Thursday, November 11, 2010

Nexus Two

I luv my Nexus One. Though it was not a great HIT.., it wasn’t a Blow for Google.

I am looking forward for Nexus Two , and this time its most likely gona be Samsung.

General Pros of Nexus [Numbers] from Google :

1) Its well tested for the OS and Hardware Compatibility

2) Apps developed by most of the developers gets first tested on Nexus models, u might not be able to guarantee that the same app might work perfectly on another Android Phone if it were to have hardware issues.

3) Google themselves promote Nexus models for Android Developers, and hence, its not just the test playground, but you can be sure that , OS upgrade compatibility is for sure to work on your mobile, and in addition to that you’ll be the first to get it, before any other peer models do.

Cons: 1) Nexus is great among developers, but usually never gets a great hype like models that get released after Nexus launch, so there is risk of getting alienated, with possible accessories to match Nexus models.

2) Accessories for Nexus One, were available only from Google’s Nexus Store, and its price never changes. (Example : Car Dock and Desk Dock)

Have a look at (this possible) Nexus Two, with front facing camera.

500x_gizmodo_nexustwo-1

(Thank you Gizmodo.com for the image)

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Creativity–by APJ

“Learning brings creativity

Creativity nurtures thinking

Thinking leads to knowledge

Knowledge makes you Great”

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Warren Buffett May Be Getting Unwanted Phone Call from Goldman Sachs - CNBC

I think Warren is D only guy who has the power and knows the know how's to whip these kings of WallStreet from a small street in Nebraska.
Read this article attached with a link to CNBC newsletter, and you will know how much he (Warren) has taken a risk over a period of 2 - years by investing in GS, and not just aimed at just the return on investment but as well he locked in with GS on a PPS of $115 as warrants. When he locked that deal on warrants, the price was some where less than that, which made GS easily accept the offer as well. He knew the real possible value of GS over a 3 years period, while even GS couldn't estimate it in that downturn (a person / organization in panic really underestimates his / her own capability and worth becomes true and Warren has clearly used it to his best) . Companies should always up-sell them selfs even in downturn is what one should learn from this deal that GS gave to Warren.

Warren Buffett May Be Getting Unwanted Phone Call from Goldman Sachs - CNBC

"Even while one has lost the game, never under quote your value, because there is always a game after that."

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Cloud computing - Adaptation is a challenge

        Internet is poised to be available in every single electronic device before the end 2050 (let assume – it might be earlier than that too). As you might observe, we are currently seeing mostly IP addresses that are of the format xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx (32 bits long), and this will soon max out, i.e. we are have almost exploited 2^32 different unique web addresses. With all this in place, you see your mobile phone which is connected to the internet (usually if it’s a Smart Phone), and the number of smart phones in usage is expected to grow over 200% over the next couple of years, and when so many number of smart phone are used, each will need its IP address where we might definitely exploit the remaining few IPv4 Addresses. Will that break the Internet? No. Possibly not, because IPv6 (next gen) is ready and I believe a lot more companies have started to develop their devices IPv6 compatible, even if some hardware is currently not compatible, its firmware (software embedded within the hardware) can be flashed with the new version which is IPv6 compatible and continue to survive the upbeat around IPv6 era. So this will form a platform for expansion of cloud further, and will the users get to experience this transition? May be! But, with the way technology has aligned itself in a way to make it transparent for users. So you might suddenly see that your IP address has a 128 bit long address (can accommodate 2^128 unique addresses) instead of the usual 32 bit. Now this should and will form the infrastructure to support the expansion of cloud further and beyond limits of imagination. For example, you might have an IP address for every electrical / electronic device (wired or wireless) , at home or mobile, and owner of the device might be able to access it from anywhere to pass or retrive information. The device basically should have a cache, but real data that the device processes might be in the cloud.

        I remember my Professor for Network Engineering who is working for BAE gave us some freezing ideas on the way future will be engineered with identification and tracking of every single object (including humans) that’s moving around in any place as big as a city like New York, by using a unique IP for each object. But that’s way too far, since the level of infrastructure needed to make it perfect is far beyond what we can setup in next 5 decades.

        Having said that the platform to accommodate expansion of cloud being ready, we can now dive into and see the possibilities of what could be observed as a future in this cloud. In clear sense, One should be able to access any device/data (that they have privilege to access) from any where they want to. A few stones need to be turned before that’s reached. Accessing any device / data is not just the requirement, but a need that has to be met. Let’s assume you want to print a document, and this should be done in such a way that you have access to the document from any device of your choice, and you should be able to send it to a printer of your choice, where ever you are. In other words, document / data should not be in a closed box, but in the cloud for you to access from anywhere. I still see my friends who are reluctant to upload their data to a different place / server. If you observe the transition from Mainframe to Client-server, it was lead by Large Businesses at first and later followed by Small Businesses, and then it was further utilized by end users. With the cloud computing we are talking about a transition from Client-server to Cloud. Large and Small Businesses are reluctant to switch to Cloud based infrastructure for their businesses, primarily because of Security concerns etc. of leaving their data exposed to open world, and it has lead to creation of a subset of cloud called Private Cloud. This in reality does not serve the purpose. I see that, with unprecedented growth of Social Network in today’s world, we can observe that end users, are ready to export their data (to certain extent) to the cloud, and cloud based services appear to grow without much hindrance around user centric data. Also I do see that certain providers have begun to master the reliability and safety of such data. In other words, the real Client-server to Cloud transition appears to best work in a reverse adaptation process of that which was followed for Mainframe to Client-server. When the technology is matured enough to satisfy end users on cloud based applications, it should be safe enough for Small and Large Businesses to convert their Private Cloud to real Cloud based infrastructure. Though we talk and hear about cloud computing to greater extent these days, a complete implementation will be a real challenge.

Monday, October 4, 2010

Gold Price surge over $1300 and will reach $2000 soon – how ? Lets see.

Around 1980’s the price of gold surged from $200 to $850 (Why?)

Situation in 1980’s (around) : 1) Inflation (double digit),

2) Commodities price were surging, and

3) Soviet was in War in mid east, as a result Oil was inflated too.

4) As a result of above 2, there was fear of instability. Inflation was driven by cause 2 and 3.

5) In 1971 Nixon changed that gold is not going to be standards any more for currency, and countries were getting used to new model, where in reality they had trouble working with the new system in controlling inflation (obviously it was a new system in the era of mainframes where study was all on papers)

Result :

Inflation adjusted gold price was surging.

Major factors

Fear of instability in the world (since one of major world powers were at war),  and Inflation contributed by fear at war in mid east + new currency system in place with new double digit inflation rates.

Comparing it to today's world

Current Situation: 1) Fear of systemic risk with the economies of world where real numbers appear more to be just as temporary results (short lived) because of excessive volatility in the market. (Couldn't point the actual direction of the move)

2) Commodities price are under control in Developed Nations, and out of control in developing nations. (As said in those days systems dint exist to control this, but now with that in place, banks find it as a way to give the economy to start purchasing more)

3) Inflation is triggered in Developed Nations, but system does not respond, but Developing nations have high inflation. ( Inflation is healthy if by demand, but not due to short of supply & Developed Nations are cat on the wall with this factor)

4) Developing nations have and are buying debt from Developed Nations, in other words, liquidity should reduce in developing nations and increase is in Developed nations. It appears that liquidity which is needed to be present in Developed Nations where central banks expect inflation to be triggered as a result of it, but actual investment and liquidity increases every day in Developing nations. Watch this!!! Emerging market Investment opportunities appears to be the drain hole here.

5) On the whole, basic factors for gold surge such as Inflation and fear of systemic failure of world economy is still there, but where and how its present is what that needs to be defined.

Inflation should be expected only where there is liquidity or surge of liquidity. One cannot expect water out of a dried out spring. But in which part the world inflation is currently going up? its in developing nations, but finally its there.. so nothing to worry. Its a concern that, its not there in Developed Nations, and it makes sense that it need not be present, as liquidity never appears to be present or take shape in Developed nations as its expected to be because of few drains which emerged as a result of globalization.

Fear, the next factor. Should we teach economist and media of how to propagate fear? Never. They will do better a job, and they are doing it. Actually fear does exists, because , system that's suppose to work in a world of globalization which was child of capitalism doesn't seem to obey the law of its parent. Banks in developed nations expect a spin up in economy to drive inflation, but they don't have a system to stop its child (globalization) or control it that's created some drain pipes, because if they do that, Bonds will have to be paid down finally & that's something that's not possible now, unless developed nations start producing more than what they consume. Well finally fear exist in markets where investments are triggered. Its like 10% of developed economy is happy that they are able to stay in control of funds invested in Developing nations where they pay and maintain 60% of its economy. But the rest 90% of developed economy keeps consuming the produce of 90% of developing nations. Do you get it? Yes, globalization should slow down.. Well, what's here now is what's here.. . Finally “ If a system is known, and works the way we want to, there is nothing to worry. “ But, here a System is evolving, and investors who play by probability, cannot come up with a number to play with their investments, till they system is studied well. Fear will exists for any one in a new planet till the planet is mapped. So does this, system needs to be mapped of how its going to work. Till then fear will exists.

Conclusion:

Till the time, Fear stops growing, and Inflation happens where its expected to happen, certain assets that investors count on basis of perfect probability will continue to grow. Gold does satisfy this, as its used every where in the world, and especially used as a real world commodity in places like India and China. If their banks buy those gold reserves, it does makes sense, as we expect that's where current liquidity should be.

My estimations:

By Factor of Inflation:

Just by considering an ideal system an counting on US inflation from 1980 till now, we see an inflation of 200% over 30 years, and I expect gold to be hovering around $1200-1250 if thing were same as 1980.

Globalization is a like the savior here. Thanks. Do you know why? Money / Liquidity does not matter any more as long as its any where in this world. I don't need to worry any more about Inflation just in US alone any more. Global inflation especially including China and India should be considered, and we could see by 2011 we should see gold hit a price of $1500. Cumulating the inflation hedge alone with eliminating of fear factor that's present now in this new global economy, we can be sure, that gold can hit a price of $2000 by mid of 2011 or late 2011.

By Factor of Dollar Index:

History shows that Dollar goes up, gold goes down. Inverse proportion. Since dollar is further dipping, gold hasn't surged that much.. Why? Reason, significance of Dollar Index in relation to gold is affected by other stable currencies.

By Factor of Fear:

Truly there is no number for fear factor in Index. But this is just a hype. Tomorrow if we see news flashing with good numbers , this fear could be equal to nothing. I would say, there is a slight fear factor for Investors who are not able to formulate they economy. I would say, still fear factor is near minimal at the moment or its effect on gold price might have been there when mid east unrest was due to war in Iraq, but now its no more. NATO is having control of dry lands of Afghanistan. And this country in history had minimal significance in world economy, so does it now. May be NATO lost , world still does not looses anything, but if the War is won by NATO, then its good, as one more nation will join the bandwagon of manufacturing nations to supply batteries to power car in 2020 and beyond. So no loss nor gain. Spending on War just helps the economy as well. No doubt, some one gets the money when they sell weapon, and it comes back to the system of economy, increasing liquidity. But when the current system model is identified, that's the point where Gold will start its revision / correction, if there was numbers infused by fear apart form existing global average of Inflation.

Final

Inflation is there, and you can clearly see that its going up(global average).

May be a rebalance of where Inflation will happen might change in future. But there is so much liquidity to be experienced, when the new system is mapped and hauled.

Gold follows this global inflation numbers now, and will continue to do it.

Saturday, October 2, 2010

FOR THE FUTURE

High speed computing could impact with sever repercussion's if not corrected now (I mean the algorithm and the bureaucracy around it)
 
 
Gambling not just in casinos any more.
Any one with a good suit of IT Infrastructure(High speed) can experience it in NYSE, NASDAQ too.
 
In my blog this is possibly the first reason that I have put under the title "FOR THE FUTURE" where I would like to point out a correctable function that I think needs to be corrected in THIS world where it has turned out to be in 2010 !!! Let me see - if this changes...

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

What Darwin never knew

There is something to know from this...


Watch the full episode. See more NOVA.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

PowerShell – Windows

Thought it will be interesting to share with you all , these steps involved in certifying PowerShell scripts.
I tried it on Windows 7. So here it is.
Go to C:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v6.0A\Bin>
Run the command
C:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v6.0A\Bin>makecert.exe -n "CN=PowerShell Local Certificate Root" -a sha1 -eku 1.3.6.1.5.5.7.3.3 -r -sv root.pvk root.cer -ss Root -sr localMachine
You will be prompted to create PrivateKey Password
Following which you will be required to enter the Private Key to successfully create the certificate.
type mmc, and in the console, add (Ctrl+M) Certificate
image
Under trusted root certifications you should be able to see the PowerShell Certificate you created for code signing.
image
now run this command
C:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v6.0A\Bin>makecert -pe -n "CN=PowerShell User" -ss MY -a sha1 -eku 1.3.6.1.5.5.7.3.3 -iv root.pvk -ic root.cer
and you will be prompted to enter your password again.
image
Now in PowerShell to verify your certificate type the following command , and you should see some thing like this.
image
Here is the final fun.. that uve been waiting for.
in my case I had a simple ps1 file which needed to be signed, and I signed it using the command
image
you need not be in a specific directory to sign your code. Its your option of where ever u wana be, like in Starbucks etc.

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Android – Simple Layout creation method

You can create such layouts easily as a first step towards developing android apps, by using Eclipse IDE with the SDK.
image
XML File / Code associated with the above Layout
<LinearLayout android:id="@+id/LinearLayout01"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:orientation="vertical" >
     <LinearLayout
    android:id="@+id/LinearLayout02"
    android:layout_height="fill_parent"
    android:layout_width="fill_parent"
    android:background="#3D3D3D"
    android:layout_weight="4">
        <TextView
        android:text="Header"
        android:textSize="15pt"
        android:layout_width="fill_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:gravity="center"
        android:layout_weight="1"></TextView>
    </LinearLayout>
    <LinearLayout
    android:id="@+id/LinearLayout03"
    android:layout_height="fill_parent"
    android:background="#ffffff"
    android:orientation="horizontal"
    android:layout_width="fill_parent"
    android:layout_weight="1">
    <TextView
    android:text="red"
    android:id="@+id/TextView01"
    android:layout_width="wrap_conent"
    android:layout_height="fill_parent"
    android:layout_weight="1"
    android:gravity="center_horizontal" android:background="#aa0000"></TextView>
    <TextView
    android:text="blue"
    android:id="@+id/TextView01"
    android:layout_width="wrap_conent"
    android:layout_height="fill_parent"
    android:layout_weight="1"
    android:gravity="center_horizontal" android:background="#0000aa"></TextView>
    <TextView
    android:text="green"
    android:id="@+id/TextView01"
    android:layout_width="wrap_conent"
    android:layout_height="fill_parent"
    android:layout_weight="1"
    android:gravity="center_horizontal" android:background="#00aa00"></TextView>
    </LinearLayout>
    <LinearLayout
    android:id="@+id/LinearLayout04"
    android:layout_height="fill_parent"
    android:layout_width="fill_parent"
    android:background="#3D3D3D"
    android:layout_weight="4">
        <TextView
        android:text="Footer"
        android:textSize="15pt"
        android:layout_width="fill_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:gravity="center"
        android:layout_weight="1"></TextView>
    </LinearLayout>
</LinearLayout>
-----
You should also be able to find more examples on http://developer.android.com

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Activity Management in Android

image

When you first start an application by clicking on a icon. Android starts the Task (Lets say Task1). For an example lets say the task 1 was an Web Browser Task. Initially there will be only 1 Activity(Activity1) and that is the Web Browser. In the Web site, if you had a link which will possibly be a Number of the xxx-xxx-xxxx format. Then When you click it, it will call the specific number that you clicked. It has to call via the Phone Application. Instead of creating New Task 2, It will call in the Phone Application and launch it as activity 2. So, one Activity can call another, and all those Activities get stacked up in the Parent Task which was created when we launched the Browser.

While working on a sets of Activities in the Task, if you were to click on Back Button, it will remove the Activity

from the top of the stack and display the lower task. In other words, going back to the Activity which you removed recently by hitting Back Button is not possible. Each hit on Back button unloads the top most Activity in the Stack. When there is the last Activity, and when you click Back Button you end up going to the Home Screen.

While having a Task / Stack with Set of Activities running in them, if you go back to the Home Screen, and choose a different application, a new Task is created. Which is on top of previous task. And inside this Current task you can create a set of Activities… which run on top of one another. Going back to the Previous Task (Task 1) is very simple. Go back to Home Screen, and click the Icon for Task 1(in this case, as we discussed above we launched Task 1 by clicking the Web Browser, so click that).

One Drawback is: Unloading Activity is not reversible. From a better perspective this should be possible in future, because undo should always be an option. The reason is one Activity can collect good amount of data.., and if you just loose all those by clicking Back.., it doesn't serve the purpose..

State diagram for an Android activity lifecycle. 

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English and Japanese Keyboard in Android AVD

Problem: Some times while working on Android AVD, it might switch to Japanese Keyboard. Even modifying the settings on Menu will not work.

Way out: Keep pressing the ALT Key at the left bottom corner to switch back to English.

Friday, May 7, 2010

Did you know – Nexus One Details – For AVD

OS: Android 2.1 API 7

Resolution: 480 x 800 – (WVGA800)

Valid & Invalid SD Memory Size:

Invalid SD Size : 0-8,2047-4104,6144-8200
Valid SD Size:9-2047,4105-6143,8201

LCD Density: 240

Nut:When you create an AVD on a 1Ghz Windows machine, the time to create AVD will approximately be the same time as it will take for a Nexus One to boot.

Setting Up Android Development Environment

Download - Java 5.0 SDK – From Oracle’s Sun Download website. (look for previous versions. because you might see only Java 6.0 SDK

Install SDK

If you downloaded J2EE, then Settings might be required, but does not really matter what ever you might give.

User Name: admin

Password: ******

Admin Port: 4848

HTTP: 8080

HTTPS: 8181

Unzip – Eclipse and Move to Program Files Folder

Unzip – Android and Move to My Documents (You want to move it in here because of some permission issues which you might hit, if you place it in Program Files Folder – Windows Might hit you back hard which will

prevent you form updating the Android SDK updates that are sent over web)

Configure System Environment Variable Path: With the value of directory path to Tools folder of Android SDK.

Path: ……<Currently Existing Path values>…. ; C:\<My Document Folder>\android-sdk-windows\tools

Open Eclipse.exe

Update the software if required

Click on Help> Install Software

Click on Add

Name: Android Plugin

Location: http://dl-ssl.google.com/android/eclipse

Click OK, and Install the Plugin.

Read – and once you AGREE to Terms and Conditions accept it, and continue

Installation Progress window appears wait for it to complete.

You might possibly try going to

Help > Android SDK and AVD Manager

Choose Available Packages

And if any available to your interest you can select those and install those packages.

You are now all set for Android Application Development using Eclipse as IDE.

As of Publishing date I had these packages were available

image

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