Thought Garage

On October 15th, bloggers around the web will unite to put a single important issue on everyone’s mind – the environment. Every blogger will post about the environment in their own way and relating to their own topic. Our aim is to get everyone talking towards a better future.

 

I thought for a moment, what difference would it make, if every blogger writes something about the issue? I remembered the Starfish story. If every blogger take one single action along with writing their ideas about the issue on thier blogs, it would make a huge difference. 

“The Starfish Story” by Loren Eiseley

Once upon a time, there was a wise man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work. One day, as he was walking along the shore, he looked down the beach and saw a human figure moving like a dancer. He smiled to himself at the thought of someone who would dance to the day, and so, he walked faster to catch up.

As he got closer, he noticed that the figure was that of a young man, and that what he was doing was not dancing at all. The young man was reaching down to the shore, picking up small objects, and throwing them into the ocean.

He came closer still and called out “Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?” The young man paused, looked up, and replied “Throwing starfish into the ocean.” “I must ask, then, why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?” asked the somewhat startled wise man. To this, the young man replied, “The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them in, they’ll die.”

Upon hearing this, the wise man commented, “But, young man, do you not realize that there are miles and miles of beach and there are starfish all along every mile? You can’t possibly make a difference!” At this, the young man bent down, picked up yet another starfish, and threw it into the ocean. As it met the water, he said, “It made a difference for that one.”

Short answer, because it’s kind of a blue print of my own dream phone.

Some time around August last year(2006), I started blogging about Cellular Lifestyles, exploring the new lifestyles today’s smartphones are creating.   I drew a raw picture that capture my idea of dream mobile phone (you can guess that I am not a graphic designer, and it doesn’t take more than a minute with powerpoint). I also expressed my frustration and pain of carrying multiple devices available at that time in more than one article and eagerly waiting for the domination of smart phones (multi-function). 

What I really want in a mobile

This is that crazy simple picture showing all the functionality that I always wanted in a mobile phone.

I received over 100 emails, some of them  criticizing that I am being foolish to combine everything into one device or some nicely put it as the swiss army knife approach is just not smart any more. Well, I prefer to stay foolish and stay hungry for a smart device that does all I wanted (like Steve Jobs said “Stay Hungry. Stay foolish“). I never had a clue that there is something similar is already in the making.

The iPhone

Back to the present, July 2007, I hold a phone in my hands that almost does everything I ever imagined. The  iPhone, a lovely device with a truly revolutionary interface and intutive functionality blend, that almost matches my dream phone blue print. Interface is however something I have never imagined.

I love my iPhone, not only because it is indeed my dream phone, but I admire each and every design element of iPhone, starting from its revolutionary interface to the single sheet packaging of all its accessories in such a novel box.

Read my first musings about iPhone and little emotional response. about some criticism about iPhone I couldn’t take it.  When I get some time, I will write how I am enjoying the cool new features of iPhone, indeed my dream phone. 

Till then, Stay foolish, Stay Hungry and keep dreaming.

The Sun Startup Essentials program was launched the U.S. on November 2, 2006 on an experimental basis, and was launched in India on  August 8, 2007.  Sun Startup Essentials offers startup companies groundbreaking Sun technologies and software at breathtaking prices or free.

For more program specifics, take a look at the Sun Startup Essentials Datasheet.

• Free Software : Get popular open source software, such as Apache, MySQL, Perl, etc. — all optimized for the Solaris operating system, free for the asking.
• Discounted Systems : Get rock-bottom prices on industry-leading Sun systems and run the OS of your choice.
• Discounted Partner Hosting : Get top-notch web hosting from Sun partners at great discounts.
• Startups Ask Sun : Our professional engineers will talk with you through emails and will try to answer your questions.

Forbes Special Report : India at 60

Indeed, India today is nothing like the nation of its great liberator, Mahatma Gandhi–free but also buried in poverty, and very much an underdeveloped country. Now, by virtue of pressure from some visionary entrepreneurs and links to global telecom networks, India has emerged as one of the half-dozen most dynamic economies in the world. Its stock market is surging, a new middle class is developing and the nation is anticipating the moment when the vast bulk of its population begins to enter the global economy. That’s the real challenge for India, and the rest of the world: a billion more people suddenly driving cars, heating and lighting their homes and setting ever higher aspirations for themselves and their children.

Rediff Special Series : India at 60

After going all Google do I need to give another reason why I love Google so much? Well, if you are still wondering, here is a special announcement from Google, a little treat to Indians on 60th of birthday of India after independence.

Keeping up with the spirit and celebrations of India’s 60th year of Independence, we present to you a new platform that showcases our favourite ideas for Indian users: Google India Labs.

Though 60 years young, India has a history dating back to the dawn of civilization. The incredible diversity of this great nation is the kind of challenge Google loves. And in line with our mission of making information universally accessible, we’re now offering an easier way to search in 14 Indian and South Asian languages. You don’t need a special keyboard or software; all you need is a web browser, a mouse, and a Unicode font for your language. So whether you speak ??????? (Assamese), ????? (Bengali), ??????? (Gujarati), ????? (Hindi), ????? (Kannada), ?????? (Malayalam), ????? (Marathi), ?????? (Nepali), ????? (Oriya), ?????? (Punjabi), ????????? (Sanskrit), ????? (Sinhala), ????? (Tamil), or ?????? (Telugu), we can help you find content on the web in your language. To get started, add one or more of these iGoogle gadgets to your personalized iGoogle home page. You can use these gadgets to compose queries, and ask Google to search the vast Internet in your very own language.

If you’re interested in writing in Hindi, we have brought out the transliteration feature from Blogger into an independent product of its own: Google Indic Transliteration. This tool will let you type in Hindi, using an English keyboard. Type out words phonetically, and let Google convert them into the correct Hindi word. For example, type “Bharat” to see “????”. You’ll soon discover that our sophisticated transliteration technology makes it really easy to compose in Hindi. Our algorithm might get the occasional word wrong, but it is always willing to learn. You can teach it by clicking on the wrong word and correcting it. This is also available as an iGoogle Gadget.