February 2005

You can download an up-to-date copy of the entire Internet Movie database, and use software like MovieDb to view it remotely on your computer. My current project: watch the entire top 250 films. Comments Cell Burner 22 Sep 2008 6:28 am: Suppose I want to download the entire imdb site, will downloading everything from the link you have given also give images of the movies? Because without images, I don’t know what the point is. I came across another method to download imdb, as a TomeRaider (not Tombraider) ebook, and that is only 157 MB, so I am not sure if it contains images as well.

Google Maps. Only has the US for now. But that may change, given that not to mention that google has been primarily focused on the u.s. market and is now turning their full attention to the global marketplace. The interface, as always with Google, is fantastic. This is the way to go for Web applications. via Google Blogoscoped. Comments m1108061928989 9 Feb 2005 12:00 pm: Actually, google maps produced better routes too (more intuitive or just plain luck in my case ) but 2 consecutive routes cant be coincidence S Anand 9 Feb 2005 12:00 pm: Their database may be from Keyhole, whom they acquired recently. I didn’t see anything from India on it, though. Sathish 9 Feb 2005 12:00 pm: This is an interesting way to comment.. TOPFRAME 9 Feb 2005 12:00 pm: their interface is pretty good.. but, I wonder if they could do the maps of India in the same manner..

Google blogger fired, possibly for the blogging. Maybe he should talk to the Committee to Protect Bloggers. via MetaFilter

I’m trying a couple of experiments with my blog. One is a feed of sorts that shows recently updated blogs. I’m conducting a trial with a few blogs I read, on the right-side tab “Recently updated blogs”. The last 3 posts of the blogs updated within 3 days one-and-half days show up here (using their RSS feed). The other is creating an online catalog of digital resources I’ve encountered. Right now, I’ve put in books (fiction) I’ve read soft copies of on the right side tab “My fiction collection”. I’m planning to add non-fiction, music and movies. ...

Total immersion has technology that lets you create real-time 3-D images on a video feed. It’s more impressive to watch one of their demos. Comments Prakash 7 Feb 2005 12:00 pm: I think the demos link needs authorizations S Anand 7 Feb 2005 12:00 pm: Strange… it seems to work fine for me. What error does it report?

The Woodward and Bernstein papers. Woodward and Berstein of the Washington Post wrote a series of stories leading to the resignation of Richard Nixon. Their novel All The President’s Men has a gripping account of their adventure. Now, their original papers are available at the University of Texas.

Calvin and Hobbes search from David Tweed. You can search for your favourite comics (mine are Tracer Bullet), note down the dates, and check them out on ucomics. (You need a subscription to view old comics.) I’ve typed out the quotes. Comments Anonymous 4 Feb 2005 12:00 pm: This is cool

Haptic technology lets you “touch and feel data”. Surgical-simulation devices are currently the bread and butter of many haptics companies. Recently, haptics have also been finding their way into consumer products. Many video-game controllers, such as force-feedback steering wheels and joysticks, already contain simple haptic devices to enable virtual rally drivers and pilots to feel the bumps of artificial roads or the rumble of machine guns. Mobile phones are next. Just as existing phones can be programmed to play different ring tones depending on the caller, VibeTone allows for different vibrations. Without reaching into your pocket, you will be able to tell whether it is your boss, spouse, or babysitter who is calling. ...

The Economist talks about how mobile phones are used for deception. SounderCover allows certain Nokia handsets to play pre-recorded bursts of traffic noise, airport announcements or other sounds in the background during a conversation. Two services offered by American operators, Cingular’s Escape-A-Date and Virgin Mobile’s Rescue Ring, allow customers to prearrange a call at a given time, to enable them to get out of a disastrous dinner date or boring meeting. ...

Google domains is next, possibly leading into site hosting with 1GB space, and linkages with Blogger. Comments Bhuvan 2 Feb 2005 12:00 pm: nice to have you back Anand S Anand 2 Feb 2005 12:00 pm: Font size of comments? Or the whole page? The latter can be increased through View - Text Size - Larger Sumeer 2 Feb 2005 12:00 pm: can you do something about the font sizes

Amazon’s Best books of 2004, All consuming, and Daypop Amazon Wishlist are good places to look for books to read.

Winners of The Future of Time contest by Timex. Showcases futuristic designs for watches. I liked the “nail watch”.

My new commenting system is based on the principle of “scribbling on the margin”. If you’re interested, have a look at the source code for this page. It is as clear as mud, so best of luck! Comments Ammadio 1 Feb 2005 12:00 pm: Where do these comments get stored Navneet 1 Feb 2005 12:00 pm: Nice commenting system. A couple of points though…It took me a while to figure out how to post the comment :). Maybe a note on that somewhere would help.. Also the text colour when I’m typing in the comment is almost invisible. S Anand 1 Feb 2005 12:00 pm: I fixed those two. Is it OK? Anything else? TOPFRAME 1 Feb 2005 12:00 pm: Good to see you back, Anand. :)

MSN search has a feature that lets you rank results your own way. Go to “+Search Builder” and select “Results ranking”. You can decide how important recency, popularity and accuracy are to your search.