Author: Aditya

A mix of free, freemium & paid services

Now you know how it's done. Could do with a few more options though.

Interesting set of parallels by Tamar Weinberg

A different way to look at the Apple & Steve Jobs: "I'm not so sure that Jobs thinks his Macintosh strategy failed. I think the way Jobs looks at it is this: he built a beautiful, revolutionary machine in the Macintosh, attracted incredible hype for it and passionate early adopters.
And then he got fired."

Quite a handy bunch of tricks collected from various sources

A video tutorial. I suppose it'll work with the iPod Touch\iPhone
via http://lifehacker.com/5550029/diy-touch+screen-stylus-new-and-improved

Pretty good for a company that was practically written off in the 90s. However the more interesting bit is about the business:
'By 2010, Apple had firmly established its dominance (in mindshare and innovation, if not in absolute numbers) in three areas: computers, MP3 players and smartphones; the company also controls an increasingly large marketplace for music, video and applications with iTunes, which counts its users in the hundreds of millions and has served more than 10 billion songs, 200 million TV shows, 2 million films and 3 billion apps. Apple’s now the largest distributor of music in the United States with 26.7 percent market share, according to a Billboard analysis.'

Pretty interesting thoughts: 'Although Google doesn't need to "win" the battle with Apple, Apple's hysteria, along with its insistence on fighting the wrong battles, means that Google has a decent chance of winning. HTML5 may be Apple's last chance to change their ways, and make decisions that aren't dictated by their desire to control the platform. If they don't, they will lose, and that would be tragic, both for Apple and for users.'

That's showing them…
'The binary comparison indicated that, if anything, adhering to the recommended vaccination schedule improved the children's cognitive development, as those kids outscored the least timely group on 12 of the 42 tests, whereas the converse didn't occur. Most of these differences vanished in the multivariate analysis, however, which suggests they weren't very robust. Still, it's anything but support for the contention that the vaccination schedule can be harmful.'

The ink used in the printers may be a technological marvel, but it remains really expensive. Wonder why they've not been able to figure out a cheaper way to produce it yet.

Interesting guide with brief descriptions for different personality parameters. Not so much a how-to though.

Sewing patterns & sheet music – now that's interesting. I suppose anything that can be digitized can be pirated.

He kind of asked for it by putting his SSN in the ads. And adding insult to injury is the $12m fines imposed by the FTC.

Good thing I rely on multiple online sources for news.

Quite a lot of myth busting. Apparently many of the TV controls are archaic and actually serve to decrease the picture quality. Also, many of the specs are misleading.

Interesting document (on scribd)

Facebook status update search tool that highlights the privacy concerns.

The service in question is apparently based on Google App Engine & so is having quota problems. Should be pretty useful when it's up nonetheless.

Interesting little tool. Not very descriptive though
via http://lifehacker.com/5526429/see-what-facebook-publicly-publishes-about-you/

Google is apparently better in most places including India

Nice guide with some camera reviews thrown in

So, who do you think will win this one?

A tool that helps make blurry photos passable
via http://lifehacker.com/5540163/unshake-makes-blurry-photos-passable

The trouble with utilities, particularly with ones that are monopolies & the illusion of choice. Is facebook heading down the path to becoming a utility? But, it seems to be taking for granted that it'll not be regulated. What happens if it does get regulated? Particularly now that it's got an international impact, not just a localized one.

So what do you want to be? A mini-celebrity or a recluse or something in between?