Pakorakorner

The Android phones have been in the news of late for their rapid increase in sales. The web is replete with speculation of a replay of the Mac vs PC like battle in the mobile space between the iPhone and Android phones.  Its hard to argue with this comparison because there are great similarities. The iPhone is closely guarded by Apple while the Android platform is more "open" though largely Google centric. As someone who has used the iPod touch ...

Over the last several years I have been an active user of internet based phone services. Skype, Google Voice, Voice chat through Yahoo IM etc.  are the ones I have been using most frequently. There is no doubt that the ability to make calls over the Internet (free or at a low cost) has far reaching, powerful implications but these services (like most new technologies) have their share of challenges.  Here are some of my experiences with these services over ...

Targeted Advertising Cookie Opt-out (TACO) available as an add-on for Firefox allows users to opt out of targeted advertising from some 84 different online ad networks. It was apparently developed by a grad student at Indian University.

Google has all the money in the world - the best infrastructure, some of the best brains. the most free-food (until recently), a huge head-start on search technology, among other things. Yet, they are vulnerable to server downtime (Google Apps has had downtime but youtube downtime is rather rare/unheard off). I had the rare privilege of noticing that Youtube did have some downtime (however small it was) yesterday. It was one of those very rare occurrences, so I quickly grabbed a ...

The first time I read the news about Google's new browser I was quite surprised. Does the world need another browser? Isn't Google backing Firefox in a BIG way? Then, I read this and came away rather impressed at how technology can be explained so "nicely." So, I decided to give Chrome a test drive. Quick Summary The first noticeable feature is the speed. It installs very quickly, is light-weight and launches rather fast. Very impressive indeed. The pop-up blocker is the ...

Pick a vertical, sign up a top VC investor, create some buzz, generate traffic, and eventually cash out (hopefully) by selling to one of the larger more established companies. Is this just me or have the dot com days returned? Are the days of the first mover advantage back? Revenues don't matter anymore? Monetizing eyeballs is a challenge for the future? Registered users are more important than business models? This was the formula in the ...

I attended Linuxworld this week for the first time. I wandered around the expo floor and also took a peak at a session or two. In fact, it was my first ever visit to a Linux conference. I must admit I was underwhelmed by the response. Frankly, I expected a better turn out and more enthusiasm. Instead I found it to be pretty low key. The big wigs like IBM, Oracle and others were present probably to reinforce their commitment to ...

There is little doubt that Google has a virtual monopoly over search and search based advertising. Even the mighty Microsoft is running helter-skelter trying to mount at least a challenge to Google. The WSJ reported today about a bay area startup - Cuil, Inc. Cuil said it won't collect personal information about its users, such as the addresses of their computers and their individual search histories -- although it does track the terms people search for overall. While all major search engines ...

I had read and heard so much about how Linux has improved over the years. I have also been endlessly postponing my plan  to take Linux on a test drive with no help whatsoever. Recently, I came across Linux Mint and decided I was going to take the plunge. Installation I downloaded Linux Mint , then I "burnt" it on a CD (not copy it on to a CD) and went through the installation process on a regular Windows ...

Of late there have been a host of articles about an "overdose of the Internet" in general. I am not sure which of these articles/posts started it all but here is a list of a few that I came across over the last few weeks and snippets from them. Maybe its a sign that many are being gripped by an overdose of the Net? Fundamental questions are starting to be asked about the long term implications of browsing and ...