About Flashing that finger at Adobe!

Finally, we hear it all straight from the horse's mouth. Steve Jobs, Apple CEO speaks in detail about the motivation behind iGadgets not supporting Flash video technology!

Citing Adobe Technology as a relic of the PC Era, he says about Flash's flaws, including security, poor performance and no support for touch-based interfaces.

Read Here.

In response, Adobe CTO Kevin Lynch wrote in a company blog post about how things could have worked out with Apple, if not for Apple's "blocking" and about how anyhow we have already decided to shift our focus away from Apple devices for both Flash Player and AIR.

"We look forward to delivering Flash Player 10.1 for Android smartphones as a public preview at Google I/O in May, and then a general release in June," he said.

Now, that's what people here at the Ketchup Office would call a cool attitude..
Hakuna Matata!..to hell with apples! Oranges and googles.. Bring 'em on..

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An April Moon

The cute picture on the side was taken yesterday in Peters burg, Russia during full moon.

And it is making me think more about the moon and I am in a mood for some astro physics. They say the moon was created about 4.5 million years ago when a mars-sized planet collided with the Earth. Ya! with Earth Day and Hubble Telescope Day passing last week, I'm completely madly in love with the universe.

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These Lucky Israelis!

Unlike many people who are put to torture over big decision making on whether to buy an ipad or not, people in Holy Land needn't worry. Cos its banned anyways. The Israeli Govt. has banned the device as it doesn't comply with European Wi-Fi standards. Apparently US Wi-Fi signals are too damaging for the domestic network and airport officials have started confiscating ipads from tourists.

Only a wi-fi version of the device has been released so far, with a 3G version coming in the US at the end of this month. Apple has put a hold on International Roll out and would not announce international pricing or start taking pre-orders until May 10.

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Bangkok- city of the clashes!

Guess it was last year I heard from a Thai friend that in Bangkok your politics are determined by the color of the shirts your wear. He had jokingly added that you should stick to neutral shades or floral shirts if you don't want to reveal your political inclination(coz Red, yellow, blue, black, pink shirts make strong statements)!

And now I realize it was not a joke,the month-long protests by "red-shirts" which is said to be the worst in last two decades have turned deadly. 18 people have been reportedly killed and more than 800 injured in the post-emergency protests. The red protestors (United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship ) are demanding parliament dissolution and fresh elections. They are supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted from power in 2008 by a military coup.

(More here and here)

ps- Bangkok means City of the Deity in Thai.

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Nothing lean about Carlos Slim

I just learnt that mexico's tycoon Carlos Slim Helu overtook Bill Gates for No. 1 spot on Forbes World's Billionaires list this year.Warren Buffet finished third this time.

Slim's fortune has swelled to an estimated $53.5 billion, up $18.5 billion in 12 months. Shares of his company America Movil, of which Slim owns a $23 billion stake, were up 35% in a year.

Mexico has reportedly the widest rich-poor divide among Latin American countries (after Brazil) according to World Urban Forum held recently.

Quote.
Brazil’s rich/poor gap was tagged as the most outstanding, with 10% of the richest absorbing 50.6% of all income, compared to the 0.8% going to the poorest 10%. Mexico follows, with its top 10% controlling 42.2% of income, compared to the 1.3% for the poorest 10%.
Unquote.

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Public Serving Public

Propublica is a non profit news organization started by civic journos to bring in change in the society by "producing journalism that shines a light on exploitation of the weak by the strong and on the failures of those with power to vindicate the trust placed in them". Based in Manhattan, Newyork, and partnering with many news groups, they have brought to light stories of medical professional misconduct across states.

Now, they have published their Reporting Recipe: How You Can Investigate Your State’s Oversight of Its HealthCare Workers

Amidst all the recent health care reform and costs talks we are made to listen to, I felt this came as something interesting!

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SocialMedia-GoodBad&Ugly,The!

Twitter is a darling, let’s all agree. It is not anymore just a micro blogging site or just about staying regular in touch or exchanging the latest info. Ofcourse, its all that, but in the fewest words, for most its the new X-factor. I am talking about those people who got a sudden professional hitch (and those who got TV shows, book deals, movie deals etc) just by tweeting. So, all of you who underestimate Social Media, its go-grey time. Its a mini-democracy out there people!

And like in most democracies, there's all the over whelming talk about just everything in the entire wide world. Yeah, its a little bad but a lot better compared to some things that happen to those like Shamu,for whom it was end of career. Atleast from what I hear,they closed down Shamus Tweets as people who previously found Shamu a playful whale boy having fun sea life, suddenly feel Shamu's words and deeds are abusive and not so lively and funny, anymore!

Hmm, bottomline is-- Twitter is to stay, whether you stay or not.Just like the Universe! So, better not to tweet like a bird brain.

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