June 2005

Google Maps API. But for some reason, it doesn’t work on Geocities. Related links: Google Maps Mania, London Traffic (and cameras)

Google Earth released. It’s free. Related links: Google Earth Hacks Comments S Anand 1 Jul 2005 12:13 pm: It shows my house. Ram 1 Jul 2005 4:16 pm: At my first sight i thought that this picture was taken from simsity game.I coudn’t imagine that this picture from Google maps are real !!! S Anand 4 Jul 2005 5:00 am: It gets better than SimCity. You can tilt the view of a city and fly by the skyline on Google Earth.

Clean glass inexpensively using newspaper.

Most countries’ time zones are separated by a whole hour from GMT. The only countries that are NOT seperated by a whole number of hours from GMT are India, Afghanistan, Australia, Burma, Iran, Nepal and New Zealand.

It’s interesting how Steven Spielberg created his sound effects in movies. For example, in Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indy’s whip is the treated sound of a jet taking off; the punches in fist fights are the result of bashing leather jackets with baseball bats; and the rolling boulder rumble is a Honda station wagon coasting down a gravel road mixed with a rocket blast-off. … or in E.T. The Extra Terrestrial ...

King’s Cross station. 6:20pm. I’m rushing along to catch the next train to Liverpool Street, when a jacket and suitcase step in front of me. “Salaam alekum.” This has happened to me before. 5 years ago. My response hasn’t changed. “Huh? “Salaam alekum?” “Huh? “SALAAM ALEKUM?” “Huh? “Aap Pakistani ho?” “No, India actually.” (smile) “I just lost my wallet, and I don’t have a ticket. Could you please help me?” ...

The story of the Windows 95 user interface.

Think like a genius.

How to sit at a computer.

Google search history is like a9 – it remembers your searches. But why is that useful? Comments sathish 29 Jun 2005 7:51 am: I found it useful recently.. I remembered that I got a link when I searched for a particular term and by going through the search history, I figured out link I had looked earlier. S Anand 29 Jun 2005 8:49 am: Ah… that makes sense. I use the history in the toolbar. Guess this mirrors that. sathish 4 Jul 2005 9:25 am: read more about the google personalization from mit tech review blog - http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/05/07/wo/wo_070105hellweg.asp?trk=top

Among the various technology gizmos I’ve seen at the UK, this is the best. Our flat has a security system that does not allow anyone without an electronic key to enter. As with most flats, there is a panel on which you can dial the flat number and speak to the owner. Usually this is connected to an intercom in the flat. I was initially surprised that there was no intercom in our flat. ...

Flickr enhancements include 20 MB/month of uploads, 200 photos, and cheaper Flickr Pro accounts.

15 things you can do with RSS – like mix RSS scripts, convert any page to RSS, etc.

Who will Google buy next? Comments Mala 22 Jun 2005 4:44 am: London pahunch gaye?? Send me your new email ID at malavikap yahoo co Anonymous 22 Jun 2005 10:23 am: anand can you give me some CAT tips tech freak 29 Jun 2005 7:03 am: give your new email ID S Anand 29 Jun 2005 8:01 am: root underscore node at yahoo dot com

I’m fairly stingy. When it comes to books, I’ve always taken it to extremes. For example, I’ve read several Asimov novels at Landmark (Chennai). I’d walk into the stoor, pick up an Asimov, just stand there (no seats) and read for 4 hours. After the neck-ache becomes unbearable, I’d leave and come back the next day. I got pretty tech-savvy once I got a laptop and a mobile phone. I would walk over to bookshops, note down the names of interesting books on my mobile, and download books in digital format. I’ve a pretty large collection now. ...

50 Fun Things to do with your iPod

After a long time, things started going right for a change. 7:15pm: Get out of office. 7:22pm: Walk into train platform exactly as the train arrives. The right train. 7:40pm: Long walk to change trains at London Bridge. Once again, the train arrives bang on cue. 7:47pm: Another change of platform at Bank. Train to Newbury Park arrives almost immediately. 8:15pm: Out of Newbury Park station. That was easily the shortest ride I had from Croydon to Newbury Park. Probably will continue to be the shortest ever.

For a long time, I thought the problems associated with getting an American visas was mainly for Indians. Today, I met someone at a Lebanese restaurant near Marble Arch. (It’s called Maroush III. There are at least a couple of other Maroushs in the area.) He’s a consultant, and has been travelling around the globe for over 20 years. He recently flew from Boston to Bangalore. Without a visa. Why? Because he would be issued a visa at the port of entry, of course. Stands in the queue. Hands his passport to the officer. The officer leafs through the pages. Halts. Studies each page very carefully. Gets puzzled. ...

We were staying at the Croydon Park Hotel, on the second floor. There were two elevators, and one of them was down for maintenance. I was walking into the other elevator as the maintenance man stepped in as well. He started pressing the elevator buttons: one, two… “Oh, sorry sir. I was doing some maintenance on the other lift. I didn’t want this lift to come down for some time. You go right ahead.” ...

I always wondered what cuisines were famous other than the ones I knew (Indian, Chinese, Thai, Mexican, Italian, Lebanese, Continental). I’d heard of Ethiopian food from Rajeev Ved, but never of Argentinian and Spanish. I spotted a couple of menu cards while walking down Croydon.