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Archive for May, 2009

Internet Freedom and Corruption rankings by country

Posted in India, Internet, Public Policy, Technology, tagged , , , , , , , , on May 24, 2009| 2 Comments »

I recently read the excellent study by Freedom House which measured Internet Freedom in 2007 and 2008 across a sample of 15 countries in 6 regions.  The study is available here–(March 2009- Freedom on the Net, A Global Assessment of Internet and Digitial Media)– would highly recommend reading this free report.   The methodology they used includes factors such as the country’s telecommunications infrastructure, government policy towards access to technology, regulatory policy for service providers, censorship and content control, legal structure and surveillance practices along with the independence and dynamism of new media in the country.   Here’s a graphical depiction of the results (Green implies free, Blue is partly free, and Red is not free) (more…)

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How Lagaan resembles Lord of the Rings

Posted in Entertainment, India, tagged , , on May 22, 2009| Leave a Comment »

One side effect of the success of Slumdog Millionaire has been the new interest around the world in traditional Bollywood films.   While Slumdog Millionaire was produced by a British team and it is debatable if it should be called a Bollywood movie,  most movie watchers are unaware of that nuance and some have started to inquire about other Bollywood movies.  I had a conversation with a colleague of mine at work who had never seen a Bollywood movie and was now expressing interest.   I suggested that he watch one of my favorite movies Lagaan as his introduction to Bollywood and brought him the DVD to watch.  Knowing that he’s a movie buff and very aware of most mainstream American movies, I used  a comparison to the international mega-hit Lord of the Rings- The Fellowship of the Ring to describe the movie.  (more…)

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The Best Rivalry in Sports- Federer vs Nadal?

Posted in Sports, Tennis, tagged , , , , , , , , , on May 17, 2009| 5 Comments »

Roger Federer just defeated Rafael Nadal 6-4, 6-4, to win the Madrid Open.   Perhaps, even more noteworthy was that the victory was on clay where Nadal has historically been at his best.    After the instant classic finals at Wimbledon in 2008 and the Australian Open in 2009 where Nadal pulled out dramatic 5 set victories, this should be a real confidence boost to Federer for the upcoming French Open.   Who knows- maybe this will propel Federer to new heights in his rivalry against Nadal, which has most recently been a one sided affair.   To date, their matchups have had the following head to head results:

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Pain free improvements to Hypodermic Needles?

Posted in Technology, tagged , , , , , on May 12, 2009| 1 Comment »

Recently, I’ve visited with family and friends who’ve had to take their children for routine vaccinations, tests for allergies, and other medical procedures.  In most cases, these tests or vaccinations are applied with hypodermic needles and syringes.  It’s still heart breaking to hear that even infants have to deal with needles for shots, in one instance, I was told of a 4 month old baby that had to have 36 routine shots.

I’ve always wondered, shouldn’t there have been real advances to hypodermic  needle technology just like in so many other medical fields?  To understand this question better, I looked at the history of the hypodermic needle, comparisons to other medical advances, and recent advances in needle technologies.

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Will Facebook improve or worsen high school reunion attendance?

Posted in Internet, Technology, tagged , , on May 5, 2009| 6 Comments »

Over the last couple of years, I’ve become a regular user of Facebook and have connected and reconnected with friends and current and former colleagues and classmates.  However, just in the past 3-4 months, I’ve seen high school classmate activity increase, receiving requests from high school classmates that I haven’t been in touch with since the day I left high school years ago.   I’ve also noticed actual high school alumni groups formed in Facebook for many high school classes ranging from the 1970’s to recent graduating classes in 2008.

This made me think that naturally, high school reunion attendance would likely be at possibly all time highs across the US.   Recent Facebook demographic data from Ignite Social Media suggests:

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