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.

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?

Huh? Corp. If you have money, and they have shares, buy! They’ve got the soundest business model you’ll see around. via Vijay

The Onion on the plans of top Indian physicists.

Kiruba’s interview with Google. Nice questions! And good to see the post on MetaFilter. via MetaFilter

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

Strange quarks causing earthquakes. Literally. via RobotWisdom

The Bangalore Bloggers’ Meet in the eyes of Ayesha and Harris.

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.

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

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.

There’s some good tech stuff at Accenture’s R&D page. via andersja

Compendium of multimedia projects via RobotWisdom

Ilayaraja’s Rakkamma on the BBC Top 10 songs via Prachi

Your recommended blog list via Anita

Bought one of these Eicher Maps. They’re fantastic. I sure wish I had access to the GIS on their website! Have a whole bunch of cool ideas.

How the FBI hounded Bobby Fischer via Pathologically Polymathic

Lazy Geek on the possibility of Mani Rathnam and Kamal Hassan working together on Dragon Fire.

IBM has this cool tool: Multimodal browser extension. With this, I can create a textbox on my site, which you can fill in by speaking to the web page. The underlying standard is W3C’s XHTML+Voice. Two years ago, I’d have downloaded it and had it on my site in a few hours. Today, I’m a married consultant. I don’t have a few hours. :-(

An intruiging case of 22 Patels in a cricket match. via Kamat