Virtualbox on Ubuntu Gutsy can be a lot of fun !

Funding for Mobile VAS start-ups

KGP Entrepreneurs meetup

Problems and Techniques

S. Young (1973):

“The danger we must always avoid is becoming peddlers of technique in search of problems rather than problem solvers in search of techniques.” 

The VoIP Mess: Is there a hope?

TRAI has submitted its recommendations for functional and structural revamp of Internet services to DoT.

Key recommendations:

1. Now any device (not just a PC) can be used to access Internet and IP-Telephony.

2. All ISPs have been permitted to provide Internet Telephony without any additional license.

3. All content available on Internet has been permitted. (Can anyone explain this?)

However, ISPs are still not permitted to have connectivity with PSTN. This one thing still proves that we’re not yet ready to accept free and fair competition in VoIP.

The Big Race

Not exactly a treasure hunt, the kind that I dream of, but still, it is nice to see people venturing out to places that are yet unexplored. The plan is to travel to 10 destinations with a budget of 1000 Rs per person. Of course, the money won’t be sufficient. Here’s what the FAQ has to say about this:

Yes it is not enough money. But this is what tests your creativity, your guts, stress management etc. Here are some ideas: Hitch hike in lorries, try to convince villagers to let you stay in their house for free, try to find alternate transport (dubious methods of traveling in public transport :P), make money on the way by doing some small work, dance on the road and put a cloth down to collect money :P… and if all else fails beg.

Click here to get more details.

Thought for the moment

Experience does not make everyone smarter. *sigh*

Legal English

Norman Fenton on technical writing (PDF):

Lawyers seem to have a language of their own. This is primarily to ensure that their documents are so difficult to understand that only other lawyers can read them. This ensures more work and money for lawyers because it forces ordinary people to pay lawyers for work they could do themselves. For some strange reason ordinary people often think they are being very clever by using legal words and expressions in their own writing. Do not fall into this trap. Avoid legal words like the following:

henceforth, forthwith, hereat, hereof, hereto, herewith, thereof, whereat and so on..

Also avoid stock phrases.