Pranav Mistry: The thrilling potential of SixthSense technology

Chrome OS can start a PC in less than 7 seconds

New Google software will start up a computer as fast as a television, according to Google, as it showed off its Chrome operating system designed for computers.
Source

Events related to ‘Design in India’ in the month of November 2009

November 2009. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1. Happening:‘An Arc of Infinity’ – making of the world's longest 'Graffiti Scroll'Nov 1, 2009 at IDC, IIT Bombay http://www.inaplanetofourown.net/
2. International Conference, Workshops, Exhibition:'In a Planet of Our Own' - A Vision of Sustainability from across six continentsNov 3 - 7, 2009 at IDC, IIT Bombay http://www.inaplanetofourown.net/
3. TED Conference:‘Ted India – the future beckonsNov 4 - 7, 2009 at Mysore http://conferences.ted.com/TEDIndia/
4. Roundtable on trends at NIFT, DelhiINSIGHT INDIA 2009 organised by Onio Design and Style-Vision with supporting institution NIFT, Delhi6 – 7 November 2009, New Delhihttp://www.oniodesign.com/roundtable
5. Conference
   The NASSCOM Animation & Gaming India 20096 – 7 November 2009, Hyderabad http://www.nasscom.org/nasscom/templates/flagshipEvents.aspx?id=57264
6. Related Conference: at Delhi ‘India Economic Summit 2009'
   Theme: India's Next Generation of Growth8-10 November, in Delhi at Taj Palace Hotel http://www.weforum.org/en/events/IndiaEconomicSummit2009
7. Workshop in Ahmedabad:‘Design Ergonomics’November 11-13, 2009 at NID, Ahmedabad http://www.nid.edu/nidworkshop/workshop_user.aspx
8. International Trade fair at New Delhi ‘India International Trade Fair (IITF) 2009’14th – 27th November, 2009 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi http://www.iitfonweb.com/
9. Conference in Aligarh:‘Ergonomics for Improved Productivity’ 21-22 November 2009 at Z H College of Engineering & Technology, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarhhttp://sites.google.com/a/zhcet.ac.in/eip2009/Home

If you know of other events related to design in India, do email:contact[at]designinindia.net orcontact[at]in-de-as.org 'Design, Peace and Cheers'
The above event list taken from HCIIDC forum.

Chowmahalla Palace - Timings

This might be useful information for tourist who are planning to visit this wonderful palace in Hyderabad.

Chowmahalla Palace

Open: All Days except Friday
Closed: Fridays and National Holidays
Timings: 10.00am to 5.00pm

Flickr Reaches 4 Billion Photos, Continues to Grow

It seems that every autumn, Flickr continues to pass over yet another landmark in image hosting. While in November 2007, it reached the 2 billion photo mark and in the month of November 2008 it reached the next milestone, 3 billion, the company got ahead of itself with one month and reached the 4 billion mark a few days ago.

The photo can be viewed here and was immediately noticed as the lucky image upload by one of Flickr's users. This comes to no surprise to industry experts who share a general opinion that Flickr will be hard to take down as the top image hosting service by any of its competition. This includes Wikimedia Commons, PhotoBucket or ImageShack.

And if some of those industry experts don't agree with their colleagues, a “Flickr is Hiring” blog post published a month ago should convince them that the service is clearly in an expansion period. Checking the Jobs Page on Flickr, we found out that the jobs are still opened “for a few talented geeks to join […] (a) panda-wrangling, daily-deploying, shard-juggling squad, based in downtown San Francisco.”

Capitalizing on its huge success, Yahoo also jumped on the Flickr bandwagon, recently adding its logo to the Flickr service. Even if it owned Flickr for a long-time now (March 2005), this was the first time it publicly displayed its logo on Flickr's page. Users were quick to jump at criticizing Yahoo for its lack of marketing effort all these years, only to pop its trademark when things got really good.

The main core of the Yahoo criticism is rooted in the days of 2007, when many Yahoo! Photos users where forced to migrate to another image hosting company, mainly Flickr (options for Multiply, Shutterfly, Snapfish, Kodak Gallery or Photobucket were added later), being informed that Yahoo! Photos would shut down and the photos deleted.

In the beginning, not many of those users were informed that Flickr was owned by Yahoo at that time, so a big number of them still think that Yahoo had abandoned them a couple of years ago, and now comes in to force its logo inside a service that they had not fully recognized or marketed as an entire Yahoo product all these years.

Source

AP Flood Disaster: A step further!

AP is witnessing a flood disaster in the state that has taken away lives, property and has displaced many people. Thousands have lost their lives and many are left homeless.

People were trapped in many parts of the state in worst floods in recent memory inundated the districts in Andhra Pradesh. People have lost their houses and belongings. The standing crops are gone. Flood has destroyed the total source of their livelihood. Many families are also struggling to cope amid food shortages.

When you lose everything it is very hard to recover, however a helping hand from you will bail them out temporarily out of starvation.

VLF has always been in the fore-front in responding and helping the needy. VLF has joined hands with HYSEA & NASSCOM who are helping in coordinating and ensuring that the collections reach the needy in time.

Source (ValueLabs)

Usability and Accessibility

Usability
Usability is a measure of the quality of a user’s experience in interacting with information or services. It is about making web sites easy for customers to find the exact information they need when they need it. Usability is affected by a combination of factors including look-and-feel, navigation, interface design, information architecture, accessibility and compatibility.

Accessibility
Information on the Web is accessible when it achieves the highest level of usability - it means that everyone can find and use it. Offering equal access to disabled users is compelling, helps to build Web site audience and grow a loyal customer base.

(Source)