web pruned by monkeys

Yahoo! is taking a bold step tonight: opening up its index and search engine to any outside developers who want to incorporate Yahoo! Search’s content and functionality into search engines on their own sites.
Search War: Yahoo! Opens Its Search Engine to Attack Google With An Army of Verticals

Come 2Q09 and you’ll find thousands of new top-level domain names (TLDs), from .paris to .pepsi, in one of the biggest shake-ups in Internet history.
Internet body approves domain name big bang

Google mashup with photos and wikipedia entries!
Google mashup

For example, here is a lesson in Physics.
Inspired talks by the world’s greatest thinkers and doers at TED

Support Tibet against China’s colonization of Tibet!
Ten Important Facts About Tibet

Scientists are beginning to uncover evidence that meditation has a tangible effect on the brain — there is evidence that meditation changes brain structures.
Scientists probe meditation secrets

Often, even great new technology needs a partner to really change the world. Here are 10 marriages of technologies that have shaken the digital world over the last 25 years.
The 10 Most Disruptive Technology Combinations

“Visa Inc., the largest payment-card network, set a record for U.S. initial public offerings today by raising $17.9 billion, more than expected… It values the entire company at $42.5 billion.”
“The IPO eclipses AT&T Wireless Group’s $10.6 billion stock offering in 2000 and ranks second in the world after the $22 billion debut in 2006 of [...]

 “Software went through a period where it got way too complex. We have a concept that focuses on simplicity…”
Is Shrink-Wrapped Software Dead? (pdf)

People started wearing shoes around 40,000 years ago, according to a study on recently excavated small toe bones that belonged to an individual from China who apparently loved shoes.
Earliest shoe-wearers revealed by toe-bones

“The U.S. Federal Reserve on Tuesday slashed U.S. interest rates (the overnight rate at which banks lend each other) by a hefty three-quarters of a percentage point, the biggest rate cut in more than 23 years, in an emergency bid to lend support to a U.S. economy some fear is on the verge of recession… [...]

“Times have changed since Gordon Gekko quoted Sun Tzu in the 1987 movie Wall Street. Has the Bhagavad Gita replaced The Art of War as the hip new ancient Eastern management text?”
“One key message is that enlightened leaders should master any impulses or emotions that cloud sound judgement. Good leaders are selfless, take initiative, and [...]

Researchers have found that low self-esteem and materialism are not just a correlation, but also a causal relationship where low self esteem increases materialism, and materialism can also create low self-esteem. The also found that as self esteem increases, materialism decreases.
“The only reason a great many American families don’t own an elephant is that [...]

The plummet of the dollar — The Chinese are sitting on too many dollars to divest; they would lose too much. The Europeans are taking advantage of the Chinese position, selling off greenbacks, forcing the dollar down faste.
Sinking Currency, Sinking Country
Related: China threatens to trigger US dollar crash

I was delighted to attend Irving’s talk this morning. Some thoughts I retained and that I thought you may find insightful:

Innovation: Move from Technology innovation to Business innovation and Societal innovation
Complexity in IT: The need to learn from other engineering disciplines

Traditionally we have been compensating the lack of engineering with good/talented labour (consultants)
Business simulations [...]

A timeline of the conflicts, trends and transformations that helped shape modern India.
Turning Points that shaped India

“It is of utmost importance to remember the time of this writing. It is 1938, Hitler is ruling Germany, and the clouds of a terrible conflict have begun to form. Gandhi’s article shows his incredible sense of right and wrong, his blind faith in his methodology, and his profound vision of things to come.” Via [...]

Ninety years after he expounded his famous theory, a $700m Nasa probe has proved that the universe behaves as he said. Now the race is on to show that the other half of relativity also works.
Einstein was right: space and time bend

“An international team of mathematicians has detailed a vast complex numerical “structure” which was invented more than a century ago. Mapping the 248-dimensional structure, called E8, took four years of work and produced more data than the Human Genome Project, researchers said.” -BBC
248-dimension math puzzle solved (2)
Related Post: Ramanujan’s deathbed problem cracked

Clayton Christensen describes how one of his friends was responsible for that choice when he commented that “those who study genetics avoid studying humans because new generations come along only every thirty years or so, it takes a long time to understand the cause and effect of any changes. Instead, they study fruit flies, because [...]

Dataquest magazine’s 2002 tribute to the people who have helped turn the Indian IT dream into reality. With a five years hindsight, there is no denial that it is an impressively accurate list!
A Dataquest Tribute: The IT Indians
Related Post: 15 Most respected Indian companies

“…But what is truly wonderful about the “mobile miracle” is that it has accomplished something India’s old socialist policies talked about but did little to achieve: It has empowered the less fortunate.”
India’s great leveler: cell phones

“Imagine stringing together a thousand random words and then saying you’ve come up with the most beautiful poetry,” says Ono. “That’s essentially what Ramanujan did to us.” Via /.
UW scientists unlock major number theory puzzle
Related posts: Mozart of Maths, 0/0 = NaN!

“A study of medieval Islamic art has shown some of its geometric patterns use principles established centuries later by modern mathematicians.”
Advanced geometry of Islamic art