Mumbai, Phir Milenge, Airtel, Jonathan Ive

I am currently in Mumbai attending a family function. A nice little vacation for me, considering that I won't be having another one soon. Saw Phir Milenge last night. Good movie. While I thought it was loosely based on Philadelphia, Revathy has adapted the movie well for Indian circumstances.

I liked the new Airtel advertisement with the girl on her first day in a boarding school. Airtel is doing well in its competition with Hutch's advertising campaign which I think is brilliant. Nice to see a healthy competition. Got to see how Hutch will respond.

[via InfoDesign]Read a summary of Jonathan Ive's (Vice President of Industrial Design at Apple) thoughts on design and Apple on MacWorld.

Eminent Historians

I am currently reading Arun Shourie's book Eminent Historians: Their Technology, Their Line, Their Fraud. The book might seem biased to many, but it is interesting to read none the less. The author has quoted heavily from official documents and annual reports of the ICHR (Indian Council for Historical Research) whose historians are his main targets in the book, which makes what he says in the book that much harder not to believe.

Google and Del.icio.us

Del.icio.us is a web-application to create what Del.icio.us itself calls "social bookmarks". I enter my book-marks and tag it with meta-data that I think are relevant and apply to that book-mark, so that it is easier for me to find it the next time. But then Del.icio.us does another thing. It allows syndication of these book-marks. When I create my meta-data for bookmarks what in effect I am also doing is to categorizing the bookmarks. In other words, I am classifying them. Another word might be adding "semantics" to them (ofcourse in a limited way). If I share my bookmarks on Del.icio.us now, I am increasing the utility of what I have stored for my personal use. In a sense, I am putting out some knowledge I have and labelling it in a manner that incidentally lets other people find it too. For example, other people who are looking for particular topic sites can think of all the terms that might be applicable to the site they are looking for. Then they can go to Del.icio.us and check the public bookmarks (created by other people) and check out the bookmarks stored under those terms. In a sense, one can use the knowledge of others to help himself/herself find more sources of information and more reliable sources of information. It is a kind of filtering process.

Now take Google on the other hand. How does it show such excellent search results. It uses a mechanism called Pagerank. Basically each page that it indexes has a "Pagerank" that is calculated using a formula that takes as a parameter the number of other sites linking to that site. In other words it is again using other people's knowledge to index information to help retrieve knowledge.

But currently, Google and Del.icio.us work in different domains - Del.icio.us is a widely used site but mainly for organizing ones bookmarks, while Google forte is retrieving information present on the internet. Del.icio.us offers a syndication mechanism, such that a user can subscribe to a particular tag (say 'XYZ') and each time, some other person (probably at the other end of the world) tags one of his own bookmarks with 'XYZ' (on the Del.icio.us site ofcourse), the first person gets this bookmark in his feed aggregator. Another source of knowledge in his Information inbox. On the other hand, Google has a different methodology. It doesn't ask for user information. But takes what it finds using full text search. Both approaches are important in their own ways. Del.icio.us doesn't need full-text indexing. It is sufficient to search the tags. It uses people's knowledge to classify/cluster information rather than an automated mechanism based on full text search and domain discovery.

Over the weekend, I was thinking what would happen if Google tied-up with Del.icio.us? For one would get is intelligent clustering of search results. This is because what Google lacks currently is the ability to club search results into meaningful categories for easy traversal, a feature provided by other search engines like Vivisimo and Mooter. Vivisimo and Mooter do clustering mainly using automated techniques like domain discovery. But they are to a large extent non-intuitive and based mainly on content of files being indexed. This has a few drawbacks. Assume I am writing an essay on a piece of Python code, where I never mention the word "Python". An automated tool might fail to categorize this as a document "about" Python. Even if it did classify it correctly, it would be a mechanical solution, not something intuitive; not something dynamic. Humans, who are the final users of that information, are in a better position to say what a particular document is about. But currently, one might consider it tedious to categorize each site one visits into topics that that site relates to. Who has the time to add all this information? But then we already have such a corpus of information readily available (although currently on a limited scale). This kind of human-based clustering is exactly what is the basis of sites like Del.icio.us and Flickr (the latter does for photographs what Del.icio.us does for bookmarks). True, these sites were not made specifically with this aim in mind. Flickr and Del.icio.us use tags as a means to enable their users to manage and retrieve (easily) the information they store on these sites and also to share them with others (for example using syndication). So users can subscribe to particular category of information and any new entries under that category gets delivered to their mailboxes automatically.

If a traditional search engine like Google can tie-up with sites like Del.icio.us and Flickr which already have built a significant index based on meta-data, they can offer more relevant search results and enable people to process the search results in a more meaningful manner - using Del.icio.us's meta-data for categorizing the search results for example. My feeling is that there is a latent resource that is just waiting to be tapped into by search engine companies. The resource I am referring to are the people who use these search engines. Every time we use a search engine we go through the information on sites, we are in a position to say something that site; say what that site is about. Classifying the sites we want to visit later into directories is one way to do this. We do this regularly when we organise our bookmarks into folders. But Del.icio.us went one step further by letting us apply tags (which is a more dynamic way of managing information than folders - look at what Gmail is doing) instead of putting them into some kind of folder and it let us keep this information online. Del.icio.us mainly stores URLs, which are exactly what Google and other search engines fetch for us. But currently Del.icio.us' bookmarks are limited to people who use and subscribe for that service. But this huge index information can be used by Google to create something that will benefit the internet using community as a whole - streching my imagination a bit - may be a semantic search engine, with the tags and meta-data - privided by humans - providing semantics for information for the sites that are retrieved by the search engine.

Is this unthinkable? Let me know.

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.

The Resurgence of the Boston Red Sox

Last October, the Major League Baseball (MLB) American League Championship Series (ALCS), the Boston Red Sox lost to the New York Yankees in a gripping seven game series. It was a controversial series that saw the mercury rise on both teams, especially after the infamous incident involving Pedro Martinez, where he threw down Yankees coach Don Zimmer on to the grass after the latter came charging at him. Until then, I wasn't following Major League Baseball much. But that series and the long history of rivalry between these two teams caught my attention and followed that series very closely. I was hoping for the Red Sox to win that series. Ofcourse that didn't happen. Aaron Boone's home run in the bottom of the 11th innings ended the eventful series. As fate would have it, I was to go to Boston soon to visit a cousin, who stayed just fifteen minutes away from Fenway Park. I just couldn't miss that opportunity and I dragged my cousin on an overcast Sunday morning (October 19th, 2003) to the famous ballpark. We ended up taking a conducted tour of the Red Sox arena wearing a newly purchased Red Sox cap (a gift from my cousin). The tour took us along the warning track inside the stadium. I touched the Green Monster and saw the spot where the superstitious Nomar Garciaparra (no longer with the Red Sox) sat in the dugout during games. It was an unbelievable trip for me. Infact I still have the ticket stub I got on that tour in my wallet.

I felt it was ironic that the Red Sox completed one of the greatest comebacks this season, coming back from being three games down to take the series from the Yankees and advance to the World Series, the first time after 1986. Back in India for more than five months now, I had forgotten about baseball, following our own cricket team's mighty struggle. But reading Aditya's post, where he draws parallels between the Red-Sox - Yankee ALCS and the ongoing India-Australia series, brought back fond memories of my trip to Boston and Fenway Park, last October. I too hope that the Indian team can make a similar comeback against the mighty Australian team. I say lets not lose hope. Because as Geoff Boycott once said, the game is not over until the fat lady sings...

Firefox 1.0 Launch Party

I just signed up for the Firefox 1.0 celebrations party. If you are a Firefox user, I think you should do the same! People in Bangalore, sign up here.

U2 Edition iPods?

[via Ars Technica]If the following is true, it will show yet another time that Apple continues to lead the way in creative marketing:

...sources say that Apple is planning to release the U2-edition iPod around the week of November 21, when U2's new album will hit stores. For a small premium over the regular iPod, said to be around $30, the U2-edition iPod will feature a distinctive enclosure and will come pre-loaded with all the band's major album releases.[Think Secret]

Brilliant!

Imagine: commenting

For those (anonymous and guest users) who wanted to comment on my blog and couldn't, I had forgotten to change my blog settings to allow anonymous and guest comments. My heartfelt apology. I have made the changes now. So feel free to comment to your heart's desire!

Thinking About Stray Dogs

A few days ago, my sister just remarked to a family friend how if every building took in one one stray dog and took care of it, there wouldn't be any stray dogs left. I didn't think about the statement again until last weekend. Now I don't know how many stray dogs are there in Bangalore. But I think what my sister said is a fair assessment. If any of you thinks or knows otherwise, please feel free to comment. For the last few weeks, I have been feeding a dog (whom I have named Laika) near my workplace in Basavanagudi. Laika looks quite malnourished and currently I can only feed it once a day and only on weekdays. But I am told that residents of the area also feed the dog from time to time. But just imagine. If each building took in one stray dog and took care of it - its not unthinkable and - it could lead to a solution to the problems of the stray dogs. Moreover the dogs would be in a better shape than they are now. There is an old saying which says, to see the state of a house, see how the people living there treat their pets (if they have one, that is). I think this saying applies to cities and on a larger scale to countries as well. I don't think there is a city in India that doesn't have animals - most of them starving - living a stray life. That tells a lot about our country. I know many of you will say what about the many under-nourished people and children living a life in poverty and starvation. To those, let me say that I feel for them and something as to be done to improve their situation on a priority basis. But someone has to speak for these animals as well.

While on this topic, I just wanted to mention that, incidentally, I happened to see a dog that was once featured in a Deccan Herald article about the good work being done by Compassion Unlimted Plus Action (CUPA) and Society for Prevention of Cruely to Animals (SPCA). This dog's throat was cut badly by a nylon leash tied around its neck. The dog was treated by CUPA. The article also had a photo of the dog. The dog looks fine now and just as the article mentioned, is very friendly. I fed it a number of times as it normally is in the same area as Laika. Its eyes have a blood-red color, which I believe is because of the injury, and that hinders its eyesight. But otherwise the dog seems to be fine and recovering. It normally stays inside a residential compound. The first time I fed it some dog-biscuits, it didn't eat it; it just sniffed it and went away. The next time though, it took one biscuit, went some distance, ate it and then came again to take another one. I think this behavior is a natural trait of stray dogs.

On a related issue, At a recent community event, I met one Mr. Manmohan Singh (not our Honourable PM), who runs a shelter for injured animals and birds. He runs this shelter on donations. He and a friend of his, take in injured and discarded pets and take care of them. I have his contact number and if anyone wants to contact him to report an injured animal or bird, please e-mail me.

Google Desktop, Rush and other things

Google Desktop
Downloaded Google Desktop today. Very nice. It also creates a cache of the files it indexes, just like regular Google. From what I have checked so far, it doen't seem to require too much space for storing the index. Also now google on the net shows me a "Desktop" link. Searching for terms will show me search results from files stored on my hard-disk as well. It obviously uses cookies to check that. Nice piece of integration. Check out this article on Search Engine Watch for more details.

Rush
I have been listening to a lot of Rush lately. The first song of theirs that I heard was Limelight. Some of my favourite Rush tracks are Tom Sawyer, Working Man, Analog Kid, Jacob's Ladder and Natural Science. I've still to hear many of their albums. Will do that in the days to come. Also check out the album Working Man, a tribute to Rush.

Citibank India's Banking Services

Citibank-India has major problems with its banking services. Here are some of my experiences:

The service is ridiculously bad at its branches.
I have been to the Basavanagudi/Jayanagar branch in Bangalore on more than one occasion and I never got any work done there. Once I went to ask them the status of my account opening and they told me they cannot give me that information. The last time I went there, they told me it would take 3-4 business days or more just to close a service I didn't want in the first place. The service I am referring to is the "Ready Credit" facility which provides overdraft protection. Citibank charges you a fee of Rs. 500 for activating it. And the annual interest rate for using that service is 28%. Moreover, Citibank will charge you 2% of your overdraft line every year you have enrolled for the service. The representatives at the afore mentioned branch weren't even willing to give me any assurances as to when the service will be discontinued!

Ill-informed Citiphone representatives mislead its clients. One representative actually gave me the wrong information. This representative told me that it was not possible to make an A/C to A/C transfer from a Suvidha Savings account at a Citibank ATM/kiosk. While the truth is that the kiosk allows you to do the same.

Citibank representatives are themselves unaware of the the services offered by Citibank ATMs/Kiosks.
Some of the representatives at the Jayanagar, Bangalore branch of Citibank don't even know that it is possible to make a payment from the Suvidha Savings account to the Ready Credit account. They asked me to use Citiphone instead!

The interface for some services on Citibank Kiosks is misleading. Users need to be very careful while using them.
While making an A/C to A/C transfer at the kiosk, one screen will ask you which account you want to make the transfer from. It gives you the option of the "Suvidha Savings account" and the "Ready Credit account". If you happen to choose the Suvidha Savings account, the next screen will display a form containing fields to enter the From, To and Amount to be transferred. But the "From" field, which on the previous screen you had already made a choice, totally disregards your input and shows you a list box that defaults to the "Ready Credit" account.

Moreover, while on the previous screen it uses labels like "Suvidha Savings" to help you in identifying your account, the form screen just shows you account numbers with no labels. If you are not careful, you could easily end up transferring money from the credit account and get charged Rs. 500 and more. Plus you may have to pay an interest on top of that.

IT Conversations

My latest past-time is to download mp3 files of presentations and talks by leading personalities from the world of Information Technology on my iPod and listening to it. Doug kaye's ITConversations.com provides both streaming as well as downloadable versions of talks and presentations on Information Technology and related topics on its sites for free. And registration, although a good thing to do, is optional.

Two (actually three) interesting ones that I heard recently include an interview of Joel Spolsky (of the joelonsoftware fame) and the two part recording of a talk by Steve Wozniak (co-founder of Apple at Gnomedex 4.0. The links for these three can be found here and here and here

Check it out.

Use Blogger and Get Paid!

For those in and around Mountain View, CA: Google is inviting people to test the Blogger interface. Selected users will get paid $50. More details here.

Vote or Else Go to Jail

Indian Express reports the following:

More than 13 million Australians are heading to the polls on Saturday, not just because it is their democratic right, but because they also face the threat of jail if they fail to lodge a ballot.

For 80 years the law has required Australians over 18 to vote in local, state and national elections and they are fined A$20 ($14) if they fail to provide a sufficient reason for not voting.

If a non-voter unsuccessfully challenges the fine in court, the fine increases to A$50 and defaulters may be sent to jail. [Indian Express]

Interesting!

Gmail offering Atom support

[Via Slashdot] Internetnews.com is reporting that Google offered some gmail accounts a button that offers syndication of their e-mails using the atom protocol so that users may download e-mail through feed readers.

Finally! I have been wondering for the last couple of days as to why this option wasn't available already. A major concern might have been security. Blogs and news items are usally public domain and one need not worry a lot about who is reading your postings. Hence online feed aggregators are very popular. But e-mails are certainly different. I don't want others to even get a glimpse of an e-mail I received from my Bank regarding my account statement. I currently use Bloglines to check my blog and news subscriptions. I certainly won't use that to check my gmail account. But with Firefox's Preview Edition, which offers users to create "Live Bookmarks", I can use that to check the e-mail I have without having to open up another browser window in the background or downloading a new rss/atom client.

Hopefully at somepoint in the future, it will be possible to get my i-mail, where 'i' stands for "Information" that encompasses blog and news feeds as well as e-mail, using a single client. Blogger and a lot of other blogging services already offer the ability to e-mail-in entries. So whats preventing a feed-reader client from supporting i-mail both ways.