Mako : A robot designed to operate computers

A new artificial intelligence robot that can navigate through almost any computer programme and across the internet has been developed.

Mako, created by 18-year-old Michael Ghandour in Chino, California, has voice recognition and responds to even the slightest command with super speed.

It can create powerpoint presentations from scratch, search anything on Google and give updates on the local weather. The robot can also read out long passages on a screen.

According to its Kickstarter page, MAKO is multilingual; it can speak in five different languages, which is soon to be 30, 

 
The page lists Mako's numerous abilities - it can open any website/programme, define any word, type anything you say, retrieve any online image, Google search anything, switch windows to other programmes, empty recycle bin/delete any file/words, do math equations of all kinds and write a report on any subject, among other functions.

Ghandour who spent seven years working on artificial intelligence programmes like this, believes Mako will "revolutionise how we interact with the technological world.

Sony and Panasonic working together on a 300GB optical media

If you thought the time of the optical disk was over - think again. Especially if you happen to work for Sony or Panasonic.

The two tech giants have announced they they will jointly work to produce the next generation of disks. The new disks will be capable of storing at least 300GB per disk - if not more. Currently the storage limit is of 50 GB hold at the moment by dual-layer blue-ray disk.

As per Sony officials, optical discs have excellent properties to protect them against the environment, such as dust-resistance and water-resistance, and can also withstand changes in temperature and humidity when stored. They also allow inter-generational compatibility between different formats, ensuring that data can continue to be read even as formats evolve. This makes them a robust medium for long-term storage of content.

Mainly aimed at professionals, the disks could be used to back up HD films, move large amounts of data or perform essential maintenance.

Indeed, and to be deliberately generous to Sony and Panasonic, if a flight to New York takes about 7 hours 50 minutes, you'd need a transfer rate of about 10 mb/s to send 300GB of data faster than sticking it on a plane.

Now get alert on your smartphone when satellites are watching you

In the modern era of technology, we are surrounded by a number of satellites in their orbits spying on us 24X7. You never know, when your privacy is being invaded and some satellite is zooming around you, tracking your moves and recording your actions.

In this scenario, a mechanism which may notify us while being watched could be something really great. Sticking to the same need, an smartphone app has been developed in US that tells you when and what imaging spacecraft might be watching you. The app, SpyMeSat, provides notifications when spy satellites and unclassified imaging satellites are zooming above your head and may be taking your picture. 

All of the imaging satellites in SpyMeSat are in low-Earth orbit at an altitude of about 805 kilometres, SPACE.com reported. Enabled SpyMeSat satellites include such zoom-lens notables as GeoEye, the French space agency's SPOT-5, India's CartoSat-2A, DigitalGlobe's WorldView satellites and Canada's RADARSAT-2. 

The idea for the app sparked to Alex Herz, president of Orbit Logic in Greenbelt, Maryland, which developed the app. It was originated while talking to his friends outside the aerospace industry who were always very interested in space and satellites and imaging from space. 

The app uses available public information about commercial and international imaging satellites. It also uses orbit data from the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). However, SpyMeSat does not include all imaging spacecraft. No classified imaging satellites, from any nation, have their orbit information published, so these satellites do not show up in the app.

Himalayan yeti(a.k.a. Hima Manava) mystery unveiled

Yetis have been in discussions over a long period of time now. We have seen footprints and other signs of their existence in Himalayan regions but no one has ever seen them alive, though scientists claim that they are still there. Recent research by a British scientist shows that Yetis may actually be a sub-species of brown bear.

DNA tests on hair samples carried out by Oxford University genetics professor Bryan Sykes found that they matched those from an ancient polar bear. He subjected the hair samples to the most advanced tests available. He says the most likely explanation for the myth is that the animal is a hybrid of polar bears and brown bears. Prof Sykes told the BBC that there may be a real biological animal behind the yeti myth.

The sample had a 100% match with a sample from an ancient polar bear jawbone found in Svalbard, Norway, that dates back to between 40,000 and 120,000 years ago - a time when the polar bear and closely related brown bear were separating as different species. The species are closely related and are known to interbreed where their territories overlap.

The hair samples from Laddakh came from the mummified remains of a creature shot by a hunter around 40 years ago, while the second sample was in the form of a single hair, found in a bamboo forest by an expedition of filmmakers around 10 years ago.

What is it like to be a Programmer?

Programmer, as the word defines is someone who programs, who creates solutions to the problems at hand.

Lets go a little dipper into this, what exactly are the problems. Are the problems first of its kind OR its just imitation of another problem solved already by someone at some other corner of the globe(possibly even in your own city). Later being the case, you are not creating any new solution rather re-programming the already programmed solution, provided you discover a better solution for it. But, in most of the cases, it is quite possible that the existing solution itself is even better than the solution you are working on. Do you really think, the work you are doing in that case is programming. Come on, its not even re-programming, since you are not even finding a better way to do it.

Thinking on this particular topic, my attention automatically gets dragged towards the words of dean of electronics engineering at my university. Lets have a brief overview of that incident as well. Being a student of electronics, we were supposed to dedicate more of our time into that but some of us were more keen towards computer. Justifying electronics over computer, electronics dean came with a point which more or less said that software programming is nothing but copy and paste. At that time, we took it as just one of those accusation you get from your professors which you get used to in the course of 4 years. But now, after spending almost 5 years in IT, those lines really seem to be relevant as more than 90% of IT professionals are into this copy and paste task.

Most of us in IT domain, concentrate more on satisfying clients at the earliest, keeping aside innovation. This will definitely achieve short term goals for us but for a while think about long term. What new you achieved with that on a given day, which can make life easier or smoother than before. The answer is NULL(as we say), i.e. nothing. If your answer is any-thing different, you are one among few of those, lucky enough to get into those kinds of work, which can be considered as programming in real sense.

The bottom-line is unless you design something unique or at least better than earlier works, the job you are doing is more like that of a clerk than of a programmer.

Narendra Modi : From a tea vendor to chief minister for record tenure... (one step away from PM)

Narendra Modi completed 12 years of continuous rule as the Gujarat chief minister today. During this 12-years tenur, he not only hard-sold the so-called ‘Gujarat model of development’ but also got himself nominated as the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate for the 2014 elections. Modi is the 14th chief minister of Gujarat. According to a government release, “This is a record… No chief minister has served continuously for 12 years.” 

The man who started as a vendor serving tea to customers at a railway station in Gujarat has come a long way in politics after he joined the RSS as a pracharak and later became associated with the BJP. Narendra Modi, the 63-year-old leader was last month anointed as the prime ministerial candidate of the BJP for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. Modi was born on 17 September 1950 to a family of grocers in Vadnagar in Mehsana district of what was then Bombay State (present-day Gujarat). He was the third of six children born to Damodardas Mulchand Modi and his wife, Heeraben. While a teenager, Modi ran a tea stall with his brother around a bus terminus. He completed his schooling in Vadnagar, where a teacher described him as being an average student but a keen debater. He began work in the staff canteen of Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation (GSRTC), where he stayed till he became a full–time pracharak (propagator) of the RSS. After Modi had received some RSS training in Nagpur, which was a prerequisite for taking up an official position in the Sangh Parivar, he was given charge of the Sangh’s student wing, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), in Gujarat. Modi organised rallies and covert distribution of Sangh’s pamphlets during the Emergency. During his years in the RSS, Modi came in touch with Vasant Gajendragadkar and Nathalal Jaghda, leaders of the Jan Sangh, who later founded the BJP’s Gujarat state unit. He remained a pracharak in the RSS while he completed his Master’s degree in political science from Gujarat University. In 1998, Modi was promoted to the post of National Secretary of the BJP. Modi was a key strategist for the BJP in the successful 1995 and 1998 Gujarat state election campaigns. 

He first became chief minister of Gujarat in October 2001, being promoted to the office upon the resignation of his predecessor, Keshubhai Patel, following the defeat of BJP in by-elections. Patel’s failing health, allegations of abuse of power and poor administration, the loss of some BJP seats in by-elections, the after-effects of the devastating Bhuj Earthquake of 2001 which his administration struggled to handle, all these factors prompted the BJP’s national leadership to seek a new candidate for the office of chief minister. Modi, who had aired his misgivings about Patel’s administration, was chosen as a replacement. However, LK Advani did not want to ostracise Patel and was worried about Modi’s lack of experience in governance. It was suggested that Modi should be made the deputy chief minister in a government led by Patel. But Modi declined the proposal and told Advani and Atal Behari Vajpayee that he was “going to be fully responsible for Gujarat or not at all”. 

On 7 October 2001, Modi was appointed the Chief Minister of Gujarat and was assigned responsibility to prepare the BJP for elections in December 2002. Since then, Modi has led his party, the BJP, to score three consecutive electoral victories, almost pushing the opposition to fringe. In 2002, there was a widespread Anti-Muslim violence throughout Gujarat after reports that a crowd of Muslims had attacked a train carrying mostly Hindu pilgrims and set it on fire near Godhra railway station, burning alive many of the passengers. As riots broke out, the Gujarat administration was accused by the opposition and sections of the media of taking insufficient action against the violence, and even condoning it in some cases. The Modi government’s imposition of curfews, shoot-at-sight orders and calls for the Army to prevent the violence from worsening proved insufficient. In April 2009, the Supreme Court of India appointed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to inquire into the Gujarat government and Narendra Modi’s role in the incidents of communal violence. The SIT reported to the court in December 2010 submitting that they did not find any incriminating evidence against Modi of wilfully allowing communal violence in the state. In April 2012, the SIT absolved Modi of any involvement in the Gulbarg Society massacre that occurred in 2002. On 7 May 2012, the Supreme Court-appointed amicus curiae, Raju Ramachandran, observed that Modi could be prosecuted for promoting enmity among different groups during the 2002 Gujarat violence. The amicus curiae report has been criticised by the Special Investigation Team for relying heavily on the testimony of Sanjiv Bhatt. 

In March 2012, Modi appeared on the cover of the Asian edition of the Time magazine, one of India’s few politicians to have done so. His leadership was described as being strong and businesslike; one that could guide India towards honesty and efficiency. 

In July 2013, Zakia Jaffri, widow of Ehsan Jafri, alleged that the SIT was suppressing evidence. Soon after, Modi told Reuters an interview that he feels no guilt. He said he was sad about the riots, adding he would be sad even if a “puppy” came under a car. Modi said, “… any person if we are driving a car, we are a driver, and someone else is driving a car and we’re sitting behind, even then if a puppy comes under the wheel, will it be painful or not? Of course, it is. If I’m a Chief Minister or not, I’m a human being. If something bad happens anywhere, it is natural to be sad.” As for his personality, a Wikipedia entry says this: He (Modi) is known for leading a frugal lifestyle. Known to be a workaholic and an introvert, but he is a crowd-puller as a speaker.” 

He also has a proven electoral track record amid controversy. In the aftermath of the Gujarat violence, there were calls for Modi to resign from his position as chief minister of Gujarat. The opposition parties stalled Parliament over the issue. Both the DMK and the TDP, allies of the BJP, also asked for Modi’s resignation, as did Jayalalithaa, the then-Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and leader of the AIADMK. Modi submitted his resignation and the state Assembly was dissolved. In the resultant elections, the BJP, led by Modi, won 127 seats in the 182-member assembly. 

In July 2007, Modi became the longest-serving Chief Minister in Gujarat’s history when he had been in power for 2,063 days continuously. He is currently into his fourth consecutive term as Chief Minister. A media statement issued by the state information department on Monday said, “In the last 12 years, Gujarat has showcased and implemented the policy of development to all and appeasement to none.” “Chief Minister Modi has demonstrated how to face challenges and come out of them successfully. He has converted adversities into opportunities,” the statement added.

Live Indian Independence Day for the first time on YouTube

Yes, you heard it right. YouTube, in association with Doordarshan will live stream the 67th Independence Day celebrations to be held on Thursday in the capital along with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s address to the nation.

This association will enable millions of Indians worldwide to enjoy high definition live feed on Doordarshan's YouTube channel and get front row access to all celebrations lined up for the grand event.

The live streaming of the celebrations, a first for YouTube, will be available on August 15 from 6:25 a.m. (IST) onwards, including the flag-hoisting ceremony by the Prime Minister. Highlight clips will also be available for viewers. 

Doordarshan Director General Tripurari Sharan said this move will help the channel to reach a global audience in a format that best suits today's generation. Earlier this year, streaming of the 64th Republic Day Parade also received a tremendous response with over a lakh views. The objective is to cater to Indian and global audiences and take events of national importance beyond their TV screens.

Royal Enfield Bullet 500 launched in India for INR 1.53Lacs

Royal Enfield has now officially launched the new Bullet 500 in India. In India, the Bullet brand of motorcycles enjoys quite a cult status and has been synonymous with toughness and dependability. Such has been the ruggedness quotient of the bike that it has been associated with the Indian Army since 1955. The new Bullet 500 is an attempt to provide the aficionados with a perfect amalgam of iconic design and modern technology.

The latest avatar of the iconic Bullet is powered by a carbureted 500 cc Unit Construction Engine (UCE) that has a very healthy torque figure of 40.9 Nm. Talking about the modernity, the new Bullet 500 comes equipped with modern day features such as front disc brakes, electric starter and rear gas shock absorbers. At front, the bike is equipped with 130mm telescopic front suspensions. The piece de resistance on the new Bullet 500 is the hand-painted tank that invokes a sense of nostalgia. The headlamp cluster too has the traditional Bullet styling. Combined to this authentic Bullet design detail is the 55w headlamp that should enhance the visibility during night riding.

The Bullet 500 goes on sale with a sticker price of INR 1,53,855/- (on road price for Delhi).

The Royal Enfield Bullet 500 will be launched in a phased manner across the country. Initially the product will be launched in Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi-NCR and Kerala which have traditionally been the best markets for the Bullet.

Nexus 7 in Google Play India for 15999

Finally, Google has started selling Nexus 7 tablet in India via Google Play Store. Just to remind all of you, it is the first Android and Nexus device to ever become available directly from the search giant in the country. The 16GB version is being sold for INR 15,999 in India whereas the same can be bought for INR 10777 (199 $) in USA.

Made in partnership with Asus, Google Nexus 7 is termed a commercial success and the companies had sold around 4.5 million units of the tablet in 2012. The numbers would have gone up since then.

The Nexus 7 tablet features 1.2GHz quad-core NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor, 1GB RAM and 7-inch 1280x800p resolution backlit IPS display with Corning Glass. Full specifications of the tablets are as below:

• Android 4.2.2 (Jelly Bean)
• Lithium-ion polymer 4,325 mAh battery
• 1.2 GHz (1.3 GHz in single-core mode) quad-core Cortex-A9 NVIDIA Tegra 3 T30L
• 16, or 32 GB flash memory
• 1 GB RAM DDR3L
• 7-inch IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen with 1280×800 WXGA pixels resolution (216 ppi)
• Scratch-resistant Corning Fit Glass
• 416 MHz twelve-core Nvidia GeForce ULP GPU
• Accelerometer, gyroscope, proximity sensor, GPS, magnetometer, microphone
• 1.2 MP front-facing camera
• 3.5 mm headphone jack, Bluetooth 3.0, Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n @ 2.4 GHz), NFC, Micro USB 2.0, docking pins
• Dimensions: 198.5×120×10.56 mm (7.81×4.7×0.416 in)
• Weight: 340 g

For those already interested, here is a 5 step process to order your own tablet on Google Play :

5 viable alternates to Canvas HD : The smartphone on-demand

Leading smartphone manufacturer Micromax has been making rounds in the tech headlines since quite a long time for its Canvas HD. With the hype created on the phablet, consumers have now started asking "Where is Canvas HD?" As of now, there is no clear information on the specific date of the arrival of Canvas HD even for those who booked it.

Just to revive, Micromax Canvas HD packs a 5 inch HD IPS capacitive touchscreen display with a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels, 1.2GHz quad core MediaTek MT6589 processor, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean operating system, 8MP rear camera, VGA front camera for video calling, 4GB internal storage, 1GB RAM, micro SD card slot supporting up to 32GB additional storage, 3G, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS/A-GPS and a 2,100 mAh battery.

Canvas HD was announced on the eve of Samsung Galaxy Grand Duos release in India. With superior specifications and lesser price tag, the Micromax offering created a great impact on the Samsung phablet, however, it could not stay for a long time as Canvas HD went out of stock since the day of its release, while Galaxy Grand Duos is making scorching sales in the nation. For those who are eagerly waiting for their Canvas HD, it will take around another two weeks to get their hands on it.

For those who can not wait this long, Micromax is not the only budget phablet with high-end specs. Following the launch of Canvas HD, several India based vendors have also started coming up with their multi-core Jelly Bean offerings in order to counteract it. Few of these smartphones  with their specifications in brief are :

1. Karbonn Titanium S5 : Titanium S5, from another Indian smartphone manufacturer Karbonn, boasts a 5 inch qHD multi-touch capacitive touchscreen display with a resolution of 960 x 540 pixels, 1.2GHz quad core processor, 1GB RAM, 4GB internal storage, micro SD card slot, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean OS, 8MP rear camera, 2MP front camera, Wi-Fi, 3G, Bluetooth and a 2,000 mAh battery. Karbonn has priced Titanium S5 at Rs 11,990 making it even cheaper than Canvas HD.

2. Wickedleak Wammy Titan 2 : Wickedleak, the growing gadget manufacturer, launched Wammy Titan 2 boasting a 5.3 inch HD IPS multi-touch capacitive touchscreen display with a resolution of 960 x 540 pixels, 1.2GHz quad core MT6589 processor with Power VR SGX544MP GPU, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean OS, 12MP rear camera with LED flash and support to Panoramic Shot, 5MP front camera for video calling, 4GB internal storage, 1GB RAM, micro SD card slot supporting up to 32GB additional storage, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS with A-GPS, 3G and a 2,300 mAh Li-Ion battery offering a decent backup.

3. Samsung Galaxy Grand Duos : Galaxy Grand Duos packs a 5 inch multi-touch LCD capacitive touchscreen display with a very low resolution of 480 x 800 pixels, dual core 1.2GHz processor, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean OS, 8MP rear camera, 2MP front camera for video calling, 8GB internal storage capacity, 1GB RAM, micro SD card slot supporting up to 64GB additional storage, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, USB, HDMI, A-GPS, DLNA and a 2,100 mAh Li-ion battery. The phablet is priced at Rs 21,500 and has received a plethora of minor software updates. Price being comparatively higher and specification being a bit low compared to others, but the title Samsung itself adds enough recipe to bring the race on.

4. Lava Xolo A1000 : Lava Xolo A1000 packs a 5 inch HD IPS OGC capacitive touchscreen display with a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels, 1GHz dual core processor, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean OS, 8MP rear camera, 1.2MP front camera, 4GB internal storage, 1GB RAM, micro SD card slot supporting up to 32GB expandable storage support, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 3G, micro USB 2.0 and a 2,100 mAh battery of undisclosed backup. Xolo A1000 is priced at Rs 13,999 being a reasonable offering.

5. Swipe MTV Volt : Pune based startup, Swipe also launched a Jelly Bean phablet with in partnership with MTV. The phablet dubbed MTV Volt that carries a 6 inch 5 point multi-touch capacitive touchscreen display with a resolution of 854 x 480 pixels, 1GHz dual core MediaTek MTK 6577 processor for blazing performance, 8MP rear camera, 1.3MP front camera for video calling, 4GB internal storage, 512MB RAM, micro SD card slot supporting up to 32GB additional storage, Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, micro USB 2.0, 3G and a 3,200 mAh Li-Po battery. Further, MTC Volt is priced at Rs 12,999.

News app from All India Radio(AIR) launched for Android

India's 83-year-old radio station just got a little tech-savvy with the launch of an Android app.

The official AIR News app will bring users stories from AIR News network in India. Users get the latest news, national as well as regional from Prasar Bharati, India's Public Service Broadcaster. The official AIR News Android app also brings users India’s regional news bulletins along with special news-based programs. Your Android device needs to be Android version 2.2 or higher to be able to run the app and is a mere 1.9 MB to download.

With the launch of the AIR Android app, the content will be available to people globally. All that is required are an Android device and the ability to connect to the Internet.

Manish Tewari, Minister for Information and Broadcasting said, “This is a landmark step in the history of AIR broadcasting as live webcasting would give the public broadcaster a new profile as far as news dissemination in real time is concerned. This initiative would also enable the listeners of AIR to access the archives at one click of a button. With the use of social media, people can now access the content of AIR in any part of the globe. It would also enable AIR to keep pace with contemporary trends in the social media space.”

So far, on the Google Play store, the app has received an average of 4.7 out of 5 rating and has seen 64 user reviews.

The Android market is flooded with a bunch of radio apps that offer both local as well as international stations, and it is nice to see AIR take the initiative to make a place for itself in the radio app world. In the dawn of the smartphone era, access to radio was considered as a given feature, but today it is a rarity, especially in high-end smartphones.

Those interested can download the AIR app from the Google Play store.