Show the world that you’re a geek too. Now it does not call for exclusive knowledge of technology and certainly no expertise required. To prove to the world that you indeed are in line with the latest tech happenings, all you can do is to spend a bit and get one / more of these high-tech gadgets to gift to someone you love / want to impress…

1. Apple TV (my personal favourite too!)
Price: $99

You will also get access to Netflix’s endless catalogue of streaming shows and movies, wirelessly stream music, movies and photos from iTunes, etc. etc. Do you care for more??

2. Kodak PlayTouch Pocket Camcorder
Price: $230

Pocket video camera is now on the verge of extinction, with higher versions waking in for convergence of multiple devices and formats… But even them, the Kodak PlayTouch camcorder stands apart from the crowd. The touchscreen video camcorder shoots in 1080p HD, snaps 5-megapixel still photos and features in-camera video editing. And, it does not require a mandatory contract!!

3. Samsung BD-C8000 Portable 3D Blu-ray Player
Price: $500

Arguably, the world’s first portable 3D Blu-ray player is up for grab (but mind it, it is 3D as long as you plug it into a 3D TV).

4. Livescribe Echo Smartpen
Price: $170 for 4 GB; $200 for 8 GB

Sure, we loved previous generations of Livescribe’s Pulse Smartpen, but the device, which records audio and time-codes it to your written notes, had its problems. First, it needed proprietary earphones. And second, it rolled around just like any other pen, making it difficult to record audio. The new Livescribe Echo Smartpen uses a standard audio jack, opening up a whole world of earphones and mics. Plus, it has a no-roll design and a more intuitive menu system and user interface.

— To be concluded…

[Source: Times of India report] Haryana health minister Geeta Bhukkal shouldn’t be going all the way to Kerala to figure out the dipping sex ratio problem in her state. The solution is right here at home – right here in the Haryana village. A small village – Chang (Bhiwani) – in Haryana is slowly but effectively reversing the shameful trend that could serve as a model for the entire state. And it is not because of the government, but the collective effort of the residents of this village have accomplished. It is quite a shame that the state sponsored incentive schemes have failed to achieve, what the village have accomplished.

The sex ratio in Chang has been defying the numbers that have put Haryana at a shameful spot. In fact, in the last two years, the girl-boy sex ratio in this village has beaten almost all the major districts of the state. The sex ratio was about 750:1000 in 2008. The trend started improving and became 899:1000 in 2009. The village turned the tables in favour of the girl child in 2010. Against 60 male children born in 2010 till November, the number of girls born was 68. The ratio was 1066:1000 in 2010.

The village, located 12 km from Bhiwani, has an active Sakshar Mahila Samooh (SMS) a group that work towards the social and economic betterment of women. While farming is the main sources of livelihood for people of upper caste communities like Rajputs and Jats, the landless scheduled and backward communities are daily wagers or are earning their livelihood from smalltime ventures in the village.

I am happy that the girls would not face eviction in farther villages on India. It is a shameful fact that many villages in India still believe that girls are a bane for the society; if a girl child is born, they tend to destroy the feutus; they still feel that boys will continue their famility tree than girls; hence less girls are born than boys. But they forget the basic fact that girls are equally necessary as boys to extend families. There must be a balance between girls and boys. Hats off to the Chang village. They have set a very worthy example for villages in rest of the country.

I am sure that now the British should stop underestimating the Indians… The Indians have, time and again, proven to the world, especially to the US & UK, that they are nowhere falling behind in the competition. We, the Indians, have proven that we are among the best of the breed and hence the top countries of the world better take us seriously.

Well, lets not digress. Until a few years ago, it was quite common that Indians were frisked more often and rigorously at UK airports, whereas the Brits were allowed to pass after little or sometimes no frisking. Well, it may not exactly be humuliating, but it definitely hurts to all those who are true Indians. It hurt me as well when I was frisked but my Brit counterparts were allowed to pass on with just a meagre check! Well it was 3 years ago. But when yesterday’s situation was much more than welcome. It wa, in fact, a pleasant ‘change of hearts’ for the Brits…

Well it so happened that day before yesterday when I was returning to Mumbai from London, I was standing in the queue at London Immigration. There was a Brit standing in front of me. As per the procedure, the UK Border Agency asks the patrons to remove their shoes, belts, watch, etc. I felt this is quite humiliating because we in India never ask people to remove their belts!! Anyway, I was mentally prepared that I have to remove my belts and everything in front of this Brit lady… It was the turn of the Brit man (in front of me) and he asked the lady whether he needs to remove his shoes. The lady told him it is not required and he simply moved ahead, but the lady asked me to remove my shoes & belt! How humiliating, I felt. But you really can’t mess up with the Brits, especially at the Airport!!

I was feeling bad, but when I was waiting for my turn for security body check, what I noticed was that the officers were thoroughly checking the Brit man – literally. The officer was checking each and every part of this man’s body (except his private parts of course) by his hands, and then another round of strict detailed checking by handheld metal detector. What’s so strange, you may ask. What was different was coming ahead. When finally my turn came, I went ahead and stopped in front of this officer ready for security check. But to my surprise the officer told me to move on, without frisking!! I was shocked, surprised, and yet felt so glad… Finally the Brits have come to terms with the fact that Indians are no less than them! Hats off to all the Indians…

Yes, you read it right. Scientists claim that your online photos may help someone extract your friendships! As reported by ScienceDaily on Dec. 9, Cornell University computer scientists have, after comparing locations of photos posted on the Internet with social network contacts on Facebook, Flickr etc., found that as few as three “co-locations” for images at different times and places could predict with high probability that two people posting photos were socially connected.

What the heck it means to the common people, the ‘mere mortals’? It simply means that it has ‘serious’ implications for your online privacy. But, as usual, the researchers suggest a quantitative answer to a very old psychological question: What can we conclude from observing coincidences?

Here are the excerpts from ScienceDaily report:

The researchers used a database of some 38 million photos uploaded to the Flickr photo-sharing website by about a half million people. The time and place where photos were taken was provided by GPS-equipped cameras or by people who used Flickr’s online-interface to indicate the location on a map. Anyone can read this information from a Flickr page.

Flickr also offers a social networking service, and computer analysis showed that when two people posted photos several times from the same locations (often famous landmarks) and at about the same times, this was a good predictor that those people would have a social network link.

“While it’s obvious that a photo you post online reveals information about what is pictured in the photo, what is less obvious is that as you post multiple photos you are probably revealing information which may not be pictured anywhere,” Huttenlocher added.

One way to mitigate privacy risks, Kleinberg suggested, would be to “blur” time and space information in permanent records, making it less precise. This research might offer hints on how much blurring is needed, he said.

This is a guest post by Hungama.

I have been blogging since last few months now. I have fair understanding of what needs to be done to make a blog popular, what and how much efforts go into marketing the blog, etc. When I first started with building my site, I was sure that I wanted to build a site where I will post everything that is humorous, funny, and weird. I have reasonable amount of content with me, and I was sure of what blogging platform I want to build this site on. So I did what any other blogger would do – setup the site quickly, post some good articles, and launch it.

I then started marketing my site through paid posts, AdWords, cross linking, etc. But I was not getting the results which I expected and anticipated. Soon I realized that I was missing the science behind making a site popular – genuinely and organically. I was missing Search Engine Optimization – SEO – which is one of the most critical aspects of popular sites. I was doing bit of SEO, but it was not scientific and hence I was not getting desired results. I found out about an innovative tool called iNeedHits – an ingenious Search Engine Marketing tool which has consistently provided satisfactory results since 1996. First I started with their “Search Engine Submission” package and got my site listed in Google front page within flat 2 days. Similarly my site was listed in other leading search engines like Yahoo! and Bing. They also listed my site on famous directories.

As a result of this exercise, I got lot of visibility and my site started getting targeted visits. In fact, visits increased from 300 per month initially to over 3000 – an increase of 900%! Isn’t it remarkable? I did this 6 months back, when I barely earned a few dollars per month, but I still took up this risk and purchased the package. I faced little difficulty initially but I managed to reap dividend right from second month onwards. My revenue increased from just $2 per month to a decent $25 per month now… Within just 2 months, traffic on my site has been multiplied and it continues to go upwards now. So in short, I made a wise decision of buying iNeedHits package.

Now that I am in profit, I am thinking of buying even a higher package offering advanced SEO optimization and guaranteed targeted Google traffic. Now the only way my site will go is upwards…