All My Blogs

The year of Ox gives way to the year of Tiger

Thu, 31 Dec 2009 06:07 GMT

This is a ceremony in Osaka marking the change of Zodiacs. 2009 - the year of Ox - gives way to 2010 - the year of Tiger. The tiger cub is quite naughty and irrepressible here - perhaps a sign of things to come in 2010 ;-)

Chernobyl Revisited - Ghost Town

Sun, 27 Dec 2009 06:25 GMT

Chernobyl Revisited - Ghost Town

One of the most amazing and awe inspiring travelogue I've read in a long long time. This is a first person account of a motorcyclist named Elena in Ukraine. She lives near Kiev - about 130 kms from Chernobyl. She takes us through an illustrated ride into the heart of the biggest nuclear disaster the world has seen - apart from the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in WWII.

Elena doesn't describe herself much - she maintains the website without any commercial activity - no ads, no sponsorships, no request for donations. I guess this quote from here story describes her best, "The roads are blocked for cars, but not for motorcycles. Good girls go to heaven. Bad ones go to hell. And girls on fast bikes go anywhere they want. "

Infrastructure Spending Will Not Revive the Economy - WSJ.com

Sat, 26 Dec 2009 12:41 GMT

Back in the 30s when Infrastructure spending got us out of the Great Depression, it was the infrastructure of the future - highways, dams, etc. Today, the equivalent would be spending on the 21st century infrastructure - technology, communication, healthcare, education. I agree with Andy on all the areas. I might add additional areas like - increased spending on radically new cures for diseases like cancer, diabetes and a variety of genetic disorders, making our schools the best in the world bar none, spending on new energy technology - solar, wind, gas and also safer nuclear power.

Infrastructure Spending Will Not Revive the Economy - WSJ.com

IBM to acquire Lombardi

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 16:13 GMT

Pretty significant move in the BPM (Business Process Management) space - IBM announces it is acquiring Lombardi. That leaves even fewer independent players in the market - Pega, Savvion, Intalio, Ultimus and my former company - Newgen Software amongst those.

Bacteria turn tiny gears

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 12:44 GMT

If only we can harness the power of bacteria to do all our manual work - pure salvation and nirvana! Read the full article from Wired here.

"The power of swimming bacteria can be harnessed to turn tiny gears, opening the possibility of building hybrid biological machines at the microscopic scale."

Airlines lighten their loads in quest to save fuel

Sun, 20 Dec 2009 04:49 GMT

Things are getting scary with this move towards clean and cost cutting measures in the aviation industry. Now, I am not against either cost cutting or cleaner environment, but when you start taking operational decisions based on these factors and not on the key parameter for running an airline - that is passenger safety, then you are headed towards a disaster. And Japan is a country which has had its share of aviation disasters - so you'd expect them to be more cognizant of the pitfalls.

Instead of compromising on passenger safety and comfort, airlines would do far better by focusing on improvements in areas that contribute both to reduced energy consumption and increased passenger comfort. Here are the top ones that come to mind:

1. Reduce the amount of time airplanes spend on the tarmac - both waiting for the takeoff and taxiing after landing.

2. Improve air traffic control - reduce the amount of time airplanes spend circling over airports waiting for their turn to land.

3. Renew their fleets - get rid of the old 70's and 80's planes they are still flying - these have older fixtures that are heavier, they are less fuel efficient, higher maintenance costs and are quite uncomfortable and depressing for the passengers.

4. Gain real fuel economies by technological improvements - like Southwest did with modified wingtips - gaining almost 5% in fuel efficiency:

http://www.usatoday.com/money/biztravel/2006-06-05-winglet-money_x.htm

Here's the article from Asahi.com that details some of the more trivial stuff which to me seems to increase the hassle and discomfort of flying while achieving little in terms of improved fuel efficiency or cleaner environment:

http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200912170116.html

Airlines lighten their loads in quest to save fuel

BY YOSUKE AKAI

THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

2009/12/17

In a quest to reduce passenger weight to save fuel and cut carbon dioxide emissions, one Japanese airline made an unorthodox request: It asked passengers to use the toilet before flying.

Concern about global warming has prompted the nation's carriers to devise a range of novel ways to slash the amount of fuel they use.

In August, Japan Airlines Corp. introduced a comprehensive operation to reduce the weight of staff luggage and in-flight items.

The carrier began using plastic bottles rather than glass for in-flight wine. The plastic variety is about one-seventh as heavy as the glass version, which weighs roughly 140 grams each.

The airline also shortened the handles of spoons and forks, and started using lighter plates. It has even cut its in-flight magazines for international flights--by about 60 grams per copy.

In July, JAL flight attendants began a campaign to reduce the weight of their carry-on bags by 2.5 kilograms. Over the three-month period to September, they collectively lightened their load by 7 tons.

Marina Okada, a 28-year-old JAL flight attendant, said she had refilled her cosmetics "from the original bottle to smaller ones, or even brought along sample products."

She has also swapped a 2-liter plastic water bottle for a 500 milliliter version, and now carries paperbacks instead of large women's fashion magazines.

Instead of providing a fixed number of newspapers for every flight, JAL now adjusts the amount to match the volume of seats reserved.

It has stopped serving some unpopular alcoholic beverages, and, whereas it used to fill water storage tanks to capacity, it now fills them only to a level that staff estimate to be necessary.

All Nippon Airways Co., meanwhile, has combined a manual explaining how to operate the in-flight entertainment system with the in-flight magazine to save weight.

Arguably its most unusual idea--carried out in October--was to ask passengers on 38 domestic flights to use the bathroom before boarding.

The airline estimates that if 20 percent of roughly 400,000 passengers use the bathroom before boarding over a one-month period, the amount of carbon dioxide emissions from the plane would be reduced by 4.7 tons, or equivalent to the amount of carbon dioxide absorbed over the course of a year by 330 Japanese cedar trees.

Landing procedures have also come under scrutiny.

Normally, planes level off while making their final approach to allow for sufficient distance between the planes scheduled to land before and after them. Extra fuel is needed to increase engine thrust during this process.

When the conditions are right, some planes have taken to reducing the amount of level flight as much as possible and moving diagonally into a direct landing approach.

An effective way of reducing carbon dioxide emissions is to switch to aircraft that offer better fuel economy.

In October, JAL tried an experiment to determine how much carbon dioxide emissions could be cut without changing the aircraft, but only by reducing the amount of fuel used.

The company dubbed the demonstration flight from Honolulu to Kansai International Airport the "ultimate eco-flight," and said it included every conceivable measure to reduce the burden on the environment.

The standard volume of fuel required for such a flight, including reserve fuel, is about 98,000 liters.

However, about 5,400 liters was conserved on the eco-flight, or about 5.5 percent of the standard fuel volume.

The saving is equivalent to a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions of about 13,000 kilograms.

An official at the Scheduled Airlines Association of Japan said that "Japanese companies have undertaken a considerable range of very specific measures, including converting to new aircraft, to save on fuel. There will have to be major technological innovation in order to reduce emissions much further."

The official added that "the global airline industry should be doing more to cut carbon dioxide emissions, especially those nations that continue to use aircraft with poor fuel economy."

A central issue for the global airline industry is whether to restrict carbon dioxide emissions on international flights.

The Kyoto Protocol on global warming that took effect in 2005 covers emissions from domestic flights for advanced nations.

But it does not set targets for international flights on the grounds those flights cross national borders.

According to the International Energy Agency, carbon dioxide emissions from international flights increased by 60 percent in 2007 over 1990 levels.

While those emissions only represent about 1 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions, there are concerns they could rise dramatically on the back of growing airline passenger demand in newly emerging economies in Asia, such as China.

In October, the International Civil Aviation Organization compiled a declaration calling for an annual improvement of 2 percent in fuel efficiency for the entire global airline industry.(IHT/Asahi: December 17,2009)

FLEETWOOD MAC - HYPNOTIZED

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 18:08 GMT

It's the same kind of story
That seems to come down from long ago
Two friends having coffee together
When something flies by their window
It might be out on that lawn
Which is wide, at least half of a playing field
Because there's no explaining what your imagination
Can make you see and feel

Seems like a dream
(They) got me hypnotized

Now it's not a meaningless question
To ask if they've been and gone
I remember a talk about North
Carolina and a strange, strange pond
You see the sides were like glass
In the thick of a forest without a road
And if any man's hand ever made that land
Then I think it would've showed

Seems like a dream
(They) got me hypnotized

They say there's a place down in Mexico
Where a man can fly over mountains and hills
And he don't need an airplane or some kind of engine
And he never will
Now you know it's a meaningless question
To ask if those stories are right
'Cause what matters most is the feeling
You get when you're hypnotized

Seems like a dream
(They) got me hypnotized

"Eye in the Sky" - The Alan Parsons Project (LIve)

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 17:32 GMT

Awesome Low Riders from Fremont

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 17:10 GMT

All my friends know the low rider
The low rider is a little higher
Low rider drives a little slower
Low rider is a real goer
Low rider knows every street yeah!
Low rider is the one to meet yeah!
Low rider don't use no gas now
Low rider don't drive to fast
Take a little trip
Take a little trip
Take a little trip and see
Take a little trip
Take a little trip
Take a little trip with me

Is it International Labor Day or April Fools Day today - Google rents goats to mow lawns

Fri, 01 May 2009 11:10 GMT

I swear I thought it was April Fools day for a moment - Google using goats to mow its lawns. But then, on second thought, isn't this how things are done in lots of places around the world. Looks like extreme hightech and low tech and coexist quite nicely.

6 Half-Truths About the Cloud

Sat, 11 Apr 2009 14:19 GMT

6 Half-Truths About the Cloud:

Cloud Computing is generating a lot of buzz right now. Like all buzzwords, Cloud Computing too means different things to different folks. It's been applied to everything from SaaS to Utility Computing to Virtualization. While all these are components of features of Cloud Computing, none of these alone can be called Cloud Computing.

I'm sure in the coming few months, the concept will get fleshed out and more clear examples will emerge. Right now though Amazon's Web Services, Salesforce.com's Force.com, and a bunch of Google's and Yahoo's services seem to be the leading examples of Cloud Computing.

Beautiful sunset at Dumbarton

Sat, 11 Apr 2009 13:22 GMT

So what's the difference between iPhone and iPod Touch

Mon, 30 Mar 2009 12:38 GMT

Skype is now available on both - so now you could buy an iPod Touch with a good wi-fi hotspot plan and use it as a phone.

Electric DeLorean back for the future

Sat, 14 Mar 2009 06:35 GMT

asahi.com（朝日新聞社）：Electric DeLorean back for the future - English

Trust the Japanese to take a great idea and make it better. DeLorean - one of the most iconic cars of the 80s gets a new lease of life from university teachers and students in Hiroshima. There may be a commercial proposition here - how about an electric conversion kit to breathe life into all the old cars. Instead of junking old cars and recycling only a portion of metal, you could recycle 100%. Think of all the landfills, the energy used for recycling metal, the pollution and the terrible waste that could be avoided. This whole concept of having a new car every 3-5 years is so out of line with the current focus on environment - I wish someone would take up these real recycling ideas in right earnest.

Electric DeLorean back for the future

Sat, 14 Mar 2009 06:34 GMT

Electric DeLorean back for the future

Sat, 14 Mar 2009 06:34 GMT

How much difference 9 months make

Mon, 09 Mar 2009 13:49 GMT

I just noticed my blog post from last June and gas was touching almost $5. This weekend I took another picture with gas at close to $2!
How long do we have before inflation sets in? I say drive all you can - see California. I can recommend this great show - "Bay Area Backroads" for some excellent weekend driving ideas:

Here's the picture from June 2008

Dr. Sugata Mitra at TED

Fri, 06 Feb 2009 16:33 GMT

My ex-boss - Dr. Sugata Mitra is talking about his legendary "Hole in the Wall" experiment at TED 2009.

Speakers Sugata Mitra: Education researcher

Sugata Mitra's "Hole in the Wall" experiments have shown that, in the absence of supervision or formal teaching, children can teach themselves and each other, if they're motivated by curiosity and peer interest.

Why you should listen to him:

In 1999, Sugata Mitra and his colleagues dug a hole in a wall bordering an urban slum in New Delhi, installed an Internet-connected PC, and left it there (with a hidden camera filming the area). What they saw was kids from the slum playing around with the computer and in the process learning how to use it and how to go online, and then teaching each other.

In the following years they replicated the experiment in other parts of India, urban and rural, with similar results, challenging some of the key assumptions of formal education. The "Hole in the Wall" project demonstrates that, even in the absence of any direct input from a teacher, an environment that stimulates curiosity can cause learning through self-instruction and peer-shared knowledge. Mitra, who's now a professor of educational technology at Newcastle University (UK), calls it "minimally invasive education."

"Education-as-usual assumes that kids are empty vessels who need to be sat down in a room and filled with curricular content. Dr. Mitra's experiments prove that wrong."

Linux Journal

Electronic Health Records and your privacy

Sat, 31 Jan 2009 14:58 GMT

Electronic Health Records has been a hot topic ever since Obama's inauguration and the inclusion of $20b for EHR in the proposed stimulus bill. However, the patient privacy is issue is far from settled as yet and for the EHR to gain widespread adoption and result in the kind of healthcare cost savings that are being promised, it is imperative that the privacy issue is addressed at the earliest. I think the three key determinants here are:

1. A government willing to regulate and effectively enforce privacy laws
2. Heavy deterrent action against a few major privacy offenders

3. Putting in technology to address privacy

EHR does promise to be the largest IT initiative on the horizon and like many in the IT industry, I am rooting for it. But it's not only for selfish business reasons. As a healthcare consumer, I see the ridiculousness of the current system - doctors requesting other doctors for patient's records over the phone, records being sent out by fax (not the best way of ensuring privacy), no way of making sure you have the most recent records. We've lost a decade on this issue - EHR would have been big in the early part of this decade had it not been for the diversions that most of us regret now.

Your E-Health Records

As part of the stimulus package, $20 billion will be pumped into the health care system to accelerate the use of electronic health records. The goal is both to improve the quality and lower the costs of care by replacing cumbersome paper records with electronic records that can be easily stored and swiftly transmitted.
The idea is sound, but it also raises important questions about how to ensure the privacy of patients. Fortunately, the legislation would impose sensible privacy protections despite attempts by business lobbyists to weaken the safeguards.
With paper records the opportunities for breaches are limited to over-the-shoulder glimpses or the occasional lost or stolen files. But when records are kept and transferred electronically, the potential for abuse can become as vast as the Internet.
Electronic health records that can be linked to individual patients are already protected by laws that apply primarily to hospitals, doctors, nursing homes, pharmacists, laboratories and insurance plans. The stimulus bill that has passed in the House, and a similar bill awaiting approval in the Senate, would strengthen the privacy requirements and apply them more directly to “business associates” of the providers, like billing and collection services or pharmacy benefit managers, that have access to sensitive data but are not readily held accountable for any misuse.
The potential for harm was spelled out by the American Civil Liberties Union in a recent letter to Congress. Employers who obtain medical records inappropriately might reject a job candidate who looks expensive to insure. Drug companies with access to pharmaceutical records might try to pressure patients to switch to their products. Data brokers might buy medical and pharmaceutical records and sell them to marketers. Unscrupulous employees with access to electronic records might snoop on the health of their colleagues or neighbors.
The bills pending in Congress would go a long way toward preventing such abuses. They would outlaw the sale of any personal health information without the patient’s permission, mandate audit trails to help detect inappropriate access, and require that patients be notified whenever their records are lost or used for an unauthorized purpose. They would also beef up the penalties for noncompliance and allow state attorneys general to help enforce the rules — a useful backup in case the federal government falls down on the job. The House version would also encourage the use of protective technologies, like encryption, to protect personal medical information that will be transmitted.
Health insurance plans and some disease management groups are complaining that the new requirements would impose administrative burdens that could actually impede the use of electronic records and interfere with coordination of care. They want to ease the marketing restrictions, notify patients only if security breaches are harmful, and keep the attorneys general out of the enforcement role.
It should be possible through implementing regulations to fine-tune the privacy requirements so that they do not disrupt patient care. Congress must make every effort to ensure that patients’ privacy is protected.

New stimulus bill contains complete health IT act

Sat, 24 Jan 2009 12:04 GMT

The latest in HITECH is not what you think it is - it is the Health IT for Economic and Clinical Health Act. The act is part of the economic stimulus bill expected to be signed into law this February. It provides for a whopping $20 billion in health information technology spending - I realize a billion isn't what it used to be given all the numbers floating around in the current economic mess, but it still is more than pocket change :-)

The cornerstone of this Act is the emphasis on widespread use of Electronic Health Records (EHR) by doctors, hospitals, and payers. And for once it seems like even the privacy advocates like ACLU and others are lending support.

Read more here.

Technorati Tags: Electronic Health Records, EHR, EMR, HITECH, Health Information Technology