Intel and AMD launch new processors
On the 6th January 2011, Intel released it’s second generation core processors world wide. Though we did get to see how fast they are and how Intel has managed to do build this processor, it is still some time before we get to see machines in our hand with the processors.
While Intel Launched it’s processors, AMD also announced it’s new line of processors called Fusion, and eventually did a launch in India on the 31st of January 2011.
These processors are at the core belief that our computing devices have now moved on to both a computing as well as a media consumption device, with Videos consumption from sites like Youtube growing, to Video creation using Youtube capable cameras and people posting videos online, growing, you need more and more number crunching power to transcode them in the least time possible. With High Definition and 3D Content becoming mainstream, more and more graphic processing power is also required, both the new Intel and AMD CPU’s are addressing the same, to what extent and how things move, will only be seen in the time to come.
Recently on the 11th of January CNN-IBN showcased the new generation of processors from AMD and INTEL, though a few of my comments were removed in the editing, but here is your’s truly on CNN-IBN, commenting about the launch.
PS: Apologies the above video will not work on an iPad sadly because CNN-IBN is still using Adobe Flash to stream their videos 
National Lampoon
Netizens have found a new source for their fix of political satire: They get it on Twitter. The recent cabinet reshuffle was a case in point. While rest of India debated over who was going out and who was coming in, those on the microblog service were enjoying a few chuckles. They were lapping up the tweets of Dr Yum Yum Singh and Sonia Gaxdhi – satirical profiles of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA Congress chief Sonia Gandhi that lampooned political absurdities.
Just some time before the reshuffle, Yum Yum Singh tweeted “Dear @Sonia-GaXdhi No matter how much I reshuffle, the same jokers turn up!” much to the delight of his followers who number in the thousands.
“SoniaGaxdhi and DrYumYumSingh give me the tickles,” says Gagandeep Sapra, CEO of IT firm System3. “The satire on these accounts makes for an interesting and insightful, but light-hearted read.”
But Yum Yum Singh and GaXdhi are not the only faux accounts modelled after desi politicians on Twitter. Apart from the big two, there are several accounts targeted at Rahul Gandhi. And there is one named Raja DiggVijay Singh for, well, Digvijay Singh.
With UPA in power – it seems – most of the spoofs are targeted at its leaders, and for now, at least, BJP leaders have escaped the lampooners.
The account for J_Jayalalitha claims she is “the only hope for TN in 2011” while an account called MuuKaa has been created as a spoof for DMK leader K Karunanidhi.
Of course, the quality of satire varies from personality to personality.
“Not all spoof accounts are funny; some of these guys resort to cheap antics. Tweets from Raja DiggVijay’s, and those targeting Rahul Gandhi are bland,” avers Tarun Sreevats, an advertising professional who has been on Twitter since 2008.
“But tweets coming from Dr Yum Yum Singh and Sonia Gaxdhi can make for a few good laughs,” he says.
A look at Yum Yum Singh’s Twitter profile – where he claims to be “in her majesty’s service” – reveals how popular he is among his countrymen. Singh is followed by over 6,300 users.
Sonia Gaxdhi’s account is followed by over 3,000 members.
But the true significance of the account’s reach is not in the numbers. It’s in the quality of followers and how well connected they are. According to Klout, a website that measures influence of Twitter users, Yum Yum Singh scores 70 point; just one point shy of what Shashi Tharoor, the most widely followed Indian politician, scores.
Besides, Yum Yum Singh has been retweeted over 5,000 times. An impressive figure when you consider that the number of posts on the account are a little over 2,500. This means that – on an average – each of his tweet is retweeted at least twice.
In a country like India where being politically correct always scores over political satire, Twitter characters such as Yum Yum Singh and Sonia GaXdhi are a rarity. But Shrivats fear that as they get more popular, real leaders may not find the antics too amusing.
Gagandeep, however, is confident that Yum Yum Singh and the likes of him are here to stay. “The real leaders can’t do much about it. The internet is dependent on noncensorship… However, anything that is reckless, against the society norms, and hurts public sentiment is avoided and will be shut down by most service providers, but this is just humour… A crackdown on these accounts could also have a bad effect politically,” he says.
“Some leaders may not like it, but they just have to live with it. It’s all for a laugh and people like Yum Yum Singh are doing a great job of it. Now I’d like to see our politicians do their job, which is running the country effectively.”
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The above article is authored by @Javed Anwer in the Times of India, Mumbai Edition on Sunday 30th Janaury 2011. The article is carried here as it carried a few comments by me.
Of Dr Yum Yum Singh and Sonia GaXdhi
Indian political satire comes of age on the internet
If there was anything that stood revealed in the recent cabinet reshuffle, it was the state of Indian political satire. It appears to be at its best well away from the newspapers and TV channels. On Twitter, the popular social networking site, people enjoyed hearty laughs as Dr Yum Yum Singh and Sonia GaXdhi lampooned the absurdities of politics. For instance, just before the reshuffle, Yum Yum Singh tweeted much to the delight of thousands of his followers, “Dear @SoniaGaXdhi No matter how much I reshuffle, the same jokers turn up!” Welcome to political satire in the tech age.
“Sonia Gaxdhi and Dr Yum Yum Singh give me a much-desired laugh about politicians and daily events,” admits Gagandeep Sapra, the Big Geek at IT firm System3, a follower of Yum Yum Singh. “People feel the need for a responsive government. But despite regulations and despite the RTI, many things happen behind closed doors. Satire is a way to let off steam and makes for interesting and light-hearted conversation.”
Obviously, Dr Yum Yum Singh and Sonia Gaxdhi are spoof accounts of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chief Sonia Gandhi. Accounts have been set up for other leaders too, except for those in the BJP. Rahul Gandhi’s account is Rauldavinci, Digvijay Singh’s is Raja DiggVijay Singh, DMK leader K Karunanidhi’s is Muu_Kaa and J Jayalalitha’s claims she is “the only hope for TN in 2011”.
The quality of satire can vary. “Some resort to cheap antics. Tweets from Raja DiggVijay’s account are bland and so are those from Rahul Gandhi’s,” says Tarun Sreevats, an advertising professional who signed up for Twitter in 2008. “But tweets of Dr Yum Yum Singh and Sonia Gaxdhi are first-rate. Quality satire and good hearty laughs.” Yum Yum Singh even tweets that he is “in her majesty’s service”. No wonder he’s followed by more than 6,300 users, while Sonia Gaxdhi is followed by more than 3,000 members. Of course Twitter’s true significance is not in numbers, but in the quality of followers and how wellconnected they are. According to Klout, a website that measures the influence and reach of Twitter users, Yum Yum Singh scores 70 points, just one short of Shashi Tharoor, the most widely followed Indian politician. What’s more, Yum Yum Singh has been retweeted by his followers more than 5,000 times. This number assumes some significance considering Yum Yum Singh has generated just a little more than 2,500 tweets altogether. This means that on average, each tweet is retweeted twice.
Entities like Yum Yum Singh and Sonia Gaxdhi are a rarity in a country like India with its all-pervasive political correctness. What’s more, no one knows who they really are. Sreevats fears that in their popularity may lie the seeds of these spoofs’ decay because the leaders may not find these antics particularly amusing. However, Gagandeep is confident that Yum Yum Singh and his likes are here to stay. “Real leaders can’t do much about it. The internet is dependent on noncensorship and has its foundations there. Anything that is reckless and hurts public sentiments is avoided and will be shut down by most service providers, but this is plain humor. It’s all for laugh.”
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DOWN THE AGES…
Satire had its origins in Rome and was a decided feature of ancient Greek drama, which had male actors dressed as satyrs to make fun of people during the intermission. In the 20th century, satire moved from print to other media – cartoons, TV shows and websites such as The Onion, ArnoldSpeaks.com and the Happening Happy Hippy Party.
FAMOUS SATIRISTS
Aristophanes (446 BC–386 BC): the Athenian playwright is called “the father of comedy”
Erasmus: (1466–1536): Dutch Renaissance scholar’s “The Praise of Folly” was a biting satire on church tradition and superstition
Jonathan Swift (1667–1745): one of the greatest English satirists. Best known for “Gulliver’s Travels”
Mark Twain (1835–1910): “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” satirizes the attitudes of southern society, especially slavery
George Orwell (1903–1950): acclaimed for “Animal Farm”, a satire on the Russian Revolution
Jon Stewart (1962-): American TV host of The Daily Show, a satirical news programme
DR YUM YUM SINGH TWEETS
Minutes after the earthquake on January 19 around 2am
Hello? Mr NSA! What was that tremor? Did @wikileaks release the Swiss Bank account list?
Dear @SoniaGaXdhi Madamji you can go back to sleep. We have confirmed it wasn’t due to the Cabinet reshuffle.
In the run up to the reshuffle
Hain? No we don’t have Tatkal scheme for cabinet berths.
After the reshuffle
Why are vegetable prices so high? We have so many in my cabinet.
After Jairam Ramesh’s comments on Akshardham Temple
Hello! Rahul? Ramesh Jairam uncle wants green Horns in the cabinet?
On Kapil Sibal
Dear @kapil_sibal ji always take the first foot out of your mouth before inserting the second one!
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The above article is authored by @Javed Anwer in the Times of India on Sunday 30th Janaury 2011. The article is carried here as it carried a few comments by me.
The iPod is dead, Long Live the iPod
Apple surprised many people by totally revamping its iPod line on Tuesday.We take a closer look at the new iPods and the impact they are likely to have on future gadgets
It was not as if the world did not listen to music on the move or that people didnt know of digital media players prior to 2001,but Apple Inc still managed to be a game changer with the introduction of its first iPod;what with its radical controls and minimalistic design.
And through the years,the US multinational continued innovating;tweaking the original and also adding new features.But rarely has Apple ever given its iPod range the kind of flip it did on Tuesday.
In the words of Apple CEO Steve Jobs,it was the biggest change in the iPod lineup ever.
The big change
All the three iPod modelsthe Shuffle,the Nano and the Touchhave been given complete makeovers.
The Shuffle got its buttons back,although it still lacks a screen;the Nano lost some weight and its video camera,but gained a touch interface and a new compact look;while the iPod touch now boasts of two cameras and the retina display made famous by the iPhone 4.
For many,the recent makeovers represent yet another step by Apple towards making its iPods smarter.The new iPod Touch can do almost everything that the iPhone 4 can,except make calls and take hi-res pictures.But,it can make video calls via Wi-Fi.
The pint-sized Nano now has a multi-touch display,an FM radio (although it no longer can play video),and an iOS-type interface.
In my opinion,the most significant takeaway from Tuesdays announcement has been the proliferation of iOS Apples smartphone platformto the iPod Nano, says Rajat Agrawal,editor of Cellpassion,and one of the countrys leading technology bloggers.
The goal posts have been shifted, he declares.
Gagandeep Sapra,an industry observer better known as The Big Geek,is also impressed with the Nano.
Of the three new iPods,the Nano is my favourite, he says.I had never been a great fan of the iPhone because I felt I could do everything that was possible on it on an iPod touch.And the new Nano seems like a smaller iPod
touch, he adds.
Competition… er,what
But with all the changes being made in the iPods range,can the line still be classified as media players
Agrawal,for one,thinks that the new Nanowith apps specifically designed for its tiny displaymight just prove to be the breeding ground for future iPhone users.Also,Jobs surprised many by referring to the iPod Touch as the number one handheld gaming device in the world.And before you know it,the humble media player might just become another contender for the convergence device crown.
Industry watchers after seeing Apples new line-upare confident that the company might just pull it off.
Other manufacturers do not try to push the limits when it comes to portable media players, Agrawal says.They seem content to churn out devices that revolve around playing good music and videos,while the iPod has moved beyond that.We are already hearing of people who plan to wear the new Nano on their wrists like a wristwatch.Now,who is going to match that
Any takers
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The above article is authored by Nimish Dubey in the Times of India, on Sunday 5th September 2010. The article is carried here as it carried a few comments by me.
How Egypt plugged into the web
3nd Feb, 2011: Egypt has finally got it’s Internet back online, but on the 1st of February 2011 the Government in Egypt shut down the last Internet Service provider access also. Over the past 5 or 6 days, of having no Internet, the brave citizens there managed to send out twitter posts and news on to the Internet, a big question was, how did they manage it?
My Interview on CNN-IBN on “How Egypt Plugged into the Web”. Apologies this video will not work on the iPad, as it is using Adobe Flash for streaming.
Egypt Statistics: Internet Traffic Monitoring from Egypt (Source: RIPE)
Réseaux IP Européens (RIPE) has been monitoring 3089 prefixes out of EGYPT for their BGP Activity on the Internet. The following Graphs show how the networks started getting de-announced in late January and activity around the re-announcement of these networks back on the Internet late on the 2nd of Feb 2011.
The blue part in the graph shows announcements, and the RED Part shows Withdrawls, between the 27th and 28th of January a lot of Prefixes stopped announcements, and got disconnected from the Internet. Late on the 2nd of Feb 2011, we see the networks getting announced again and Internet connectivity out of Egypt resuming, in the following graph.
Now Let me try to explain what BGP is in the easiest possible way, and how this whole thing worked. For those of you interested in looking at the full report from RIPE, visit http://stat.ripe.net/egypt/, and if you are ready to read more about how The Internet works, read on.
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