We beat moore's law 5 x !

Obviously roti, kapada our makan is more important.
From wikipedia

" states that every decade, the price of LEDs have fallen by 10x while the performance (measured in flux per unit) has increased by 20x, for a given wavelength (color) of light. It is considered the LED counterpart to Moore's Law, which states that the number of transistors in a given integrated circuit doubles every 18 to 24 months.

Haitz's Law is named after Dr. Roland Haitz, a now-retired scientist at Agilent Technologies."

heads up - 5 most ridiculous ELUA's

Did you know that when you download Google's new Chrome browser, you agree that any "content" you "submit, post or display" using the service — whether you own its copyright or not — gives Google a "perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to reproduce, adapt, modify, translate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute" it? Google's ambitions for Chrome are even larger than we thought; by the letter of this license, Google will own all information that flows through its browser. But Chrome's terms of service are just the latest in a long line of ludicrous legalese.

Read more here.

K-T boundary, ticks killed the dinos

Interesting theory, that seems kinda right.

Asteroid impacts or massive volcanic flows might have occurred around the time dinosaurs became extinct, but a new argument is that the mightiest creatures the world has ever known may have been brought down by a tiny, much less dramatic force -- biting, disease-carrying insects.

Read more here.

4 exciting new LED lighting products from Alternate

Alternate Lighting has announced the commercial debut of 4 new led lighting products in various verticals.
The indoor segment saw the introduction of 2 variants of 'ColdSpark' a 2.5 W GU5.3 MR16 compatible warm and cool white lamp. This is a direct drop in replacement for indoor halogen fixtures rated at 20W. There is also a 5 W range that is targeted at the 50W halogen replacement market.
The company has entered the industrial segment with 'Solitaire' a 1 W neutral white high CRI industrial sewing machine task lamp. This product is expected to have high penetration as it allows up to 50 % reduction in lighting costs for the price sensitive garment export industry.

OE shipments of 'Rhodium' a hybrid grid - solar capable street lighting solution with output range from 20W right upto 75W have also commenced.
The rural lighting segment was addressed using the 'Aadhi' community lighting solution. Aadhi is highly rated as it produces about 9 hours of constant lumen light from a single day's charge.


Disclosure : I work at Alternate.

அபூர்வமான மொழிபெயர்ப்பு கருவி

அங்கில தட்டச்சில் எழுதப்பட்டு சொயமாக கூகுளின் மென்பொருளால் மொழிபெயரபடுகிறது. இதன் பொருட்டு இன்ச்ச்ரிப்ட் தட்டச்சு மறையுமா ? பியன்படுட மிக சுலபமாக உள்லதூ. தொகபது சுலபம் அல்ல.

End of an era

George Carlin, the funniest man in the world, finally gave up and succumbed to a heart attack. The master has brightened many a day for me and provided shrewd insight into people and culture on the vehicle of his comedy. The world is a poorer place, but hey what the hell no one has escaped this planet alive. Read more about the masters life.
Good bye george. May the sun (or Joe pesci) protect you...

Why the left is wrong on energy taxation

There has been a significant jump is auto fuel costs across india. Petrol in Bangalore (highest in the country) is about Rs 58.60 /Lit (USD 5.15 / Gallon) to Delhi (lowest) which is about Rs 50.60 /lit (USD 4.45 / gallon). Diesel has shown a similar jump in costs though it is still heavily subsidized. This consumer hike is also accompanied by a huge hit in taxation as both customs duty and excise have been cut. The state governments (who typically levy between 20 - 26 % VAT) may cut the rates slightly, however the rise is not likely to fall below 8 % or so. This is still fine if you look at the background.

The public debate has been on how ´fair´ the hike is and the left front (along with the ever opportunistic right wing hindu parties) have been talking of cutting taxes to the bone etc. While i generally am sympathetic to the leftś agenda, this time around yechury is very wrong. And he is also being stupid in calling the losses incurred bythe oil majors ńotional´. Notional does not mean imaginary. The private majors (reliance, shell et al) have already scaled down local sale (reliance exports bulk of its production), shut down bunks and generally used the rise in crude to improve their margins. The left talks of windfall profit tax, but there is no jurisprudence to back that. The left always loves revolution :)

So instead of beating around the bush, lets seize the bull by the horns and let the cat out of the bag (thanks jim hacker). The real problem is rise in consumption, aspirational life styles that are unsustainable and the usual thick headed human need to elevate the standard of oneś living. In a way Georgie Podgie Bush is right in that costs are rising due to higher consumption by india and china. People who were taking the bus to work a generation ago are worrying about parking for the second car. What the US did with its post WW 2 loot, india is trying to emulate in the 21st century. Well, wake up, the party is over.

The future is renewable power and a lot less of it than now. Distributed generation and consumption is the order of the day. While i will not comment on the use the state puts its oil taxes to, i for one am firmly for higher taxation on fuels to *curb consumption*. As a acid test i will track automotive sales for the next 2 quarters. I am betting that the fuel price hike will have no effect on auto sales and will serve to weed out the more inefficient models. Lets see...

Ahoy !

It has been a while since i wrote anything here. Mostly laziness and a lot of bandwidth consumed by my startup. Anyway the world has been busy and while i was away, managed to push up energy costs 100 %. In a way this is good as the only language we understand is force. Watch this space.