Internet Data Privacy …...err whats that??!!

Today, I learnt from Hindu that January 28th was observed as "Data Privacy Day" from 2009 onwards. The idea is to raise awareness and promote online data privacy education. It is currently celebrated in the United States, Canada, and 27 European countries. India not having a separate privacy law still will mean that online users disgruntled with misuse of private data have to find ways under other Acts to get justice, probably should come under Information Technology Act of 2008. In today's world with daily increase in information getting shared online, especially on social networks, it becomes important to step back and look at not only the safeguards on personal data online but also whether online information sharing requires any etiquette. I am least bothered about how professional information about companies is being misused. Perhaps I am worried/bothered about individual's personal information getting misused.

One fine example was how employees at Facebook tried manipulating user profile datas. More information can be found in the below link which is nothing but transcript of the interview with a facebook employee discussing about the privacy (refer : http://therumpus.net/2010/01/conversations-about-the-internet-5-anonymous-facebook-employee/?full=yes). Obviously you will not find the employee name there. Don't ask me why and you are at the wrong place.
 Few weeks back, I read an fine article about data privacy titled as "Google, Privacy, and You". The article starts with the author limited use/exposure to google services. (I envy this guy for limited use of google as I use google religiously. The list goes like this... personal mails, map, chat, social networking and finally the search engine etc). Immediately followed with this (courtesy : Securosis Blog).
First, a quote from Eric Schmidt, the CEO of Google (the full quote, not just the first part, which many sites used):

If you have something that you don't want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place, but if you really need that kind of privacy, the reality is that search engines including Google do retain this information for some time, and it's important, for example that we are all subject in the United States to the Patriot Act. It is possible that that information could be made available to the authorities.

Little bit disappointed with such a statement. Anyway, I am not going to debate what is wrong here. Rather I plan to blog separately on this topic. But one point I totally agree with Securosis was "There has never before been a time in human history when one single, private entity has collected this much information on a measurable percentage of the world's population." This is totally true. Probably everyone will realize this once they read this :-).

Meanwhile, I would like to say few words about the most popular social networking FaceBook. I wonder how many of us bothered to go through the recently updated privacy policy adapted by this site. A very good article on this can be found here. I bet it is worth reading. Read more on social networking privacy issues in wiki.


So the bottom line is use with caution. Now, I will have to work on how to handle this in a better way!!!.

Ferrari unveils F10 in Maranello!!!

As I expected ( like most of the ferrari fans), Ferrari became the first team to launch its 2010 car, unveiling its new F10 challenger in Maranello this morning. Much to the surprise, ferrari also hosted the launch show online like what Mercedez did few days ago. But I could not follow it up because I was in a training for the whole day. 

With Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa on hand, the covers were taken off the Scuderia's latest F1 car, the F10, which is the result of months of work given Ferrari's decision to focus on the year ahead in the midst of a dismal 2009 Championship. The new car, which predominantly features the Santander branding (resulting in lots of white shade getting added), carries a much larger fuel tank given the new ban on refuelling. It also has bulges similar to last year's Red Bull RB5 and the double-decker diffuser. Technical director Aldo Costa said the new car has been designed from scratch around the double diffuser at the rear of the car, which was covered during the launch, but I don't think so :-)

Finally I would like to conclude with few words from Alonso:

"This is the first time for me, the first presentation for Ferrari, and it is a big emotion for me."

"I want to thank the whole team because they have worked really hard in the last few months to create this dream, this new car, and I want to thank sponsors and partners as they have worked hard and there is a lot of passion".

"We are ready to take this challenge and the responsibility to bring it to 100 per cent of its potential".

"Felipe and I will be a very strong team and I hope we will make supporters around the world very happy to see this car winning the Championship."

First turbojet in India under 10 lakhs - it is Linea TJet!!!

As we all expected, FIAT did not showcase the 1.6 Multijet version of Linea instead it was the more powerful petrol version. This engine is so called TJet which will directly target honda city :-). It adds extra 20 bhp to the existing output of 90 horse power. I think this will be faster in straight line than City.

Specification given below; 
Type: Petrol (l4) 1.4L 16V Turbo JET (T-JET)
Displacement: 1368cc
Max. Power: 119.2bhp@5000rpm (Actual: 117.8bhp)
Peak Torque: 206nm@2500rpm
Fuel Injection: Timed, Sequential Electronic Multi-Point Fuel Injection
Top Speed: 202 kmph (Actual: 195 kmph)
0 - 100 kmph: 9.2sec amazingly!!!!

It is expected to come with Dualogic robotised manual gearbox. And it is a type of semi-automatic transmission system which uses an automated clutch. This is suppose to give better mileage. If this proved then linea can be tagged as VFM :). Wow!!! How sweet it is!!!. For information read the wiki. Team-bhp says rear disc break can be also expected with the launch. Lots of speculation about many new features :-). But nothing is sure, unless the vehicle is officially launched.

I expect the launch by this quarter and to be inline with Bharath Stage IV. If you are interested to know more about turboject/dualogic, then follow this thread in team-bhp site.

BTW, how do you differentiate between the regular 1.4 and 1.4 Turboject?. Very simple, TJet emblem is embedded on the front grill just like MultiJet :-).

If things go fine as my expectation, I might opt this Italian beauty even though it is way beyond my budget:-).

Weekend with Godfather - PS2 Game

I have recently purchased the godfather game for PS2. To be honest, never thought before that I would buy this game. But these days hardly I found new game CDs for PS2 that interest me :-(. Every time I look for single shooting/racing CDs in shop, Godfather have always tempted. So I thought of giving it a try. After all, it is based on one of my all time favorite. Eventually one of the masterpiece by Al Pacino.


The overall rating for this game is 77.12% which is not bad. (Refer : http://www.gamerankings.com/ps2/920130-the-godfather/index.html). The game is notable as it features the return of several original actors from the original film to lend their voice. But unfortunately, the voice of Marlon Brando is missing but imitator have done a good job. Even the voice of Al pacino is missing which is bit disappointing. But through out the came, you can virtually indulge in the Sicilian life style in New York. Also all famous codes are seen/visualize through out the came (Refer - http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Godfather).


The plot:-
The game revolves around the character - 'Aldo Trapani'. Eventually this name can be customized and also the character's physical features, build and clothing as well. Aldo grows up in the shadow of Vito Corleone learning the mafia style. Meanwhile Aldo gets involved in almost all important events of the movie. This is how it looks like but not sure since I have only completed only few levels. I am loving this game since the movie have inspired me a lot. Perhaps this will not be game for others who have not watched or dislike the movie.


Finally the graphics are not bad on my CRT TV, perhaps it should be better on LCD. Oops, it is time for work out in Gym, I will have to stop this here. Will update once I complete the full game. BTW, it looks like the game is not so tough as other shooting games  that I have tried so far.


Bye!!!!
Keep Chilling

Jailbreak/Unlock Iphone 2G on OS 3.1.2

I wanted to update my 2G iphone with 3.1.2 (currently running with 3.0.0 Mac OS). First thing I did was a quick search in iclarified site but no tutorial were found for jailbreaking on Windows. At the same time, jailbreaking using Pwnage on Mac notebook was availablefor 2G iphone. (Refer - http://www.iclarified.com/entry/index.php?enid=4255). But I dont have Mac notebook :-(. This means only folks with Mac book can only jailbreak 3.2.1 on 2G iphone... this is not fair :-(. Its almost more than two months since 3.1.2 released, still no place I can find jailbreak on Windows.

BTW, what is special in 3.1.2?. It seems following well knowns bugs are fixed in this update:

• Device suddenly losing network access.
• Video stream crashing.
• Device not waking from sleep in certain sitautions ( the most troubled bug so far according to me).
• And most important feature request that is part of this new update is support for Genius Mode for the App Store. As per the mashable site (Refer :http://mashable.com/2009/09/09/iphone-os-3-1-released-featuring-genius-mode-for-app-store), now the same technology that recommends songs will be used to recommend applications. Hopefully, this will make navigating the App Store and finding more gems easier than ever before. But I wonder how this will be helpful to me!!!!. Probabily I should write a review once I experience it.
  
  

So I am eagerly looking forward to update to 3.1.2. The other important reason being that is lots of new applications are based on this updated OS. At the same I dont want to try to jailbreak on my own rather I will wait for the community to do it and follow them :-). I think it make senses to wait for detailed tutorial in iclarified site to update my iphone OS.

Meanwhile, I hope to see the Pwnage tool getting ported (by Iphone Dev Team) soon to Windows :-). If I find one, will post how to jailbreak using Windows.


Cheers!!!!
Happy weekend to all!!!

Schumi Return - Game on!!!

Its been more than a month ever since speculation  started on this topic. Even I am closely monitoring all F1 sites/blogs to keep me updated on this. It looks like almost confirmed that Schumi is set for all grand come back. This is something big when considering the amount of money involved. But ideally speaking, come back @ 41 years is not the right decision. I feel Bernie is the man behind this come back, if its really going to happen. But why?, obvious reason is F1 is losing its fan base ever since recession/global economy slow down in 2009. F1 was all about money and glamour, considering the big brands getting involved. But it was different in 2009 due to cost cutting measures. Even fans were not ready to buy tickets which was  more expensive comparing to other sports. So this old gentleman wants something phenomenal to get F1 back on track in 2010. From Bernie point of view, its the right move to promote his business . Today I learnt from a website that F1 (Refer - http://en.espnf1.com/f1/motorsport/story/5473.html) business profit came down to 200 million dollars in-spite introducing new nite race in Abu Dhabi. For him, F1 is purely business nothing else. So he will do any thing to promote his business. One fine example is Schumi return. This is just one angle to look into this come back. But my personal feeling is Schumi should not think about the come back rather he should enjoy the fame and respect he is receiving for all his good work done in past.

On the other hand, Schumi return is a really good news and brings lot of joy and excitement in me. Just because I am not Schumi fan/follower but because I always loved the on track fight between Alonso and Schumi. This will be a great opportunity for Alonso to prove how good he is. From Schumi point of view, he can possibly think of taking revenge for his title lose in 2006 - final year in F1. Let me rewind back the memories of 2006 - I was left with the feeling that even FIA wanted Schumi to sign off his career with title win - by penalizing Alonso for not fault of his own in Monza. Another ugly incident being Schumi deliberately parking his car during qualifying to block from completing his Alonso flying lap. But as the whole world knew after Stewards enquiry it was yet another plot master minded by Schumi. Meanwhile, I would like to share this video - (Refer - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txKfqjasUKE). Probably not interesting for Schumi fans but still I like to share this video here. Irrespective of all these, Renault was strong with Alonso making the most of it.

Coming back to 2010 season, its going to be healthy competition between the one of all time bests in F1. The best part is this time Alonso will drive the red car where as Schumi will drive a Merc powered car. This time Mosley is not there to support Schumi but still Todt might play his own tricks. But anyway Schumi will not drive for Scuderia. So what can we expect in 2010, great rivalry will restart again - Game spot on!!!. My money is on Alonso for 2010 title.

Go Alonso Go !!!!

My pick - Top Drivers of 2009 - F1

Formula-one 2009 season is over, now it is time to rewind back the memories to find the best of the season. Obviously it is not Luca Badoer who was very disappointing :-), anyway this is not the forum to discuss his performance. I remember seeing posters comparing his pace with grandma riding an old wagon. Obviously, this thread was inspired from internet, as I see lots of polls and discussion happening around. But here it is purely based on my opinion and not influenced by others. In fact, I wanted to blog about this topic as my passion for the game have not gone down a bit even though it was yet another disappointing year for Alonso, my all time favorite.


Here goes the list;


1. Vettel - He caught my imagination after his famous monza win in 2008. Definitely he was one of my pick in 2009. He did not disappoint me. Perhaps few costly mistakes which costed the championship along with renault engine problem.  His outstanding driving was evident in Silverstone. In fact his teammate ended up using vettel setup for the race days. His four wins tell the rest of the story. Give him a decent car, I bet he can deliver.


2. Button - Obviously he made into list because of six wins and being crowned as world champion. Rest is history. Personally I felt his poor late show was disappointed, should not been the way he wanted to finish the season, perhaps any championship will not prefer doing so. Incredible driver else brawn would not have paid 8M pounds to him last year. Will the controversial diffuser, he stole the show in the first half. Six wins in 7 races is unbelievable. Other highlights include picking vital points in last stage of the season. His drive @ São Paulo is really special with good over taking but heart break for Barrichello :-(.


3. Roseberg - This star driver from Williams was very promising initially but slipped on later. Always hitting the head lines during practice and qualifying. Personally I feel if he was on a better car, then results would have been different. Well, this holds good for all drivers in market :-). His drive @ Germany was breathtaking even though did not earn him a podium. I consider him as the talent to watch out in future. But has to improve considering the way he blowed out the podium chance @ Singapore.


4. Barrichello - This could throw surprise to others but I admire the way this 37 old man drove in late stage of the session. Phenomenal is the word I can use but he did miss the luck at few vital stages of the season. Else he would have taken the championship. My heart was with him in São Paulo but he messed up. May be, I was always thinking this would be his last year. But poor williams could only afford this man with their limited budget. 


5. Webber - Astonishing come back after his injury in last November. His dream came true with his first victory @ Germany. He was instrumental in pushing brawn for the constructor championship. He delivered results through out the season. Made the most of this season. Mark, I am looking forward from you in next season.


Quite disappointing to miss Alonso/Kimi in the list, in fact they did not add any value to the title fight. But they did their best by contributing to off-track incidents. People will remember Kimi for his ice cream in Sepang (see - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_B42AW-d89M). Alonso for the his involvement in "Crashgate" with Renault. However, the FIA confirmed that no evidence had shown the involvement of Alonso.