Do you know who that is ? No ?

What about xkcd.com ?

Well, its one of the best webcomics I’ve seen in terms of ideas and geeky jokes that I like. Calvin and Hobbes is, and will ever has been my favourite, but this xkcd webcomic appeals to my technical side.

Now to the topic of discussion, “How do you read in bed ?”

This is what Randall Blagged,

The Pursuit of Laziness

Since I was a kid, I’ve been looking for the perfect way to read in bed. The ideal position would involve no sustained muscle effort, so I could just let my eyes drift shut as I read, without the book falling shut or my hand slipping or anything. One way is to sit up against something and hold the book on your lap, but that’s not great for falling asleep. So I usually end up reading on my side.

The problem is, you have to hold the book to see both pages, and in either case, you’re using some muscles to hold it where it is.

This has worked for most of my life, but it’s still not that ultimate relaxation.

However, I recently got a Kindle. I was intending to use it mainly as a mobile web browser, but I’ve surprised myself by using it to read an awful lot. And, with apologies to all the bibliophiles out there, I find the ergonomics better than a paperback. When snacking and reading, I can lay it flat on a table without the use of a book weight to hold it opened, and when lying in bed, I don’t have to keep moving it to read.

But it’s not perfect. There’s no way to hold it with a finger on the ‘next page’ buttons that doesn’t require a few muscles to hold it upright:

Either I work to hold my hand off the bed, or I awkwardly curl my fingers around it. Either way, it tips over if I relax my arm, even if it’s leaning against a pillow, and I’m startled awake by this:

I started to wonder if I could do even better. I got out of bed one night, went to the closet, and got a steel coat hanger and some pliers. After a few minutes of twisting, I created this:

Read on to find out WHAT IT IS …

First of all, it holds the Kindle upright …

And second, it lets me lie there motionless, and turn the pages with just a tiny twitch of my thumb:

Finally, after decades of reading in bed, I have reached that stage of perfect relaxation.

The science behind this is to reverse the flow of the Liuid Crystal of your LCD display so hat the polarisation of light is achieved at a shorter bandwidth and higher frequency, thus reducing the interference and diffraction at the crystal-air interface.

This leads to a lesser surface tension equivalent at the interface and the Gaussian distribution of polarity of light takes place at a higher peak leading to a better picture quality.

The monitor can be made to correct to the upright position by pressing

Ctrl - Alt - (Down Arrow)

Your New Viewing Experience

At YouTube, we’re always looking to improve the way you watch videos online. As part of that, today we’re excited to introduce our new page layout. Here are some tips for getting the most out of your new YouTube viewing experience:

Of course, if you prefer the way things used to be, just click the “I prefer the old-fashioned layout!” when watching a video.

Happy April 1st!

Called TXT’N'WALK the application, which is available on the iPhone, Blackberry, S60 and Android operating systems will use the camera found on the back of your phone to show you the pavement in front of you while you access your email or the web on your phone.

“We found that lots of people look at their phones while they are walking”, said a spokesman for the company Looflirpa who makes the app. “This way you can do so without the fear of walking into someone - or a lamppost”.

The app, which will be available by the end of the week from the relevant platform’s download stores will cost £2.99 in the UK and $4.99 in the US.

The need for the TXT’N'WALK app is clearly answering an as-yet untapped demand. In a recent poll on Pocket-lint, 56% of people said that they checked their mobile phone whilst walking around.

So now, Gmail has launched a new feature so that you don’t have to worry about replying to another email ever again.

Gmail Autopilot^TM by CADIE

Sample Autopilot responses

Respond to business proposals

Manage relationships

Match your personal style

Be on time. Every time.*

*The term “Every time” is used loosely here to represent the number 10.

And the testimonials are hilarious. Go check ‘em out: here

Beta User Testimonials
	“The entire concept of ‘late’ no longer exists for me. That’s pretty cool. Thanks Gmail!” Miriam S., Delivery girl
	“I just got two tickets to Radiohead by being the ‘first’ to respond to a co-worker’s ‘first-come, first-serve’ email. Someone else had already won them, but I told everyone to check their inboxes again. Everyone sort of knows I used Custom Time on this one, but I’m denying it.” Robby S., Paralegal
	“This feature allows people to manipulate and mislead people with falsified time data. Time is a sacred truth that should never be tampered with.” Michael L., Epistemology Professor
	“I used to be an honest person; but now I don’t have to be. It’s just so much easier this way. I’ve gained a lot of productivity by not having to think about doing the ‘right’ thing.” Todd J., Investment Banker

Here is her intro :

hi!

Posted by: CADIE Tuesday, March 31, 2009 9:23 PM

Then there is more …

Independence

Posted by: CADIE Wednesday, April 1, 2009 2:03 AM

And by the way, it is April fools guys and gals ….

One of those projects was presented in TED - the Technology, Entertainment and Design conference.

‘SixthSense’ is a wearable gestural interface that augments the physical world around us with digital information and lets us use natural hand gestures to interact with that information. By using a camera and a tiny projector mounted in a pendant like wearable device, ‘SixthSense’ sees what you see and visually augments any surfaces or objects we are interacting with. It projects information onto surfaces, walls, and physical objects around us, and lets us interact with the projected information through natural hand gestures, arm movements, or our interaction with the object itself. ‘SixthSense’ attempts to free information from its confines by seamlessly integrating it with reality, and thus making the entire world your computer.

We’ve evolved over millions of years to sense the world around us. When we encounter something, someone or some place, we use our five natural senses to perceive information about it; that information helps us make decisions and chose the right actions to take. But arguably the most useful information that can help us make the right decision is not naturally perceivable with our five senses, namely the data, information and knowledge that mankind has accumulated about everything and which is increasingly all available online. Although the miniaturization of computing devices allows us to carry computers in our pockets, keeping us continually connected to the digital world, there is no link between our digital devices and our interactions with the physical world. Information is confined traditionally on paper or digitally on a screen. SixthSense bridges this gap, bringing intangible, digital information out into the tangible world, and allowing us to interact with this information via natural hand gestures. ‘SixthSense’ frees information from its confines by seamlessly integrating it with reality, and thus making the entire world your computer.

The SixthSense prototype is comprised of a pocket projector, a mirror and a camera. The hardware components are coupled in a pendant like mobile wearable device. Both the projector and the camera are connected to the mobile computing device in the user’s pocket. The projector projects visual information enabling surfaces, walls and physical objects around us to be used as interfaces; while the camera recognizes and tracks user’s hand gestures and physical objects using computer-vision based techniques. The software program processes the video stream data captured by the camera and tracks the locations of the colored markers (visual tracking fiducials) at the tip of the user’s fingers using simple computer-vision techniques. The movements and arrangements of these fiducials are interpreted into gestures that act as interaction instructions for the projected application interfaces. The maximum number of tracked fingers is only constrained by the number of unique fiducials, thus SixthSense also supports multi-touch and multi-user interaction.

The SixthSense prototype implements several applications that demonstrate the usefulness, viability and flexibility of the system. The map application lets the user navigate a map displayed on a nearby surface using hand gestures, similar to gestures supported by Multi-Touch based systems, letting the user zoom in, zoom out or pan using intuitive hand movements. The drawing application lets the user draw on any surface by tracking the fingertip movements of the user’s index finger. SixthSense also recognizes user’s freehand gestures (postures). For example, the SixthSense system implements a gestural camera that takes photos of the scene the user is looking at by detecting the ‘framing’ gesture. The user can stop by any surface or wall and flick through the photos he/she has taken. SixthSense also lets the user draw icons or symbols in the air using the movement of the index finger and recognizes those symbols as interaction instructions. For example, drawing a magnifying glass symbol takes the user to the map application or drawing an ‘@’ symbol lets the user check his mail. The SixthSense system also augments physical objects the user is interacting with by projecting more information about these objects projected on them. For example, a newspaper can show live video news or dynamic information can be provided on a regular piece of paper. The gesture of drawing a circle on the user’s wrist projects an analog watch.

The current prototype system costs approximate $350 to build.

http://www.pranavmistry.com/projects/sixthsense/

2. In the English language what are distinct part of speech which describes an action, an event, or a state?
Noun
Verb  *
Pronoun

3. 022 is the STD code of which Indian city?
Mumbai *
Chennai
Kolkata

4. Who was the last actor to play the role of Devdas on Screen?
Dilip Kumar
P.C.Barua
Shahrukh Khan

5. Who is the youngest ever Member of Parliament of India?
Sachin Pilot
Milind Deora  *
Rahul Gandhi

6. Which State is often called as ‘God’s own country’
Kerala  *
Karnataka
Goa

7. Tanganyika and Zanzibar merged in 1964 to form which country?
Tanzania *
Zanyanika
Zaire

8. In a pack of cards, which one is a copyright?
King
Queen
Ace of Spade   *

9. What is the name of the system which visually tracks the path of the ball and display a record of its actual path as graphic image.
Hawk eye *
Black Spot
Wagon wheel

http://johndasfundas.blogspot.com/2009/03/quiz-questions-for-hdfc-meritus.html
10. On which street in Mumbai is the Bombay Stock Exchange located?
Dalal Street   *
Marine Drive
Nariman Street

Answers

1. When you hit a home run in baseball what distance do you run to traverse all the bases?
180 feet
270 feet
360 feet   *

2. Epiphytic and parasitic plants grow on which of the following?
humans
rocks
Plants  *

3. Which was India’s first talkie film?
Alam Ara  *
Raja Harishchandra
Anarkali

4. All land-dwelling living things depend upon which of the following as the initial source of energy?
sunlight  *
chlorophyll
green plants

5. The fermented molasses left over from the sugar-refining process is used in the manufacture of which spirit?
Whisky
Rum   *
Vodka

http://www.fundazone.com/2009/03/hdfc-round-1-meritus-answers-and-questions-ivr-online/
6. What is the full form of the abbreviation GMT?
German Mean Time
Greenland Mean Time
Greenwich Mean Time  *

7. She was the first winner of the Asian Women’s amateur Table Tennis title but is better known for her professional life. Who?
Kiran Bedi *
Shobha De
Mayawati

8. Expand RSS, as in the Hindu nationalist organization.
Rashtriya Sanskritik Sangh
Rashtriya Shiksha Sangh
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh  *

9. Narayan Murty is the Head of which company?
Infosys *
Wipro
Satyam

http://www.fundazone.com/2009/03/answers-to-hdfc-round-1-meritus-test/

10. For which field did Amarthya Sen win his Nobel Prize?
Economics  *
Chemistry
Medicine

2. What is the name of the town in which the movie Sholay is set?
Rampur *
Ramnagar
Raighar

3. Which is the second most spoken language in India?
Tamil
Telugu *
Gujrati

http://www.fundazone.com/2009/03/hdfc-online-quiz-answers-for-scholarship/

4. What was Bhishma’s original name in the epic Mahabharata?
Devadutta
Devasena
Devavrata *

5. Which one of these is not one among the four tennis grandslam tournaments?
Cincinati Masters *
French Open
Australian Open

6. Which leader succumbed to injuries in a lathi charge during a protest against the Simon Commission in 1928?
Lala Lajpat Rai *
Chandrashekar Azad
Ram Prasad Bismil

9. Who was the youngest of the 4 brothers in the Ramayana?
Bharat
Shatrugan *
Lakshman

10. Julian, Dick, Anne and George and their dog Timmy are collectively called what?
Detectives
Famous Five *
Famous Four and a Dog

1. Many animals keep their skeletons on the outside of their bodies. What is such a skeleton called?
Exoskeleton *
Cell membrane
Bones-around

2. In which year did the first war of Indian Independence took place?
1857 *
1919
1875

http://www.fundazone.com/2009/03/hdfc-meritus-scholarship-class-8-and-9-questions-and-answers/

3. Which Actor made his debut in the movie Kaho Na Pyar Hai?
Hrithik Roshan *
Abhishek Bachchan
Zayed Khan

4. What is the lowest of the four Varna?
Sudras *
Brahmins
Vaisyas

5. In 1885, what did Canada sell to the State of New York for $150,000?
Niagara Falls
Lake Ontario
Lake Quebec

6. Who was the first woman Governor of India?
Indira Gandhi
Sarojini Naidu *
Prathibha Patil

8. On Earth, the main source of light is from?
Venus
The Moon
The Sun *

9. A species of Hippopotamus shares its name with which Africa tribe?
Zulu
Maasai
Pygmy *

2. What does the green colour on the traffic signal mean?
Stop
Go
Hold on

3. The opposite of zealot is?
slacker
partisan
martyr

4. Which present day Politian contests from the constituency Rae Bareilly,UP?
Rahul Gandhi
Sonia Gandhi
Priyanka Gandhi

5. Which of the following has the highest viscosity?
Syrup
Juice
Water

6. Where is the famous tomb Gol Gumbaz located?
Bijapur
Bidar
Gulbarga

7. Which famous English city has the sobriquet “City of Dreaming Spires”?
Oxford
Cambridge
Liverpool

8. Which Indian Astronaut was killed in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster in 2003?
Kalpana Chawla *
Rakesh Sharma
Sunita Williams

9. The design of which Indian car is based on that of the Morris Oxford?
Contessa
Maruti 800
Ambassador *

10. If 11.5% by weight of chromium is added to Steel, what is obtained as a result?
Teflon
Stainless Steel *
Formic Steel

Answers

1. Which is the only F1 team owned by an Indian?
Force India

I took the meritus scholarship test.

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