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Google recently released its official version of Google Web Toolkit aka GWT (link here). With GWT you could build AJAX applications in the Java language. Let’s face it, to write a neat AJAX application, you must be familiar with JavaScript and some basic HTML. And if you are a like me, you would probably know programming languages like Java, C, C++, etc. It will be really hard for me to write an AJAX application from scratch. However Google came up with GWT with which you could write AJAX applications in Java language.

Just yesterday I was in a Google organized meet up where Joseph Sinclair (GWT Engineer) gave a presentation about GWT and its internal workings. I was really impressed how GWT works; all you need to do is write simple Java Code using the GWT library. Once you are done with the code use the GWT compiler which will generate the required HTML, CSS, JavaScript and AJAX code for you. It will handle all the browser quirks for you. Java delivered the promise of write code once and run anywhere. With GWT you could write AJAX applications once and run on any major browser.

Google released GWT under the Apache 2.0 license that means it’s an open source and you could use it and customize it as required. If you are a hard code programmer who do not speak browser quirks as a second language and always wanted to create some cool AJAX application then GWT is for you. I have installed it, planning to play with it. If you get a chance let me know what you think.

Filed under: Web 2.0, Fun, Computing, Software | No Comments »

Kyakare.com is yet another events listing site for India. This site is a collaborative events listing and sharing site where anybody can add events for free. You could search for events, bookmark an event in famous social bookmarking sites and also get RSS feeds from the site. The site only serves Mumbai, Bangalore and Kolkatta. They are planning to add more cities subsequently.

There is nothing unique about this site. I believe we are yet to see a web 2.0 based events listing site like eventful.com

Filed under: Entertainment, Fun, Website | No Comments »

This is little bit out of the norm, nothing to do with web 2.0. However thought it will be useful to share it with you as it’s related to education. SASEL (Sivamathi Animations Software and Electronics Limited) launches multimedia lessons for students in matriculation stream.

SASEL has launched the state-of-the-art of education software for matriculation and state board syllabus. I believe that learning through visual media is more interesting. The software, branded as 100% Magic teachers, guides the student community to learn their subjects with an extraordinary level of understanding.
Deviating from the conventional way of learning where a student perceives only through imagination this digital teaching concept allows the student to clearly understand the concept of the subject at his/her own pace. SASEL claims that all the science subjects are explained with colorful 2D and 3D animations complimented by a melodious background music and clear voice over. This package handles the animated educational software for the students of 10th, 11th and 12th standards.

You could read more about its launch here. There is a demo link on the site (link here) however it didn’t work. On paper it looks good but I’m not sure about the actual product. If you had a chance to see the real product let me know, planning to get one for my niece for her birthday as she is in her 11th grade right now.

Filed under: Parenting, Internet Company, Website | 2 Comments »

Zoom.in is a new entrant to the online photo printing service in India and as well in the US. Apart from photo printing they also offer picture sharing and unlimited space for your online photo storage needs. Following are the features offered by the site

• Import your photos from Flickr and Picasa

• You can edit your photo in zoom.in

• Tag your photos and organize them

• You could share your album to your friends

• You can import your address book from Yahoo, GMail, MSN, AOL, Outlook, etc

• The entire site is neatly designed with bright colors and has an easy to use interface

• The prints are shipped very next day

• Zoom.in is currently giving out 15 free prints on signup

Only one thing that I didn’t like about the zoom.in is that they do not have a blog unlike itasveer.com and picsquare.com. Overall the site is neatly designed and has all the features compared to its competitors expect for the blog.

Filed under: Web 2.0, Fun, Website | 2 Comments »

Want to be an Indian Idol? Didn’t get a chance at the Indian Idol show? Don’t worry you could be an Online Indian Idol (Hero) by participating in the online contest at the IndiaKaHero.com.

It has four categories for the contest Jokes Ka Hero, Songs Ka Hero, Mimicry Ka Hero and Dance Ka Hero. You juts need to register and post your content. The winners will be decided based on the number of votes and popularity. IndiaKaHero.com seeks to help aspiring singers, musicians and comedians.

Okay here are my thoughts about this site.

• The site is really really slow. I have to wait after clicking on the FAQ’s and About or any other link for that matter
• Could have added some Web 2.0 concepts on top of it like tagging your favorite play lists.
• It will be really beneficial, if there is an option of sending a link of my song (or whatever the content is) to my friends by importing my contacts from Yahoo, Google, MSN, etc and thereby requesting them to vote for it. This would made the site viral.
• I think the UI needs a major overhaul especially for an entertainment kind of site

What do you guys think?

Filed under: Entertainment, Fun, Website | 1 Comment »

Sepember 3rd is the Programmer’s Day for non-leap years. So why it’s September 3rd? September 3rd is the 256th day of the year and 256 is a power of two. 256 = 2^8. It’s the point after an 8-bit unsigned byte has rolled over.

I’m really against celebrating the 256th day as the programmers day, the reason is

• Nobody uses 8-bit computer systems anymore
• And moreover the eight bits are nothing and it’s a nine bit number, meaning it starts with zero. If Jan 1st is a zero then Sept 23rd is the 255th day not the 256th day so tomorrow is the Programmers day.

What do you think?

Filed under: Miscellaneous | 1 Comment »

YouMagix.com is a new player in the online listing and classified area, but they are unique in the way the content is generated. The entire listings and classifieds content in YouMagix will be user generated.

In YouMagix.com, you could search for local business listings and classifieds. Right now it provides search functionality for India, USA, Australia, Canada and UK. In YouMagix, you could not only search for listings, you could edit a listing, add reviews to a listing and moreover add a new listing as well. To do all these you need not have to be a registered user. It’s just like a wiki anyone could add and edit content.

Here are my thoughts about YouMagix.com

• It’s a new kind of experiment; it just relies on user generated content for its listings. It needs more active users to keep the content flowing into the site. If there are less active users (I said active users who contribute) then no content. That’s always risky.
• A Google map mashup will be helpful.
• Keyword search will be an added advantage

Overall, I would say it’s a new kind of experiment with user generated content. And finally I agree with Ashish from pluggd.in that it’s not easy to beat Google in search be it www search or the local search.

Update: Also read what the founder says about YouMagix.com

Filed under: Social Media, Web 2.0, Website | No Comments »

I recently came across a site called AajTakBollywood.com, it’s a Digg for Bollywood. It’s clear that it’s built on open source content management system called Pligg. This is the first time I’m seeing a vertical based social bookmarking site in India. I’m also impressed to see great amount of participation from different users on this site. However the site is really filled with Ads.

Filed under: Web 2.0, Entertainment, Fun | 1 Comment »

Google was founded in 1998 and their first address is 232 Santa Margarita Ave., Menlo Park, CA. They rented a garage from a woman who’s now Brin’s sister-in-law, bought the house last October to preserve this piece of the Google legacy. Below is the picture.

Want to know where other Web 2.0 stars where born? Check out this link (link here) at Business2.com.

Filed under: Miscellaneous | No Comments »

Have you ever thought that your Boss is dumb and want to appraise your boss? Got tired about your office politics and thought of sharing with someone but wanted to remain anonymous. Now you could do that in OfficeGupShup.com. OfficeGupshup.com is a space for office gossip and entertainment, where one can laugh and unwind after that long grueling day at work. In OfficeGupShup.com you could Appraise Your Boss, Share office confessions, Pass verdicts on your boss, etc.

The site is neatly designed and you could really have some fun in reading some of the verdicts and appraisals.

While I was going through this site, I was just thinking about a scene in ‘Minority Report’ movie (Minority Report is a 2002 science fiction film directed by Steven Spielberg and the lead actor is Tom Cruise). In that scene a guy will be asking a Pre-cog technician to create a virtual area where he could kill his boss. And the pre-cog technician asks if he has any image of his boss to help him create a virtual area. Looking at all these online office gossip sites, I won’t be surprised if I hear of a Second Life (Secondlife.com is a 3-D virtual world entirely built and owned by its Residents) place or an Island where one could create an Avatar, which looks like their boss and could do whatever they want with it.

Filed under: Web 2.0, Fun | No Comments »