Scribez

I am a film addict. At this point who isn’t? I remember a time when mentioning names like Wong Kar Wai or Akira Kurusawa in a conversation would result in raised eyebrows and sneers. Now, every other dawg is an Almadovar fan or a Fellini freak. I really don’t know how much of the works by these directors are being understood by this new wave of (pseudo?) cine-philes. My fix of films come from the good old pirated CD/DVD dealers in Cochin. There is this little shop where the dude will get me any movie I ask for, even if no one else wants it; he’d get me one copy. We have a relationship going back over 5 years. There is a whole black market of pirated stuff here and it is quite efficient. I have found gems in these shops that are not found in bigger metros like Banglore and Chennai.

The new anti-piracy drive by the Govt. is a blatant attempt at killing my supply of illicit escapism. Here’s what is happening-

The Police are raiding stores and DVD/VCD rental shops, and confisticating everything they have. My good friend, the pirate of cochin had his entire collection confisticated. This man is not only a pirate, he is a serious movie buff. He has 3 versions of Citizen Kane with him- DVD conversions of varying quality. He is a collector and supplier par excellence. But it’s all illegal. The cops even confisticated blank CDs and DVDs. All in all, this brother lost over Rs. 9 lakhs in merchandise. Woah!

I know that piracy is wrong, that it is illegal and kills the movie industry. But here is my argument for it. The Malayalam film industry is a con. The home videos are of such low quality that you’d wonder where the Rs.300 you shell out for a DVD is spent. The conversion is bad- some of the older films are actually converted from video cassettes. There are no multiple audio tracks. There is no bonus material whatsoever. A rough estimation by me pegs the true value of these DVDs (including a generous profit) at about Rs.120. The pirated version is only Rs.100. So why shell out more for the same shit. The legal version of the DVD should provide the consumers with some incentives for it’s purchase.

I don’t always go for the pirated DVDs; I have a collection of original DVDs (foreign films) too. There is quality in conversions and a slew of bonus features that I wouldn’t get in a pirated DVD, so I have no reservations in paying the price printed on it’s back. Some of the films that you really want never make it legally to the CD/DVD shops. Films by Ozu, Kobayashi, Kar Wai, to name a few, are not there on any shelves in any CD/DVD shops selling legal DVDs. Ordering it online is an option, but I’ve done it and I’ve gotten a broken disc with me to remind me to never try that again.

Another point I’d like to raise is the censorship of original DVD content by the Censor Board. The original DVD of Irreversible by Gasper Noe is actually 16 minutes shorter than the actual film. Y Tu Mama Tambien has been cut too- very abrupt cuts. The pirated DVDs feature pristine conversions and no such censoring. Not to mention, films like The Last Temptation Of Christ are actually banned in India and piracy is the only way of getting it.

So in a country where good films seldom reach theatres, where there are no incentives for buying an original CD/DVD, where half the films that do reach legally are censored, why should I buy or wait for an original DVD? I agree again that piracy is illegal. But in many cases, it is the only option. It is a thriving business because of this, even with the raids on. I can still get the DVDs from the pirates of Cochin and I will keep buying it.

powered by performancing firefox

Orkut - one of the most popular social communities out there. Of course nothing beats MySpace [just check out the number of hits we get to the post referring to MySpace :-D]. However, I prefer[red] orkut to the rising community sites of that time [Yeah I enrolled in orkut about 4 years ago] - Hi5. Now, the reason why I chose orkut was a point noted by one of my best friends. Orkut did NOT allow just anyone to join. Consequently, this had reduced/limited the potential possibility of unruly, uncouth people and stuck to the concept of being a truly social community site. You’d invite only your real friends to the site.

However, things have changed now. Orkut is now open - Check out the “Join Now” option at Orkut.com login page! Now, Google has been very good at blocking people with malicious intent in orkut, however, inspite of all that Google tries, orkut still has a lot of flab in terms of porn and other unsocial stuff. Ok, I am never averse to porn, it’s just that I really don’t wanna use a service where in most of my friends/family are present to search and utilize for something like porn :-D! But then again, that’s a personal choice.

Ok, I am digressing! Coming back to the topic - orkut being open and now containing the ability to message communities as a whole, might be the next viral marketing platform. And this extends to any social community based websites. For e.g. since orkut has opened, “agents” have already have started it to communicate about land availability, buildings for sale, LIC insurance options, tax saving investments, and what not? I have already posted about resumes being posted left, right and center in the communities of firms/organizations!

There are some questions you can ask here in terms of - why is Google not stopping that, considering that this is spam? Well, the truth is - these firms with huge investments / returns from the ad-market, would definitely want to capitalize on their investments into the social community pie!! I am saying that orkut is going to be one of the most useful investments that Google made ever. [I am sure that they would know exactly why they invested in orkut. This is nothing but a hypothesis]

Why is orkut going to be useful for Google in the future?

And in a broader sense, why are the major Ad Players raking up on the social communities pie? You have Microsoft with MSN Spaces - Oops, Windows Live Spaces, Yahoo! - with Y! 360 and Google with orkut! What sense does it make for companies like Microsoft to even invest in an ONLINE SOCIAL COMMUNITY?

Well, apart from the fact that they are now becoming an essential part of the Internet package - email/IM/community, they are sitting gold-mines! Rightly predicted in the 2007 Predictions over at Read/Write Web

Expect some shakeups in the online advertising market next year. AdSense will have some competition, in the form of MSN AdCenter and Yahoo’s advertising platform

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/2007_web_predictions.php
- under Search and Online Advertising

Social Community Advantage #1: A sitting gold-mine for advertisement. Companies can post advertisements pertaining to the community. You can bet your life’s savings that people are going to click. And you can put all your eggs saying that that’s going to be the case soon enough.

Social Community Advantage #2: They are consumer-base. People who are using your packages are bound to at least “test” your social community. Make it a success, with enough people and enough contact with people within that community hitch up [ok going too much] but at least meet, you are setting up your consumer base.

Social Community Advantage #3: What better than YOUR community to evangelize your products? Let’s take the latest example - How many orkut users would have decided to give Google Talk a Go - since the tight [almost] integration of orkut and Google Talk. [Btw this was long due for Google, considering that MSN Spaces or is it Live Spaces now? is tightly integrated with Live Messenger and Y! 360 is tightly integrated with Y! Messenger].

The war on Advertising is definitely going to be interesting in 2007. We see that people are already starting to realize the potential of orkut/social communities as a perfect way to reach a niche crowd. For e.g. an insurance salesman could easily target an IT firm and post a message regarding insurance options / tax saving investments. While this is largely beneficial to the salesman and the community, it might be misused!! Are Google and other players taking the necessary precautions to prevent the next generation of spamming through this?

Let us know by your comments and trackbacks, what do _you_ think are the reason for social communities for these big players in the Internet?

Originally Posted by gurupanguji @ Bracketed Bull…

Open Source: The buzz word for the year 2007. From being a bunch of geeks who revolutionized the computing industry, it has grown quite a lot. The world, well at least the computing world, agrees that it’s the next best thing to sliced cheese [and trust me sliced cheese is God sent to the people in the computing world]. I was reading up on the Open Source Business Model, wondering how and what was the money maker of Open Source based companies - web based and stand-alone applications wise. This got me thinking, as a professional software developer, the amount of opportunity and the threats it presents and poses to people like me.

Now, let me define Professional Software Developer: It’s a term that I coined right now to define, and include those developers who write code to make a living, well at least anyone who develops software to make some money out of the process of “coding”.

Now, what is the Open Source Business Model for Software? Traditionally, companies put a lot of value to the actual source code, for a variety of reasons [1]. Now, the code itself is not idolized anymore. How? Well, by providing the source code, free of charge to anyone who wants to use it / understand it / contribute to it, under a variety of “public licenses” - viz. GPL, CC, to name a few. This is a major shift from the “closed source” paradigm.

Under the closed source paradigm, software developers were paid - a lot of money at times - to develop the code base. This had a lot of value, understandably as the company paid quite a hefty amount of money to get it developed, in spite of getting it done real cheap in outsourcing sweatshops in India ;-).

Under the open source paradigm, most of the companies rely on volunteers [a queer word comes into my mind - developer volunteers ???] to develop the code - read Software Developers with a lot of free time??! Now, this cuts down the value of the “source code” to NIL! Save for the laptop sticker (optional), a few T-shirts and due credits given in the “About Us” page ;-), which costs the company practically NOTHING! Now, this also shifts the company’s focus from a traditional software sweatshop to focusing on products, features, service, support, and other value-add services. And it’s these things, which is going to fetch the money to the company anyway, at least in the long run. The software code base itself has no value. Furthermore, it only makes sense for people to contribute to it and have a community based brainstorming for adding features, removing bugs etc.

E.g. Consider the major technologies used in the Web-Applications today - Java, Apache, Linux, MySQL, PHP, etc!! All Open Source, Worthy mentions are of course .Net Web Services, however, let’s not include that here. =D!

P.S. This makes an excellent case for any start-up with limited technology resources to vote and opt - Open Source btw

So, what does this mean to you as a Professional Software Developer? There are two situations you can read from here - Opportunity and Despair.

Let’s tackle the positive one first - Opportunity. One word - NDAs / Contracts. The Closed Source Paradigm typically enforces the software developer cannot use code from his just done / developing project for any of his practical use. Furthermore, majority of the companies for which you will work for, will also have a “Service Agreement” clause, which will not let you work for ANY OTHER COMPANY/product other than for the one you are working, until your contract expires/is revoked by your company. Also, any development you do is NOT your property but is officially the company’s Intellectual Property, for which it gets to file the patents and get the royalty.

The Open Source Paradigm caters to the I-want-variety-in-this-boring-existence-of-mine side of the software development. You can go independent and work for any project you want, which is ready to “hire” you for major concerns of development as well as design decisions. Not only that, it also allows you to go independent and put your hand in a variety of projects, some which pay, some which cater to your interest in the world [Ok!! Development world :-P]. So, you can consider this as an opportunity to grow and expand your profile.

Now, if you can write as well, start a blog, which accounts for your daily experience in the programming world. As there are no NDAs with the projects you work on, you can use real life example code for your work, put Adsense and tada - you’re making money out of what you do best and what you really like - developing code. So, that’s so much for opportunity!!

Despair: Now, let’s give some attention to despair - the negative aspect of this. As a software developer, as soon as the company you are working for realizes that the ROI in maintaining closed source is not worth paying the current set of developers in the payroll, you are out of a job. Just as outsourcing was a major job-cutter, Open Source and Ready to work for real cheap money College Students with development experience are going to handle the code! As tough as this may seem, this could be a prediction of the future.

However, things are not so glum. As part of your “career objectives” set in your company, I am sure that one of the clauses would be “Improve Technology Knowledge” or “Update yourself with the latest trends in technology” or something to that effect. Everybody’s been through that. Now, it’s time to actually make use of some company time to actually enforce that particular Responsibility Area. Get involved in the latest Open Source Technologies / trends like PHP, Python, Java, Ruby, Apache, AJAX, yada yada yada. You get what I mean, learn it and make sure that you highlight that you have done justice to that objective in your next appraisal. And when the time comes that the company decides to try out Open Source technologies, you are way up there in the forefront, already having knowledge of the same. A time for promotion?? I think so ;-)!

Note: This situation is applicable ONLY to the general software development companies and it DOES NOT incorporate the niche software development companies like Medical Solutions or Financial Solutions. Although certain aspects of even these applications will be at the very least BASED on Open Source Technologies soon. Companies involved in these have already spent WAY too much money and resources in developing something that’s so highly proprietary that they will not, at least for a very good amount of time, say 10-20 years even consider making the source code of the binaries that earns them MILLIONS of $$$ a year, OPEN!!

Also, there are companies like IBM and Novell, who are neither here, nor fully there, the in-betweens, who are software houses developing Open Source software - Ideal place to work right now for the Open Source oriented Professional Software Developer, eh ;-)!

Footnotes:
[1] Reasons include theft, software / IP patents on the source code, competitors using to reverse engineer the system design, malicious use of the source code for hacking/cracking/gain private information etc.

Sources / Further Reading about Open Source Business Models
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_source_vs._closed_source
[2] http://www.extropia.com/tutorials/misc/opensourcebiz.html
[3] http://web.corante.com/editorial/archives/2006/07/the_open_source_revenue_model.php

Posted by gurupanguji

I know a lot of people who are waiting to get they’re hands on a copy of MS Office 2007. But for all those of you who cant bother to wait, heres the opportunity. You can test drive the entire MS Officce suite here.The most important thing is that you wouldnt need to install anything.

These are the list of application that you would be able to try out.

1. Microsoft Office Access 2007
2. Microsoft Office Excel 2007
3. Microsoft Office InfoPath 2007
4. Microsoft Office OneNote 2007
5. Microsoft Office Outlook 2007
6. Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 with Business Contact Manager
7. Microsoft Office Outlook Web Access
8. Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007
9. Microsoft Office Project Professional 2007
10. Microsoft Office Publisher 2007
11. Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer 2007
12. Microsoft Office Visio 2007
13. Microsoft Office Word 2007

This is something that has been on my mind for a few weeks now and I thought I really couldn’t put it in words so I didn’t bother to write. Truth is, I still doubt I’ll be able to write much.

It’s something we read in the papers every single day. Rape, dowry deaths, assault, forced prostitution etc…. but somehow, the gravity of the situation seldom strikes us. It never strikes us until our friends/family members are victims in some way or the other. I’ve been listening to a lot (a LOT) of stuff from some of my close friends from Chennai, Bangalore and even Hyderabad and it’s disturbing and sickening to see that women in our country  have to lead a restricted existense just because of some of the perverts that roam our/your streets.

Not surprisingly, it isn’t restricted to the middle and lower classes. And it isn’t even endemic to our country.

A  friend of mine, Selva has written a post titled, ‘Will my wife and daughters be safe in this world?’ It’s an amazingly well researched, thought out and written piece.

So what does the law do to the perpetrators of these heinous crimes? Will a jail term do? Will execution do? Will anything that is done repair the lives of the traumatised victims?

Posted by The Prestidigitator 

The guys over at CrunchGear recently had a post featuring a new set of wheels.

…D’Vinci Forgiato Radurra wheels…made from 2-inch thick polycarbonate….They’ll be available for about $2,000…

We thought it would be really cool if we showed you something a little more exciting.

What you are about to see is something called the TWEEL. The TWEEL is a revolutionary tyre that was unveiled by Michelin recently. The TWEEL uses no air and therefore there is no question of it bursting or becoming flat.

Here are a couple of pics of the TWEEL in action.

With such innovation it is no surprise that Michelin was awarded the Gold Medal for Innovation by The Intermat innovation commission in Paris.

Scrybe™ is a groundbreaking online organizer that caters to today’s lifestyle in a cohesive and intuitive way.

We have online photo storage [ala Flickr , Zooomr , Photobucket], Online To-do Lists [ala Ta-Da Lists and countless others], Online Documents and Spreadsheets [of the erstwhile Writely fame and now the Google Docs and Spreadsheets fame, on which this is being edited by wildgrey and gurupanguji btw], and so on and so forth. Well, we are sure you see the trend - else BOOM - here it is - It’s ONLINE folks!! Yup, the future is Web-Apps. And working to conquer the web-traffic are giants and the pillars of the Blue stocks now - Microsoft , Google , Yahoo!

With Google acquiring Writely and managing to spearhead the online collaborative editing of documents and spreadsheets, Microsoft had started on the Microsoft Office Live! Hopefully its answer should be a comprehensive Office package online. Yet, the news today is of Scrybe - a truly innovative Web 2.0 App!! [Yeah it holds a dear place in our hearts, coz we sound similar - not the same feeling that the Elvis’ of the world get, but yeah something along those lines]
Scrybe allows you to create your own personal calendars, lists, notes and allows you to share them with others and/or publish them. So what’s new you may ask [If you didn’t WHOA - Yo!! *shaking u vigorously - and in a slow stoned tone - “Dude, it’s the 21st century…”*]. Let’s see what we got in this genre - there’s Google Calendar, iCal, Microsoft Outlook but none of them have been able to solve the one issue that has plagued web-apps - ’synchronizing both offline and online data’. Trying to bridge the divide - b/w what’s web and what’s not - Scrybe has managed to come out with an excellent solution to the age old problem [or so they claim and we are gonna test that claim]!
OfflineSync™, which arguably is the flagship of this entire Scrybe application, allows you to work with the application both offline and online. Therefore assuming that you are not connected to the internet you could still work with the application by simply choosing the ”Work Offline’ mode available in most of the current browsers, and working the same way you would if you were online. The next time you happen to get connected to the Internet, all the data that you worked while being offline gets synchronized with your online data thereby seamlessly integrating your work - bridging the divide - enabling you to concentrate on your organizing - and not be bothered with the synchronization and other menial tasks!
Before we begin our odessey exploring and testing what Scrybe can do for us, let’s just compare the various so-called - Personal Organizer - applications that you have a choice from as of now

Note: Soon to be added - Microsoft Office Live! I am keeping an eye on that for the simple reason that Live search [http://live.com/] is definitely a search engine worth mentioning :-)! I LOVE their jazzy effects!! I still use Google, but hey eye-candy - call Live!!

Ok - We’ll give you a minute now - Scratch those itching hands and brain - Done?? Ok - here we go!! Presenting…….
SCRYBE….
1. Login:

What you see here is the quintessential Web2.0 login screen. Now there are a couple of things that you need to note here besides the Web2.0 glamor [Yawn, now everything seems so drab - there was a point in time when Wordpress deleted those posts and comments, my mind used to go - WOW!!].

• Enable OfflineSync checkbox: You would wanna check this guy [or girl for the gender equality person]! After all it’s OfflineSync(TM) that we are just waiting to test. Unless you enable this during your login you will not be able to experience the seamless nature of this application as you will not be able to work offline. If you check the box and login, the application will store your online and offline data into a temporary folder in your system.
• Rewrite offline data from scratch checkbox: Assuming some error has occurred with your data (say invalid time zones) ticking this checkbox will ensure your data is created ‘error-free’ for offline purposes. (We recommend this box be checked just to be on the safer side of things)

2. Working Space - It’s all about views folks!

After the loading screen - you reach this page! See anything familiar? Yup - you got that right - that IS a calendar. Even I was searching for something that’s outta the world after all the hype :P. But, then I realised, after all it’s a personal organizer - it better show a calendar!
Work Area: The workspace for this application consists of a main work area where the calendar gets displayed. There are also a couple of other window panes that allow you to work with the various elements of the application.
Views:
There are 4 view modes available for your calendar

1. Day - highlights the day’s events with the timing clearly demarcated and showing what are the times free - what’s occupied etc.
2. Week - Easy view of the busy days - not so busy days etc [helped by clicking on the day to quickly find out in a lil bit more detail if you are busy or not]
3. Month - A 7 column [for the days of the week] arrangement of the dates of the month.[See pic above]
4. Year - All the months arranged

Well, AJAX Flash for shows all its capabilities with the intuitive UI designed by the folks over at Scrybe. Apparently it’s all about the click [wondering if there are keyboard shortcuts for the keyboard oriented people]. What you see is generally by default a month-view [Any options to set default views folks?]. Click on a particular date, and well - it blooms out to a semi expanded view where you can see the events for a particular day with a slightly higher amount of detail.
Intuitive UI [should we be putting a (TM) symbol here?] takes it to the next level. Whenever you want more detail on something - just click on it - it blooms with more detail! We like the effect and appreciate it from Scribez! But warning, it could get pretty choppy at times on slower machines. Furthermore, we might just get tired off it. So well an option to change this might be a good idea. Furthermore, wonder how many people are gonna take notice of this in some time and start considering it as a “time-waster”. Well, Scrybe could also make a quasi-performance booster :P, but slowly decreasing the bloom out time. People wouldn’t realise it and just think that Scrybe is getting faster [Just a suggestion from the devious minds here!!]
Anyhoo - it’s all about the views folks. Want more detail, click on what you wanna get to know more - and it automatically takes you there in a single click [G’bye Double Click in Outlook - which we use generally]

Creating an Event
Creating an event can be done in a couple of ways

1. Clicking on a day from ‘Week Mode’ and entering details into an empty event holder you can get by clicking the ‘Add’ button
2. Navigate to the ‘Day Mode’ and enter you event details across a time slot of your need.

[COOL FEATURE ALERT]
When you add an event in [1] manner - you can type your event details as you would take notes

For e.g. Pickup Honey from airport at 5pm. Scrybe immediately picks up 5pm and allocates the event at that time.

Details Window PaneFor every event created certain details pertaining to it will get populated in the Details Window pane - a small window on the upper right corner of the screen. The pane has neatly organized tab like links discussed below:
a. General

• Shows general information about a particular event.
• You may change a created task from one date to another by simply choosing another date and clicking Update
• A text field called “Where” allows you to denote where the event will take place. This will be displayed when you hover the mouse over a particular event.
• You can add labels to an event. You may even choose to associate certain colors with certain labels. Currently there are only 4 colors available - Beige, Pink ,Lavender and Green. But it might just be a matter of time before they include customizable colors for labels.
• The only problem we noticed was with the delete. It did not ask for a confirmation for that action which we believe is necessary - especially with crazy touch sensitive touchpads coming with the laptops.

b. Reminder

• This will send you a reminder concerning an event that was created.
• Reminders can be send to a email address or email address of a mobile phone(via text message). Indeed a very welcome feature for those times when getting online is just out of the question [*wink wink*]. However, only a few providers are listed as of now. We sincerely hope and pray that the list expands soon.

c. Repeat

• Will schedule an event for repeat daily/weekly/monthly/yearly. Pretty much the same for all the calendar users.

d. Notes

• You can add notes to a particular event.
• Link field - Probably to associate link to another event?

e. Sharing
Coming soon! Evaluating Formats iCal,hCal,RSS,SSE,Email.
f. Publish
Coming soon! Private/Public Shared. Provision to export and import.

3. Timezone - Synch it across multiple sites across the world
Working across multiple sites spread, rather scattered here and there. Your developers are in a remote corner in India? You are globetrotting with your laptop and your Treo? Your language translator is huddled up in Geneva? And the product Configuration Management is in the air-conditioned walls of New York? Well, then this feature just might help you to synch it across with all of them.
This is one one cool feature of Scrybe, which shall be useful when the Sharing feature becomes live. When an event is created the time associated with it is based on the time zone of the creator, and it gets synched to the time zone of the party with whom it’s shared.
A globe icon in the details window pane takes you to a timezone screen [Awesome UI here btw]. Here you can view various timezones and the difference in timings from each other as well as GMT. There is also a provision for you to view other time zones by dragging the clock available. Your timezone gets configured during the initial setup of the account. You may choose to modify your primary timezone by clicking on the time line displayed on the left of the screen. You can also select secondary timezones to know what the equivalent time is in another time zone :-)! So you can check to see that the developer in India is not going to be stuck on the notorious Hosur Road, when you are calling to talk to him about the latest design changes and remind him of the impending deadlines. [Not that this is gonna change that :P]
Pros:

• You can drag the clock for time to be displayed in Ajax Timeline similarity. As you drag the clock along you will notice the needles of the clock moving in clockwise or anti-clockwise direction depending on if you pulled it right or left. This level of attention to detail in every aspect of the application is just mind blowing.
• Drag to desired timezone and clock on nation to add it to you recently used time zone list.
• Ability to view multiple time zones (Secondary Time Zones) in day/week view.

Cons:

• Inablity to select a timezone for use by clicking the icon from the Details pane . One has to do that from Day/Week view.
• We also found out that this takes away an offsite consultant’s excuse to say that the time was wrong in the event calendar and we strongly protest against it!

4. Lists window pane
Aah the task list. When Microsoft Outlook, came out with this, one of the those people who was thrilled by this was Guru’s dad. Well, we use the feature once in a while. Nothing new about it, except for one thing you get to look out for
- Amazing intuition, where in you just paste a set of lines and it automatically creates a list out from that for you.
Features Review:

• This pane allows you to create something called list
• Imagine lists as a folder of your various ‘things to do’
• Detail pane changes to reflect actions that can be performed with a created list
  • General
    • Share with - Coming Soon
    • Personal Note - Coming Soon
    • Include task in email
  • Notes
    • Allows you to add notes for a particular task
    • Allows you to add tasks to a particular list
• Once a task is added Detail pane reflects actions that can be performed on the tasks
  • General
    • Allows you to attach a label to a task i.e assigning which list this task belongs to
    • Requires textfiled enables you to add anything in particular that needs to be to accomplish this task(can add only one such item -con)
    • Assign to - Coming Soon
    • You may set the date and time for this task (Shifting between AM and PM very hard. Multiple clicks required - possible buggy interface)
    • Remind me - should most probably be used to send you a reminder. Must have multiple ways to do it 1) Email me 2)Send me a text message(speculating at this point) because checking the textbox still keeps that drop down box an non-editable)
  • Notes
    • Lets you add notes for a task
    • Small checkable box adjacent to the task lets you mark it off as finished
    • Ability to star a task - activates the date/time and remind me option
  • Added tasks get displayed on day view pane
  • Ability to add multiple tasks at once(definite plus point)
  • Tasks marked as finished automatically get sorted to the bottom of lists while other remain on top
  • Ability to select multiple tasks at once (another plus)
  • You can also filter tasks based on labels,dates,required,and status

5. Themes
You can customize the theme the way you would like it to be by tweaking color,saturation and brightness (reminds us of our old televison sets).

6. Terms Of Service
Make sure you take a look through this not-so-conventional jargon before proceeding through with anything.
7. Keyboard Shorcuts
Ever since Gmail came out with this (thats the first place we saw it) everyone seems to be adding this handy little feature and Scrybe has its fair share. Useful if your the kind of person who loves to buy a keyboard every 3 months. Speaking about keyboards, check this baby out :drool
8. Coming Soon

• FluidContext
• GlobalTimez
• ListTransfer
• JumpContext
• PaperSync
• ThoughtPad
• Bookmarks

And to think we were thrilled with just the current set of features!! Bring it on Scrybe!
9. Upcoming modules
Now this is a tricky one. We’re yet to figure out the real purpose of this page. What we speculate is some sort of customization? perhaps? Its currently just a blank page so we’ll just have to wait and see what this little section is all about
10. Time Maps
Time Maps enable you to understand how busy you are for a certain day. This is indicated by a line with different shades depending on how busy you are. This in turn allows to have a quick glance at that schedule and know is you can spare a little time or not.
Now just when you thought it was all over heres some more.
12) PaperSync™
We are kinda thrilled about this and can’t wait for Monday to come and check out this nifty feature. Sounds cool though with the various formats available all aimed at the final end use :-)! Now, with PaperSync, if only they also developed a way by which they actually convert whatever changes we have made on to the paper back onto Scrybe ;-)!
Anyhoo, more about PaperSync, this allows you to print your lists and events into any one of the following formats

a. Classic

• Prints traditional calendar views, i.e. Year, Month, Week or Day, depending on the current selection.
• The Classic format, also allows you to print your task lists with the selected calendar view.

b. Booklet

• A 2-fold format that prints your calendar and lists on the top half of the printed paper. The remaining half contains empty lines for scribbling your notes.
• The size of the document, once folded, is roughly about that of a booklet. You can simply carry it in your folders, books, files, bags or brief cases.
• The Booklet print can be folded in less than 20 seconds, and requires no cuts, glue, or stapling on the printed paper.

c. Pocket

• A 3-fold format that prints your data in 3 sections. When you look at this document on a flat paper, the top section displayed to be printed upside-down. However, once you fold this document, it appears on top correctly, in the right direction, containing empty lines for scribbling your notes.
• The size of the document, once folded, is roughly about that of a wallet. You can simply carry it in your pockets, or wallets.
• The Pocket print can be folded in less than 30 seconds and requires no cuts, glue, or stapling on the printed paper.

Conclusion:
Aah the ending - we can take a nice nap now!! *YAWN* In conclusion to this sleep-obstructing post, here’s the dig!
Scrybe
Pros:

• Amazing idea
• OfflineSync™
• TimeMap
• Excellent UI
• PaperSync™
• Interesting features ahead
• Indians explaining the features in a Youtube video - promo for Scribez

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1u3ekzwnYxw]
Cons:

• Non-resizable windows
• We don’t get to use time zones as excuses anymore with our managers *sigh*

Posted by wildgrey and gurupanguji

Technorati tags: Internet, Technology, Applications, Business, Web2.0, Videos, YouTube, India, Startups, News

UPDATE: Here is a video from the Youtube Cofounders about the aquisition.

[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=QCVxQ_3Ejkg]

[Credit:Bluesaze-for finding the link.]

Business Week Online has published an article[Google to buy YouTube for $1.65 billion] that indicates an end to the endless amounts of a YouTube buy-out speculation. Many of the industry’s behemoths including Yahoo were once contendors in scooping up this deal but in the end it is Google that has come out the victor.

Google Chief Executive Officer Eric Schmidt was quoted saying “This is the next step in the evolution of the Internet“.And rightly so! Youtube has a world audience of 72.1 million as of August and shows more than 100 million video clips a day. With such a huge user base the business possibilities and returns for Google are immense. Google share holders apparently felt the same way too as shares rose.

This is a set back for the likes of Yahoo and Miscrosoft who have been constantly outdone by Google’s maneuvers. Yahoo could now choose to buy Facebook which is the Internets second most popular social networking site.

No matter what, Google is all set to shake the Internet…YET AGAIN!

“It’s going to be like, ‘You can either fight us or you can make money with us,’”

On September 19,2006 Moixa Energy announced the launch of an innovative and revolutionary product called The USBCell Battery . These one of a kind rechargeable batteries have a memory stick like end which when plugged into any powered USB drive gets charged and can later on be used like any other normal battery.

Here are some of the specifications:

• Battery Type

• Rechargeable AA NiMH Battery 1.2v 1300mah.

• Battery Chemistry
• NiMH - Nickel Metal Hyrdride.

• Product Specifications

• Built in Intelligent Charger.

• Charge by powered USB.

• Also can be charged in approved NiMH Chargers.

• Technical Specifications
• 90%+ Charged after 5 Hours by powered USB.
• Also rechargeable by approved NiMH charger at 250ma for 7 Hours.

• LED on the side will light up to indicate charging .

• Will flash for 10 minutes after charging is complete as an alert and switch off after that.

If you want to you can read the following material too

• USBCell Battery User Guide
• USBCell Battery Technical Specification

The USBCell Battery is most definitely the best thing to hit the conventional battery scene in a very long time. Well how much will they cost you? As of now a 2 cell pack would set you back £12.99.

‘Time to recharge the battery market’

Update : This post was posted through Writely although editing of post heading and addition of tags had to be done via Wordpress.

A little old but this is really funny if you read it. Now who is copying whom. Lol

Microsoft and Apple Affirm Commitment To Build Next Generation Software for Macintosh

Companies Announce Patent Cross-License Agreement; Microsoft Announces Office 98 for Macintosh; Apple Announces Internet Explorer To be Bundled With Mac OS. Product Commitment Backed Up With $150M Microsoft Investment in Apple Computer

BOSTON, Aug. 6, 1997 — In a keynote address delivered today at MacWorld Boston, Apple Computer Inc. director and co-founder Steve Jobs and Microsoft Corp. chairman and CEO Bill Gates announced a broad product and technology development agreement between Apple and Microsoft including the following:

• Microsoft will develop and ship future versions of its popular Microsoft Office productivity suite, Internet Explorer and other Microsoft tools for the Mac platform.

• Apple will bundle the Microsoft Internet Explorer browser with the Mac OS, making it the default browser in future operating system software releases.

• The companies agreed to a broad patent cross-licensing agreement. It paves the way for the two companies to work more closely on leading-edge technologies for the Mac platform.

• Apple and Microsoft plan to collaborate on technology to ensure compatibility between their respective Virtual Machines for Java and other programming languages.

• To further support its relationship with Apple, Microsoft will invest $150 million in non-voting Apple stock.

“In 1985, Steve Jobs and I stood together when Microsoft announced Microsoft Excel, an application that is widely credited with helping to define the potential of the Mac as a great applications platform,” said Gates. “Today’s announcements underscore our continued belief in the Mac as a platform for applications and leading -edge Internet technologies. Microsoft has millions of customers who rely on Macintosh technology and they can be assured that Microsoft products for the Mac will continue to be available.”

“We are thrilled at the prospect of working more closely with Microsoft on applications and Internet software” said Jobs. “We are confident that this is the beginning of a much closer relationship between the two companies, which will greatly benefit our common customers.”

From Scoble’s Blog Is Apple copying Microsoft?

Now, do you remember when I met Steve Jobs on a street corner in San Francisco? Remember what he said to me? “Nice to meet the guys who are copying us.” (Us being Apple, since I was there with Dean Hachamovitch, executive at Microsoft, he was saying that Apple leads, Microsoft follows. UPDATE: Dave Winer was also there, I forgot about the irony that Steve copied lots of Dave’s stuff).

From The Orginal Press Release

Technorati tags: Apple, Microsoft, Mac, Macintosh, Copying, Collaboration