While we are debating if rising oil prices leads to less freedom or vice versa, the point of truth is that, oil prices are rising. The price of crude is going up and the price at the pump is moving faster. Various businesses have decided to pass on the the rising costs directly to the consumer. Since consumers are already struggling to make ends meet, they probably may not notice this slight increase in price for almost everything. The situation is so bad that President Bush raised the CAFE standards, which sets the fuel economy for vehicles.
Meanwhile American car makers are seeing their cars sitting on the lot, while Toyota cannot make enough Prius for American consumption. Is there a way to get rid of the oil dependency and at the same time boost the slowing sales of American cars? Tom Daschle and VInod Khosla seem to have a solution. Their proposal is to give automakers incentives for making vehicles which can run on gasoline or E85 fuel, a blend of ethanol and gasoline.

First, it could set America free from its dependence on foreign oil. As Brazil’s “energy independence miracle” proves, an aggressive strategy of investing in petroleum substitutes like ethanol can end dependence on imported oil.
Second, switching from gasoline to ethanol produced from perennial energy crops like switch grass can slash our carbon dioxide emissions.
Third, it could build on a comparative advantage of American automakers. American auto manufacturers are churning out hundreds of thousands of flex-fuel vehicles. Their foreign competitors make far fewer. Promoting these vehicles will help our automakers build on their already strong market share.
And fourth, by encouraging the production of ethanol and new renewable fuel technologies, this new CAFE standard could invigorate rural communities in America’s heartland and innovation and research centers along its coasts. [Miles Per Cob]

When the Wall Street Journal agrees with New York Times, then you know either an asteroid is going to hit the earth or something serious is going on. Currently US imports ethanol and there are tariffs and duties on it making it not so competitive. A bill has been introduced to suspend taxes on imported ethanol till 2007
Ethanol based cars are not without issues for this fuel results in lower fuel economy. This would result in the driver paying more and currently it is not cost effective compared to regular gasoline based vehicles. According to Business Week “it would cost around $3,368 per year to run a Dodge Ram 1500 pickup on regular gas and $3,615 on E85.” Even if you want to buy a flex fuel car, there are not many choices right now. If you own one, then you don’t have many fueling stations.
A lot has to happen before E85 becomes a viable alternative to oil. Atleast people are thinking about it.

It was probably on the last day of JavaOne 2005. There was a panel discussion with James Gosling, Bill Joy, Guy Steele, and John Gage on the future of Java. During that conversation, Gosling joked that since Google maintains a cache of of all the websites, we can shutdown the internet and use Google’s servers to access all information.
Now it seems Google wants to store all information on their servers, including your personal files. This is a new concept called GDrive which promises infinite storage for users.

With infinite storage, we can house all user files, including: emails, web history, pictures, bookmarks, etc and make it accessible from anywhere (any device, any platform, etc). We already have efforts in this direction in terms of GDrive, GDS, Lighthouse, but all of them face bandwidth and storage constraints today.[Google’s “GDrive” part of promise for infinite storage]

Google Desktop Search already allows you to share files across computers by storing them on Google servers. The only question then to ask is how secure will the data be. Recently Google accidently released details of their financial data on the web, which is very reassuring.
If you live in United States, you can be rest assured that your personal data is all over the place. Medical records are stolen, tax returns are sometimes made public, and whole set of credit card information is lost. The only protection you have is the possibility that hackers do not find your data interesting.

Larry Page’s keynote at the CES in Las Vegas was one sold out show. Few things he mentioned made sense, while a major annoucement, Google Pack, did not impress that much.

Now shifting to talk about electrical power. Shows photo of power adapter clutter. “Why can’t we just standardize the power with a really nice power supply? (shot of happy power supply) We really needs standards in these areas.
“Most devices can be connected through adapters. You can basically adapt anything to USB for like $20. Do you really need all these ports running around? I don’t think it’s really necessary. Phones have been a really positive example. You can connect any bluetooth headset to any blue [Live coverage of Google Keynote with Robin Williams]

The shot he gave of various power supplies is nothing compared to what most people have under their desks. With cameras, camcorders, cell phones, printers, iPod, speakers and other peripherals having their own style of power supply, it has become scary to put the foot under the desk. Now to disconnect a device you have to venture down the desk and trace the cable from the mess without getting electrocuted. Though most people wish that this problem would be solved, the clutter may never disappear as there is no incentive for manufacturers to make it happen.
Though there were rumors that Google would unveil a cheap PC running the Google OS, noting of that sort happened. Instead Google announced a video store as well as Google Pack. Google Pack makes it convenient to install various pieces of software easily as well as manage the updates. The pack includes software from Google like Earth, Picassa, Desktop and Desktop Toolbar as well as third party software like Real Player, Firefox, Norton Antivirus, Ad Aware, and Adobe Reader.
Google decided to do the pack to make it easy for users to manage the installed set of programs. They also like software which comply with their list of software principles and one of the items mentioned in the list is Upfront Disclosure.

When an application is installed or enabled, it should inform you of its principal and significant functions. And if the application makes money by showing you advertising, it should clearly and conspicuously explain this. This information should be presented in a way that a typical user will see and understand — not buried in small print that requires you to scroll. For example, if the application is paid for by serving pop-up ads or sending your personal data to a third party, that should be made clear to you.[Software Principles]

When you start Real Player for the first time, it takes you through a wizard driven registration screen. In one of the E-mail subscription screens, the user is expected to select those mailing lists which he is interested in. While the ones visible are unchecked, as you scroll down, you see that the ones not visible have been checked for your convenience. This is sneaking past the user and does not comply with the Upfront Disclosure policy of Google.
The second point is against the Norton Antivirus which is also included in the Pack. The installed version comes with a six month subscription of updates, and after that you have to purchase. Since Google’s policy seems to be to buy companies and make their software available for free (Picassa, Earth), it goes against that trend to sell subscriptions of Norton Antivirus.
While some think that Google Pack is directed against Microsoft, there is nothing in the pack which reduces Microsoft’s revenue or attacks their cash cows. It would have been useful if the Pack contained Open Office. With user having to give their first born to buy a version of Microsoft Office, this would have been a direct hit on Microsoft.

Firefox is one sleek browser and comes with features like Tabbed Browsing, Pop-up Blocking and integrated search. But most of us like browsers with <insert your favourite feature> feature. We also like bloatware. Firefox lets you decide how obese you want your browser to be through extensions. By installing extensions, you can choose those features without which your life would be meaningless.
Continue reading “Firefox extensions” →

In most history books, if you look for the word vaastu, you won’t find it in the context of the Harappan Civilization or any kingdom another two thousand years later. Even Georg Feuerstein[2] who has written very positively about that era does not mention this. But Y.S.Rawat, the director of Archeological Survey of India thinks that Vaastu Shastra evolved in Dholivara, an Indus Valley site in Gujarat. Dholavira is a port city located on the path of the mythical Sarawati river and last year an old sign board was found.

The location of Dholavira between two rivers, the shape of the site, directional alignment, geometrical shape and construction of the houses, the planning of the gates, the direction of the walls-all indicate perfect use and understanding of Vaastu Shastra.
â??Looking at the Dholavira site, I have a strong feeling that Vaastu Shastra evolved in a big way in this Harappan site,â? Rawat said.
The science dates back to the Vedic ages. It is composed of specific rules, regulations and directions set down by the sages of those times for the construction of the houses. Rawat said, the excellent water harvesting system, rock cut reserviors, the location of the grave yard, use of open spaces and other things point to the understanding of Vaastu Shastra by the Harappan civilisation inhabitants.
The water harvesting system also shows the hydraulic engineering skills of the Harappans, who converted the city walls into veritable reservoirs to preserve every drop of water, he said.
“An interesting point to note here, is the existence of a citadel, middle town and lower town. The citadel is the most secure place among them, which is furnished with beautiful entrance on all four directions”, Rawat said, adding that all these are in accordance with the Vaastu Shastra.
The city is divided into 49 squares having perfect geometry and alignment. The houses were constructed using circular structures to withstand storm and sandblasts, he added.[Did Vaastu Shastra further evolve in Harrapan Kutch?]

According to some scholars the Vaastu Shastra texts were written between the 7^th century A.D and 13^th century A.D. One city cited as an example following vaastu principles is Old Jaipur, built in 1727 A.D.
So what happened during the time between Dholavira and Old Jaipur? Was Vaastu used extensively by kings for building their palaces or cities?
Pictures: Dholavira site, CG Reconstructions

There are many powerpoint presentations floating on the web touting the greatness of ancient India. The bullet points include items like the invention of zero, surgery, ayurveda, grammar etc. One item missing in the list is Wootz, a steel alloy making technique discovered in India (between 200 B.C. and 300 A.D.) But amateur historians cannot be blamed for leaving it out, since even professional historians do not seem to have given it much value.
The fascinating story about Wootz steel is that, it was exported from India to a global market and was popularly known as Damascus steel. There is a new book on this topic titled Indiaâ??s Legendary Wootz Steel and Nanditha Krishna has a review.

Wootz is a form of crucible steel, formed by adding large quantities of carbon to iron. This results in alternating layered light and dark etched patterns, created by welding layers of lower and higher carbon steel. The design came to be known as damask, referring to the watered pattern, and thereby Damascus. Today the word â??â??Damascusâ??â?? is applied to patterns in integrated circuits with copper interconnects. Wootz was the western name for high carbon steel from India, derived from the Kannada ukku and Sangam Tamil ekku, meaning crucible steel.
The Iron Pillar of Delhi (AD 400) and the lesser-known iron pillar at Kochadri in Karnataka and the iron beams of the Konark temple – the latter two situated in humid coastal areas – stand testimony to ancient Indian knowledge of corrosion resistance.
By 1100 BC, iron was in use in South Indian megalithic cultures, from Adichanallur in the South to Vidarbha in the North. Kodumanal in Tamil Nadu was a hub of ferrous crucible processing by 300 BC. The southern peninsula became the centre of this vibrant and growing steel industry, which attracted traders from Rome and the Middle East. By AD 300, the Alexandrian alchemist Zosimos of Panapolis had published an unequivocal reference to Indian crucible steel. The pattern-welded crucible steel manufactured in India was used by the European Merovingians, Carolingians and even the Vikings between AD 500 and 800. [Made in India via IndiaArchaeology]

A sword which is popular in Kerala is called the urumi and it is used in Kalaripayattu. This sword is made of a special composition of steel that it could be limp as well as straight based on the need.

Each day comes with the announcement of an exciting new product due to the war like competition between Yahoo! and Google. It was only few days back that I deleted Google Desktop and installed Yahoo! Desktop Search. But today, Google has come up with a new version of their search tool and I knew I had to get it.
After resisting the initial impulse, I browsed over to the Google webpage and read a bit. Still not convinced I was about to leave and then I saw the screenshots, which are like rain songs in Indian movies. They tantalize, but don’t reveal much. But that was enough for me to download Google Desktop. Then I was frantically configuring the Sidebar to read random feeds and display photos from various sources. Then I configured a few stocks and installed a few plugins.
I also configured Sidebar to show weather in the city I am in and so I get weather via a plugin on my browser, a widget on Konfabulator and now on Sidebar. All of them agree that it is going to be cloudy. I also turned around in my chair, looked out through the window and verified it. I have TODO lists on Konfabulator and Google Sidebar each holding various pieces of things to do. Action item number one is to merge all of them.
According to those ever helpful analysts, the Sidebar is Google’s aggressive move against Yahoo! and Microsoft and it’s true. The Sidebar aggressively pushed all my Windows applications to the left and occupied some valuable real estate on the right side. I had to select Auto Hide to reclaim the space back.
It was only few days back that I installed Konfabulator from Yahoo! after seeing the screenshots of some cool widgets. It displays weather with some stunning graphics, and shows alarm clocks in various ways, all of which I don’t need. But this is the closest to a Mac, that my Windows machine can get. But Sidebar can also display clocks. There was this old adage that all software would expand until it can read mail. Now it expands to display alarm clocks.
After the new install Google Desktop started indexing my data and it was slow. Since I had to search for something (the txt file which is my TODO list), I started Yahoo Desktop Search and it started indexing again. Google was indexing too and both of them reached my email held by Thunderbird almost at the same time. Since Thunderbird was not designed for a threesome, it thew up some expletives in hex and quit.
When I thought I could take a break from configuring various desktop searches and slick widgets, there is news that Google is going to release a communication tool. In this crazy widget eat widget world Microsoft has thankfully stayed away. Instead of burdening the user with innovations each week, they have decided to stand back and concentrate on something called Vista which is due next year, which means we will get it when America pulls out of Eye-Rack.
Update: Both Microsoft and Yahoo! are going to upgrade their web mail services.

Srijith got his GMail account locked down citing unusual usage. After leaving a comment at his blog, I went to check my GMail and found that I was locked out as well. I had left my GMail browser window open the whole day and when I checked, the page was refreshing every second, instead of whatever default they have. It was when I clicked on one of the unread mails that the screen changed to a locked out message. Unlike Srijith, I had a greasemonkey script running which adds the delete button to GMail.
After disabling greasemonkey, I sent a mail to the address mentioned on the lockdown page and my GMail account was active in an hour. Due to this incident, Srijith has ditched GMail. I am still going to use it, for all the unimportant mails.
Update: Rajat Paharia too got locked out and here is why it happened. So even though Srijith did not have greasemonkey installed, the fact that he was retrieving 150 messages caused GMail to believe so.