What is RSS ?

Tim O'Reilly writes :

RSS is the most significant advance in the fundamental architecture of the web since early hackers realized that CGI could be used to create database-backed websites. RSS allows someone to link not just to a page, but to subscribe to it, with notification every time that page changes. Skrenta calls this "the incremental web." Others call it the "live web".

Now, of course, "dynamic websites" (i.e., database-backed sites with dynamically generated content) replaced static web pages well over ten years ago. What's dynamic about the live web are not just the pages, but the links. A link to a weblog is expected to point to a perennially changing page, with "permalinks" for any individual entry, and notification for each change. An RSS feed is thus a much stronger link than, say a bookmark or a link to a single page.

RSS also means that the web browser is not the only means of viewing a web page. While some RSS aggregators, such as Bloglines, are web-based, others are desktop clients, and still others allow users of portable devices to subscribe to constantly updated content.

RSS is now being used to push not just notices of new blog entries, but also all kinds of data updates, including stock quotes, weather data, and photo availability. This use is actually a return to one of its roots: RSS was born in 1997 out of the confluence of Dave Winer's "Really Simple Syndication" technology, used to push out blog updates, and Netscape's "Rich Site Summary", which allowed users to create custom Netscape home pages with regularly updated data flows. Netscape lost interest, and the technology was carried forward by blogging pioneer Userland, Winer's company. In the current crop of applications, we see, though, the heritage of both parents.

Keyboard or Pen

As they say "The pen is mightier than the sword". But, I would say Keyboard has become mightier. Blogging has given new dimension to the above quote by Edward_Bulwer-Lytton. Blogging has given individuals the freedom to exercise their right to ‘freedom of expression’.

Apart from giving a global reach to the web community it allows bloggers to publicise their area of interest without bothering much about who’s who of the readers in different parts of the world.

Given the free sites like Blogspot, Bloglines, etc,. which allow you to create blogs, and other sites providing free services like hit counter, xml feeds, blog ratings form easy ingredients for bloggers to use.

Shall this new trend of sharing information, rephrase the quote as “Keyboard is mightier than fighter jets” ? Or advancing further should we say “Blogging is mightier than nuclear weapons” ?

What Matrix Persona Are You?

You are Morpheus, from "The Matrix." You have strong faith in yourself and those around you. A true leader, you are relentless in your persuit.

What Matrix Persona Are You?

Reality of "Taj Mahal"

"The Moghul Emperor Shah Jahan in the memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal built the Taj Mahal. It was built in 22 years (1631 to 1653) by 20,000 artisans brought to India from all over the world. Many people believe Ustad Isa of Iran designed it." This is what your guide probably told you if you ever visited the Taj Mahal. This is the same story I read in my history book as a student.

NOW READ THIS.......
No one has ever challenged it except Prof. P. N. Oak, who believes the whole world has been duped. In his book Taj Mahal: The True Story, Oak says the Taj Mahal is not Queen Mumtaz's tomb but an ancient Hindu temple palace of Lord Shiva (then known as Tejo Mahalaya) . In the course of his research Oak discovered that the Shiva temple palace was usurped by Shah Jahan from then Maharaja of Jaipur, Jai Singh. In his own court chronicle, Badshahnama, Shah Jahan admits that an exceptionally beautiful grand mansion in Agra was taken from Jai Singh for Mumtaz's burial . The ex-Maharaja of Jaipur still retains in his secret collection two orders from Shah Jahan for surrendering the Taj building. Using captured temples and mansions, as a burial place for dead courtiers and royalty was a common practice among Muslim rulers.

For example, Humayun, Akbar, Etmud-ud-Daula and Safdarjung are all buried in such mansions. Oak's inquiries began with the name of Taj Mahal. He says the term "Mahal" has never been used for a building in any Muslim countries from Afghanisthan to Algeria . "The unusual explanation that the term Taj Mahal derives from Mumtaz Mahal was illogical in atleast two respects. Firstly, her name was never Mumtaz Mahal but Mumtaz-ul-Zamani," he writes. Secondly, one cannot omit the first three letters 'Mum' from a woman's name to derive the remainder as the name for the building."Taj Mahal", he claims, is a corrupt version of Tejo Mahalaya, or Lord Shiva's Palace. Oak also says the love story of Mumtaz and Shah Jahan is a fairy tale created by court sycophants, blundering historians and sloppy archaeologists. Not a single royal chronicle of Shah Jahan's time corroborates the love story.

Furthermore, Oak cites several documents suggesting the Taj Mahal predates Shah Jahan's era, and was a temple dedicated to Shiva, worshipped by Rajputs of Agra city. For example, Prof. Marvin Miller of New York took a few samples from the riverside doorway of the Taj . Carbon dating tests revealed that the door was 300 years older than Shah Jahan . European traveler Johan Albert Mandelslo, who visited Agra in 1638 (only seven years after Mumtaz's death), describes the life of the city in his memoirs. But he makes no reference to the Taj Mahal being built. The writings of Peter Mundy, an English visitor to Agra within a year of Mumtaz's death, also suggest the Taj was a noteworthy building well before Shah Jahan's time. Prof. Oak points out a number of design and architectural inconsistencies that support the belief of the Taj Mahal being a typical Hindu temple rather than a mausoleum. Many rooms in the Taj Mahal have remained sealed since Shah Jahan's time and are still inaccessible to the public. Oak asserts they contain a headless statue of Lord Shiva and other objects commonly used for worship rituals in Hindu temples. Fearing political backlash, Indira Gandhi's government tried to have Prof. Oak's book withdrawn from the bookstores, and threatened the Indian publisher of the first edition dire consequences.

From the archeological perspective to discredit or validate Oak's research, the current government should open the sealed rooms of the Taj Mahal under U.N. supervision, and let international experts investigate. But this won't be a good idea for a country like India. A situation could arise where a few religious zealots or politicians acting as religion guards will decide to destroy the Taj Mahal to restore the original temple, which may or may not exist underneath.

Sometimes its better to keep some things undiscovered for the better good of "religion", called humanity.

Magic 10000 - Sensex shining

FIIs continued it's inflow of funds, propelling the BSE to reach a magic figure of 10000. This was a moment to be noted in the history of Bombay stock exchange. On the other TV channels when Sachin was showing Pakistan way to the boundaries, we saw BSE hitting new highs.

But, that's not all. In days to come we could see Sensex peaking the heights of 15000. Budget will play a key role in fuelling the exchange further. Presently, country's economic policies are being designed, governed and closely monitored by the two economists, Dr. Manmohan singh (Prime Minister) and P. Chidambaram (Finance Minister). Both have earlier experience being the finance minister of the country. Mr. Singh introduced the 1991 Liberalisation policy, throwing economy open to the foreign investors when he was the FM. Mr. Chidambaram too in his last budget introduced policies, bringing common man's money into the equities.

Looking at the International market Dow, after the time of technology bubble burst, here is what Economic times reported today:

"Sensex crossed 6000, then a historic high, in the same year. But then, both the indices crashed as the technology bubble burst. However, the sensex suffered far more. Dow fell to a low of 7286 in late ’02, while the sensex plummeted to 2595 in late ’02.

Since then, however, the sensex has skyrocketed almost four-fold, while the Dow has not even recovered to its earlier peak. All those global financial managers who rated India as risky and the US market safe are looking rather foolish."

This clearly indicates the confidence shown by the FIIs in the Indian markets and Indian Economy.

Never start a project unless all the resources are available

This is one of my bitter experiences to have witnessed in my career. It's not only about the number of resources, but also their skill sets. Always commit the estimate, after you have evaluated the skill levels of the resources available. Concrete estimates come only after all the requirements are freezed up.

It should not happen that requirement that is given to you initially, is just a tip of the iceberg. Later on, you may find yourself trapped in a soup fighting over the new requirements and time, all the way throughout the project development. Especially, when you are also fully involved in coding, testing and management. This won't leave you with enough time to manage as well as solve the problems/hurdles.

Development is not the only factor that should be considered, but also the environment under which the work is to be carried out, plays an important role. Due to lack of office space in small companies I have seen developers being made to sit parallel to the marketing and call support departments. Core development requires peaceful atmosphere where developers can concentrate writing creative lines of code. Given the nature of job for marketing department, they are the people of interactive personality and are in the habit of sharing unwanted stuff whenever they find time between marketing calls. This may frequently interrupt the development process. It is not to blame them, but is the requirement of their job profile. I mean interactivity and not bugging the the developers :-).

One more aspect of environment is your software system environment. This is where you will initiate coding. Ensure that system environment is all setup to the satisfaction. If not, also provide the estimate for the same.