Sayan's BlogWorld http://sayanc.net/blog highlighting the future's bizzare as it transforms into the present's mundane Wed, 28 Sep 2011 04:16:13 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4 195 cities in 6 countries and counting ! http://sayanc.net/blog/2011/09/27/195-cities-in-6-countries-and-counting/ http://sayanc.net/blog/2011/09/27/195-cities-in-6-countries-and-counting/#comments Wed, 28 Sep 2011 04:12:23 +0000 Sayan http://sayanc.net/blog/?p=1173

 



]]> http://sayanc.net/blog/2011/09/27/195-cities-in-6-countries-and-counting/feed/ 0 Notion Ink Adam update http://sayanc.net/blog/2011/06/05/notion-ink-adam-update1/ http://sayanc.net/blog/2011/06/05/notion-ink-adam-update1/#comments Sun, 05 Jun 2011 13:33:26 +0000 Sayan http://sayanc.net/blog/?p=1169 I got my Notion Ink Adam tablet a few months ago.

Tablets have finally evolved to a level to be useful. I use my tablet mostly as an ebook, secondary display, and music/video player.

Notion Ink has been refining and improving their Android port over the last several months. I have been updating my tablet with the official OS as they are released. This time around I decided to try an unofficial Android port- boy was I glad that I did.

The unofficial OS I installed is called ‘Beast’ and it is one of the slickest, most useful, and most stable tablet interfaces I have used. I am absolutely delighted and I am now eagerly awaiting the release of Android Honeycomb for the Notion Ink Adam.

]]> http://sayanc.net/blog/2011/06/05/notion-ink-adam-update1/feed/ 0 Riverwalk 2 http://sayanc.net/blog/2011/05/18/riverwalk-2/ http://sayanc.net/blog/2011/05/18/riverwalk-2/#comments Wed, 18 May 2011 22:34:02 +0000 Sayan http://sayanc.net/blog/2011/05/18/riverwalk-2/ image

]]> http://sayanc.net/blog/2011/05/18/riverwalk-2/feed/ 0 Riverwalk 1 http://sayanc.net/blog/2011/05/18/riverwalk-1/ http://sayanc.net/blog/2011/05/18/riverwalk-1/#comments Wed, 18 May 2011 21:32:00 +0000 Sayan http://sayanc.net/blog/2011/05/18/riverwalk-1/ image

]]> http://sayanc.net/blog/2011/05/18/riverwalk-1/feed/ 0 Change of guards and a return to the old http://sayanc.net/blog/2011/05/14/change-of-guards-and-a-return-to-the-old/ http://sayanc.net/blog/2011/05/14/change-of-guards-and-a-return-to-the-old/#comments Sun, 15 May 2011 01:32:45 +0000 Sayan http://sayanc.net/blog/?p=1121 Lee Kwan Yew the architect of modern Singapore announced his retirement after holding top positions since 1959.

The longest lived democratically elected Communist government lost elections after 34 years of being in power in West Bengal, India.

The legacy of these long lived popularly elected governments could not be more different ! West Bengal went from one of the most progressive and economically strong states in India to one of the worst performing states in spite of being blessed with enormous natural & human resources. Singapore on the other hand went from being a tiny island nation with no resources and a difficult initial history to one of the most prosperous countries in the world.

One of the best music bands of all time (I spent countless hours listening) Pink Floyd reunites after ages !

Add in all the revolutions in mid-East and North Africa and 2011 is shaping up to be an interesting year :)

]]> http://sayanc.net/blog/2011/05/14/change-of-guards-and-a-return-to-the-old/feed/ 0 Steve Woz on our closed source education system http://sayanc.net/blog/2011/05/14/steve-woz-on-our-closed-source-education-system/ http://sayanc.net/blog/2011/05/14/steve-woz-on-our-closed-source-education-system/#comments Sat, 14 May 2011 17:33:12 +0000 Sayan http://sayanc.net/blog/?p=1113 A very succinct message from Steve Woz on how our education system(s) kills creativity in its quest for a one size fits all approach to education…

This is so true all over the world… the waste of human potential is the greatest waste

Via EEtimes and DangerousPrototypes

]]> http://sayanc.net/blog/2011/05/14/steve-woz-on-our-closed-source-education-system/feed/ 0 How do some kids go to school? Remarkable and humbling story of human endurance and the will to get an education http://sayanc.net/blog/2011/04/30/how-do-some-kids-go-to-school-remarkable-and-humbling-story-of-human-endurance-and-the-will-to-get-an-education/ http://sayanc.net/blog/2011/04/30/how-do-some-kids-go-to-school-remarkable-and-humbling-story-of-human-endurance-and-the-will-to-get-an-education/#comments Sat, 30 Apr 2011 15:28:39 +0000 Sayan http://sayanc.net/blog/?p=1101

If you live in the Zanskar valley, India it is a 5 day walk along one of the highest rivers, through some of the highest mountains, some of the coldest places on Earth.

 

Just saw this heart-stopping trip in ‘Human Planet’ on TV.


Human Planet- Zanskar River by BBCfanable

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xhzfi8_human-planet-zanskar-river_shortfilms

 

This is the first someone has successfully filmed the journey that families have to undertake every year.

More here:

http://www.humanplanetblog.com/?p=1080

This one is a must read !

http://timothyallen.blogs.bbcearth.com/2010/02/26/the-school-run/

Going to school in Ladakh, India

Going to school in Ladakh, India

On a side note I learned that ice sheets on frozen rivers / lakes is called ‘chaddar’ in Zanskari. In Hindi ‘chaddar’ means ‘sheet’ more like bedspread never knew that it also means ice sheet

]]> http://sayanc.net/blog/2011/04/30/how-do-some-kids-go-to-school-remarkable-and-humbling-story-of-human-endurance-and-the-will-to-get-an-education/feed/ 0 Earth Day & Carl Sagan’s Pale Blue Dot http://sayanc.net/blog/2011/04/23/earth-day-carl-sagans-pale-blue-dot/ http://sayanc.net/blog/2011/04/23/earth-day-carl-sagans-pale-blue-dot/#comments Sun, 24 Apr 2011 02:10:05 +0000 Sayan http://sayanc.net/blog/?p=1104 This gives me goosebumps every time I watch it…. Happy Earth Day !

 

]]> http://sayanc.net/blog/2011/04/23/earth-day-carl-sagans-pale-blue-dot/feed/ 0 LPCXpresso success http://sayanc.net/blog/2011/04/23/lpcxpresso-success/ http://sayanc.net/blog/2011/04/23/lpcxpresso-success/#comments Sun, 24 Apr 2011 00:27:30 +0000 Sayan http://sayanc.net/blog/?p=986 Success at last …after 2 frustrating days trying to get the NXP LPCXpresso board working. In the end I figured out the issue myself with little / no help from NXP / Code Red Support

Issue:

Project building but debug not working (deployment to board failing)

Resolution:

I looked up the build log files in <workspace folder>\.metadata\.log and noticed the following error:
java.lang.Exception: Input Error: There is no script engine for file extension “.vbs”.

I changed the file association for .vbs to WScript but the error did not go away.

A quick google-ing turned up this 3 step process
http://www.nilpo.com/2009/07/windows…ile-extension/

Step 1: Set a default script host

Open a Command Prompt window. In Windows XP, click Start, Run…, and typecmd.exe. In Windows Vista and Windows 7, click Start and type cmd. Then selectcmd in the Instant Search results.

Type the following command and press Enter.

cscript.exe //H:WScript

Step 2: Registering the vbscript.dll module

Open a Command Prompt window. In Windows XP, click Start, Run…, and typecmd.exe. In Windows Vista and Windows 7, run an elevated Command Prompt.

Type the following command in the command prompt window and press Enter.

regsvr32 %systemroot%\system32\vbscript.dll

You should see the following confirmation message.

DllRegisterServer in vbscript.dll succeeded.

Step 3: Restore the .vbs file associations

If the previous two solutions didn’t work, you should restore the file associations for the .vbs (VBScript) file type by downloading and running one of the registry files below.

FixVBSFileAssociationsXP.reg

FixVBSFileAssociationsVista.reg
Restart and ….

Voila ! the thing works now !

]]> http://sayanc.net/blog/2011/04/23/lpcxpresso-success/feed/ 0 Participatory Budgeting Is Music To Medellin’s Poor http://sayanc.net/blog/2011/04/23/participatory-budgeting-is-music-to-medellins-poor/ http://sayanc.net/blog/2011/04/23/participatory-budgeting-is-music-to-medellins-poor/#comments Sat, 23 Apr 2011 13:49:01 +0000 Sayan http://sayanc.net/blog/?p=1099 http://n.pr/eUdoaj

]]> http://sayanc.net/blog/2011/04/23/participatory-budgeting-is-music-to-medellins-poor/feed/ 0 Mumbai surgeons perform knee surgery replacements using an iPod touch http://sayanc.net/blog/2011/04/21/mumbai-surgeons-perform-knee-surgery-replacements-using-an-ipod-touch/ http://sayanc.net/blog/2011/04/21/mumbai-surgeons-perform-knee-surgery-replacements-using-an-ipod-touch/#comments Thu, 21 Apr 2011 23:27:30 +0000 Sayan http://sayanc.net/blog/?p=1098 Mumbai surgeons perform knee surgery replacements using an iPod touch – http://pulsene.ws/1nGYJ

]]> http://sayanc.net/blog/2011/04/21/mumbai-surgeons-perform-knee-surgery-replacements-using-an-ipod-touch/feed/ 0 on the way to the grocery store… http://sayanc.net/blog/2011/02/13/on-the-way-to-the-grocery-store/ http://sayanc.net/blog/2011/02/13/on-the-way-to-the-grocery-store/#comments Mon, 14 Feb 2011 00:01:45 +0000 Sayan http://sayanc.net/blog/?p=1097 image

image

image

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]]> http://sayanc.net/blog/2011/02/13/on-the-way-to-the-grocery-store/feed/ 0 If neurons talk using RFID…are we zapping our brains with our phone yapping?? !! http://sayanc.net/blog/2011/02/06/if-neurons-talk-using-rfid-are-we-may-be-zapping-our-brains-with-our-phone-yapping/ http://sayanc.net/blog/2011/02/06/if-neurons-talk-using-rfid-are-we-may-be-zapping-our-brains-with-our-phone-yapping/#comments Sun, 06 Feb 2011 18:38:42 +0000 Sayan http://sayanc.net/blog/?p=1089 I stumbled across this article today about how neurons in brains do not rely just on physical connections to talk to each other. They interact with each other with their version of electro-magnetic coupling similar to Near Field Communication (NFC)or RFID.

NFC or RFID type technologies can be prone to interference from various gadgets or devices. This new discovery about neural communication may bring into focus how electronic devices affect our brains and cognitive abilities. Is it time to think about how our society designs and uses the billions of cell phones ?

Here is the article from Caltech:

Neurobiologists Find that Weak Electrical Fields in the Brain Help Neurons Fire Together – Caltech Media Relations.

]]> http://sayanc.net/blog/2011/02/06/if-neurons-talk-using-rfid-are-we-may-be-zapping-our-brains-with-our-phone-yapping/feed/ 0 I don’t think that on the deck of the Enterprise we’ll have rotating rust http://sayanc.net/blog/2010/11/27/i-don%e2%80%99t-think-that-on-the-deck-of-the-enterprise-we%e2%80%99ll-have-rotating-rust/ http://sayanc.net/blog/2010/11/27/i-don%e2%80%99t-think-that-on-the-deck-of-the-enterprise-we%e2%80%99ll-have-rotating-rust/#comments Sun, 28 Nov 2010 04:10:21 +0000 Sayan http://sayanc.net/blog/?p=1085 I have been thinking about making my own ZFS-based mini-NAS using FreeNAS for while.

ZFS has often been called one of the best innovations to come out of Sun Microsystems.

During the course of my reading about ZFS I came across this interesting interview of the developers of the ZFS filesystem where they mention “I don’t think that on the deck of the Enterprise we’ll have rotating rust”.

This interview from 2007 mentions how ZFS can be leveraged for high-performance database systems- this is distinct possibility now with the acquisition of Sun by Oracle.

A Conversation with Jeff Bonwick and Bill Moore – ACM Queue

]]> http://sayanc.net/blog/2010/11/27/i-don%e2%80%99t-think-that-on-the-deck-of-the-enterprise-we%e2%80%99ll-have-rotating-rust/feed/ 0 The Story of Electronics http://sayanc.net/blog/2010/11/13/the-story-of-electronics/ http://sayanc.net/blog/2010/11/13/the-story-of-electronics/#comments Sat, 13 Nov 2010 16:52:00 +0000 Sayan http://sayanc.net/blog/?p=1083 The Story of Electronics employs the Story of Stuff style to explore the high-tech revolution’s collateral damage—25 million tons of e-waste and counting, poisoned workers and a public left holding the bill. Host Annie Leonard takes viewers from the mines and factories where our gadgets begin to the horrific backyard recycling shops in China where many end up. The film concludes with a call for a green “race to the top” where designers compete to make long-lasting, toxic-free products that are fully and easily recyclable

t r u t h o u t | The Story of Electronics Video

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