I am disturbed to the bottom of my heart.

I am suddenly feeling so bad about all that is happening in the eastern part of the world…

I am too numb to even comment on the perils the Japanese must be going through…

All I can do right now is to offer my condolences to those who fell pray to the natural and human-caused calamity.

I am also praying for well-being of those who are alive and still struggling to make a living…

I would like to urge all people in the world to unite in support of the resilient and superbly strong Japanese…

Let’s do all that we can do to help our Japanese brothers and sisters…

Let us show that despite all the difference between us, despite the human-made geographical borders, despite the cultural and linguistic differences, we still LOVE each other… We still have faith in the God and we still believe that our Japanese fellows will manage to tide over this tough time…

Dear Japanese fellows, we all are with you. We are just a message away…

This is definitely not good. I am pitying all the great women who try their best to balance work as well as their child/ children. This balancing act often takes a toll on the overall well-being of these busy moms. But this definitely highlights the important thing that the most critical element of the entire family system – MOTHER – is often being neglected.

According to the Telegraph of UK, busy British moms get just 26 minutes on average to themselves each day. Though this study was done on British women, I am sure the statistics apply to almost each and every mother in every nook and corner of the world! This survey was undertaken for Procter and Gamble jointly with the Social Issues Research Centre (SIRC). The sample population being surveyed was 1,000 mothers. The survey found that a staggering 56% of mothers felt they had either the same amount of free time as their own mothers or even less.

Some would argue that with the advent of newer and newer technologies, the moms will get to spend more time with themselves. However, the time that’s been created by usage of these new technologies (like dishwashers, washing machines, and various kitchen gadgets) now goes into outside employment. Moms are left trying to balance work and home, and are still expected to be the loving parent.

What on earth is this “Me Time”?

“Me Time” simply means the time one spends with himself/ herself, without any consideration for other things (living or otherwise). This is the time we spend with ourselves, when we talk to ourself, understand what we are thinking and how we are thinking, contemplate on the way our body is functioning, etc.

Why This “Me Time” Is So Important?

Although spending time with the kids is crucial and concentrating at work is a necessity, it is much more critical that we spend some time with ourself. When we talk to ourself, it allows us to slow down (i.e. take a break from the Rat Race) and remember what’s most important in our life. It allows us to engage fully in the PRESENT MOMENT, so that we can concentrate on the things at hand, and it helps us stay focussed.

In my opinion, all mothers must spend at least 60 minutes with themselves. This will not only help them personally, but also helps improve their overall wellbeing.

There are hundred of LCD televisions in the market and almost every manufacturer has a 3D version up for grabs. Every manufacturer of 3D set claims that their product is the best for one or more reasons. Some even go to the extend of comparing with competitor’s products on some absurd parameters that hardly make any sense and are irrelevant to the audience.

I read this marvellous comparision put together by the able team on Popular Mechanics (PM) and I am impressed with the way it was carried out. PM’s team has also put together extensive guide on buying 3D television sets, which is a must-read for anyone and everyone who intends to buy a 3D set in near future. I present the top 3 winners from this compilation put together by PM.

ULTIMATE WINNER… Sony Bravia 3D Range: $2100 to $5000, with size ranging from 40 to 60 inches 3D Glasses: $150 (two pairs included!!) Test Results: We tested the 52-inch Bravia LX900 ($4000), which scored highest overall. Sony’s set had standout performance in rendering 3D animation (“just like theaters,” one tester said) and games. Some griped about the shutter glasses, however, calling them “heavy” and complaining that they “hurt the bridge of the nose.” But the set also scored high marks for general picture quality.

First Runner Up: Samsung 3D
Range: $1700 to $7000, with size ranging from 40 to 65 inches
3D Glasses: $150 to $200 (not included)

Second Runner Up: LG 3D
Range: $4300 to $5400, with size ranging from 47 to 55 inches
3D Glasses: $130 (not included)

I happened to bump into this nice article published on Popular Mechanics (PM) about how Microsoft managed to pull through this wonderful magic called KINECT… In an exclusive interview with Alex Kipman – one of the members of Microsoft’s XBox 360′s Project Natal team – which designed, developed, built, and eventually created the magic KINECT. Below I publish the snippets of what I liked in the interview. For detailed interview coverage, please visit the article published on PM’s site.

Q. The Kinect technology is composed of an RGB camera, a depth sensor and a mulitarray mic. Why are all these technologies necessary?
Ans. Since we’re working toward a vision where technology fundamentally understands us, you need to have enough sensing power to really do that. The way you can think about it is, Kinect has eyes and it has ears. It can perceive the world like your eyes do and listen to the world like your ears do. The human eye allows us to do is see the room in any lighting condition. I don’t want the Kinect to be bound by the lighting conditions of the room — I want the system to see in a cave where there’s no light whatsoever and I want it to see in a brightly lit room where people have lots of light. Because of this, you don’t need to adjust lighting for the system to work. You just do what’s natural for you in your living room and we take care of the rest.

Q. When playing the game Kinectimals, the animal characters seem to react to the mood of the user. How does this technology determine a person’s emotional state?
Ans. For Kinect, we created the equivalent of an empathy engine. So it’s not like we’re recognizing if you’re happy or sad, but, based on the inclination of your voice and the positioning of your body, we can guess in a way that seems like magic.

Q. Kinect is available for $150—or $300 for the Xbox console and Kinect bundle. To price this new technology in a way that works for consumers, did you have to kill off any features that you wish you could have kept?
Ans. Not really. The tradeoffs we made were part of a very explicit decision to make the eyes and ears be the commodities, or shelf components, and push all of the innovation to the brain, or software. We decided to do this through the cloud, so we can continuously make improvements to the system over time. This allows us to hit an affordable price point because the shelf components all exist in volume. But with Kinect, we live in a world where the only thing that binds us is a lack of imagination. This is a world of software. It’s not bound by physics. We’re only beginning to tap into the deep emotional experiences we can create with the pallet we brought to market.

We are starting a journey where we have created the hardware, and we will continue to improve the software platform. 2 years from now—and I’m making up that two years, it could be 6 months or next month—you could start seeing games that don’t look anything like games we’re creating now.

In my earlier post, I listed three top high-tech gifting ideas with which you can easily impress anyone. Let’s look at some more ideas…

5. Nikon Coolpix S1100pj Projector Camera
Price: $350

Last year, Nikon blew us away with a compact camera that had a microprojector built right in. This 14-megapixel, 5x-optical-zooming update is smaller than its predecessor, projects brighter images (the bulb is now specced at 14 lumens) and, for the first time, can be used to project anything from a laptop via a simple USB connection—upping its usefulness from a high-tech slide show tool to a traveling businessman’s best friend

6. Samsung Galaxy Tab
Price: Not Yet Set

Finally, an iPad alternative we can get behind. Unlike the iPad, this 7-inch, 1GHz Android tablet display has a front-facing camera for on-the-go video conferencing, and can handle Adobe Flash-based websites.

7. Crosley Revolution Turntable
Price: $150

For vinyl devotees looking to bring their LPs on the road or simply acquire a retro desktop centerpiece, the Crosley Revolution turntable may prove irresistible. It runs on batteries, pumps out music through a headphone jack or built-in speakers and is barely bigger than the record it’s playing. A USB connection also makes the Revolution a convenient tool for digitizing a vinyl collection.

8. Etón Soulra Solar-Powered iPod Dock
Price: $200

iPod docks are typically ill-suited to wilderness excursions. The Etón Soulra iPhone/iPod dock could be a camper’s best friend. Its built-in solar panels ensure an endless stream of songs (or at least 3 hours of music from 10 hours of sun), and the rubberized, splash-proof exterior is designed to handle a downpour or drop.