Indian software product start-ups that are making news

The business newspaper Economic Times (Hyderabad edition) carried an interesting front-page article yesterday on successful Indian software products coming out of India. Over two-and-a-half million people worldwide, half of them in the US, are using word processors,creating slide-show presentations...

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Read Telugu news sites in transliterated English

Although I manage to speak decent Telugu (one of the twenty-two scheduled languages of India & spoken by over 74 million native speakers), I have to confess I'm poor at reading it (Why? That's another story). So for long, I wished there was a way to read Eenadu (the largest circulated Telugu news...

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Face Detection & Tagging

I came across a nice article on a Silverlight 4 application that does real-time face detection (without having to spend a dime on commercial licenses to any APIs) on the Coding4Fun site which features unusual but interesting applications built on the .NET platform. It's amazing how today's tools &...

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Developer Contests

At any point of time, there are always some Developer contests running. These are especially good for students & hobbyists who can pit their wits against the best in the class, win goodies and get noticed.I plan to compile a list of contests that I come across & this will be a work in progress....

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Book Review: Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Step by Step

Like cycling or swimming, Sharepoint is easy but you need help to get started. Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Step by Step lives up to it's title of being a good step by step guide. It walks you through the maze of options in WSS 3.0 by gently holding your hand & showing the way. The...

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What's in Windows Phone 7 for Developers

I've been reading with interest all the Windows Phone 7 news thats relevant for developers. I'll keep jotting down summaries here as I find them -Though Windows Phone 7 supports multi-tasking...developers won't have access to it in the initial release. Native applications are not permitted on Windows...

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Hey RAM

Having just finished watching the movie Eagle Eye in which a malfunctioning super-computer called ARIA controls virtually anything electronic, I wondered how increasingly dependent we are getting on machines & technology. I remembered this funny poem that is a sort of an anthem for Luddites -Remember...

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Track trackbacks with Google Reader

I've been using Google Reader for over three years now. I also use it to store my bookmarks. I learnt about yet another use for Google Reader besides following feeds. Chris Heilmann uses Google Reader to be notified about trackbacks to his blog (& he actually discovered that there was a spam blog...

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Book Review: The Engaging Web

Manning's MEAP (Manning Early Access Program) books allow early access to electronic version of the chapters as they are completed. Manning provided me with a review copy of a MEAP version of The Engaging Web by Gabe Zichermann & Christopher Cunningham. Being inquisitive about technologies &...

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Silverlight 4 & Windows Phone Developer Tools

If you are a developer & kept away from Silverlight, there is no time like now to start playing around with it. There have been a lot of interesting announcements at MIX10, an annual conference for web developers & designers. Silverlight is going to be at the heart of Windows Phone 7 Series...

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Display region, route or location with Google Static Maps

Unlike a regular Google Map that requires JavaScript to fetch the tiles that make up a map, Google Static Maps returns a single map image, is faster to load and does not need JavaScript. To get started, you can use the Static Maps Wizard or use the Static Maps API to customize the map with markers,...

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Amul girl creator passes away

Eustace Fernandes is the creator of the famous Amul Moppet that is as well known as R K Laxman's Common Man. In a country where humor is not taken seriously, these icons have managed to tickle the funny bone of millions of Indians.The wildly popular ad campaign for the Amul butter brand featuring the...

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HOW TO stretch the battery life of portable devices

Tips from a recent NY Times article on increasing the battery life of portable devices like BlackBerry, iPhone, smartphones & laptops:Consider using G.S.M. over CDMA for your mobileTurn down the devices' screen brightness.Turn off Bluetooth & Wi-Fi when not required otherwise portable devices...

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Hyderabad MMTS on Google Transit

Having tried out Google Transit two years ago in Seattle, I wished a similar facility was available for India & especially Hyderabad. I was happy to read that Google Transit now covers public transportation options in more than 445 cities across the world including Hyderabad, Delhi, Chennai &...

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How can Twitter help me?

Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.-  Eleanor RooseveltI've been recommending these articles & video to the Twitter uninitiated who ask me about it. A recent NYTimes article lists some ways in which you can make use of Twitter even though you...

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