. Follow the steps and make sure you allow this application to use your pre-configured internet connections (GPRS or Wifi).

Once installed, it will show up in your installed applications folder as shown here. Select the application from the menu and let it start. (Yeah if you are wondering, I do have 2 GB of space on my Nokia E61 and hence I can afford to load my cell with so many apps!!)


Fring once started, might take some time initially to download updates or configure itself. Please be patient for the first time. Afterwards, it runs just fine. I have configured my Fring to start every time the phone is rebooted. You can do it too.

The software looks up for the available Access Points. You can favorite them from the list (like your home and office networks) so that they can be used automatically once you come in their vicinity. (So you noticed, huh? Yeah its Hackerz Den; you dare not come Wi-fi phishing!!!)

Once you enter your GTalk/ICQ/Skype/etc usernames and passwords in the form provided, it will connect you to all these chatting/voice-call services using Wifi/GPRS (as opted by you). Once connected, you are done! Voila !! You are unplugged !! (Remember Matrix - The Trilogy??)


All your contacts from your cellphone as well as the logged-in services will be displayed. You can choose to hide your phonebook contacts from here. The colored icons on the left define the status of your friend (Active, Busy, Idle or Away)


Just tapping on a contact, lets you call him/her. The volume can be easily controlled by the joy-stick, just as you were making any other normal phone call using your cell. So now you can call your friend in US by just relaxing in your office bean-bag using the free Wi-fi.


You can even chat with your friend by selecting the 'Options' menu for a contact. The chat is very user-friendly and intuitive just like the voice-call feature. You get alerted by a buzz or a FringTone based upon your phone's activated profile.


Other than GTalk and Skype, there are some more services like MSN Messenger, ICQ, Twitter and SIP. I hope they are able to include Yahoo! Chat as well in the near future. Another useful feature would be to add emoticons for the chat.

One more thing, if somebody finds out how can I enable speaker phone for this application please let me know! (Yeah! I am the laziest person alive!!!)

Recursion explained using Orkut [PIC]

This master-piece of mine, can not just help me get nominated for the "Most Jobless Guy on Earth" but might eventually win me the credit! But what else to do, when you have forgotten your work laptop at your friend's place and are eagerly waiting for him to get it for you?

New Orkut Interface - See my homepage

Orkut.com - the social networking site has come up with its new skin. See the above screen-shot of my homepage. It surely looks cool !!!

Flash Earth

With the Map APIs being exposed by various service providers, there has been a fresh new surge of map applications in the web. One such new product is Flash Earth.

Its a typical Flash-driven Mashup which makes use of feeds from 8 sources: Google Maps, Microsoft Virtual Earth, Yahoo Maps, NASA Terra, etc. The user can select any of the above mentioned feeds. The navigation features are very similar to Google Earth; like zooming using the mouse wheel, click and drag, etc. The 'Search a Location' panel on the bottom-right of the screen is neat and quite accurate, along with latitude/longitude coordinates and the ability to save URL’s for exact locations.

Two features make this web application a winner

1. No external client is required to use all of Flash Earth’s features. All you need is a Flash-equipped web browser (I was able to run the application successfully on Firefox 1.5, Firefox 2, and Internet Explorer 6 and Internet Explorer 7)
2. Maps fill the whole browser window. No more navigating tiny and awkward frames, combined with the smooth zooming effect, Flash Earth handles like a regular desktop application.

Over all a great web product.

Google launches My Maps

Online search giant Google today added an extra feature to Google Maps to simplify the creation of maps mash-ups so users can quickly share the results.

My Maps, based on the concept of "create and share", will democratise map making in a profound way, Carl Sjogreen, Google ANZ senior product manager, said. A mash-up is a Web site or application that combines content from a variety of sources into an integrated experience.

Users, once logged-in, can embed videos from YouTube, text, photos or anything from a Web page, as well as draw lines or shapes and mark locations with icons to personalise their map. It's the first time that Google has offered such functionality -- including customised map drawing tools and links to other Internet content -- within Google Maps.

Once a map has been created users can share the map with family and friends, or make it available to anyone trawling the World Wide Web by making it public.

Sjogreen believes My Maps is easier to use compared to existing mash up sites already using Google Maps API (application programming interface) which offer similar experiences -- customised maps with rich embedded content.

The ability to search My Maps is not yet available, however, Sjogreen said the capability will be added in two to four weeks. Google is currently developing algorithms to rank the most relevant maps in a search query.

My Maps is available in 10 countries and can be accessed at http://maps.google.com.