life
It’s time for me to bid farewell
Fortunately or unfortunately, this is going to be my last post on this blog 😐
I know it isn’t fair to have a blog and allow it to decay without posting for a long time. But, I’m not able to spend enough time updating blogs, so I’ll have to let some go. Sadly, this one gets the axe. I’m not going to delete it and anyone can make free use of whatever is present here. There will be no more posts on this blog 😐
With a heavy heart, it’s time to bid adios. Thanks a lot, my dear friends! 🙂 I really enjoyed each one of your thoughtful comments! I value our friendship and will keep in touch with you by different means. Thank you, WordPress, for the amazing blogging platform you’ve created! Wish you all good luck, great health, prosperity and eternal happiness!
Adieu, mes amis! 🙂
A laptop for $10!
When the Government of India’s Ministry of Education announced that it was planning to unveil an ultra low cost laptop for 500 INR (10 USD/8 EUR), the announcement was met with widespread skepticism. This ultra low cost laptop, developed in association with some university departments, was meant to be used by students and was supposed to be a rugged, energy efficient laptop that performed basic computing functions.
The worthless Indian media has been projecting it as India’s answer to the OLPC XO, the student laptop that was expected to cost $100, but ended up costing double that amount. The cheapest laptop at the moment is Jointech’s J-PRO JL7100 Mini Laptop that costs $99. So how could a device be developed for one-tenth of that price?
The “laptop” was unveiled today at Venkateswara University in Tirupathi, in the presence of ministers and government officials. Did it live up to the promise of being the world’s cheapest laptop? Here is a picture of the “laptop”:
The $10 “laptop”, Sakshat…
As it turns out, it is neither a laptop nor does it cost 10 USD! The device is rumoured to cost around 1000 INR (20 USD/16 EUR) at the moment, but a lot of “finetuning” and mass production should see the price drop to $10.
Details are sketchy, but the device is supposed to measure 10″ x 5″ and reportedly has 2 GB of memory, Ethernet and WiFi connectivity, USB port and consume very little power. It can be connected to another computer or a printer. As can be seen in the picture, the device seems to have a tiny display.
What’s clear though, is that the $10 laptop is not a “laptop” by any stretch of the imagination! It seems to be a storage device with a tiny integrated display and some connectivity features. The government wants to distribute it to schools to enable students to download e-books and journals from its education portal. It has reportedly made deals with some textbook publishers for the content, some of it for free.
For the Indian media which has been projecting the device as India’s answer to low cost laptops and claiming that the device would usher in a revolution by bridging the “digital divide”, the unveiling of the “laptop” must have come as a rude shock! Well, that’s how useless the mainstream media in India really is. They don’t have a clue of what’s going on and keep dishing out sheer nonsense. For those who believed that this could be another ultra low cost product from India that has the potential to be a resounding success after the Tata Nano, the “laptop” turned out to be a damp squib! The officials had no answer when they were asked why the device was being touted as a laptop when it was not one. 😡
For now, the technology joke of the year can be awarded jointly to two of India’s worst institutions, the government bureaucracy and the mainstream media!!! 😀
The Vatican looks to harness technology to spread the Word of God
In tune with the times, the Vatican has given the nod to spread the Bible in as many languages as possible using modern means of mass communication.
The Word of God on a pen drive . . .
Image: http://blog.pcnews.ro
At a conference in the Vatican, Catholic bishops argued that the written word was not sufficient and have called for the Holy Bible to be spread using the internet, CDs, DVDs and even iPods. According to an official statement from the Vatican, “The voice of the Divine Word must resonate over the radio, on Internet channels with virtual distribution (and by) CDs, DVDs and iPods, and on television and cinema screens.”
Watch a short video about listening to the Word of God . . .
(If the video does not load, you can watch it here.)
While the Holy See has always been quick to adopt new technologies like the internet to keep pace with the changing times, it still clings on to some outdated beliefs and practices that have no place in the modern world 😐
Science, Engineering & Technology 