Introducing a new tablet: Adam!

After all the hoola surrounding the launch of the ipad, here comes a nice nifty little tablet with something that I was thinking about when I read the specs on the ipad. Before we go ahead with the new tablet, let me just air my views on the ipad.

I have been considering a tablet PC for quite sometime - I need something with a small form factor, that is thin, has a long battery life and has better processing power than a netbook and allows me to take notes (save paper!), watch movies, surf the net and ofcourse allow for video chatting. I looked forward to the ipad with great expectation, partially because I have been contemplating a move from the PC world to the mac world (thanks to the clunky HP with AMD I have had for 3 years) and the tablet looked like the best thing for my needs. Unfortunately though, what could have been a revolutionary device turned out to be a LARGE iphone! No multitasking, no webcam, no OS X!, a max of 64 GB of memory and a new underperforming processor! Thanks apple, I shall stay with the pc for some more time...

Reading ipad's description though, I was stunned by the fact that Jobs thinks that one of the primary uses of the ipad would be to read ebooks! Now, personally i still prefer the old-fashioned paper books, but I am guessing that we are moving toward a paper-less world. There are many advantages to e-books over paper ones; let's not list them here and digress however. The point I ma trying to make is this - the only way one can read ebooks on a mobile device is if the screen is conducive for such reading. For example, a screen with e-ink like the ones on the amazon kindle. However, the ipad with its LCD screen would make for the worst possible reader - damaging your eyes beyond description! It was then that I thought that it would be cool with a tablet device could manage to incorporate two modes - one a regular LCD color mode and the other a grayscale/black-white e-ink mode to allow for multiple uses - the hope was that the next generation of tablet devices will incorporate these modes.

However, as I surfed tech news, I came upon this small article on a little heard of device, manufactured and conceptualized in India - called Adam. The specs are more PC-like than phone-like and it boasts of the first 10'' capacitive touch-screen. The videos look really cool (see below) and this device satisfies many of my wants. The best part being - TWO MODES!!! Adam allows for reading books with e-ink as well as watching 1080p HD videos in full color! Plus its based on the android os - I can move away from the damn windows environment!!! Seems very interesting - the launch is supposedly in the next quarter of 2010...and the price around 400$ - very attractive for my purposes. Let's see where this product goes....

Another Reason to Go Veggie

Two posts in a day! That's different from recent past -I guess getting closer to going back home evokes a tendency to write!!
In any case, not too much to write about - just a link to this article:

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=armpit-psychology-body-odor

For posterity

I have been reading loads of stuff from this guy: Jesse Bering who writes a lot about evolutionary psychology and related neuroscience. He is an extremely gifted writer and the way he structures his articles makes for a fun read. I found a paragraph in this article particularly hilarious:

While walking through a park in Budapest a few weeks ago, I spied a very strange sight. In that fleeting moment between sensation and perception, when images settle on the retina but aren’t yet processed in a form fully accessible to conscious awareness, what I saw was a multicolored, gyrating mass of vaguely human substance, squirming and twisting on a park bench in animalistic fervor. My brain, unfortunately, was soon able to peel apart what I was actually observing, which was a particularly corpulent young woman devouring a young man half her size in what can only be described as a feast of open-mouthed, public lovemaking. The expression, “get a room,” seemed wholly inadequate for this carnal scene. “Get a porn studio” was more like it.

What a superb description!!

Anush

Marriage and Stuff...

This article is a MUST READ:
http://pulzinponderland.wordpress.com/a-glimpse-into-my-marriage-rich-in-photos/


Not only do I completely agree with the author, my dream wedding would be exactly as he described - even cheaper if possible. Today's society has necessitated frivolous spending on weddings - without any concern for others. Even if one did not want to donate to an NGO or charity (as the author above did) it makes no sense to spend so much money on a single day. Save the money for a brighter future if need be!

Marriage is simply an occasion to solemnize a bond between a man and a woman. Such solemnization does not need society's approval as long as the people involved are legally within their rights. In my personal opinion, marriage as such is simply a statement indicating commitment. I have no issues with people who seek to have a live-in agreement opposed to marriage - my only qualm being that such relationships have no commitment.

The present form of marriage customs stem from an older era, where communication was limited. In today's world, screaming out to the world makes no sense when one can whisper electronically. Finally, I hate having people who I will not see or hear from again and who I haven't seen before in a ceremony that is important to me.

Thankfully Sue agrees...small wedding, only family and efficient use of resources. Donations to NGOs and meals for those less fortunate than us...there is no point feeding those people who can afford a meal themselves!

Anush

Scrapping board exams?

Kapil Sibal is all for it apparently.

But there is this guy here, who makes extremely good points:

(A)Before commenting on the matter, I would request that MHRD posts at its website the Yash Pal Committee report along with Knowledge Commission report of sam Pitroda. I hope that the report, possibly dating to 1996 of the group set up with Dhirubhai Ambani and others are still available

(B)Mr. Sibal should explain in writing in detail (and post on MHRD web site) reason behind abolishing Class X Board examinations. How will students passing out from class X get admitted to Class XI and where? The mechanics of the process as many Class X students are simply unfit to continue to Class XI and the schools be flooded with unfit students? - How does Mr. Sibal plan to tackle that. Further how does Mr. Sibal plan to handle the fall out when these "Class X passed unfit for class XI students" who got admitted to Class XI fail in Class XII Board exam leading to massive social upsurge Or does he plan to do away with class XII board examination also and institute something like SAT which is to be taken for college admission.

(C) It has been rightly said in this comments column that Government schools need to be strenghthened with state of art infra-structure and most of all really well trained teachers as most of the population live in villages where private schools have not yet penetrated. How does Mr. Sibal plan to do that?

(D) Internal assessment in schools is a sham as the results of Board exams show. Even a student who has failed gets more than 80% at least in internal assessment. This is due to factors like (a) pressure on schools to push students out so that new students can be accommodated, (b) pressure on teachers to award good or excellent grades to even undeserving ones (c) lack of really trained teachers d) lack of sufficient number of trained teachers in schools. How does Mr. Sibal want to face that?

(E) I beg Mr. Sibal to open a whiteboard at MHRD website where people can interact with him and he can post his views There are sane people outside MHRD.

I have previously written about the problems with the Indian education system and about the reservations issue. Even though I am in favour of evaluating performance of a student by testing his understanding of the subject rather than his memorizing capabilities; the theoretical beauty of the idea is not even close to the practical truth.

Those of us who have passed thru the system will know how biased and unfair the internal evaluation system is in India and how the assigned marks are representative of your ass-licking abilities rather than your subject knowledge. The system needs a complete change; however it is easier said than done. Increasing accountability for teachers and improving their quality would mean improving the pay-scale for the teachers, making it an attractive proposition for young graduates who currently view it as the last option in the job search. Of course, as a country we have no money....

At least thinking about the system and the need to change it has begun to enter the head of our hard-headed politicians. Maybe 30 years down the lane we will change the system...