Would you believe that a base unit with a monitor can be sold for as little as $225? Although there is no mentioning of the O/S and software that is included, buyers can get it all for a mere pittance in India. There are some amazing offers in westernised countries as well. In the UK, for example, a Linux box can be as cheap as 140 pounds ($247) plus tax, albeit it does not include a monitor. From the article in the BBC:

India’s first low-cost personal computer has been launched in the Tamil Nadu state capital, Madras.

Designed by IT firm HCL Infosystems, it is priced at 9,990 rupees ($225) and includes all the basic features required for a first-time user.

There is no mentioning of which operating system is used; the acronym PC is no indicator either.

Google have introduced yet another ‘toy’ which re-uses the software from Google Satellite maps. This time, all data being used is imagery from NASA‘s past moon landings.

With nicer innovations and envious ad-free page layouts, is it truly a surprise when Microsoft executives migrate to Google? Tension is growing between these two camps as Miscrsoft recently acquired similar technologies and map data. These interactive maps have enormous value as they add a geographical aspect to the World Wide Web, which is presently in chaos. This has a huge advertising potential.

“Now, this is one heck of a big fish!”

hown above is an enormous catfish. Even my Thai colleague was flabbergasted by the image on my monitor. My strict diet relies on fish so I could not resist posting this picture which demonstrated the size of the very unusual ocean salvage. Unfortunately, it will end up on somebody’s table.

Fishermen in northern Thailand have netted a fish as big as a grizzly bear, a 646-pound Mekong giant catfish, the heaviest recorded since Thai officials started keeping records in 1981. The behemoth was caught in the Mekong River and may be the largest freshwater fish ever found.

Source: Science Blog

Click to enlarge the image

oogle Earth is a project which strongly impresses me. I got hold of a Windows machine where Google Earth had been installed and grabbed a few screenshots of streets around Manchester, UK.

Given the satellite data, this technology is not overly innovative. All that is required are mappings of existing satellite images onto a sphere, then relying on OpenGL acceleration. The real issues to be faced are bandwidth and Google’s progress on 3-D geographical data acquisition.

What screenshots cannot show is the excellent real-time interaction with the scene. Roads, street names and other details can be toggled on/off. There is also some highly continuous motion when hovering from one place to another. To get a better impression, you may wish to view this gallery with more sample images.

OV-Ray, an Open Source 3-D rendering package that could compete with the commercial Maya, was mentioned a while back. Some months ago a competition was run which involved POV-Ray artists and a submissions gallery has been put up.

These images serve as excellent wallpapers. Several images are of very high resolution, which works well on dual-head displays.

Might be hard notice that the kitchen is computer-generated
Work by Jaime Vives Piqueres

igh-resolution satellite pictures of the States have been available for quite a few months. These have now been extended, by Google Maps, to including other major cities, London and Manchetser included. I took screenshots of places that are familiar to me and marked up my home among other key locations. It now seems obvious how close I live to most places, with the longest walk — to the health club — which takes only 15 minutes.

Click map to enlarge

ry comparing news feeds from CNN against those from the BBC. I am subscribed to various feeds from both and in CNN no descriptions are bound to the titles. Why even syndicate if the subscriber gets 2-word provocative titles? The BBC is different, possibly because it has no commercial interests. It also opened its news API to the public recently, which was inarguably a wise step.

The ‘greedy feed’ attitude will possibly change due to Google’s embedment of adverts in feeds. This, in turn, is likely to set a precedent and motivate competitors (e.g. Overture) to do likewise. The official Google Factory Tour includes a preview of AdSense in feeds; see the picture at the bottom-right corner of the page.