Saturday, May 31, 2008

top 10 technolgiees

via the Business of IT

"The good folks over at the Gartner Group have revealed the top 10 technologies that they believe will change the world over the next four years:"
  1. Multicore and hybrid processors
  2. Virtualization and fabric computing
  3. Social networks and social software
  4. Cloud computing and cloud/Web platforms
  5. Web mashups
  6. User Interface
  7. Ubiquitous computing
  8. Contextual computing
  9. Augmented reality
  10. Semantics
I think that Fabric computing is still in infancy and will suddenly gain traction - Fast !

--
Peter Dawson

"This message is printed on Recycled Electrons."
Thought Flickr's the Home of Peter Dawson
http://peterdawson.blogspot.com


Ph: 905 270 0574
Email : slash.pd@gmail.com
Skype: Slash.pd

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Tribute to my Grandma !!

This is a tribute to my Grandma who was from Burma. She was born on June 5th 1889. She died shortly after giving birth to my Dad. She was a brave woman. This is the first time I am sharing our story in public and my thoughts about my Grandma

I can't even imagine a Lady in those day (let alone today !), who could travel from Burma to Toronto and complete a PhD. Yep, those days is circa 1908 !! Think of Traveling from Rangoon to Toronto by ship and then down the St.Lawrence river by boat ? (remember that the Titanic sunk in 1912 , therefore her trip was 4 year's before that event !) But just think of it , How long would that journey take - Rangoon to Toronto ?

After landing in Toronto entering McMaster's, she completed a double PhD in Divinity and English Language. (not sure if it was double Phd -- but even a single doctorate is pretty tough !! )

I wonder what type of hardships she would have faced in her days. She must have been a pretty smart and brave Woman to have done all all that and endured it here in Canada. Remember in 1908, according to my calculations, my grandma would have only been 19 years old.Over and above all that she was Burmese, of a colored ethnic background, away from home, change of tropical weather to northern (Canadian) weather, food and cultures changes etc. It must have been pretty tough and she must have had heck'a strong focus and willpower.

With all this changes and hardship she managed to complete her studies and go back and teach in the University of Rangoon !!

At times, I feel that I am truly an unworthy grandson. Need to better myself. Anyway, my Granma B'day was coming up and I thought I'll share this story and thoughts with my readers. Oh BTW, I am wearing a Burmese Lungi and writing this post :)-

Below is an email thread from a long ago when I did some Genealogical research of my Grand'ma !!


=======================================================================
-----Original Message-----
From: Canadian Baptist Archives [mailto xxxxxx]
Sent: Monday, April 29, 2002 5:14 PM
To: Dawson, Peter D
Subject: RE: search for Alumni Photos/Info

Glad to have a happy customer.

-----Original Message-----
From: Dawson, Peter D [mailto:xxxxxx ]
Sent: Monday, April 29, 2002 4:47 PM
To: 'Canadian Baptist Archives'
Subject: RE: search for Alumni Photos/Info


Dear Dr. Steinacher,

I was utterly astonished when your reply popped into my inbox !! Words fail me, when I try to express my sincere thanks for the heartwarming information that you have given me. Your kind assistance, in my genealogical endeavors is really appreciated. Thank you for taking the time to research and cull all these details for me.

Yes, I understand that I will need to contact Mr. Phil Pearson for further research on this subject. With the details, you have so kindly given me, makes it possible for me to continue research on this subject.

Once again, thank you !!!
Sincerely and best regards,

.pd
->-----Original Message-----
->From: Canadian Baptist Archives [mailto:xxxxxx ]
->Sent: Monday, April 29, 2002 1:10 PM
->To: Dawson, Peter D
->Subject: RE: search for Alumni Photos/Info
->
->
->Dear Peter,
->
-> Thank you for you for genealogical inquiry. The Canadian Baptist
->Archives is a ministry maintained by the Baptist Convention of Ontario
->and Quebec, the Baptist Union of Western Canada and McMaster Divinity
->College. The Archives' primary mandate is to serve these
->constituencies.
->
-> Our resources are limited, so we are not able to pursue genealogical
->inquiries, even on a fee-for-service basis. Normally we do not even
->begin to search, but the information you provided made possible a very
->quick search. There is an "Enrollment Book" for McMaster University,
->which contains information about all incoming students while the
->University was still in Toronto (i.e. until the fall of 1929). Number
->996 is a "Sarah Margaret Isaac"[sic], who entered on 28 September
->1908. She had been born in Rangoon on 5 June 1889. Her father, A.C.
->Isaac of 43 Phayre St., Rangoon, Burma, is listed as "pensioned"; both
->she and her parents' religion is listed as "Episcopalian". Upon
->entrance, she held a first class matriculation certificate from the
->College of Preceptors, London (presumably England), having studied at
->"Convent, Rangoon" and "Morris College", also of Rangoon.
->
-> If you would like to hire a researcher to conduct further inquiries
->for you (there is not a strong likelihood of finding out a great deal
->more), I am happy to provide you with the name of someone approved by
->the Archives, Mr.
->Phil Pearson. He is a former student at the Divinity College and is
->thoroughly familiar with our collection. He is allowed access to our
->stacks, something not normally extended to anyone except our direct
->employees. He is an independent contractor and you will have to
->negotiate rates directly with him. Should you wish to avail yourself
->of his services, he may be contacted at:
-> Phil Pearson

[...snipped Phil's email ]

->
->
->Yours sincerely,
->
->
->Dr. C. Mark Steinacher
->Acting Director
->Canadian Baptist Archives
->
->-----Original Message-----
->From: Dawson, Peter D [mailto:xxxxxx]
->Sent: Monday, January 28, 2002 1:30 PM
->To: 'xxxxxx
->Subject: search for Alumni Photos/Info
->Importance: High
->
->
->Hello,
->
->This email address and was given to me for a prospective contact point
->at the McMasters, College of Divinity, Archives Dept.
->
->Could you please let me know if it is possible to find more
->information regarding my Grandmother. All we know is that during the
->period (circa
->1912-18)
->or somewhere there about's, our Grandmom,travelled from a country
->called as Burma (now Myanmar) and studied at McMasters'. We believe
->that she Graduated in Literature and Philopsy. (AS the family 'dinner
->table'
->stories go). She
->was the first Lady (fr a Foreign County) who graduated from McMasters
->and she was the only lady in her class.
->
->Anyway, most of the family documents were lost during the
->WW11 so whatever
->I am saying is just from gray matter. Grandma's name was Sarah
->Margaret Dawson (nee Isaacs) I dunna if she was registered as Sarah
->Margaret or Margaret Sarah or with Isaacs/Dawson.. its pretty fuzzy
->information that I am working on.
->
->Kindly let me know what you find and if I am not addressing this to
->the correct contact point, please do let me know whom I can contact.
->
->Looking forward to hearing from you.
->Thanking you in advance,
->Sincerely
->
->.pd
->
->Peter Dawson

Monday, May 26, 2008

"Message from Earth to Mar's" - Has my name one it !!!

A Long Long time ago (circa 2006),  I got a tidbit to NASA and Project Phoneix. Being an early adopter and fast mover, I registered myself. The outcome of that effort was blogged here and here

So yesterday, was a small milestone of only  250, 000 people, whose name was on the small DVD of Project Phoneix. Here's an except of the notification email :)-

[..]

Don't forget that you are a part of this adventure…part of the story of space exploration!

As part of The Planetary Society's Messages from Earth program, your name — along with a quarter million others from around the world — is now on the surface of Mars. Landing with you on the disk is Visions of Mars, a treasure trove of literature and art — from classic works by Arthur C. Clarke and Ray Bradbury to Orson Welles' radio retelling of "The War of the Worlds" to a special audio recording of Carl Sagan delivering a message to the future.

The story of space exploration is being written everyday.

Fifty years ago we couldn't have told this story, but 50 years from now our names and thoughts...those Messages from Earth that we have sent...will be part of the story — part of the permanent record of space exploration.

[..]

its great to be part of the 'permanent record of space exploration"  Thanks to  Susan for turning me on  :)-




Wednesday, May 21, 2008

The Internet FAQ from 2085

Its been a long time sine I had a good laugh. Philipp's post had me in splits. In short , this is how the internet will look in 2085 . Heres a couple of my fav's

What were world web sites?

A so-called world web site consisted of an address of its owner to locate their physical business location, as well as other miscellaneous transmitting of human information that was considered important at the time. The protocol used to decode the information was called hypertext, and as its standards changed quickly over the years, it is impossible to decode most of the information contained within.

What alternative information transfer technologies accompanied the internet?

The internet was only one of many transfer technologies. Equally popular at the time were the Ipod, also called Phone, a device to record and emit copies of the human voice, as well as the so-called Pongmachine which showed an animated bright shape on a dark background.

I am interested to find out more about humans, where can I see them?

You can find representative entities of the human species in most local zoos. Visitors of model version 4.55 and lower receive special discounts; while the brain of humans is likely incapable of experiencing pain, please do not feed or break them.



Take time to read the full post !!




Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Pointless Post

On FD List this come's to me

[...] snipped



Here is something with substance.

               ,'``.._   ,'``.
              :,--._:)\,:,._,.:       All Glory to
              :`--,''   :`...';\      the HYPNO TOAD!
               `,'       `---'  `.
               /                 :
              /                   \
            ,'                     :\.___,-.
           `...,---'``````-..._    |:       \
             (                 )   ;:    )   \  _,-.
              `.              (   //          `'    \
               :               `.//  )      )     , ;
             ,-|`.            _,'/       )    ) ,' ,'
            (  :`.`-..____..=:.-':     .     _,' ,'
             `,'\ ``--....-)='    `._,  \  ,') _ '``._
          _.-/ _ `.       (_)      /     )' ; / \ \`-.'
         `--(   `-:`.     `' ___..'  _,-'   |/   `.)
             `-. `.`.``-----``--,  .'
               |/`.\`'        ,',');
                   `         (/  (/


Enjoy reading that on your f*cking blackberry (another pretentious device that is out of control).


Change- Des Moines, Iowa !!

Watched the speech and realized that Obama has given one of  his greatest speeches. Not his best, but differently up there. High up there !

Change ??  yep its happened- Security Detail has changed for him.  This is the highest watermark  given to a candidate on this campaign trail.
...... and this simply implies that across ALL internal bureaucracies,  he has been slated as being the nominee. Common Consensus. PERIOD.

He's has become one of America's next top "Asset's"  I wish him the best.  We certainly need CHANGE 

herds are moving where the grass is greener and they can feed !

While Twitter was down the conversation moved here

There some real interesting thread's that suddenly sprang up between the early adopters.  I view this as akin to0, herds moving where the grass is greener and they can feed- analogy.This is the simple survival rule of any species. As for the human ones that thieve in the information matrix, Twitter is a watering hole and FriendFeed is THE Feeding grounds of info exchange. 

Today is the 2/3rd time that twitter has gone thru some massive downtime and the conversation has dynamically moved onto FriendFeed.

Here are some links to some interesting conversations

"Who needs Twitter when you have FriendFeed? This works just as well."

This Twitter downtime should really help FriendFeed. Everyone please submit feedback to them on features you'd like to see."
"Twitter is down...the converastion is moving here. This is a real threat if they don't scale."
Twitter: Something Is Technically Wrong

I have quickly culled threads that were opened within the last 1 hr, since twitter has gone down.  As one can see the early adopter's are fast becoming zissed off with twitter services. This only means that FriendFeed will go mainstream even much faster. A couple of new features and  that will certainly swing the early adopters onto FriendFeed property - full time  !!

Time will tell if FriendFeed can scale too :)-


Thursday, May 15, 2008

Bird vs Cat

Ms.Socks gets really worked up when the birds sit on the balcony

Wednesday, May 07, 2008

My Fav Twits for April

Heres my picks for this Months Fav' son Twitter !!

Sarahintampa i linked to techcrunch...this feels so wrong! mattdelves Going offline for the time being. Spending the next day seeking God through Prayer and Fasting. God bless you all. robertbrook "we always get what we fear, until we stop fearing it" gapingvoid NASCAR on the bar TV. Lots of Viva Viagra ads. What does that tell you? ... Scandalous "Change is inevitable... except from vending machines.." rhh Documentary on WWII: 97 out of 100 russian soldiers taken prisoner by Germany in Barbarossa did not return home alive. Unimaginable. skemsley "constructive vandalism" = the act of entering incomplete/incorrect info on a wiki to goad someone into writing the correct content zeldman 1 project, 3 proposals, 1 dog bath, 1 toddler to preschool, 1 exit strategy, 2 conference presentations, 2 unforeseen challenges. Wednesday. mukund User Interface plays such an important part in user acceptance. Good UI, bad app= Good product, Bad UI, Great app = Awful. anniemal u know what i like most about my office? watching some1 skateboard past my glass office to theirs, holding a memo fm the printer saleemkhan @peterdawson 1404EDT Individuals, maybe; institutions, no. We (journalists) must blame ourselves for poor choices & creating fakexperts pkedrosky @mathewi @howardlindzon to make the stocktwit project work you need a widespread financial twhirl that has embedded ticker hashing mathewi @pkedrosky: i dare you to repeat that exact sentence to someone who doesn't spend most of their life online and see what they say monkchips oh yeah in case you're wondering why the bot just went insane. it skipped lunch, then accessed a banana, some plain chocolate biscuits, tea. saleemkhan @tamera 1229EDT I do not pimp. I collect information, assess, synthesize, make a determination and, if needed, recommendation. That is all. gapingvoid via @Obstructionist: "I've always measured how full of shit someone was by the number of times they use 'synergy' in an email." ryancoleman judging by the way he drives, today's bus driver is clearly a binary kind of guy - his pedals seem to be either on or off... timoreilly Wikipedia: estimate 100 million hours of cognitive activity to build. Television: US alone spends 200 billion hours/year.
--
Peter Dawson

"This message is printed on Recycled Electrons."
Thought Flickr's the Home of Peter Dawson
http://peterdawson.blogspot.com


Ph: 905 270 0574
Email : slash.pd@gmail.com
Skype: Slash.pd

Friday, May 02, 2008

Google Apps Hacking

This post is done via hack#109 . (pg 265) . Its my normal way of offline quick Blogging !!

Wondering why ack114 got into the book. Its all about going beyond Google. Some quick Pics that were taken attached. Will need to browse thru more for some interesting hacks :)-

Smart Grid Enginnering

While doing some reasearch I come across this new Term - SMART GRID ENGINNEERING"

WTF is that ??

"A Smart Grid combines advanced sensing technology, two-way high-speed communications, 24/7 monitoring and enterprise analysis software and related services to provide location-specific, real-time action-able data to all departments in a utility services"

Ok that answered my question :)-