Apply TCP-IP to one and all - y2k

(caution - reading this is not advisable for all people, technical guidance and a cartoonist friend may be required. Communists may not be affected much. Serious professionals should avoid it, it has the power to reconfigure your cerebral bios firmware)

This is in continuation of the write up earlier called a new OS. All peripherals should have a URL, all components like keyboard, mouse, harddisk, CDROM drive, monitor also should have URLs, like mouse can be /mouse then harddisk can be /hdd. if you need two mice then /mouse1and /mouse2.

All except the cpu are peripherals, a harddisk bought from the market will be just tcp/ip enabled no drivers, no software, place it on the desk and log in with your /hdd from your /keyboard. the hdd will allow unlimited optic lan logins. The cpu can be a no connector crystal ball like device with ferrite underside for power. and will be at the corner of the desk looking like a paperweight and do the job of a smart router. Most of the devices will be talking to each other even without the cpu being aware of that.

The peripherals will be same for any OS any Hardware, you can even keep one cpu running linux and another win2k beside each other and all work seamlessly. In case you need more view get a tcp/ip optic monitor from the next table and log on and you will have double the view area, and while you are at it the guy from the next table will take back the monitor you would not even notice.

You are low on budget ? to start working all you need is an optic tcpip keyboard and an optic modem, you are online, a two line boot LCD screen on the keyboard will enable you to send email and see them, the basic vt100 is simulated, then you buy a /hdd and throw it beside these, the hdd is automatically available, 0 setup. You now can download a 100mb file into the hdd, look no cpu. (in fact special cpus will be in all these peripherals, even now ms mouse has a pic chip and the keyboard has i think 8051/8749 like cpu.). Now what i downloaded was a mp3 file (only as an example, i like only the *.mid format midi). now i need to play it i get a tcp/ip multimedia optic box and roll it on the desk, a silly command on the keyboard or a hotkey the mp3 is on the speakers, look no cpu.

Now i decide to browse and buy a svga tcp-ip /monitor1 or borrow it from a friend. I can browse images and files on my hdd, still no cpu. Then you get a cpu and organize and manage all these peripherals and use a GUI for that, use an os of your choice, limited only to the cpu. Switch OS every 10 seconds if you want, by just swapping the cpu. or spawn a OS of your choice from the HDD for that session.

Just forget about all that, buy a handheld with a jerky patchy LCD and sit in a supermarket and browse a site, and while you are looking at the hour glass indicating a chance of you seeing that site, a smart guy on the next bench will be checking the balance of your high security ssp456/gt23c encrypted bank account. The pygmies of africa are still happily dancing around the bonfire. You wanted technology now you have it.

• CD - Rom Compact Disk Read Only Memory
• HDD - Hard Disk Drive
• LAN - Local Area Network
• URL - Uniform Resource Locator
• CPU - Central Processing Unit
• IP - Internet Protocol
• TCP - Transmission Control Protocol
• OS - Operating system like Unix, Linux win9x, FreeBSD, BeOs, QNX.
• LCD - Liquid Crystal Display.
• GUI - Graphical User Interface.
• SVGA - Video Graphics Adapter used by Superman.
• AAAAA - All Above Acronyms Aren't Accurate.

(Much of these is obsolete rant of mine, if you do not understand then it was not meant for you. it is a y2k satire with ideas)

Cloud Computing the Cerebral Six Pack

Grid computing among servers is fine. But the concept of networking unused computers and using that for crunching large numbers is not practical. This is mainly because it is not green (power consumption). Such ideas are not economical for the purpose served. Not Sustainable.

What we need is like a Class AB Audio Amplifier. Deliver Power on demand, or scale up/down (hardware switching) on demand, efficiently. This is only possible in client-server systems. Cloud Computing is the way. The clients are Low Power Multi-Media Terminals. The Modules in the Servers can turn on, as demand increases, as more people login or compute more.

What i feel, think or understand. May not be practical or implementable today. May free home user from lot of admin tasks. Web applications and Services have made it possible already to some extent. When user has only the LCD Monitor and Keyboard to manage, No OS or updates or even Virus.

Let me assume the currency is in blips and a Cloudlet is owned by a SSP - Software Services Provider. He whips out a virtual pc on the cloudlet and let you use it. The power of a super computer can be accessed on the Tablet or Netbook in your Knapsack.

Information or concept is for thinking and learning, educate and entertain, some are already being used and applied in the web. Some ideas are to promote Tangential Thinking, this enables you to flex the tendons of your brain; who knows, one day you may develop a cerebral six pack - Ananth 2010

Software GUI Ergonomics

The GUI or graphic user interface must be of three types one for the 'novice' another for the 'expert' and lastly one for the 'hacker', a programmer should not assume that other users think like him. look at the 3 levels of GUI in 1st Page 2000 even though this is a coders tool.

Nero cd burning rom software which has a simple wizard for simple tasks. also programs must work downward 2 processor and OS versions if you want the product to be usable by many.

Good multiple high color icons. install with path option, add icon on desktop option. settings independent of registry. a compiled html help or *.chm. file. a good toolbar with tooltips. shortcuts of main functions. wizards for new users. tabbed advanced options. if possible skins. compact program size. when i see these features. then i know it is a real good product.

Too many Knobs, Dials, Switches and Buttons Cluttering the Front panel of an Instrument or Web-application or Software can overwhelm the user and he may not be able to use it properly or may even lead to misuse. So..... we need to use things like euro-controls that was done for Philips TV etc. or Sensible Wizards like in some software like Nero CDROM burner. The Advanced options should be available for those who need it.

Programming Breakpoints and Testpoints

Breakpoints may not serve the purpose fully, it may be easier to use Testpoints and incremental coding.

When we build Electronic Circuits with many Interacting Blocks or Modules, We put a small 5mm Tall Copper Pin in the PCB or a PAD without masking. This is a Test or Troubleshooting Point. This is where you can probe with a scope, dmm or logic analyzer.

In embedded program development, i tried a similar way, a Testpoint in software, but only that the card would light a led in a certain pattern or send a "all ok" and progress status to the serial port connected to PC.

In Script programming we can use a GUI element, just a Textbox as a Scope monitoring the Testpoint. When the program goes beyond the Testpoint, The GUI Text window will hold the Status. Just like you move the probes of the same DMM, you can keep shifting the Testpoints or Multiplex the same Scope, as the program becomes bigger.

So, before you build the Next big Program, Build the Test Equipment and the First Testpoint. The first few lines of code is written around the First Test point. Like it is done in PCBs, incremental Building-Testing.

Lastly Break Big Jobs to Small Pieces. Like the Plugin Modules in a Oscilloscope, The Components or Modules should be built and tested independently and then Combined to Form one Big System. Then they can be maintained and reused easily.

Idea of Anantha Narayan - SAN Gear - 16:22 12-Dec-07 from 2003 notes

Ultimate Software Protection

This is an idea of a costly way of protecting your software IP, We now have Flash USB thumb drives going upto 100Mb, You now need to make an ASIC for a thumb drive which manages flash storage of 100Mb and also does some simple logic and maths, all this inside the thumb drive.

Now put the software you make within the custom thumb drive and make it into an partial java based application server. So even copying or reading RAM will not expose the program binaries on PC. Now you have a custom thumb drive with embedded application software to sell just like objects, and cannot be copied. This thumbware you sell will be bought by the user and all he needs to do is plug it in the USB port and a icon will come with a balloon in the notification area and start using the new thumbware you bought. Remove thumbware the application will close, take it wherever you want. The thumbware will not be copied as ASIC is custom and some computation is within the thumb and major computation is in the PC.

Then you can make it OS independent, as it will be a embedded java application, the xml database can be within the thumb itself and an encrypted copy on HDD.

Open Ideas - Jan-03, Revised again - 27 April 2008, Nature - Open Source

Thermoelectric Breakthrough can Replace IC Engines

IC Engines or Internal Combustion Engines are used in all types of Motor Vehicles. They convert Organic Fuel to Motion by tiny combustive explosions in a Cylinder-Piston arrangement. The use of Electricity here is only the spark for ignition.

These have a very low efficiency analogous to the Incandescent Tungsten Filament Bulb, The traditional bulb is being replaced by the emerging Energy Efficient LED Lighting Technology.

If we can convert Ethanol Fuel to heat by combustion, that is easy. Then the entire heat is absorbed by Thermoelectric Cell Arrays, like the Solar Cells absorb The radiation from the sun. The EMF from the Thermoelectric Cell Array can be a cascaded to generate enough electricity to charge the Rechargeable Batteries in an Electric Vehicle.

The most important thing is ..... The Material/Compound that can give a good Heat to Electricity Conversion, has still not been discovered. This has be as good as a Solar Cell.

Some Breakthrough in Semiconductor Physics, Nanotechnology, Material Science or Electrochemistry by the Scientists in Fundamental Research and Applied Science, can make the Internal Combustion Engine Obsolete.

Thermal Electricity can also make possible, 'on the fly' Electricity from anything that can burn. Coal, wood, twigs, dried leaves, biogas, ethanol can fire Mini Thermal Engines; that make Heat into Electricity to drive Electric Motors backed up by supercaps or rechargeable batteries.

The only other way is to offset gravity as shown in the right, this was a graphic i made in 1999 for a poem on my website.

Move up from Spreadsheets for SMB

Small Business have moved from Fax and Electronic Typewriter not to mention Telex; into Computers long ago. The early steps of Business Communication and Automation.

Many are still using just minimum accounting software and spreadsheets and custom small RDBMS apps, for a skeletal CRM.

A big solution will take the zap out of these firms as their Time, Money and other Resources will be wasted for something that may not help much for their infrastructure.

The Web also has now changed the way people connect and communicate. So a Small yet scalable up/down; secure and data export/import xml/sql; flexible quick learning solution; that uses the Internet to full advantage, helps SMB to take useful steps in Business Automation. Wizards and Templates very important.

If a Customer Flourishes (time/money) using such Apps then the Service provider also builds a strong user base.

Enterprise Webware and Software to empower Small and Medium Business which form a foundation for a Healthy Society.

• Apache OFBiz - The Apache Open For Business Project is an open source enterprise automation software project licensed under the Apache License Version 2.0.
• opentaps - opentaps is a complete open source solution for your enterprise.
• Zoho Online Office - Online word processor with collaboration features. Desktop sharing. Web conferencing, Online meetings.

See More at SANGear Adroit - Online Office