Ideas & Insights on Technology & Life..

“Computers in the future may have only 1,000 vaccuum tubes and perhaps weigh only 1.5 tons” - Popular Mechanics article, March 1949

The above quote amply demonstrates the problems with predicting the future. This is because the future does not always evolve linearly from the past - there are often unforeseen quantum leaps in technology that have unpredictable consequences.

Microsoft, Google sparring over Twitter? Should be interesting… http://bit.ly/9JbJb

The explosive growth of Twitter has evoked great interest among both Google and Microsoft to acquire the company. For Google this would immediately fill the gap in their search of real-time results and give them an even bigger share of the search market. For Microsoft, this would be a way to gain a desperately needed competitive edge for Bing.   While this would be a huge win for either company, it may not be the best thing for Twitter itself.  I think the  real potential  of Twitter is yet to be fully realized and if it merges into either giant - this may be jeopardized.

In news today China Denies Involvement in Hacking U.S. Power Grid - http://bit.ly/Vtab5 The Chinese govt official position is always complete denial - but can you really trust anything that Beijing says or denies ?

The ambitions of the chinese is nothing short of “electronic world domination ” as per this article : http://www.cnn.com/2008… And http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol…

Americans are of course in a tight spot of their own making - and have to tread lightly on this issue what with the chinese controlling their purse strings and trillions of dollars of their debt ! While it seems like a cliche to say that the next world war will be in cyberspace - all it takes is for one country to have a few skilled hackers, and suddenly the number of troops, the hardware, and the nuclear devices of the enemy don’t matter. What is really scary is that country is most likely going to be China. Not be an alarmist here - but you know what happened the last time the intelligence services ignored vital clues and did not connect the dots.

College too expensive? Try YouTube http://bit.ly/uFFbo

This is a glimpse of the future of college education and education in general.  The convergence of digital multimedia and broadband together with global connectivity is paving the way for a new way to disseminate learning - 24 hour, on-demand   learning on any topic that may be of interest to anyone, anywhere !

Would you reveal your password for a chocolate bar ? Apparently 70% of people surveyed in UK did ! http://bit.ly/6wkYJ

“There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in his home.” - Ken Olsen, President, DEC, 1977. DEC made minicomputers.

All successful technologies tend to look inevitable only in hindsight - which says a lot about shortcomings of foresight ! #insight

The history of the progress of science is really a history of cherished assumptions being proven wrong again and again. #insight

Hackers Penetrate U.S. Power Grid & Leave Software That Could Disrupt System http://bit.ly/6Ff6c

Broadband for the masses : FCC studies goal of nationwide affordable, fast Internet http://bit.ly/15WBdH