Time to go long on Microsoft

The recent 'Scroogled' Ads from Microsoft are very impressive. ( example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Paau0bhxqb4).

Instead of trying to copy Google, the company has realized it needs to position itself differently from Google. These 'Scroogled' advertisements hightlight that while Google's software is reading users' emails, microsoft's outlook respects the privacy of users and does not do it.

Microsoft's CEO is on the way out and Chairman Bill Gates is also being threatened by the board.

Overall, time to expect some good action from this company.

 

Do we need food supplements ?

The food supplements industry is coming up with new "essential" supplements every now and then. The underlying premise behind these food supplements (including Vitamins, Proteins, Omega 3 oil etc.) is that human body needs them and cannot produce them on its own. If body can convert mass into energy, essentailly the function of a nucleur reaction, it could also be coverting one type of element into another. Most of the world lived on just basic grains (wheat and rice) during most of the history. If food supplements were so important, and body could not produce it from grains, how could those people maintain healthy and strong bodies ?

Though generalization would be an overstatement, latest studies on multivitamins say that these are a waste of money (
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/12/16/vitamin-supplements-research/4042037/
)
and high doses of B12 can be dangerous (
http://www.medpagetoday.com/PrimaryCare/PreventiveCare/17072
)

and so is Omega 3 (
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-jonny-bowden/fish-oil-prostate-cancer_b_3601906.html
)

and now, the serious side effects of Protein foods, which people are eating heavily for the last 2 decades:
(
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/science/Eating-too-much-meat-and-eggs-is-just-as-bad-as-smoking-claim-scientists/articleshow/31482815.cms
)

Issues in Hibernate Technology

The Hibernate technology allows programmers to ignore database design work - as it is an engine sitting between the front end and the database. However, the technology can ignore updating the database while simply updating the logic and processing within the java and xml. This leads to a disconnect with other systems (like a business intelligence system) which are still dependent on the values stored in the database. These systems would not know that information is displayed differently than what is stored in the database.

What a notice !

Here's a picture of a notice in a public bus in New Jersey. Read the Notice.

Now, Read the last line again !

A Glass Alternative Required

North East United States braces with severe cold weather for at least 6 months in a year. Temperature dips below freezing for many days and it is difficult to stand outside and get the required direct sunlight.

Vitamin D deficiency is common and so are the associated diseases.

Getting sunlight via a glass window does not work, as glass cuts the UVB rays which help in generating Vitamin D.

If there is a glass alternative that can allow UVB rays to pass thru, it could be used in at least one or two sun-facing windows, however it is not yet commonly known or popular.

Rivers for Drinking Water

Even in United States, where water is highly treated before supply to homes, tap water is not always safe. A 2010 report stated that 31 out of 35 cities had carcinogenic material, which came via Industrial pollution.

(http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/wilderness-resources/stories/us-water-has-large-amounts-of-likely-carcinogen-study-say)

Emerging countries on the other hand, are far behind in controlling the industrial waste and sewage to mix into rivers and other sources of water.

It is obvious that water, once polluted, cannot be treated completely.

Instead of allowing sewage and waste to first go into all rivers and then treating the same water for drinking,  It may be a better to designate some of the rivers and water sources as sources of drinking, thereby not allowing any sewage or pollutants to go into these sources. The pollutants would only be allowed to go into other rivers.

Gun Control and GPS

To appreciate the importance of 2nd Amendment of US, one may have to travel to other countries.

Governments in some emerging countries recently tried to take over land of local farmers at cheap prices and sell the same to leading capitalists for much higher prices. Many times the government was not successful in taking the land of farmers as the farmers resisted violently.

On the other hand, liberals are rightly worried that freely available guns could be used for crime.

Interestingly, some state governments are exploring the use of GPS technology on guns so that a gun remains within a place which it is supposed to protect and not carried outside that region.

Kindle's Experimental Browser

Amazon.com's Kindle reading device has an e-Ink based browser. It is called 'Experimental' Browser as of now.

The  browser works best for all text browsing, in a Wi-Fi environment - though would not work for Video.

As there is no light emitting out of the screen, it can be used to read for a long time and would not hurt eyes like a regular computer screen. As most office environments hardly use graphics, such e-ink based screens should get popular - specially when 2 monitors are being used.