| GeekyHarsha.in |: September 2015

Indian Govt to launch own Operating System Named BOSS To Replace Microsoft Windows

BOSS (Bharat Operating System Solutions) , Following the trend of ‘Make In India’, another step has been taken towards digitization of India. In this bold move, the government in all set to resurrect their own operating system which is named Bharat Operating System Solutions or BOSS.

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This OS, which was initially developed in 2007 by National Resource Centre for Free/Open Source Software (NRCFOSS) of India, is a free and open source operating system. The latest version of BOSS was released in 2013, after that it is said to have undergone many changes to fit the process.

It has been launched to overcome the vulnerabilities that exist in government cyberspace which lead to frequent hacking attempts by Chinese hackers and Indian group of hackers.

Government officials have reported that the system will be unveiled and discussed in an internal meeting in union home ministry during this week. The latest version of BOSS, which has been tweaked by C-DAC (Centre for Development of Advanced Computing) has passed all tests of attacks during the trial period.

Google, Intel, Mozilla, Netflix and others form Alliance for Open Media

The overall aim is to create one format to rule them all, in the hopes that a single overarching video codec will be adopted by everyone in the industry, and ensure that high quality video will be accessible to everyone who wants it.

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Matt Frost, the Strategy head of Chrome, said that the ‘combined strength, resources and expertise,’ of the AOMedia partners meant that the new media format would arrive sooner and faster than had each company had pursued individual net generation web media projects.
Alliance for Open Media’s short term objective

The first key aim of the Alliance is to deliver a new generation video format that is:

    Interoperable and open;
    Optimized for the web;
    Scalable to any modern device at any bandwidth;
    Designed with a low computational footprint and optimized for hardware;
    Capable of consistent, highest-quality, real-time video delivery; and
    Flexible for both commercial and non-commercial content, including user-generated content.

Each member of AOMedia is expected to bring their own specific expertise and knowledge to the table. Each participant is likely to waive certain propriety information and patent rights in order to design and build code that will become the new open standard for video playback on the web.

Apple-1 computer built by Steve Jobs to go for 330k pounds

One of the very first Apple computers hand-built by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak in a garage almost 40 years ago is set to fetch up to 330,000 pounds when it goes under the hammer here.

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The Apple-1 Computer motherboard was in the first batch of computers for Apple's first client, the Byte Shop, originally costing just 437 pounds.

The computer, which is fully functional and one of the best preserved version ever seen, will go under the hammer in Bonhams on September 21 with a conservative estimate of 330,000 pounds.

Designed and assembled by Jobs and Wozniak in a garage, the 1976 motherboard was traded in at a computer shop in Florida having rarely been used.

The pre-assembled computer is just a motherboard that required the owner to provide a screen, keyboard and casing.

"This is from the first batch of 50 because they received an order from the Byte Shop who put inventory numbers on them with a security pen, Only 66 surviving authentic Apple-1's are currently listed on the official Apple 1 registry.

Indian ecommerce industry to increase 35%

India's e-commerce industry is likely to clock a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 35% and cross the$100-billion mark over the next five years, from $17 billion at present, according to an Assocham-Pricewaterhouse Coopers study.

It observed that the trend in Indian malls is in line with the declining number of footfalls in retail space in over 200 shopping malls across the US, the UK and other countries.

In the US, malls are facing a 46% vacancy rate whereas it stands at 32% in the UK, it said.

"Online shopping has shown a handsome growth while brick-and-mortar malls are witnessing a slowdown. The growth in e-commerce looks impressive because of a low base and rising penetration of the Internet," Assocham Secretary General D S Rawat said.

Besides, with improvement in infrastructure such as logistics, broadband and Internet-ready devices, there is likely to be a significant increase in the number of consumers making purchases online, the study said, predicting around 65 million consumers in India to buy online in 2015, as against around 40 million in 2014.
Some 45% of malls in India are expected to be converted into non-retail space in the next 15 years, which would be replaced with movie theatres, restaurants, discount retailers and the like, the study projected.

Online shopping may get costlier as Delhi slaps VAT

Retailers carrying out transactions on e-platforms such as Flipkart, Snapdeal and Amazon will now have to register with Delhi's trade and taxes department and pay state sales levies.

The move by the state tax department on Friday is likely to make major e-commerce companies more vigilant while listing the sellers on their platforms. With most e-commerce marketplaces aggressively competing with each other to attract retailers, they have tended to be lax about whether the sellers have registered for VAT or not.

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One fallout of the new move could be higher prices for online products. "The retailers who are not yet registered with the government may increase the prices of their goods because they now have to mandatorily pay VAT to the government," said the founder and CEO of a leading online marketplace.

Smart sleep aiding devices helps start your day right with favourite music

The Withings Aura, the bedside device that wakes up users gradually with blue melatonin light, will now play your favorite Spotify music in addition to making sure you start your day off right.

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The sleep sensor wakes you up at an optimal time in your sleep cycle -- when your sleep lightens -- to minimize grogginess.

Drifting into sweet dreams and pure oblivion
Fusing the benefits of bedtime light therapy and music from Spotify's sleep-dedicated playlists, the Aura does everything but rock you to sleep.

Emitting red light -- the only kind that doesn't inhibit melatonin secretion -- combined with nature sounds or relaxing music, the program aims to get you to doze off within 20 minutes.

What's more, it plays colorful noises such as pink noise -- also known as flicker noise -- similar to those that occur in nature and are thought to help you get to sleep due to their frequency.

What's to come
By the end of the year, Withings will include a recommendation system in their Health Mate application combining your musical tastes with data on the music's ability to help users fall asleep.

Can We Draw the Limit on Data Collection?

The world today is much different than it was in the 1960s when your privacy was relatively easy to maintain. You could, quite literally, live without giving your address to any third party other than your government and your bank.

Today we are living in a data-driven society where almost everything about you, including things that you might not even tell your own parents, is somewhere out there in a database with or without your knowledge. The problem we face right now is that we do not have a clear line drawn on what “enough” data about an individual is. And on the other hand, data mining has its uses for everyone.