The NY Times on ‘captchas’. At the time of Turing, we were wondering if computers would pass the Turing Test. Today, these captchas stop computer programs from fooling us into thinking they’re humans. We’ve come a long way! via missing matter
This one is funny. It’s legal to write software that pirates DVDs.
Reuters on war reporting through blogs.
“The Memory Hole exists to preserve and spread material that is in danger of being lost, is hard to find, or is not widely known.” via RobotWisdom
Several cool Linux programs available on Windows via The Open CD project Celestia looked particularly interesting.
Insight from a NY Times article on how the Internet can be accessed from flights: the reason you shouldn’t use a laptop on a flight during take-off and landing is not because of electrical interference; it is that the laptop could be a dangerous loose flying object in case of turbulence. Now, that makes more sense.
Free PDF creator. Wonder how they manage to make money. More importantly, how did they get permission from Adobe? via andersja
Wiki Weblogs. This is a feature that I could use. You can have a weblog organised around dates (or whatever), and around keywords. Several blogs already use this. Question: how should I transition from my (currently 100% manual) blog to one of these?
Quantum computing takes steps forward. First, we improve our storage ability with 1000 bits in 1 molecule. Then we perform the Grover algorithm using molecules. Now, all that’s needed is a good set of problems to solve.
Geeky gadget of the day: portable solar charger. I can charge your cellphone / CD / digital camera. It will also add a pound to my pocket, in addition to my purse, and cellphone, and digital camera, and office keys, and … my laptop case. Still, might be worth it. And maybe, some day, all my gadgets will fit in my pocket without making me look bloated.
The Onion on the plans of top Indian physicists.
Huh? Corp. If you have money, and they have shares, buy! They’ve got the soundest business model you’ll see around. via Vijay
Strange quarks causing earthquakes. Literally. via RobotWisdom
Scientific American’s review of the Simputer. Perhaps the greatest obstacle for the Simputer, though, is cost. Will people in developing countries be able to justify the expenditure of $250 on a device that may be helpful but is not essential? via Kamat’s Potpourri
Kiruba’s interview with Google. Nice questions! And good to see the post on MetaFilter. via MetaFilter
The Economist argues that in making ’ethical practices’ and ‘social responsibility’ prominent, corporates create a vicious cycle of guilt-until-proven-innocent. I agree with that part. But I wonder if the incentives in companies are aligned to benefit all stakeholders. Sure, in the long-run, everything is factored into the stock price. But the short (not even the medium) run is what managers need worry about, given the dynamic job market.
Tuvalu is a small country with 11,000 people. It’s highest peak is under 5 metres. (Yes, metres.) It pretty much gets submerged every year. Incidentally, it’s also the home of the .tv domain name. via Maltesh
What technical skills are in demand? Just a quick sketchy search by Keith. Intruiging that the top 3 technologies in demand are SQL, UNIX and Oracle, followed by C and Java.
The Bangalore Bloggers’ Meet in the eyes of Ayesha and Harris.
Your recommended blog list via Anita